H.R. 7977: Energy Bills Relief Act

H.R. 7977 is a broad energy package built around affordability. On the household side, it would set LIHEAP funding at $2 billion for fiscal year 2026, expand eligibility to households earning up to the greater of 250% of the poverty level or 80% of state median income, and require states to keep eligible households at or below 3% of income for home energy costs.

The bill also says states could not deny that assistance based on citizenship status. On top of LIHEAP, it adds a separate $1 billion grant program for energy affordability and resilience in 2026, with additional funding as needed after that.

For homes and buildings, the bill raises the average weatherization spending limit from $6,500 to $12,000 per dwelling unit, funds a Weatherization Readiness Program at $50 million a year through 2030, and offers cool-roof rebates worth $0.25 to $0.75 per square foot. That means a 2,000-square-foot roof could qualify for roughly $500 to $1,500 if it meets the program rules.

The other half of the bill is about building more power infrastructure faster. It would require faster reviews for wind, solar, storage, and transmission projects, order a federal rulemaking to speed generator interconnection, and require neighboring transmission regions to make joint interregional plans every three years.

It also sets a transfer-capability target equal to 30% of peak demand for most neighboring regions, or 15% where a region borders only one other region. The bill argues that moving more power between regions would improve reliability and reduce bottlenecks when demand spikes.

On federal funding, H.R. 7977 would stop the Department of Energy, EPA, and Department of Transportation from canceling or rewriting certain previously awarded clean-energy grants based only on changed agency priorities. It would also require reinstatement of awards altered for those reasons after January 19, 2025.

And it tries to settle one of the most politically sensitive cost questions in the power sector: who pays when giant new facilities arrive. Under the bill, a new large-load facility using 75 megawatts or more would have to pay the full cost of the grid upgrades it triggers, rather than leaving more of that bill with other customers.