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The Keeping the Lights On Act would amend federal power regulations to require Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators to submit annual reports detailing generation capacity, projected electricity demand, and reliability concerns broken down into fifteen-minute intervals throughout each year. The bill establishes "reliability markets" that would prioritize dispatchable power sources like coal, natural gas, and nuclear plants that can operate continuously, requiring intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar to either purchase backup power from these dispatchable resources or face penalties when they cannot generate electricity. The legislation also prohibits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from requiring states to join regional power grids without state approval, bars environmental regulations in power markets, and creates a presumption that natural gas pipeline certificates are in the public interest when serving power plants. Additionally, the bill repeals a provision of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act that currently requires utilities to purchase power from small renewable energy producers, though existing contracts would remain valid. The bill contains no specific funding amounts or implementation timelines but would significantly reshape how electricity markets operate nationwide by prioritizing grid reliability through guaranteed availability of traditional power sources.

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