Scholten Leads Effort to Stop The Power Plant Reliability Act, Legislation That Would Keep Costly, Outdated Power Plants Open, Raising Costs For American Families

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Representative Hillary Scholten led an effort in Washington to stop H.R. 3632, the Power Plant Reliability Act, legislation that gives the federal government the power to force power plants to stay open even when local utilities and state regulators have decided it makes more sense to close them. It also requires utilities to give years of notice before closing a plant, creating red tape and giving Washington bureaucrats more chances to step in and overrule local decisions.

Rep. Scholten offered a motion to recommit on the bill, which, if adopted, would have stopped the final passage vote on the bill and sent it back to its committee of jurisdiction.

"The Power Plant Reliability Act will force costly, outdated power plants to keep running, even when communities have decided on a different power sources - and stick families with the bill," said Rep. Scholten. "When utilities decide to close a power plant, they do not do it on a whim. These decisions come after years of study to make sure the power stays reliable and bills stay as low as possible. H.R. 3632 cuts around that process and makes energy more expensive for American families. In West Michigan, we have already seen what happens when the federal government steps in like this. A power plant that was set to close-after years of careful planning-was ordered to stay open. That plan would have saved Michigan families $600 million on their power bills. Instead, those savings disappeared, and people paid more each month. H.R. 3632 would make this kind of outcome more common. At a time when families are struggling to pay for groceries, health care, and housing, they cannot afford higher energy bills caused by decisions made in Washington. While my motion to kill this legislation was ultimately not adopted, I remain committed to this fight and to keeping costs down for American families."

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