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Electric Reliability Act of 2005

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 12, 2005

Electric Reliability Act of 2005 - Amends the Federal Power Act to extend Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction for purposes of approving reliability standards and enforcing compliance with this Act over a FERC-certified electric reliability organization (ERO), a regional entity, and users, owners, and operators of a bulk-power system.

Prescribes procedural guidelines for: (1) certification as an ERO; (2) filing of reliability standards; and (3) imposition of penalties by either an ERO or FERC for noncompliance with this Act.

Requires an ERO to file with FERC for approval of any proposed rule or rule change.

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Urges the President to negotiate international agreements with the governments of Canada and Mexico to provide for effective compliance with reliability standards and the efficacy of the ERO in the United States, Canada or Mexico.

Requires an ERO to assess periodically the reliability and adequacy of the interconnected bulk-power system in North America.

Directs FERC to establish a regional advisory body upon the petition of at least two-thirds of the States within a region that have more than one-half of their electric loads served within the region.

Exempts Alaska or Hawaii from the coverage of this Act.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
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Who introduced it

Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA] · D–WA

Committees

  • Energy and Natural Resources Committee
3 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

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  1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

  2. Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5168)

  3. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.

Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

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