WASHINGTON — With an eye toward the November midterms, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar filed legislation this week aimed at lowering utility bills by capping profit margins for providers and limiting how they can spend money collected from ratepayers.
The bill, rolled out along with several other proposals under the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ “New Affordability Agenda,” takes aim at what Casar argues are excessive profits being hauled in by utility companies. Under the bill, federal regulators would have to establish a “reasonable” return on equity — the profit utilities collect beyond what’s needed to cover infrastructure costs — that accounts for the lower risk faced by electric and gas utilities due to their captive customer bases.
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission would then have to apply this new figure when approving the rates that for-profit utilities can charge customers. Utility companies would also be required to use that “reasonable” number when asking state regulators — such as the Texas Public Utility Commission — to authorize rate hikes.
“They pay basically no risk, but pay themselves more than anybody else can get investing in the stock market, and then you are forced to pick up the tab,” Casar said during a Wednesday news conference.
Casar’s bill, dubbed the Lowering Utility Bills Act, was filed Wednesday with the support of 21 co-sponsors, including Houston Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee, along with numerous members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which Casar chairs.
Additionally, the bill would prevent transmission providers and investor-owned utilities from charging customers higher rates to pay for things like lobbying, political contributions or private plane travel and entertainment for executives. And it would require utilities to prioritize cost-saving investments such as “grid-enhancing technologies.”
“This bill is about a simple idea. You should not pay more so that a private utility CEO can rent a private jet,” Casar said during the news conference.
Violators could face a $1 million penalty per day, per violation, according to a draft of the bill from Casar’s office.
The new legislation comes as Texans grapple with higher day-to-day costs and rising utility bills, which in Texas have risen by 30% since 2020, according to the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute. Across the country, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated the average household’s electric costs rose by 6% in 2025 from the year before, more than double the rate of inflation, with Texas coming in right at the nationwide average.
The American Economic Liberties Project estimated that the bill would save the average family $500 a year, Casar said.
Since joining Congress in 2023, Casar has called on Democrats to focus on affordability and cost of living, urging an economic populist approach that talks about taking on billionaires and special interests.
That framework was evident throughout the “affordability agenda” from the Casar-led Congressional Progressive Caucus, which also introduced bills this week aimed at lowering the costs of necessities like groceries, housing, childcare and prescription drugs. One proposal would create a federal program to manufacture generic drugs like insulin and asthma inhalers and sell them at lower prices.
A memo unveiling the caucus’ suite of bills says that, amid rising everyday costs, “Democrats are searching for a vision that wins back the trust of working families and provides a mandate to deliver the big changes our country needs in 2026.”
The memo goes on to describe the caucus’ “affordability agenda” as a collection of “bold new policies that will make things cheaper in America by taking on wealthy special interests and corrupt billionaires.”
Casar is unlikely to get the Republican support needed to advance his utility bill through both GOP-controlled chambers of Congress, and the prospects appear similarly dim for the caucus’ other proposals. But they could provide a policy framework for Democrats if they win control of the House in the midterm elections, a prospect that political forecasters rate as increasingly likely.
“I hope we can get Republican support, but I hope and expect you’ll see a large amount of Democratic support very quickly,” Casar said. “This is just a kind of issue that’s hitting everybody.”
The House Republican Study Committee, a key driver of policy on the right, laid out an affordability framework of its own in January, calling for a second reconciliation bill that centers on lowering costs for housing, healthcare and energy. It aims to rein in higher prices that Republicans attribute to the Biden administration.
“The RSC released a comprehensive affordability agenda in January to actually lower costs for hardworking families, not expand the same big-government policies that drove up prices in the first place,” Rep. August Pfluger, a San Angelo Republican who chairs the committee, said in a statement. “Progressives think Washington should run your life. We know government is the problem, not the solution, and I’m committed to getting it out of the way for Texas families.”
Casar’s utility bill is one in a slew that lawmakers in Congress have introduced this year focused on protecting ratepayers from rising energy and utility costs.
This week, lawmakers on the House Subcommittee on Energy took up seven of these bills, each related to artificial intelligence and its impact on the power grid. The proposals included requiring data center developers, rather than consumers, to shoulder costs stemming from the facilities’ energy demand, and requiring federal regulators to meet with operators about controlling costs for residential and small commercial ratepayers.
The matter is especially top of mind for many Texans as the number of data centers in the state continues to balloon. Texas is home to more of the facilities than all but Virginia, which has spurred concerns about impacts on local utility rates and the state’s water crisis.
“The American people are understandably uneasy. Many question whether AI, and the data centers that power it, will ultimately do more harm than good, particularly when it comes to individual energy costs,” House Subcommittee on Energy Chair Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said during his opening statement at Wednesday’s hearing. “These concerns deserve to be taken seriously.”
These AI-related energy bills have been introduced by members of both parties, setting up a clash with the Trump administration, which has pledged to accelerate data center development with hopes of bolstering AI innovation.
In a nod to rising electric costs, President Donald Trump invited major tech executives to the White House to sign a “ratepayer protection pledge” in which they promised to supply their own power for AI data centers. The pledge included few specifics, however, and experts say it would not fully insulate consumers from data center-related costs.