IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5541 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to reauthorize 

programs to assist consenting Indian Tribes in meeting 

energy education, planning, and management needs, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Power Act’’. 

3 SEC. 2. INDIAN ENERGY. 

4 (a) DEFINITION OF INDIAN LAND.—Section 2601(2) 

5 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3501(2)) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘land.’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘land;’’; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following subpara11 graphs: 

12 ‘‘(D) any land located in a census tract in 

13 which the majority of residents are Natives (as 

14 defined in section 3(b) of the Alaska Native 

15 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602(b))); 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(E) any land located in a census tract in 

18 which the majority of residents are persons who 

19 are enrolled members of a federally recognized 

20 Tribe or village.’’. 

21 (b) REDUCTION OF COST SHARE.—Section 

22 2602(b)(5) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 

23 3502(b)(5)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

24 subparagraphs: 

25 ‘‘(D) The Secretary of Energy may reduce any 

26 applicable cost share required of an Indian tribe, 


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1 intertribal organization, or tribal energy development 

2 organization in order to receive a grant under this 

3 subsection to not less than 10 percent if the Indian 

4 tribe, intertribal organization, or tribal energy devel5 opment organization meets criteria developed by the 

6 Secretary of Energy, including financial need. 

7 ‘‘(E) Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 

8 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall not apply to assist9 ance provided under this subsection.’’. 

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 2602(b)(7) of the En11 ergy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3502(b)(7)) is amend12 ed by striking ‘‘$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

13 through 2016’’ and inserting ‘‘$30,000,000 for each of fis14 cal years 2021 through 2025’’. 

15 SEC. 3. REPORT ON ELECTRICITY ACCESS AND RELI16 ABILITY. 

17 (a) ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

18 conduct an assessment of the status of access to electricity 

19 by households residing in Tribal communities or on Indian 

20 land, and the reliability of electric service available to 

21 households residing in Tribal communities or on Indian 

22 land, as compared to the status of access to and reliability 

23 of electricity within neighboring States or within the State 

24 in which Indian land is located. 


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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

2 consult with Indian Tribes, Tribal organizations, the 

3 North American Electricity Reliability Corporation, and 

4 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the devel5 opment and conduct of the assessment under subsection 

6 (a). Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations shall have the 

7 opportunity to review and make recommendations regard8 ing the development of the assessment and the findings 

9 of the assessment, prior to the submission of the report 

10 under subsection (c). 

11 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy 

13 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

14 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

15 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on 

16 the results of the assessment conducted under subsection 

17 (a), which shall include— 

18 (1) a description of generation, transmission, 

19 and distribution assets available to provide electricity 

20 to households residing in Tribal communities or on 

21 Indian land; 

22 (2) a survey of the retail and wholesale prices 

23 of electricity available to households residing in 

24 Tribal communities or on Indian land; 


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1 (3) a description of participation of Tribal 

2 members in the electric utility workforce, including 

3 the workforce for construction and maintenance of 

4 renewable energy resources and distributed energy 

5 resources; 

6 (4) the percentage of households residing in 

7 Tribal communities or on Indian land that do not 

8 have access to electricity; 

9 (5) the potential of distributed energy resources 

10 to provide electricity to households residing in Tribal 

11 communities or on Indian land; 

12 (6) the potential for tribally-owned electric utili13 ties or electric utility assets to participate in or ben14 efit from regional electricity markets; 

15 (7) a description of the barriers to providing ac16 cess to electric service to households residing in 

17 Tribal communities or on Indian land; and 

18 (8) recommendations to improve access to and 

19 reliability of electric service for households residing 

20 in Tribal communities or on Indian land. 

21 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) TRIBAL MEMBER.—The term ‘‘Tribal mem23 ber’’ means a person who is an enrolled member of 

24 a federally recognized Tribe or village. 


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1 (2) TRIBAL COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘Tribal 

2 community’’ means a community in a United States 

3 census tract in which the majority of residents are 

4 persons who are enrolled members of a federally rec5 ognized Tribe or village. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 9, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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