HR 164 · 119th CongressPassed Chamber

POWER Act of 2025

Latest updateJan 15, 2025

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 419 - 2 (Roll no. 13). (text: 1/13/2025 CR H103)

Emergency Management

Sponsor

Val Hoyle

Introduced

January 3, 2025

Latest action

January 16, 2025

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Latest Action

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Plain-Language Summary

AI Generated

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act currently authorizes federal funding to help communities recover from disasters and conduct hazard mitigation—efforts to reduce future disaster damage. However, the law has created ambiguity about whether electric utilities can combine emergency power restoration work with hazard mitigation activities, and whether receiving emergency assistance disqualifies them from separate hazard mitigation funding. This gap has left utilities uncertain about their eligibility for comprehensive federal support when disasters strike.

The POWER Act of 2025 amends Section 403 of the Stafford Act to clarify that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may authorize electric utilities to conduct hazard mitigation activities alongside emergency power restoration work. The bill explicitly permits utilities to combine these efforts and establishes that receiving federal assistance for emergency power restoration does not make a utility ineligible for additional hazard mitigation assistance under Section 406 of the Stafford Act, for which the utility otherwise qualifies. This removes the eligibility barrier that previously discouraged utilities from pursuing comprehensive disaster recovery.

The amendment applies only to federal appropriations made after the bill's enactment, meaning utilities will benefit from this clarification on future disasters. FEMA will administer the expanded assistance through its existing Stafford Act programs, with no new funding mechanism created. The change allows utilities to pursue cost-effective resilience improvements—such as hardening power lines or upgrading infrastructure—during the same recovery period as emergency repairs, potentially reducing future outages and accelerating community recovery timelines.

Key Provisions

1Authorize electric utilities to conduct hazard mitigation activities jointly with emergency power restoration work under the Stafford Act.
2Establish that electric utilities receiving federal emergency assistance for power restoration remain eligible for separate hazard mitigation assistance under Section 406 of the Stafford Act.
3Apply the amendment only to federal appropriations made on or after the bill's enactment date.

★ Why this matters

Utilities can now bundle emergency repairs with long-term resilience improvements during disaster recovery, reducing future outages and accelerating infrastructure hardening. Communities benefit from faster, more comprehensive power system recovery. The clarification removes a financial disincentive that previously discouraged utilities from pursuing dual-purpose recovery strategies, making federal disaster assistance more efficient.

● Who this affects

Electric utilities and their customers in disaster-affected areas gain the most direct benefit, as utilities can now access broader federal funding for resilience work. State and local governments benefit from faster power restoration and reduced future disaster impacts. FEMA and other federal agencies administering Stafford Act programs will process expanded utility assistance requests. Rural and urban communities dependent on electric service see improved disaster recovery timelines.

Bill Text

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<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.

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Angela Alsobrooks

D-Maryland

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