Utility Hikes Transparency Act

This Act may be cited as the “Utility Hikes Transparency Act”.

(a) Establishment.— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish and maintain online a publicly accessible, searchable database, to be known as the National Utility Rate Change Tracker, containing information on approved and effective covered utility rate changes.

(b) Data points.— The National Utility Rate Change Tracker established under subsection (a) shall contain, with respect to each approved or effective rate change for a covered utility, the following information:

(1) The name of the covered utility.

(2) The services provided by the covered utility.

(3) The State in which the rate change is applicable.

(4) The impact of the rate change—

(A) in dollar and percentage change, to the average residential monthly bill; and

(B) on total revenue of the covered utility.

(5) The total number of customers impacted by the rate change.

(6) The date the rate change was approved.

(7) A link to the relevant docket for the rate change.

(8) The primary reason or reasons provided for the rate change.

(9) The effective date of the rate change.

(c) Quarterly updates.— The Commission shall update information on the National Utility Rate Change Tracker on each date that is the last day of a calendar year quarter.

(d) Data sources.— In updating information on the National Utility Rate Change Tracker, the Commission shall, to the extent practicable—

(1) use publicly available information; and

(2) enter into data-sharing agreements with State regulatory authorities.

(e) Searchability.— The National Utility Rate Change Tracker shall be searchable by ZIP Code, address, State, and city.

(f) Methodology document.— The Commission shall publish and maintain with National Utility Rate Change Tracker a plain-language methodology explaining how information contained in the National Utility Rate Change Tracker is collected, standardized, and labeled, including how gaps or conflicts in information are handled.

(g) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) Commission.— The term Commission means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

(2) Covered utility.— The term covered utility means a gas utility (as defined in section 302 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3202)) or electric utility that sells electric energy to electric consumers (as defined in section 3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602)).