POWER Act of 2025

The bill would amend Section 403 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to expand what electric utilities may do while receiving federal emergency assistance. First, it would expressly authorize utilities to carry out cost-effective hazard mitigation activities jointly or in combination with federally assisted power-restoration work — treating both activities as permissible within the same effort. Second, it would clarify that a utility facility receiving emergency power-restoration assistance under Section 403 remains eligible for additional hazard mitigation assistance under Section 406 (FEMA's Public Assistance program) for that same facility, removing any inference that restoration aid forfeits mitigation eligibility.

Both changes would apply only to funds appropriated on or after the date of enactment. The bill does not create a new grant program, set dollar amounts, or alter the substantive criteria that utilities must otherwise meet to qualify for assistance under either Stafford Act section.

Electric utilities — including municipal utilities, cooperatives, and investor-owned utilities — that receive federal emergency assistance for power restoration following a presidentially declared disaster. FEMA, which administers both the Section 403 essential assistance and Section 406 Public Assistance programs, would apply the clarified eligibility rules. Communities that depend on electrical infrastructure would indirectly benefit from more resilient rebuilding.

Without this clarification, utilities may hesitate to accept emergency restoration aid out of concern it could block them from also receiving FEMA mitigation grants for the same facility. Removing that ambiguity would let utilities combine restoration and mitigation work in a single recovery project — reducing costs, shortening recovery timelines, and producing infrastructure that is less vulnerable to the next disaster.

The bill is largely self-executing: it adds a new subsection directly to Section 403 of the Stafford Act, and FEMA would apply the updated eligibility rules when processing Public Assistance applications from electric utilities. No new rulemaking is explicitly required, though FEMA may update its program guidance or application review procedures to reflect the combined restoration-and-mitigation authority and the preserved Section 406 eligibility. The bill's applicability provision limits the new rules to funds appropriated after enactment, so existing open grants are unaffected.