PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-166.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 22, 2015
Access to Consumer Energy Information Act or the E-Access Act
Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to encourage and support the adoption of policies that allow electricity consumers access to their own electricity data.
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize state energy conservation plans to include programs that: (1) enhance consumer access to, and understanding of, energy usage and price information, including consumers' own residential and commercial electricity information; and (2) allow for development and adoption of innovative products and services to assist consumers in managing energy consumption and expenditures.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Directs the Secretary to issue voluntary guidelines, meeting specified criteria, which establish model standards to implement retail electric energy information access in states.
Authorizes states to submit to the Secretary a description of their data sharing policies regarding consumer access to electric energy information for DOE certification that they meet such voluntary guidelines.
Directs the Secretary, subject to appropriations, to make federal funds available to assist any DOE-certified state to implement its energy conservation plan.
People & committees
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] · D–MA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-166.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.1044 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.1044 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.1044 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.1044 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.