The Access to Consumer Energy Information Act, or E-Access Act, is designed to promote competition in digital energy management tools and significantly enhance consumer access to their electric energy and natural gas usage information. This legislation seeks to facilitate the development and adoption of innovative products and services that help consumers, organizations, and governments manage energy usage, ultimately improving electric grid reliability. A core provision of the bill mandates the Secretary of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to jointly develop and issue guidelines for model data sharing standards. These guidelines will ensure that electric and gas consumers, or their authorized third-party designees, can securely access their retail electric energy information and retail natural gas information . This data, encompassing usage, prices, costs, and customer-specific details, must be made available in an electronic, machine-readable format, including at least 24 months of historical data, as close to real-time as practicable, and at the level of specificity transmitted by the meter. The guidelines will also specify the use of nationally recognized open standards for data exchange, such as Green Button Connect My Data , and require robust privacy and security protections, potentially utilizing programs like the DataGuard Energy Data Privacy Program. Consumer consent requirements for third-party data access must be user-friendly and standardized, with terms for third-party designees being reasonable and nondiscriminatory. The bill further addresses fair competition within electric meter software platforms , ensuring transparent terms for authorized users and the right for consumers and utilities to select and operate applications of their choosing. To support implementation, the bill authorizes $10 million for fiscal year 2026 to assist states whose data access policies are certified by the Secretary as meeting the established guidelines. Additionally, the Secretary and FERC are required to submit a report within one year. This report will evaluate the costs and benefits of electric utilities transmitting individual meter data to wholesale electricity markets for settling market prices, analyzing potential anticompetitive impacts, and assessing benefits to reliability, customer choice, and technology availability.