The Energy Security Pacts Act lets the Secretary of State make multiyear agreements called "Energy Security Pacts" with eligible partner countries. These pacts aim to strengthen energy and mineral security, diversify critical mineral and energy supply chains, and reduce economic coercion. The law creates an Office of Energy Security Pacts led by a Director and requires an interagency Energy Security Pacts Council made up of many federal agencies. The Director and Country Pact Teams will develop, negotiate, and manage pacts. Eligible countries meet income or World Bank thresholds, are considered strategically or commercially important, have implementation capacity, and are not designated as a foreign country of concern.
Each pact must include a constraints analysis, specific objectives (such as increased energy access, reliability, or infrastructure to support mineral production), responsibilities of each party, benchmarks, a multiyear financial plan, transparency requirements, and a tax exemption for U.S. assistance in the partner country. The law bars military assistance or training under these pacts, and it bars projects likely to cause substantial U.S. job loss or significant environmental, health, or safety hazards. The Secretary must follow foreign aid transparency law for each pact. The authority to start new pacts ends 15 years after enactment, and individual pacts may not exceed 10 years.
The Office must be set up within 180 days and the Council within 90 days of enactment. The Director must report at least annually (for up to 5 years) on activities and financial plans. The Government Accountability Office must evaluate pact projects starting within 2 years and yearly afterward until pacts end.
If you are in an eligible partner country, the act could lead to technical assistance, grants, or coordinated projects meant to improve energy access, reliability, affordability, and infrastructure needed for critical mineral production. The pacts are designed to involve partner-country governments, U.S. agencies, and potentially private and other international donors according to each pact's plan.
If you work for a covered U.S. agency, the act creates a formal Council and a new Office that will coordinate interagency contributions, staff details, and joint planning for pacts. Private companies and local governments may submit solicited or unsolicited proposals for projects under a pact.
For the general public, the act describes how pacts should be planned and overseen, but it does not list specific projects or locations.
The bill authorizes using amounts available under the appropriations heading "National Security Investment Programs" for fiscal year 2026 and later to establish and implement pacts. Those funds may be transferred to and merged with accounts at agencies such as the United States Trade and Development Agency, Millennium Challenge Corporation, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation accounts, and the Export-Import Bank to carry out pact activities. Transfers require prior consultation with and notification to specified congressional appropriations and foreign relations/affairs committees. Each pact must include a multiyear financial plan updated annually describing contributions and financing roles. No publicly available information on total cost estimates or specific appropriation amounts is provided in the text.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.