HR-7266 — Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Transparency & Accountability

Funds $250M from 2027-2031 for small rural electric utilities to defend against cyberattacks, shielding shared threat data from public-records requests.

Transparency & Accountability

Public-records access — Cybersecurity information shared under the grant program exempted from federal, state, and local disclosure laws

The details

Renews and reshapes a federal program that helps small electric utilities defend against cyberattacks. It would authorize $250 million between fiscal years 2027 and 2031 for the Department of Energy to award grants, technical assistance, and prizes to rural electric cooperatives, municipally owned utilities, small nonprofit utility partnerships, and investor-owned utilities that sell less than 4 million megawatt-hours a year — generally smaller providers rather than the largest power companies. The Department must prioritize utilities with limited cybersecurity resources or those that operate equipment critical to grid reliability or national defense. Any cybersecurity information utilities share with federal, state, tribal, or local governments under the program would be shielded from public-records requests, including the federal Freedom of Information Act and similar state and local open-government laws.

Congressional Summary

Rural and Municipal Utility Cybersecurity ActThis bill reauthorizes through FY2030 a program that provides cybersecurity-related assistance and funding to rural electric cooperatives and municipal or small, investor-owned electric utilities. The bill also revises methods of awarding support and expands protections for information shared under the program.This program, known as the Rural and Municipal Advanced Cybersecurity Grant and Technical Assistance Program, is administered by the Department of Energy (DOE). Current law requires DOE to provide technical assistance and funding under the program on a competitive basis; under the bill, assistance and funding may be provided on a competitive or noncompetitive basis.Current law also requires DOE to prioritize providing technical assistance and funding to certain entities, including entities that own defense critical electric infrastructure. The bill specifies that DOE must also prioritize entities that operate such infrastructure. (Defense critical electric infrastructure is electric infrastructure that (1) is located in the contiguous United States, and (2) serves a designated critical defense facility but is not owned or operated by the owner or operator of the critical facility.)Finally, the bill expands an existing protection against disclosure to cover all information shared under the program by or with the federal government or a state, tribal, or local government. This provision protects against disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and other state, tribal, or local disclosure laws.

Legislative Subjects

Computer security and identity theftComputers and information technologyElectric power generation and transmissionInfrastructure developmentRural conditions and developmentState and local government operations

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Reported to House
Action Date: 2026-04-30
Date Added: 2026-06-26
Source: Congress.gov →

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