To amend the Federal Power Act to require the consideration of invasive species when prescribing fishways, and for other purposes.

1) What happened: On March 16, 2026, Rep. Grothman (R-WI) introduced HR 7940, the SAFE Pathways Act, which would amend Section 18 of the Federal Power Act to require the Secretary of Commerce or Interior to consider invasive species when prescribing fishways. The bill was referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and has taken no further action. It has only 2 cosponsors — a bipartisan trio including Rep. Pocan (D-WI) and Rep. Wied (R-WI) — but zero committee markups, hearings, or floor votes. 2) The money trail: There is no funding authorized or appropriated anywhere in this bill. It is a pure regulatory amendment — it instructs federal agencies to add a factor to their decision-making process for fishway prescriptions under existing law. No grants, no tax credits, no procurement dollars. The only potential cost is administrative burden on federal agencies and compliance costs for dam operators during FERC relicensing. However, those costs are speculative, unquantified, and immaterial to major utility balance sheets. 3) Structural winners and losers: The bill is too early-stage and low-probability to create structural winners or losers. If it somehow passed, it would marginally increase compliance complexity for hydroelectric licensees including NextEra Energy ($NEE, via NextEra Energy Resources' hydro assets), Duke Energy ($DUK, via regulated hydro in the Carolinas), and other FERC-jurisdictional hydro operators like American Electric Power ($AEP, small hydro holdings) and Southern Company ($SO, limited hydro exposure). However, given the bill's single-committee referral, sparse sponsorship (no committee chair or ranking member), and zero momentum, the probability of passage in the 119th Congress is negligible. No investor should trade based on this bill. 4) Based on the provided data, no real market data on stock prices was included. Structurally, the bill's impact on $NEE, $DUK, or any utility is zero in any reasonable investment horizon. 5) Timeline: To become law, HR 7940 would need to pass the House Energy and Commerce Committee (markup, vote), pass the full House, pass the Senate (likely referred to Energy and Natural Resources), and be signed by the President. With 2 cosponsors and no companion bill in the Senate, and less than 6 months remaining in the 119th Congress (adjourns January 2027), this bill is effectively dead absent sudden extraordinary sponsorship and committee scheduling — which has not occurred.