H.R. 5896: GRID Act

H.R. 5896, the “Guarding Ratepayers from Imposed EV Charging Directives Act,” or “GRID Act,” is a targeted repeal bill. It does not create a new EV charging policy. Instead, it removes an existing standard from the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 by repealing paragraph (21) of section 111(d), codified at 16 U.S.C. 2621(d). That paragraph is the federal standard relating to electric vehicle charging programs.

The bill also removes the enforcement timing around that standard. It repeals paragraph (8) of section 112(b) of PURPA, at 16 U.S.C. 2622(b), which was the time-limitation provision tied to that EV charging standard. Then it amends section 112(c), at 16 U.S.C. 2622(c), by striking a sentence that said references to the “date of enactment of this Act” should instead mean the date paragraph (21) was enacted. In plain English, the bill is not just deleting the policy itself; it is also deleting the special clock and compliance language that came with it.

The measure goes further by repealing subsection (h) of section 112 of PURPA, at 16 U.S.C. 2622, covering other prior state actions related to the EV charging standard. It also amends section 124 of PURPA, at 16 U.S.C. 2634, to strike parallel language on prior and pending proceedings that treated the enactment date of paragraph (21) as the controlling date. That means the bill tries to clean out the standard from multiple parts of the law so there is less leftover legal text pointing back to a repealed requirement.

Supporters are likely to frame this as a ratepayer-protection bill, which the short title itself signals. Critics are likely to argue it removes a federal prompt for utilities and state regulators to plan for EV charging as more electric vehicles hit the road. There are no new dollar amounts, grants, penalties, age limits, or agency programs in the text provided. The bill’s effect is legal rollback: delete the EV charging standard, delete the related time limits, and delete the special rules for failure to comply, prior state actions, and pending proceedings.