H.R. 10139 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
Ratepayer Bill of Rights Act of 2026
Cosponsors: 5 (5 D, 0 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-14
Introduced: 2026-08-24
Latest action (2026-08-24): Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
What H.R. 10139 does, in plain terms
The Congressional Research Service has not published a summary of H.R. 10139 yet. Its official title: “Ratepayer Bill of Rights Act of 2026”.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Not graded yet
H.R. 10139 has not been graded yet. New measures with an official summary are graded daily under the published rubric.
The Framers
“Founders’ Verdict”
Confidence 1.00
Archived SI output (machine-generated)No editorial review recorded. This historical SI verdict was machine-generated by software and predates the review desk; check it against the official bill text.
Synthesis
All four voices concur: the 'Ratepayer Bill of Rights Act' is constitutional only insofar as its provisions are confined to interstate transmission of energy and wholesale commerce among the several States, resting upon the Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) as executed through the Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18). Any provision fixing retail rates or prescribing terms of service for utilities operating wholly within a single State would exceed Congress's enumerated powers and invade the police powers reserved to the States by the Tenth Amendment. Additionally, rate mandates confiscatory of invested capital would offend the Fifth Amendment's just compensation guarantee, and any declared rights should be framed as recognitions of liberties retained by the people under the Ninth Amendment rather than new federal endowments. Final judgment must await the operative text, as only a title and committee referral were provided.
I have examined this measure, styled a 'Ratepayer Bill of Rights,' and find the text before me wanting in substance; yet its very design invites scrutiny. Congress possesses plenary authority to regulate commerce among the several States (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), and the conveyance of energy across state lines is unquestionably such commerce; to that extent, aided by the Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18), Congress may establish uniform rules governing interstate transmission and the wholesale market. But the fixing of retail rates charged by local providers …
I have examined this measure styled a 'Ratepayer Bill of Rights Act,' yet the text before me discloses no operative provisions—only its title and referral to committees. I therefore cannot pronounce it wholly sound or wholly void; I can only mark the boundaries within which any such act must be confined. The legislative power granted to Congress is not plenary. Article I, Section 1 vests only those powers 'herein granted,' and Article I, Section 8 enumerates them with particularity. If this act reaches utilities whose business is confined within a single State—fixing their rates, dictating the…
The measure arrives bearing only its title, without the operative provisions by which its conformity to the Constitution may be weighed; I can neither condemn nor approve what I have not seen. Yet the subject itself demands scrutiny. The furnishing of light, heat, and water to households within a State is, in its ordinary course, an object of domestic regulation belonging to the several States. The powers delegated to the general government 'are few and defined,' while those remaining with the States 'are numerous and indefinite' (Federalist No. 45); and the commerce power extends to intercour…
The measure arrives bearing only its title and its reference to committee; its operative provisions are not before me. I therefore cannot pronounce the whole void nor the whole valid, and I speak conditionally. If this Act regulates the transmission of energy and the intercourse of trade across the boundaries of the States, it rests upon solid ground: Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 empowers Congress 'to regulate Commerce... among the several States,' and in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) this Court held that this power is complete in itself, may be exerted to its utmost extent, and knows no limitatio…
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