Official Summaries

Promoting Opportunities to Widen Electrical Resilience Act of 2025 or the POWER Act of 2025

This bill authorizes electric utilities receiving certain emergency assistance for the restoration of power to also carry out cost-effective hazard mitigation activities in combination with the power restoration activities.  

Additionally, the bill specifies that electric utilities receiving such assistance for a facility may, if otherwise eligible, also receive hazard mitigation assistance for the same facility under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Public Assistance program. 

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 164 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 164


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 16, 2025

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
    Assistance Act to authorize Federal agencies to provide certain 
essential assistance for hazard mitigation for electric utilities, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Promoting Opportunities to Widen 
Electrical Resilience Act of 2025'' or the ``POWER Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ESSENTIAL ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Section 403 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Electric Utilities.--
            ``(1) Hazard mitigation activities.--An electric utility 
        may carry out cost-effective hazard mitigation activities 
        jointly or otherwise in combination with activities for the 
        restoration of power carried out with assistance provided under 
        this section.
            ``(2) Eligibility for additional assistance.-- In any case 
        in which an electric utility facility receives assistance under 
        this section for the emergency restoration of power, the 
        receipt of such assistance shall not render such facility 
        ineligible for any hazard mitigation assistance under section 
        406 for which such facility is otherwise eligible.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall only 
apply to amounts appropriated on or after the date of enactment of this 
Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives January 15, 2025.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.