Pappas Announces New Legislation to Reduce Energy Costs
Pappas’s legislation would improve energy delivery, improve existing assistance and weatherization programs, and provide direct relief to consumers
Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) unveiled new legislation to tackle Granite Staters’ rising energy costs. His bipartisan Energy Burden Tax Credit Act, introduced with Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) would provide a refundable tax credit to families struggling with high energy costs, saving households hundreds of dollars a year on energy.
“No family should ever wonder if they can afford to keep their home warm during the winter months,” said Congressman Pappas. “I’ve heard from a constituent in Dover who told me that her December electric bill was the highest she has ever received, a household in Ossipee whose bill increased by over a hundred dollars last month, and a family on the Seacoast who spend nearly as much on energy as they do on their mortgage each month. That’s why I’m introducing several bipartisan bills today that create a new energy tax credit to put money back in people’s pockets, help military families weatherize their homes, and improve energy transmission so that we can bring down energy costs at the source.”
New Hampshire has some of the highest energy costs in the nation and for lower and middle income families, including the 25% of New Hampshire households that earn less than $50,000 each year, energy costs pose a significant burden. Pappas’s bill provides individuals and households who spend more than 3% of their income on energy with a refundable tax credit equal to 75% of the excess amount they spend on energy.
Under Pappas’s legislation a family in New Hampshire that makes $50,000 and pays the average cost of energy in New Hampshire, about $2,676 per year ($223 a month), would receive a refundable credit of $882, effectively reducing their energy costs by a third.
Pappas is also introducing the following new legislation today:
His bipartisan Transmission Facilitation Program Reauthorization Act, which would restore DOE’s program providing states and municipalities with federal support for projects developing new transmission lines or upgrading existing transmission lines, helping accelerate project timelines and increase grid capacity.
His Heroes Home Energy Savings Act, which would reauthorize and increase funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program Enhancement and Innovation Grant to spur innovation in weatherization and provide active duty and reserve military families with grants to help lower their energy costs.
Pappas is a fierce advocate for efforts that lower energy costs for Granite Staters and programs that help low-income families pay their bills, and has repeatedly called on both Democratic and Republican administrations to stop the export of oil to foreign adversaries and protect and strengthen the LIHEAP program, including successfully pressing the Department of Health and Human Services to take all necessary steps to ensure that the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds were distributed to the states by November 30, 2025. He has also previously introduced, cosponsored, or called for the passage of the following legislation:
Pappas leads the bipartisan Bolstering Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve Act, which would require the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct a long-range strategic review of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NEHHOR) and report to Congress on opportunities to strengthen it.
He supports the bipartisanBanning Oil Exports to Foreign Adversaries Act, which would prohibit the sale or export of our nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to foreign adversaries including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, closing a dangerous loophole that threatens U.S. energy and national security
He supports the Energy Independence and Affordability Act, which would reinstate clean energy tax credits established by the Inflation Reduction Actand repealed by Republicans last year. These credits would help individuals, families, small businesses, and manufacturers save money on clean energy, including purchasing clean vehicles or making upgrades such as installing rooftop solar.
He supports the bipartisan Weatherization Enhancement and Readiness Act of 2025, which would reauthorize and improve the Weatherization Assistance Program and guarantee the program can continue to provide weatherization services to tens of thousands of homes every year, saving households hundreds on their energy costs, and led the New Hampshire delegation in calling on the Trump administration to immediately release $9 million in delayed funding for Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to New Hampshire.
In 2025 Pappas led 90 of his Congressional colleagues in calling for the protection of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the rehiring of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) staff who manage the LIHEAP program that were fired, and he supports the bipartisan LIHEAP Staffing Support Act, which would set a minimum staffing level within HHS to administer LIHEAP.