H.R. 7266: Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act
Sponsor
Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Republican · IA-1
Small-town power companies shouldn't face hackers alone
Why it matters
$250 million over five years for cyber defenses at rural electric co-ops, city-owned utilities, and small private power companies. H.R. 7266 renews the Department of Energy program that funds that work, lets the department make awards without a competition, and puts information shared through the program out of reach of public-records requests.
H.R. 7266 renews a Department of Energy program with a long name and a narrow job: helping small electric utilities protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks. The bill authorizes $250 million for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
If your electricity comes from a rural co-op, a city-owned utility, or a small private power company, your provider could get federal money and hands-on technical help to defend its systems. Nonprofits that partner with at least six of those utilities qualify too. Private utilities are in only if they sell less than 4 million megawatt-hours a year.
Help can arrive as grants, cooperative agreements, prizes, or direct technical assistance. The program has two stated goals: get advanced security technology into utility systems, and bring more small utilities into the networks where threat information is shared.
Three things change from the program as it exists today. According to the Congressional Research Service's summary, current law requires awards to be made competitively; the bill lets the department make them with or without a competition. Priority also widens to cover utilities that operate, not just own, infrastructure serving critical defense facilities.
The third change is about what stays confidential: anything shared through the program by or with federal, state, Tribal, or local governments would be exempt from public-records laws at every level. That covers the federal Freedom of Information Act along with state and local open-records, open-meetings, and sunshine laws.
The $250 million is a ceiling, not a check. No money reaches a utility until Congress approves it in a separate spending bill.
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Jul 13, 2026
Passed the House, received in Senate
H.R. 7266 Bill Summary
What H.R. 7266 actually does.
Small utilities keep a dedicated cyber program
The Department of Energy would have to maintain a program that gives eligible utilities technical assistance and funding to protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity threats.
$250 million authorized through 2031
The bill authorizes $250,000,000 for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 — an average of $50 million a year if Congress appropriates the full amount. The text sets no per-award cap and no matching-funds requirement.
Co-ops, city utilities, and small private companies qualify
Eligible applicants are rural electric cooperatives, utilities owned by cities or other political subdivisions of a state, nonprofits partnering with at least six of those utilities, and investor-owned utilities selling less than 4 million megawatt-hours a year. For scale: the Energy Information Administration put the average U.S. home at 10,791 kilowatt-hours in 2022, so that ceiling equals the annual use of roughly 370,000 homes.
Awards no longer have to be competitive
The Energy Department could provide assistance and funding on a competitive or noncompetitive basis. According to the Congressional Research Service's summary, current law requires a competitive process. The department would still have to write criteria for who gets what.
Utilities with the fewest resources go first
Priority goes to utilities with limited cybersecurity resources, utilities that own assets critical to the reliability of the bulk-power system, and utilities that own or operate infrastructure serving critical defense facilities.
Every eligible utility has to be told the help exists
The department must set up a process to make sure, as far as practicable, that all eligible utilities hear about opportunities for technical assistance and funding.
Shared information stays out of public records
Information shared by or with federal, state, Tribal, or local governments under the program would be treated as voluntarily shared and exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and from any state, Tribal, or local open-records, open-meetings, or sunshine law.
Who benefits from H.R. 7266?
Rural electric cooperatives and the people they serve
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association counts 830 distribution co-ops serving 42 million people in 48 states. Each one is eligible for grants and technical help under the program.
City-owned and other public power utilities
The American Public Power Association says about 2,000 communities get electricity from a public power utility, serving 1 in 7 U.S. electricity customers. These utilities qualify whether they are owned by a single city or by a joint agency of several.
Small investor-owned utilities
Private utilities selling less than 4 million megawatt-hours a year qualify alongside public and cooperative systems.
Nonprofits that pool resources across utilities
A nonprofit partnering with at least six eligible utilities can apply directly, which lets small systems share training, staff, and security tools across a region instead of each buying its own.
Who is affected by H.R. 7266?
The Department of Energy
The department would have to keep the program running, write award criteria, decide when to skip a competition, and make sure eligible utilities know the help is available.
Larger investor-owned utilities
Private utilities selling 4 million megawatt-hours or more a year are not eligible for the program.
Public-records requesters, journalists, and watchdog groups
Information shared through the program would be exempt from federal, state, Tribal, and local disclosure laws, so records requests for it could be denied at every level of government.
State, Tribal, and local governments
Their own open-records and open-meetings laws would not apply to information they share or receive under the program.
Cost & Funding
Authorization
$250,000,000
- Authorized for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
- $250 million across five fiscal years averages $50 million a year if the full amount is appropriated.
- The money is an authorization, not an appropriation. Awards are subject to the availability of appropriations, so Congress has to fund the program in a separate spending bill.
- Funding can go out as technical assistance, grants, cooperative agreements, or prizes.
- The text does not set a per-award cap or a matching-funds requirement.
What Congress Is Saying
H.R. 7266 has come up 7 times in the Congressional Record so far.
H.R. 7266 also appeared in 1 more House floor reference and 1 routine cosponsor filing.
HR7266 Legislative Journey
Committee Action
Jul 13, 2026
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
House: Vote Held
Jun 29, 2026
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H4299)
House: Committee Action
Apr 30, 2026
Reported by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. H. Rept. 119-629.
House: Vote Held
Feb 4, 2026
Forwarded by Subcommittee to Full Committee by Voice Vote.
House: Committee Action
Jan 27, 2026
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
About the Sponsor
Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Republican, Iowa's 1st congressional district · 5 years in Congress
Committees: Veterans' Affairs, Energy and Commerce
View full profile →
Cosponsors (2)
This bill has 2 cosponsors: 1 Democrat, 1 Republican, reflecting bipartisan support. Cosponsors represent 2 states: Tennessee, Virginia.
Committee Sponsors
Energy and Natural Resources Committee
0 of 20 committee members cosponsored
No committee members have cosponsored this bill
Energy and Commerce Committee
2 of 54 committee members cosponsored
40 Republicans across these committees haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
What laws does H.R. 7266 change?
1 changes
Sections Amended
Section 40124 of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18723)
read as follows: ``SEC
H.R. 7266 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Energy and Natural Resources
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Introduced
- Jan 27, 2026
Passed the House, received in Senate
Jul 13, 2026
Official Sources
Official congressional page for the bill with text, actions, sponsors, and status updates.
The Department of Energy page for the exact grant and technical assistance program H.R. 7266 renews.
Shows how the program has paid out prizes and technical help to co-ops, municipal utilities, and small private utilities — the award types the bill keeps in place.
The Congressional Budget Office estimate of what the $250 million authorization would cost if Congress appropriates it.
The Energy and Commerce Committee report that accompanied the bill to the House floor.
The existing statute, section 40124 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, that the bill rewrites.
The Federal Power Act section that defines defense critical electric infrastructure, one of the bill priority categories.
Background on the federal public-records law that information shared under the program would be exempt from.
H.R. 7266 Common Questions
What does H.R. 7266 actually do?
It renews a Department of Energy program that gives small electric utilities grants, prizes, and hands-on technical help to defend against cyberattacks, and it authorizes $250 million to pay for it.
How much money does H.R. 7266 provide, and is it guaranteed?
The bill authorizes $250 million for fiscal years 2027 through 2031 — about $50 million a year. That is a ceiling, not a payment. Congress still has to approve the money in a separate spending bill.
Does my electric utility qualify for help under H.R. 7266?
Rural electric co-ops and city-owned or other publicly owned utilities qualify, as do nonprofits partnering with at least six of them. Private utilities qualify only if they sell less than 4 million megawatt-hours a year.
Which utilities get help first?
Three groups: utilities with limited cybersecurity resources, utilities that own equipment critical to the reliability of the bulk-power system, and utilities that own or operate infrastructure serving critical defense facilities.
What changes from the cybersecurity program that exists now?
Three things, according to the Congressional Research Service's summary: awards no longer have to be competitive, priority extends to utilities that operate (not just own) defense-critical infrastructure, and the public-records exemption covers more information.
Would information shared under H.R. 7266 be public?
No. Information shared through the program by or with federal, state, Tribal, or local governments would be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act and from state and local open-records, open-meetings, and sunshine laws.
Will H.R. 7266 lower my electric bill?
Not directly. The money goes to utilities for security technology and technical help, not to customers, and the bill's text does not address electricity rates.
Has H.R. 7266 passed Congress?
Not yet. The House passed it by voice vote, and it is now before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. It still needs to pass the Senate and be signed by the President to become law.
Based on H.R. 7266 bill text
H.R. 7266 Bill Text
“To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to reauthorize the Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program, and for other purposes.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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