The bill requires the Secretary of Energy to create an "Energy Non‑Procurement List" of entities the Secretary determines are engaged in activities harmful to U.S. national security, economic security, or foreign policy. The Secretary must prioritize entities involved with critical materials and batteries, include certain statutorily referenced foreign firms, and update the list at least annually.
One year after enactment the Department of Energy must not enter into or renew contracts with "covered contractors" that procure from entities on that list, subject to a narrow exception where required goods or services cannot be procured in the needed manner, timeliness, or quantity. The statute also mandates public and classified reporting, monthly contractor disclosures when exceptions apply, and an interagency study to harmonize federal exclusion lists.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill directs DOE to publish an Energy Non‑Procurement List within 90 days and update it at least annually; the list must include certain foreign entities of concern and may draw on existing federal screening lists. Starting one year after enactment, DOE cannot enter into or renew contracts with contractors that procure from listed entities, with a defined exception for non‑procureability.
Who It Affects
Directly affects DOE procurement and prime contractors on DOE‑funded projects, companies that produce or supply critical minerals and battery components, and any entity that is majority‑owned by or supplies a listed firm. It also channels new reporting obligations to DOE and to covered contractors granted exceptions.
Why It Matters
This creates a DOE‑specific exclusion regime targeted at energy supply chains — especially critical minerals and batteries — and ties procurement access to being off the list. For compliance officers and supply‑chain managers, the bill raises immediate vendor‑screening, contract‑remediation, and sourcing‑diversification questions.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill sets a tight initial timeline and a concrete mechanism for excluding problematic suppliers from DOE procurement. Within 90 days of enactment DOE must assemble an Energy Non‑Procurement List identifying entities it judges harmful to national security, economic security, or U.S. foreign policy.
The statute prioritizes firms that produce, process, or supply critical materials (as defined in the Energy Act of 2020) and batteries or battery components. The list must include certain defined categories automatically—foreign entities of concern, firms on the Department of Defense’s Chinese Military Company List, and majority‑owned affiliates of listed entities—and may also pull from Commerce’s Consolidated Screening List or other sources at DOE’s discretion.
Reporting and transparency are split: DOE must provide Congress with an annual report that includes the most up‑to‑date unclassified list and a classified annex explaining individual inclusions and removals. DOE must also publish the unclassified portion on its website.
The bill requires at least annual revision of the list, but it places the operational burden for justification on the Secretary: each inclusion or removal must be explained to the authorizing committees.On procurement, the statute creates a bright‑line prohibition: beginning one year after enactment, DOE may not enter into or renew contracts with a "covered contractor" that procures goods, services, or technologies from entities on the Energy Non‑Procurement List or from suppliers that contain components from listed entities. The Secretary may grant limited exceptions if required goods or services cannot be procured in the necessary manner, timeliness, or quantity; any such contract triggers monthly contractor disclosures about relevant agreements and a 90‑day follow‑up report to congressional committees describing alternatives and recommendations to build domestic or allied sources.Finally, the bill orders an interagency study — led by DOE in coordination with Commerce, Defense, State, Treasury, DNI, and others — to map and compare existing federal exclusion and sanctions lists and to recommend harmonization steps.
That study and its recommendations are due to Congress within one year, reflecting a recognition that multiple agency lists currently overlap and create potential confusion for contractors and agencies alike.
The Five Things You Need to Know
DOE must establish the Energy Non‑Procurement List within 90 days of enactment and revise it at least annually.
The list must include foreign entities of concern, firms on the DoD Chinese Military Company List, and entities majority‑owned by a listed firm; DOE may also include firms on Commerce’s Consolidated Screening List.
One year after enactment DOE may not enter into or renew contracts with covered contractors that procure from listed entities or use components from them, subject to a narrowly defined exception for goods or services that are not procurable as needed.
If DOE grants an exception, the covered contractor must provide monthly reports about agreements with listed entities during the contract and DOE must file a 90‑day Congressional report analyzing domestic or allied sourcing alternatives and recommending support to develop them.
Within one year DOE must complete, with multiple agencies, a study identifying federal exclusion/sanctions lists and recommend steps to harmonize those lists to clarify which entities federal agencies should avoid contracting with.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Provides the act's short name, "Securing Energy Supply Chains Act." This is purely formal but signals congressional intent to focus the statute on supply‑chain security for energy‑related goods and technologies.
Definitions
Defines key statutory terms used throughout the bill: the Energy Non‑Procurement List, foreign entity of concern (by cross‑reference to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act), and Secretary (meaning the Secretary of Energy). The cross‑reference to an existing statutory definition imports the prior statutory framework for what constitutes a "foreign entity of concern," which matters for automatic inclusions.
Establishing and reporting the Energy Non‑Procurement List
Section 3(a) requires DOE to create the list within 90 days, prioritize critical materials and batteries, and to include specified categories automatically (foreign entities of concern, DoD Chinese Military Company List firms, and majority‑owned affiliates). It also authorizes DOE to draw on Commerce’s Consolidated Screening List or to include other entities the Secretary deems appropriate, and it mandates at least annual additions/deletions. Section 3(b) prescribes annual reporting to the two authorizing committees: an unclassified list for public posting and a classified annex with justifications. Practically, that splits transparency—public notice of entities and classified rationales for sensitive details—while requiring DOE to maintain an auditable record for Congress.
Procurement ban and narrow exception
Section 4 defines "covered contractor" (primes/general contractors on projects that fund or procure goods/services from listed entities or sources containing their components) and imposes a prohibition on DOE entering into or renewing contracts with such contractors starting one year after enactment. The Secretary may waive the prohibition when required items are not procurable in the necessary manner, timeliness, or quantity; such waivers must be accompanied by contractor monthly disclosures for the duration of the contract and a DOE report within 90 days analyzing alternatives and recommending how to develop domestic or friendly‑country sources. This section creates both a supply‑side deterrent and an exception pathway that channels information back to Congress for capacity building.
Interagency list overlap study and harmonization recommendations
Section 5 directs DOE, coordinating with Commerce, Defense, State, Treasury, DNI, and other agencies as appropriate, to identify federal lists related to foreign entities of concern, sanctions, Chinese military companies, procurement prohibitions, and similar categories and to analyze overlaps. DOE must report to Congress within one year with the study results and recommendations on harmonizing these lists. The provision acknowledges practical confusion caused by multiple, sometimes inconsistent federal lists and seeks a path toward clearer, interoperable exclusions.
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Explore Energy in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Domestic critical‑materials and battery manufacturers — the procurement ban strengthens their competitive position by discouraging DOE contractors from sourcing from listed foreign suppliers and creates political leverage to prioritize domestic sourcing.
- Federal national‑security and foreign‑policy overseers — agencies gain a DOE‑specific tool to keep procurement away from entities the government deems harmful, and Congress receives regular classified and unclassified reporting to monitor risk.
- Friendly‑country suppliers and allied industrial partners — the statute’s exception process and follow‑up reporting focus attention and potential support on developing ‘‘friendly’’ alternative sources, which can attract investment and procurement preference.
Who Bears the Cost
- Department of Energy — must stand up the list within 90 days, maintain classified/unclassified reporting pipelines, administer waiver processes, monitor contractor disclosures, and lead an interagency study, imposing staffing and classification burdens.
- DOE covered contractors and primes — face enhanced vendor screening, potential disqualification of existing supply chains, monthly reporting requirements if exceptions are granted, and the costs of re‑sourcing or certifying supply‑chain provenance.
- Upstream suppliers and small component manufacturers — may see lost business if they are majority‑owned by or supply listed entities, and may struggle to prove the provenance of subcomponents in complex multi‑tier supply chains.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill pits the legitimate goal of shielding DOE procurement from adversarial or risky foreign actors against the practical need to keep energy‑related projects on schedule and supplied; giving DOE broad listing and exclusion powers reduces strategic risk but may prompt supply shortages, higher costs, and heavy compliance overhead unless exception standards and delisting procedures are tightly specified and resourcing follows.
The bill centralizes considerable discretion in the Secretary of Energy without prescribing clear evidentiary standards for when an entity is "engaged in activities detrimental" to U.S. interests. That discretion is bounded by some automatic inclusions (foreign entities of concern, DoD Chinese Military Company List) but otherwise leaves the criteria and the burden of justification to DOE’s internal processes and the classified annex provided to Congress.
This raises questions about consistency, appealability, and the risk of politicized or overbroad listings.
Operationally, the procurement ban and its exception carve‑out create a tension between security and supply continuity. The exception relies on a subjective judgment about whether items are "not procurable in the manner, timeliness, or quantity required," but the statute does not define metrics or an independent review mechanism for that judgment.
Monthly contractor reporting and a 90‑day DOE follow‑up report are designed to surface alternatives, but they also add administrative friction and could incentivize short‑term exceptions rather than long‑term investment in domestic capacity. The harmonization study (Section 5) acknowledges overlapping federal lists, but implementation risks persistent confusion for contractors if harmonization recommendations are not adopted or lack force.
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