Preventing Outages With Enhanced Resilience and Operations Nationwide Act of 2021 or the POWER ON Act of 2021
This bill provides incentives for enhancing the resilience of the electric power grid to natural disasters and strengthening the emergency response and management of the grid.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish an electric grid resilience program. Under the program, DOE must provide grants to states and Indian tribes for projects that enhance the physical resilience of the electric grid to natural disasters.
In addition, DOE must establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to enhance resilience and strengthen emergency response and management of the electric grid. Under the program, DOE must award grants to improve the resilience of the electric grid by developing technologies and capabilities to withstand and address the current and projected impact on electric grid infrastructure of natural disasters, such as wildfires.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2885 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2885
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an electric grid
resilience grant program and an electric grid resilience research and
development program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 28, 2021
Ms. Johnson of Texas (for herself, Mr. Brady, Mr. Burgess, Ms. Matsui,
Mr. Huffman, and Mr. LaMalfa) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an electric grid
resilience grant program and an electric grid resilience research and
development program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Preventing Outages With Enhanced
Resilience and Operations Nationwide Act of 2021'' or the ``POWER ON
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. ELECTRIC GRID RESILIENCE GRANTS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) an electric grid operator;
(B) an electricity generator;
(C) a transmission owner or operator;
(D) a distribution provider;
(E) a fuel supplier; and
(F) any other relevant entity, as determined by the
Secretary.
(2) Extreme weather.--
(A) In general.--The term ``extreme weather'' means
a weather phenomenon that--
(i) occurs outside of the historical
frequency prior to 1990; or
(ii) is unexpected, unusual, severe, or
unseasonal.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``extreme weather''
includes--
(i) a tornado;
(ii) a thunderstorm;
(iii) an ice storm;
(iv) a heat wave;
(v) flooding;
(vi) drought;
(vii) high winds; and
(viii) mudslides.
(3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(4) Resilience event.--The term ``resilience event'' means
an event in which, due to extreme weather, a wildfire, or any
other natural disaster, operations of the electric grid are
disrupted, preventively shut off, or cannot operate safely.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means--
(A) a State;
(B) the District of Columbia; and
(C) any territory of the United States.
(b) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish an
electric grid resilience program under which the Secretary
shall provide grants to States and Indian Tribes to award
grants to eligible entities to carry out projects that enhance
the physical resilience of the electric grid.
(2) Annual application.--
(A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant
under this subsection for a fiscal year, a State or
Indian Tribe shall submit to the Secretary an
application for that fiscal year that describes the
criteria and methods that will be used by the State or
Indian Tribe to award electric grid resilience grants
to eligible entities.
(B) Requirement.--The Secretary shall use amounts
appropriated under subsection (f) for a fiscal year to
provide grants under this subsection only to States and
Indian Tribes that have submitted an application under
subparagraph (A) for that fiscal year.
(3) Distribution of funds.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide grants
to States and Indian Tribes under this subsection based
on a formula determined by the Secretary, in accordance
with subparagraph (B).
(B) Requirement.--The formula referred to in
subparagraph (A) shall be based on the following
factors:
(i) The total population of the State or
Indian Tribe.
(ii) The probability of resilience events
in the State or on the land of the Indian Tribe
during the previous 10 years, as determined
based on the number of federally declared
disasters or emergencies in the State or on the
land of the Indian Tribe, as applicable,
including--
(I) disasters for which Fire
Management Assistance Grants are
provided under section 420 of the
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
5187);
(II) major disasters declared by
the President under section 401 of that
Act (42 U.S.C. 5170);
(III) emergencies declared by the
President under section 501 of that Act
(42 U.S.C. 5191); and
(IV) any other federally declared
disaster or emergency in the State or
on the land of the Indian Tribe.
(iii) The number and severity, measured by
population and economic impacts, of resilience
events experienced by the State or Indian Tribe
on or after January 1, 2011.
(iv) The total amount, on a per capita
basis, of public and private expenditures
during the previous 10 years to carry out
mitigation efforts to reduce the likelihood and
consequences of resilience events in the State
or on the land of the Indian Tribe, with States
or Indian Tribes with higher per capita
expenditures receiving additional weight or
consideration as compared to States or Indian
Tribes with lower per capita expenditures.
(4) Annual update of data used in distribution of funds.--
Beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Secretary shall annually update--
(A) all data relating to the factors described in
paragraph (3)(B); and
(B) all other data used in distributing grants to
States and Indian Tribes under this subsection.
(5) Matching funds.--A State or Indian Tribe that receives
a grant under this subsection shall be required to match not
less than 15 percent of the amount of the grant.
(6) Plan required.--The Secretary shall ensure that each
grant provided to a State or Indian Tribe under this subsection
will--
(A) be allocated in accordance with a published
State or Indian Tribe plan that--
(i) is adopted by the State or Indian Tribe
after notice and a public hearing; and
(ii) describes the proposed funding
distributions and recipients of the electric
grid resilience grants to be provided by the
State or Indian Tribe; and
(B) be allocated, pursuant to the applicable State
or Indian Tribe plan, to eligible entities for projects
within the State or on the land of the Indian Tribe, as
applicable.
(7) Administrative expenses.--
(A) In general.--Of any amounts made available to
the Secretary to carry out the program established
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary
may use not more than 10 percent for the administrative
expenses of carrying out that program.
(B) Grant amounts.--Not more than 10 percent of the
amount of a grant provided by the Secretary to a State
or Indian Tribe under this subsection may be used for
administrative expenses.
(c) Use of Grants.--
(1) In general.--A grant awarded to an eligible entity
under the electric grid resilience program established under
subsection (b)(1) may be used for activities, technologies,
equipment, and hardening measures to enable the electric grid
to better withstand the effects of extreme weather, a wildfire,
or any other natural disaster, including--
(A) weatherization technologies and equipment;
(B) fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention
systems;
(C) monitoring technologies;
(D) the undergrounding of electrical equipment;
(E) utility pole management;
(F) the relocation of power lines;
(G) vegetation and fuel-load management;
(H) the use or construction of distributed energy
resources for enhancing system adaptive capacity during
extreme weather events, including--
(i) microgrids; and
(ii) battery-storage subcomponents;
(I) adaptive protection technologies; and
(J) advanced modeling technologies.
(2) Prohibited uses.--
(A) In general.--A grant awarded to an eligible
entity under the electric grid resilience program
established under subsection (b)(1) may not be used
for--
(i) construction of a new--
(I) electric generating facility;
or
(II) large-scale battery-storage
facility that is not used for enhancing
system adaptive capacity during extreme
weather events; or
(ii) cybersecurity.
(B) Certain investments eligible for recovery.--
(i) In general.--An eligible entity may not
seek cost recovery for the portion of the cost
of any system, technology, or equipment that is
funded through a grant awarded under the
electric grid resilience program established
under subsection (b)(1).
(ii) Savings provision.--Nothing in this
subparagraph prohibits an eligible entity from
recovering through traditional or incentive-
based ratemaking any portion of an investment
in a system, technology, or equipment that is
not funded by a grant awarded under the
electric grid resilience program established
under subsection (b)(1).
(d) Evaluation of Funded Projects.--The Secretary shall carry out
periodic evaluations of--
(1) the electric grid resilience program established under
subsection (b)(1); and
(2) the projects carried out by eligible entities receiving
grants under that program.
(e) Annual Report to Congress.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to Congress a report describing the electric grid
resilience program established under subsection (b)(1),
including the results of the periodic evaluations carried out
under subsection (d).
(2) Requirements.--The report under paragraph (1) shall
include information and data provided by each State or Indian
Tribe receiving a grant from the Secretary under subsection (b)
on--
(A) the costs of the projects for which grants are
awarded to eligible entities by States or Indian Tribes
under that subsection; and
(B) the types of activities, technologies,
equipment, and hardening measures funded by those
grants.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $100,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.
SEC. 3. ELECTRIC GRID RESILIENCE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this
section as the ``Secretary'') shall establish a research, development,
demonstration, and commercial application program to enhance resilience
and strengthen emergency response and management of the electric grid.
(b) Grants.--Under the program established under subsection (a),
the Secretary shall award competitive grants to eligible entities
described in subsection (c) to conduct research, development,
demonstration, and commercial application activities to improve the
resilience of the electric grid by developing technologies and
capabilities to withstand and address the current and projected impact
on electric grid infrastructure of--
(1) extreme weather (as defined in section 2(a));
(2) wildfires; and
(3) other natural disasters.
(c) Eligible Entities.--An entity eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (b) is--
(1) an institution of higher education, including a
historically Black college or university and a minority-serving
institution;
(2) a nonprofit organization;
(3) a National Laboratory;
(4) a unit of State, local, or Tribal government;
(5) an electric utility or electric cooperative;
(6) a retail service provider of electricity;
(7) a private commercial entity;
(8) a partnership or consortium of 2 or more entities
described in any of paragraphs (1) through (7); and
(9) any other entity the Secretary determines to be
appropriate.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line