Southern West Virginia News

Today, Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) and Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) introduced the Repair Expenditures Support Infrastructure, Labor Investment, Energy Needs, and Creates Equity Act of 2025, also known as the RESILIENCE Act of 2025. This bipartisan legislation aims to allow utility companies to deduct repair costs from the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, ensuring fair treatment for these companies.

Congresswoman Miller expressed, "The Inflation Reduction Act picked winners and losers in energy production, and hard-working Americans suffered the most by having to pay more for everything, including utilities. The Resilience Act of 2025 would fix the unfair tax treatment of utilities under the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax by allowing regulated utilities to fully deduct repair expenditures. This bill would increase energy affordability for consumers and ensures tax fairness, ultimately creating a more resilient and reliable energy grid."

Pat Vincent-Collawn, EEI Interim President and CEO, noted the burdensome impact of current taxation on necessary investments for energy grid maintenance and enhancement, stating, "The current process for taxing these critical investments under the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax needlessly raises costs for electricity customers, threatens job creation, and undermines ongoing efforts to strengthen America’s energy security. We greatly appreciate Representatives Miller and Schneider’s leadership in developing this common-sense solution, which will help keep customer costs as low as possible while enhancing the reliability and resilience of the grid."

George Lowe, AGA Vice President of Governmental Affairs and Public Policy, highlighted the importance of the bill for natural gas utilities, saying, "America’s natural gas utilities invest $37 billion each year in enhancing the safety and efficiency of natural gas distribution and transmission systems... This bill from Reps. Miller and Schneider will help to remove an important barrier for this type of strategic investment in America’s energy future and will help our industry to maintain affordability for American families and businesses while fueling innovation and growth for a stronger future."

Representatives from American Electric Power emphasized the necessity of storm-related repairs, stating, "Storms can wreak havoc on our facilities and repairs are necessary to ensure reliable service. AEP spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year on storm repairs and maintenance activities. Allowing these critical expenditures to be deducted from the minimum tax lowers rates for customers and frees up capital that we can invest in other areas of our operations."

Exelon expressed support for the legislation, saying, "We commend Representatives Miller and Schneider for introducing bipartisan legislation that will lower energy costs and create jobs for customers and communities nationwide, in addition to supporting grid upgrades to address growing energy demand for generations to come, putting regulated utilities on equal footing with non-regulated businesses."

FirstEnergy pointed out the benefits of the legislation, stating, "At FirstEnergy, we are committed to providing reliable electric service at the lowest price possible for the six million customers across our footprint... Repair and maintenance are critical investments that ensure a reliable and resilient grid. We applaud U.S. Reps. Carol Miller and Brad Schneider’s bipartisan efforts to create a practical solution that allows electric companies to account for these expenses more efficiently, reducing base rates and strengthening our energy infrastructure."

Kenneth W. Cooper, IBEW International President, highlighted the potential threat to jobs without the bill's provisions, noting, "Nearly 250,000 IBEW members work for regulated utilities, and a repair adjustment protects their jobs and allows them to help build a strong economy. Without the inclusion of a repair adjustment, IBEW members who currently perform repairs and maintenance work at our nation’s utilities could be in real danger of losing their mission-critical jobs."