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DOE trims paperwork, fee for electricity export approvals
The final rule trims paperwork and drops the $500 filing fee for companies seeking permission to send electricity to another country. It takes effect July 22, 2026.
Starting July 22, 2026, utilities and energy traders that send electricity across the border will face a slimmer federal application process. The Department of Energy, or DOE, finalized a rule under the Federal Power Act, or FPA, that simplifies applications for authorization to transmit electric energy to a foreign country.
Comment deadline: July 15, 2025 Submit comments: www.regulations.gov/docket/DOE-HQ-2025-0019 Effective date: July 22, 2026
For companies that rely on those approvals, the practical shift is less paperwork and fewer hurdles before they can ask for permission to export power.
A rule built for a different grid
DOE says the old framework was built for a much older power market. The regulations being updated date to 1981, when exports were handled in a far more vertically integrated system. Today’s grid includes regional transmission organizations, independent system operators and power marketers, and DOE says the approval process should match that reality.
The final rule removes several provisions from the old application process and narrows the material companies have to submit. It also drops the $500 filing fee, which DOE says will reduce the annual application burden.
What stays on the federal hook
The rule is not a new export authority. It changes how applicants move through an existing approval system. DOE says it will continue to publish notices of applications and gather comments, but it will no longer use the voluntary protest and intervention procedures it had borrowed from Federal Energy Regulatory Commission practice.
The basic legal test remains the same. Under the FPA, DOE still has to make sure an export would not impair domestic electric supply or interfere with the coordinated operation of the U.S. power system.
Agency: Office of Electricity, Department of Energy Docket ID: DOE-HQ-2025-0019 RIN: 1901-AB69 CFR parts: 10 CFR Part 205 Comment deadline: July 15, 2025 Effective date: July 22, 2026 Submit comments: www.regulations.gov/docket/DOE-HQ-2025-0019 Contact: Marina Fennel • Director, Federal Permitting Programs, Office of Electricity • (240) 702-6156 • electricity.exports@hq.doe.gov • 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585