The SHIELD Act amends federal utility regulations to create a new category for "large load facilities"—defined as businesses or sites using more than 75 megawatts of electricity—and establishes how utilities should handle their power demands. The bill requires large load facilities to pay the full cost of any grid upgrades needed to serve them, even if the facility later uses less electricity than expected or shuts down. To encourage grid reliability, utilities must prioritize service requests from large load facilities that agree to use energy-saving technologies (like on-site storage or demand reduction) and source all their power from zero-emission sources like solar, wind, or nuclear energy. State utility regulators and non-regulated utilities have one year to begin reviewing these standards and two years to make final decisions, with reporting requirements to Congress. The bill does not apply to existing facilities whose increased power use comes primarily from electrification or emissions-reduction efforts.
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