[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7607 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7607
To study and modernize the measurement and reporting of United States
energy use, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 20, 2026
Mr. Casten (for himself, Ms. Castor of Florida, and Mr. Cleaver)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To study and modernize the measurement and reporting of United States
energy use, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Modernizing EIA Tracking and
Reporting to Increase Consistency Act'' or the ``METRIC Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS.
(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to improve the energy
performance, transparency, and decision-making of the United States by
modernizing how the United States measures and accounts for gross
amount of energy input into the national energy system.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) historical measures of primary energy were developed
for economies dominated by combustion-based fuels and do not
accurately capture the efficiency or system value of
noncombustion energy sources;
(2) differences in how primary energy are measured across
fuel and renewable systems obscure trends in electrification,
decarbonization, and energy productivity, hindering effective
policymaking and misinforming researchers, market participants,
and the public; and
(3) enhancing national energy accounting through improved
data collection, modeling, and transparency will strengthen
evidence-based policymaking, support market efficiency, and
better align United States statistics with the energy
transition.
SEC. 3. MODERNIZING ENERGY METRICS.
(a) Study on Primary Energy Indicators.--
(1) Required study.--The Secretary of Energy, with support
from the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration
and relevant offices within the Department of Energy, shall
conduct a comprehensive study on the validity, limitations, and
potential alternatives to the use of the indicators for primary
energy in national energy accounting.
(2) Scope of study.--The study shall include--
(A) an evaluation of the conceptual basis and
historical rationale for the current indicator for
primary energy calculated and reported by the Energy
Information Administration;
(B) an assessment of the limitations of primary
energy accounting in accurately reflecting energy
efficiency, energy transitions, and the value and
comparability of combustible and noncombustible energy
sources;
(C) an analysis of alternative indicators and their
suitability for integration into national energy
statistics;
(D) a review of international best practices for
energy accounting, including methodologies used by the
International Energy Agency and peer nations; and
(E) recommendations for improvements or
replacements to the primary energy indicator that
better align with national goals for energy efficiency,
electrification, decarbonization, and economic
productivity.
(3) Report to congress.--Not later than 18 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall
submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate a report containing the findings and
recommendations of the study required under paragraph (1).
(b) Complementary Incident Energy Statistics.--Section 205 of the
Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7135) is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(n) Incident Energy Statistics.--
``(1) Requirement.--The Administrator shall develop,
collect, analyze, and report on incident energy.
``(2) Measurement and estimation.--
``(A) Data derived from surveys.--To the extent
feasible, under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall
collect, through surveys, reporting requirements, or
other data-collection mechanisms, data representing the
amount of incident energy, consistent with the
approaches used to evaluate primary energy for thermal
energy sources.
``(B) Derived estimates.--With respect to energy
sources for which it is not feasible to collect data
under subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall develop
and publish model-based estimates or analytical
approximations of the amount of incident energy,
updated on an annual basis, based on--
``(i) data collected through new or
existing surveys of manufacturers, operators,
or users of energy conversion technologies;
``(ii) physical models or statistical
analyses developed or adopted by the Energy
Information Administration; and
``(iii) information derived from Federal
research institutions, National Laboratories,
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, or other
appropriate entities using remote sensing,
satellite imagery, or comparable observational
techniques, as may be necessary.
``(3) Integration and publication.--
``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall include
the data on the amount of incident energy included in
each report required by paragraph (1) in the existing
reports or other products published by the Energy
Information Administration that include primary energy
and final energy statistics in a manner that enables
side-by-side comparison of energy-conversion efficiency
and system performance.
``(B) Public availability.--The Administrator shall
make all data, assumptions, and methods used under this
subsection for purposes of developing, collecting,
analyzing, and reporting on incident energy publicly
available in machine-readable formats and shall
describe the degree of uncertainty or approximation
associated with the estimates and analytical
approximations developed and published under paragraph
(2)(B).
``(4) Relationship to existing statistics.--This subsection
shall not be construed to affect how the Energy Information
Administration defines or reports primary energy as of the date
of enactment of this subsection.
``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Energy conversion.--The term `energy
conversion' means any physical, chemical, or mechanical
process by which energy is transformed from one form to
another for the purpose of producing electricity, heat,
mechanical work, chemical energy, or another usable or
storable form of energy.
``(B) Final energy.--The term `final energy'--
``(i) means energy in the form delivered to
end users for consumption in buildings,
transportation, industrial processes, or other
sectors; and
``(ii) includes electricity, pipeline gas,
gasoline, diesel, hydrogen, and district heat.
``(C) Incident energy.--The term `incident
energy'--
``(i) means the total energy entering an
energy conversion technology or system from
natural or environmental sources, including
both thermal and nonthermal forms, before any
transformation or conversion losses occur; and
``(ii) includes energy from combustible
fuels, biomass, nuclear materials, solar
radiation, wind, geothermal heat, hydroelectric
potential, and other renewable or nonrenewable
resources.''.
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