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3. Cheap Energy, Lower Costs Act: Legislative Outline

Model Legislative Outline, not final bill text. It needs drafting by legislative counsel. Version 2.1, revised November 4, 2026.

This Act may be cited as the “Cheap Energy, Lower Costs Act”.

Purpose

To lower energy costs by expanding domestic production, speeding decisions on nuclear plants, pipelines, and transmission lines, and ending federal mandates and subsidies that raise prices.

Principal Requirements

Sec. 4. Leasing on a fixed schedule

• Quarterly onshore lease sales in each State with available federal land (Mineral Leasing Act, 30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.).
• Regular offshore sales under the five-year program (43 U.S.C. 1344).

Sec. 5. Nuclear licensing

• The Nuclear Regulatory Commission must decide reactor license applications within 18 months of docketing.
• No change to the safety standard: the Commission must still find reasonable assurance of adequate protection of public health and safety.
• Applicant fees fund added review staff; the Commission may use qualified third-party reviewers under its supervision.
• Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).

Sec. 6. One-year infrastructure decisions

• One-year final decision deadline for interstate natural gas pipelines (15 U.S.C. 717f) and interstate transmission lines (16 U.S.C. 824p).
• Safety standards are unchanged.

Sec. 7. Ending price-raising mandates and subsidies

• Within 1 year, the Energy Information Administration lists each federal energy mandate or subsidy that raises average consumer electricity or motor fuel prices, compared with a baseline without it.
• Each listed item is repealed 1 year after the report unless Congress passes a joint resolution to keep it, under expedited procedures.
• Conforming amendments to titles 26 and 42, United States Code.

Definitions and Eligibility

• “Raises prices”: increases average national retail electricity or motor fuel prices paid by households, net of any offsetting effects, as estimated by EIA.
• “Mandate”: a federal requirement to produce, buy, or blend a type of energy.

Existing Law Affected

• Mineral Leasing Act; Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
• Atomic Energy Act
• Natural Gas Act; Federal Power Act
• Energy provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (title 26) and title 42

Implementation Timeline

• Leasing: first quarterly sale within 1 year.
• Licensing and pipeline deadlines: applications filed or docketed after enactment.
• EIA report: 1 year; repeals 2 years after enactment.

Responsible Agencies

Department of the Interior (BLM, BOEM); Nuclear Regulatory Commission; FERC; Energy Information Administration.

Enforcement and Appeals

Applicants may sue in federal court to compel a decision when a deadline is missed. A missed deadline does not approve a nuclear license.

Fiscal Implications

Lease sales and royalties raise receipts; repealing subsidies reduces revenue loss. No official estimate yet. See the fiscal appendix.

See the fiscal appendix for cited estimates.

Legislative Instrument Required

Bill (H.R.) with a Senate companion bill (S.).

Severability: if any provision, or its application to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the rest of the measure and its other applications are not affected.

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