119-hr4338

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4338 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 4338

 To develop weather tools for electricity system planning and 
 operational modeling, expand research on extreme weather event 
 scenarios for energy utility companies and regulators, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 July 10, 2025

 Ms. Leger Fernandez (for herself, Mr. Casten, Ms. Castor of Florida, 
and Ms. Ross) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To develop weather tools for electricity system planning and 
 operational modeling, expand research on extreme weather event 
 scenarios for energy utility companies and regulators, 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 ``Weather-Safe Energy Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF WEATHER-SAFE ENERGY PLATFORM AND SUPPORT FOR 
 ELECTRICITY SYSTEM PLANNING AND OPERATIONAL MODELING.

    (a) Initial Report on Meteorological and Extreme Weather Event 
Data.--Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 
section, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report containing the following:

    (1) A summary of current efforts in federally funded 
 research and development centers to develop the use of 
 meteorological, hydrological, and extreme weather event data 
 for energy system modeling.

    (2) A description of the specific actions that the 
 Secretary shall take to carry out subsection

    (b) .

    (b) Weather-Safe Energy Platform Digital Tool.--

    (1) In general.--The Secretary shall develop and maintain 
 an open-access digital tool, to be known as the ``Weather-Safe 
 Energy Platform'' (in this section, referred to as the 
 ``Platform''), to provide high-resolution data of 
 meteorological and hydrological variables suitable for 
 electricity system planning and operational models.

    (2) Availability of platform.--The Secretary shall make 
 available the Platform not later than 2 years after the date of 
 the enactment of this section.

    (3) Contents of platform.--The Platform shall include the 
 following, with respect to the United States:
        (A) Meteorological and hydrological variables 
 derived from state-of-the-science atmospheric models 
 used in international model intercomparison projects, 
 regional forecasting datasets, and reanalysis data, as 
 determined appropriate by the Secretary, at 
 spatiotemporal resolutions suitable for electricity 
 system planning and operational modeling.
        (B) Information that maintains spatiotemporal 
 correlation of the meteorological and hydrological 
 variables to ensure a realistic and reliable 
 representation of conditions that may contribute to 
 cascading failures of electricity systems.
            (C) Historical data and projections of 
 meteorological and hydrological variables across short-
 , medium-, and long-term timelines, developed using 
 methods that ensure consistency with standard practices 
 for evaluating electricity system planning and 
 operational decisions.
            (D) Sufficient information to provide for ensemble 
 model scenarios that support narrative- or 
 storytelling-based approaches to modeling current and 
 future conditions and effects on electricity systems.
        (E) Up-to-date information provided by ongoing 
 relevant research projects.

    (4) Stakeholder input.--The Secretary shall include input 
 from stakeholders determined appropriate by the Secretary, 
 including utility companies, municipalities, independent system 
 operators, regional transmission operators, Federal and State 
 regulators, and academic experts, to ensure the Platform meets 
 the data needs of such stakeholders in the energy modeling 
 activities of the stakeholders.

    (5) Fit-for-purpose data strategy.--The Secretary shall 
 develop and implement a strategy to carry out the following:
        (A) Evaluate whether the data in the Platform are 
 appropriate for specific electricity system planning 
 and operation applications.
        (B) Ensure that each dataset in the Platform 
 includes, or is accompanied by, clear and standardized 
 metadata that includes information on best-practice use 
 cases such as trend detection, uncertainty analysis, 
 and the study of extreme event intensification.
            (C) Establish and implement procedures to regularly 
 review and update datasets and the metadata of the 
 datasets to account for and reflect advances in science 
 and the evolving needs of stakeholders.
            (c) Research and Modeling Into Extreme Weather Event Scenarios.--

    (1) In general.--The Secretary shall take such actions, as 
 determined appropriate by the Secretary, to support research 
 projects to enhance the understanding and modeling of the 
 changes to extreme weather events that affect the planning and 
 operations of electricity systems.

    (2) Grants for increased research.--The Secretary shall 
 make funds available, through grants made on a competitive 
 basis, contracts, and cooperative agreements, to federally 
 funded research and development centers, institutions of higher 
 education, and other eligible independent research institutions 
 (as determined by the Secretary) to carry out the research 
 projects and modeling referred to in paragraph

    (1) .

    (3) Integration of research findings into the platform.--
 The Secretary shall integrate into the Platform such findings 
 from the research projects and modeling referred to in 
 paragraph

    (1) to assist energy utility companies and regulators 
 with respect to planning for, and responding to, changes in 
 extreme weather events.
            (d) Technical Assistance.--

    (1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide training 
 resources and technical assistance to utility companies, grid 
 operators, municipalities, State regulators, and other 
 interested stakeholders.

    (2) Goals.--In carrying out paragraph

    (1) , the Secretary 
 shall carry out the following:
        (A) Offer workshops, training sessions, and 
 distribute educational materials to stakeholders to 
 improve understanding of how meteorological and 
 hydrological variables and extreme weather events 
 affect electricity system planning and operations.
        (B) Provide technical assistance with respect to 
 the following:
            (i) Utilizing the tools and resources 
 available through the Platform.
            (ii) Integrating scenario data into 
 electricity system planning and operational 
 models.
            (C) Facilitate collaboration and the exchange of 
 knowledge among stakeholders to identify best practices 
 for electricity system planning and operations with 
 respect to changes in meteorological and hydrological 
 variables and changes in extreme weather events.

    (e) Reports to Congress.--Not later than 5 years after the date of 
the enactment of this section, and on a periodic basis thereafter not 
less frequently than every 3 years, the Secretary shall submit to the 
appropriate congressional committees a report containing descriptions 
of the following:

    (1) The funds used to carry out this section, including 
 grants made pursuant to subsection
            (c) .

    (2) The outcomes achieved through such grants.

    (3) The development and deployment of the Platform.

    (4) The advancements in the research carried out pursuant 
 to subsection

    (b) .

    (5) The extent to which utility companies, grid operators, 
 and Federal and State regulators have utilized the Platform.

    (6) The activities and effects of the training resources 
 and technical assistance provided under subsection
            (d) .

    (f) Implementation.--The Secretary shall carry out--

    (1) subsections

    (a) and
            (c) through the Office of 
 Electricity of the Department of Energy, in consultation with 
 such agency heads as determined appropriate by the Secretary; 
 and

    (2) subsections

    (b) and
            (d) through research and 
 development centers funded by the Secretary.

    (g) 

=== Definitions. ===
-In this section:

    (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
 ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the following:
        (A) The Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
 House of Representatives.
        (B) The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
 of the Senate.

    (2) Ensemble model.--The term ``ensemble model'' means a 
 collection of multiple simulations used to estimate uncertainty 
 in projections of meteorological phenomena, including extreme 
 weather events, that provides a range of possible outcomes with 
 respect to such phenomena.

    (3) Extreme weather event.--The term ``extreme weather 
 event'' means severe and abnormal earth system phenomena that 
 can significantly affect the operations of electricity systems, 
 including hurricanes, coastal or inland flooding, wildfires, 
 snowpack or permafrost thaw, and extreme droughts.

    (4) Institution of higher education.--The term 
 ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given that 
 term in 

section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
 U.S.C. 1001).

    (5) Meteorological and hydrological variables.--The term 
 ``meteorological and hydrological variables'' includes 
 temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, 
 precipitation, streamflow, and other atmospheric and water-
 related measurements.

    (6) Open-access digital tool.--The term ``open-access 
 digital tool'' means a computational resource, including 
 software, datasets, and modeling frameworks, that is designed 
 to support energy system resilience planning and operational 
 decision-making that is publicly available without restrictions 
 to access, use, or distribution.

    (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of Energy.

    (8) Spatiotemporal correlation.--The term ``spatiotemporal 
 correlation'' means the statistical relationship between 
 variables across both space and time that ensures consistency 
 in modeling the effect of extreme weather events on energy 
 systems.

    (9) Spatiotemporal resolution.--The term ``spatiotemporal 
 resolution'' means the level of detail in which data elements 
 are represented across space and time that is appropriate for 
 energy system modeling and analysis.

    (10) State-of-the-science.--The term ``state-of-the-
 science'' means the most advanced and validated knowledge, 
 methods, or technologies available in scientific research and 
 applications related to meteorology, hydrology, extreme weather 
 events, and energy system modeling.

    (11) United states.--The term ``United States'' means each 
 of the several States of the United States, the District of 
 Columbia, and the territories and possessions of the United 
 States.
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