Good Energy Jobs Act of 2026

For Department of Energy financial assistance supporting construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair projects, the bill would require laborers and mechanics to receive at least locally prevailing wages. It would also require registered apprentices to perform at least 15 percent of project labor hours, with corrective action possible for noncompliance.

Applicants for Department financial assistance for covered projects would have to submit plans based on assessments of community needs, workforce conditions, and potential impacts. Plans would be designed to produce enforceable agreements with local stakeholders; the Department would publish summaries and track progress, but project labor agreements would be excluded from these public reporting requirements.

Applicants seeking Department assistance for research, development, or demonstration would have to agree to manufacture resulting products substantially in the United States to the best of their ability and submit domestic manufacturing plans if they intend to manufacture a product. Recipients could not move that manufacturing abroad during the assistance term and for five years afterward without the Secretary’s approval, which would require showing that no feasible domestic option exists.

Entities receiving Department financial assistance, and contractors and subcontractors working on assisted activities, would have to certify that they will take no position for or against employees’ and labor organizations’ organizing and bargaining rights. The recipient would be responsible for compliance through its contracting chain.

For Department facility construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair projects costing more than $1,000,000, contractors and subcontractors would have to negotiate or join a project labor agreement. The Secretary would seek to include local and targeted hiring goals in those agreements.

The Secretary would seek to ensure that at least 40 percent of financial assistance through listed programs goes to entities that commit to providing specific, measurable, and meaningful benefits to small or disadvantaged communities. The bill would also require reporting, public data, and Department review of compliance with its requirements.