Estimated annual savings: $3.0B (mid‑case), $1.5B–$6.0B range; admin/enforcement cost ~$150–$300M

Local Energy Independence Act — guarantees the right to generate/store/share, fast interconnection, fair credits, off‑grid protection, and public utility transparency

Summary

  • Purpose: Put power back in local hands: fast, fair interconnection; ban junk fees; resilience/credits for storage; community microgrids; off‑grid/backup protection; radical transparency.
  • Net fiscal impact (annual): Low: ~$1.5B | Mid: ~$3.0B | High: ~$6.0B in national savings; admin/enforcement ~$150–$300M.
  • Primary beneficiaries: Households, farms, small businesses, rural co‑ops/munis, and taxpayers via lower bills, fewer outage costs, and transparent, accountable utilities.

Mechanism of savings

  • Ban on non‑cost‑based fees: Eliminates standby/demand adders that penalize small DERs; immediate bill reductions.
  • Fast‑track interconnection: 10‑day screening/30‑day approvals cut delay costs and unlock generation sooner.
  • Fair crediting + resilience adder: Net billing at avoided cost +10% for island‑capable storage boosts payback, expanding adoption.
  • Outage resilience: Safe islanding/off‑grid operation reduces outage‑related losses for customers and emergency services.
  • Community microgrids: Shared local generation/storage lowers per‑meter costs and defers utility upgrades.
  • Transparency: Hosting‑capacity maps, live queues, and public study results deter over‑engineering and delay tactics.

Assumptions

  • Adoption: 2–4M customer‑sited DER/storage systems accelerated by fee bans and fast approvals; 500–1,000 microgrids stand up.
  • Bill impact: Typical residential DER owner saves $600–$1,200/year; ag/small business $3,000–$10,000/year.
  • Outage avoidance: 5–10% reduction in customer outage costs where storage/islanding adopted.
  • Admin/enforcement: Utility dashboards, queue transparency, and penalties managed by PUCs/FERC with ~$150–$300M annual program cost.
  • Grid deferral: Local generation/storage defers select distribution upgrades, captured in utility planning under transparency mandates.

Calculations

  • Low case: Fee ban & faster interconnect (~$1.0B) + outage/resilience (~$0.6B) + grid deferral/transparency (~$0.2B) − admin (~$0.3B) ≈ ~$1.5B net.
  • Mid case: Fee ban & faster interconnect (~$1.8B) + outage/resilience (~$1.2B) + grid deferral/transparency (~$0.3B) − admin (~$0.3B) ≈ ~$3.0B net.
  • High case: Fee ban & faster interconnect (~$3.0B) + outage/resilience (~$2.5B) + grid deferral/transparency (~$0.5B) − admin (~$0.3B) ≈ ~$6.0B net.

Risks and mitigation

  • Utility obstruction: Automatic approvals on missed deadlines, capped fees, and per‑application penalties keep timelines honest.
  • Safety concerns: NEC, IEEE 1547, UL listings, and fire codes explicitly govern installations; islanding restricted to certified equipment.
  • Tariff gaming: Public hosting‑capacity maps, live queues, and published study outcomes expose bad‑faith engineering.
  • Interconnection bottlenecks: Penalties fund a DER Interconnection Improvement pool to clear backlogs.

Measurement and reporting

  • KPIs: Interconnection timelines, fee incidence, queue backlog, hosting‑capacity utilization, outage hours avoided, DER/microgrid counts.
  • Cadence: Quarterly utility dashboards; annual PUC/FERC compliance audits; public posting of penalties and improvements.

Bottom line

This bill ends monopoly stall tactics, bans junk fees, and unlocks local generation, storage, and sharing. Result: lower bills, fewer outage losses, real resilience—and receipts the public can verify on live utility dashboards.