Their plan would require each region to transfer a certain amount of power out of the region to help with electric grid reliability, an expanding problem as extreme weather events grow more frequent, Peters said.

“I think anyone in energy realizes it’s important not just for reliability, but it’s important for consumer choice because the more competition … the cheaper energy might be,” Peters said. “And also it’s important for getting clean energy from where it is — solar in Arizona — to Detroit, to where it needs to be.”

House Democrats, whose votes will be needed given likely substantial GOP defections, were caucusing on Thursday to discuss the emerging package. Earlier, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other party members sought to keep up the pressure on Republicans by criticizing them for sending members home for Memorial Day.

“It’s my understanding that the designees of both President Biden as well as Speaker McCarthy will continue to talk, but it is unfortunate that House Republicans have chosen to get out of town before sundown,” Jeffries said.

Procedural hoops

Even if a deal is reached Thursday or Friday, GOP leaders have promised members 72 hours to review the text. So House passage will likely be fairly close to the June 1 deadline that Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen has given lawmakers, leaving virtually no time for the Senate to jump through its usual procedural hoops and get a bill to Biden’s desk in time.