A bill to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the time period during which licensees are required to commence construction of certain hydropower projects.

This bill grants the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the authority to extend the period for commencing construction of certain hydropower projects . A "covered project" is defined as one for which FERC issued a license before March 13, 2020 . Upon a licensee's request and for good cause, FERC may extend the construction commencement deadline for up to an additional six years beyond the existing eight-year limit. This extension can be granted in up to three consecutive two-year periods, starting from the expiration of any previous extensions under the Federal Power Act. Furthermore, the bill allows FERC to reinstate licenses for covered projects if their construction commencement period expired after December 31, 2023 , and before the bill's enactment date. In such cases, the authorized extension would take effect from the original expiration date of the license.