I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5514 

To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to establish a program 

to provide loans to implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 

MORELLE, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to establish a program to provide loans to implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Energy 

5 Savings Program Act of 2019’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY ENERGY SAVINGS PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Energy Policy and Conserva3 tion Act is amended by inserting after section 362 (42 

4 U.S.C. 6322) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 362A. COMMUNITY ENERGY SAVINGS PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

7 help households and small businesses achieve cost savings 

8 by providing loans to implement cost-effective energy effi9 ciency measures. 

10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN12 STITUTION.—The term ‘community development fi13 nancial institution’ means a financial institution cer14 tified by the Community Development Financial In15 stitutions Fund administered by the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury. 

17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en18 tity’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) a public power group; 

20 ‘‘(B) a community development financial 

21 institution; and 

22 ‘‘(C) an eligible unit of local government. 

23 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERN24 MENT.—The term ‘eligible unit of local government’ 

25 means any agency or political subdivision of a State. 

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1 ‘‘(4) ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES.—The 

2 term ‘energy efficiency measures’ means, with re3 spect to a property served by or in the service area 

4 or jurisdiction, as applicable, of an eligible entity, 

5 structural improvements and investments in cost-ef6 fective commercial technologies to increase energy 

7 efficiency (including cost-effective on- or off-grid re8 newable energy, energy storage, or demand response 

9 systems). 

10 ‘‘(5) HOUSEHOLD WITH A HIGH ENERGY BUR11 DEN.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘household 

13 with a high energy burden’ means a low-income 

14 household the residential energy burden of 

15 which exceeds the median energy burden for all 

16 low-income households in the State in which the 

17 low-income household is located. 

18 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION.—The residential en19 ergy burden referred to in subparagraph (A) is 

20 the quotient obtained by dividing residential en21 ergy expenditures by the annual income of the 

22 low-income household. 

23 ‘‘(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

24 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

3 ‘‘(7) MANUFACTURED HOME.—The term ‘man4 ufactured home’— 

5 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term in 

6 section 603 of the National Manufactured 

7 Housing Construction and Safety Standards 

8 Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5402); and 

9 ‘‘(B) includes a home described in sub10 paragraph (A) without regard to whether the 

11 home was built before, on, or after the date on 

12 which the construction and safety standards es13 tablished under section 604 of that Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 5403) became effective. 

15 ‘‘(8) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

16 the program established under subsection (c). 

17 ‘‘(9) PUBLIC POWER GROUP.—The term ‘public 

18 power group’ means— 

19 ‘‘(A) a public utility; 

20 ‘‘(B) an electric or energy cooperative; 

21 ‘‘(C) a public power district; and 

22 ‘‘(D) a group of 1 or more public utilities 

23 or electric or energy cooperatives (commonly re24 ferred to as a ‘joint action agency’, ‘generation 

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1 and transmission cooperative’, ‘municipal power 

2 association’, or ‘State cooperative association’). 

3 ‘‘(10) QUALIFIED CONSUMER.—The term 

4 ‘qualified consumer’ means a consumer served by or 

5 in the service area or jurisdiction, as applicable, of 

6 an eligible entity that has the ability to repay a loan 

7 made under subsection (f), as determined by the eli8 gible entity. 

9 ‘‘(11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

10 means the Secretary of Energy. 

11 ‘‘(12) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means— 

12 ‘‘(A) a State; 

13 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia; 

14 ‘‘(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(D) any other territory or possession of 

17 the United States. 

18 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

20 shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall 

21 provide grants to States and Indian tribes to provide loans 

22 to eligible entities in accordance with this section. 

23 ‘‘(d) GRANT FUND ALLOCATION.— 

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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount appro2 priated under subsection (k) for each fiscal year, the 

3 Secretary shall allocate as grant funds— 

4 ‘‘(A) 98 percent to be provided to States in 

5 accordance with paragraph (2); and 

6 ‘‘(B) 2 percent to be provided to Indian 

7 tribes in accordance with paragraph (3). 

8 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION TO STATES.—Of the amount 

9 allocated for all States under paragraph (1)(A), the 

10 Secretary shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) allocate not less than 1 percent to 

12 each State described in subparagraphs (A) 

13 through (C) of subsection (b)(12); 

14 ‘‘(B) allocate not less than 0.5 percent to 

15 each State described in subparagraph (D) of 

16 that subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(C) of the amount remaining after the al18 locations under subparagraphs (A) and (B), al19 locate funds to States based on the population 

20 of each State as determined in the latest avail21 able decennial census conducted under section 

22 141(a) of title 13, United States Code. 

23 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Of the 

24 amount allocated for Indian tribes under paragraph 

25 (1)(B), the Secretary shall allocate funds to each InVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5514.IH H5514
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1 dian tribe participating in the program during that 

2 fiscal year based on a formula established by the 

3 Secretary that takes into account any factor that the 

4 Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION OF ALLOCATION FOR6 MULAS.—Not later than 90 days before the begin7 ning of each fiscal year for which grants are pro8 vided to States and Indian tribes under this section, 

9 the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register 

10 the formulas for allocation established under this 

11 subsection. 

12 ‘‘(5) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the amount 

13 allocated to a State or Indian tribe under this sub14 section, not more than 15 percent shall be used by 

15 the State or Indian tribe for the administrative costs 

16 of administering loans. 

17 ‘‘(e) LOANS BY STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES TO ELI18 GIBLE ENTITIES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, a 

20 State or Indian tribe shall make loans to eligible en21 tities to make loans to qualified consumers— 

22 ‘‘(A) to implement cost-effective energy ef23 ficiency measures; and 

24 ‘‘(B) in accordance with subsection (f). 

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1 ‘‘(2) STATE ENERGY OFFICES.—A State shall 

2 carry out paragraph (1) through the State energy 

3 office that is responsible for developing a State en4 ergy conservation plan under section 362. 

5 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In making loans under para6 graph (1), a State or Indian tribe shall give priority 

7 to public power groups. 

8 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (C), as a condition of receiving a loan 

11 under this subsection, an eligible entity shall— 

12 ‘‘(i) establish a list of energy effi13 ciency measures that are expected to de14 crease the energy use or costs of qualified 

15 consumers; 

16 ‘‘(ii) prepare an implementation plan 

17 for use of the loan funds, including the use 

18 of any interest to be received under sub19 section (f)(4); 

20 ‘‘(iii) establish an appropriate meas21 urement and verification system to en22 sure— 

23 ‘‘(I) the effectiveness of the en24 ergy efficiency loans made by the eli25 gible entity; and 

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1 ‘‘(II) that there is no conflict of 

2 interest in any loan provided by the 

3 eligible entity; 

4 ‘‘(iv) demonstrate expertise in the ef5 fective implementation of energy efficiency 

6 measures; 

7 ‘‘(v) ensure that a portion of the loan 

8 funds, which may be determined by the 

9 State or Indian tribe, are used to provide 

10 loans to qualified consumers that are 

11 households with a high energy burden; and 

12 ‘‘(vi) give priority to providing loans 

13 to qualified consumers that own homes or 

14 other real property that pose health risks 

15 to the occupants of the property that may 

16 be mitigated by energy efficiency measures, 

17 as determined by the State or Indian tribe. 

18 ‘‘(B) REVISION OF LIST OF ENERGY EFFI19 CIENCY MEASURES.—Subject to the approval of 

20 the State or Indian tribe, as applicable, an eligi21 ble entity may update the list required under 

22 subparagraph (A)(i) to account for newly avail23 able efficiency technologies. 

24 ‘‘(C) EXISTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY PRO25 GRAMS.—An eligible entity that has established 

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1 an energy efficiency program for qualified con2 sumers before the date of enactment of this sec3 tion may use an existing list of energy efficiency 

4 measures, implementation plan, and measure5 ment and verification system for that program 

6 to satisfy the applicable requirements under 

7 subparagraph (A), if the State or Indian tribe, 

8 as applicable, determines that the list, plan, or 

9 system, as applicable, is consistent with the 

10 purposes of this section. 

11 ‘‘(5) NO INTEREST.—A loan under this sub12 section shall bear no interest. 

13 ‘‘(6) TERM.—The term of a loan provided to an 

14 eligible entity under paragraph (1) shall not exceed 

15 20 years after the date on which the loan is issued. 

16 ‘‘(7) ADVANCE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In providing a loan to 

18 an eligible entity under paragraph (1), a State 

19 or Indian tribe may provide an advance of loan 

20 funds on request of the eligible entity. 

21 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT LIMITATION.—Any advance 

22 provided to an eligible entity under subpara23 graph (A) in any single year shall not exceed 50 

24 percent of the approved loan amount. 

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1 ‘‘(C) REPAYMENT.—The repayment of an 

2 advance under subparagraph (A) shall be amor3 tized for a period of not more than 10 years. 

4 ‘‘(8) SPECIAL ADVANCE FOR START-UP ACTIVI5 TIES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In providing a loan to 

7 an eligible entity under paragraph (1), a State 

8 or Indian tribe may provide a special advance 

9 on request of the eligible entity for assistance in 

10 defraying the start-up costs of the eligible enti11 ty, as determined by the State or Indian tribe, 

12 as applicable, of providing loans to qualified 

13 consumers under subsection (f). 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A special advance 

15 shall be provided to an eligible entity under 

16 subparagraph (A) only during the 10-year pe17 riod beginning on the date on which the loan is 

18 issued to that eligible entity. 

19 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT.—The amount of a special 

20 advance provided under subparagraph (A) shall 

21 not be greater than 5 percent of the approved 

22 loan amount. 

23 ‘‘(D) REPAYMENT.—Repayment of a spe24 cial advance provided under subparagraph 

25 (A)— 

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1 ‘‘(i) shall be required during the 10- 

2 year period beginning on the date on which 

3 the special advance is made; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) may be deferred to the end of the 

5 10-year period described in clause (i) at 

6 the election of the eligible entity. 

7 ‘‘(9) REVOLVING LOAN FUND.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of par9 ticipating in the program, a State or Indian 

10 tribe shall use the funds repaid to the State or 

11 Indian tribe under loans offered under this sub12 section to issue new loans under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(B) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more 

14 than 10 percent of the repaid funds described 

15 in subparagraph (A) may be used for the ad16 ministrative cost of issuing new loans from 

17 those repaid funds under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(f) LOANS BY ELIGIBLE ENTITIES TO QUALIFIED

19 CONSUMERS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) USE OF LOAN.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A loan made by an el22 igible entity to a qualified consumer using loan 

23 funds provided by a State or Indian tribe under 

24 subsection (e)— 

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1 ‘‘(i) shall be used to finance energy ef2 ficiency measures for the purpose of de3 creasing the energy use or costs of the 

4 qualified consumer by an amount that en5 sures, to the maximum extent practicable, 

6 that the applicable loan term described in 

7 subparagraph (B) shall not be an undue fi8 nancial burden on the qualified consumer, 

9 as determined by the eligible entity; 

10 ‘‘(ii) shall not be used to fund pur11 chases of, or modifications to, personal 

12 property unless the personal property is or 

13 becomes attached to real property as a fix14 ture; 

15 ‘‘(iii) may be used to upgrade a man16 ufactured home, regardless of the classi17 fication of the home as real or personal 

18 property; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) may be used to finance the re20 placement of a manufactured home— 

21 ‘‘(I) if the cost of upgrading the 

22 manufactured home is excessive, as 

23 determined by the eligible entity; and 

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1 ‘‘(II) with priority given to a 

2 manufactured home that was con3 structed before June 15, 1976. 

4 ‘‘(B) LOAN TERM DESCRIBED.—The loan 

5 term referred to in subparagraph (A)(i) is— 

6 ‘‘(i) in the case of a manufactured 

7 home replacement, not more than 20 

8 years; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any other energy 

10 efficiency measure, not more than 15 

11 years. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara14 graph (B), a loan described in paragraph (1)(A) 

15 shall be repaid by the qualified consumer 

16 through charges added to an existing or new 

17 electric or recurring service bill for the property 

18 of the qualified consumer for, or at which, en19 ergy efficiency measures are being implemented. 

20 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE REPAYMENT.—Repay21 ment under subparagraph (A) shall not pre22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(i) the voluntary prepayment of the 

24 loan by the qualified consumer; or 

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1 ‘‘(ii) the use of any additional repay2 ment mechanism, including a tariffed on3 bill mechanism, that— 

4 ‘‘(I) has appropriate risk mitiga5 tion features, as determined by the el6 igible entity; or 

7 ‘‘(II) is required due to the quali8 fied consumer no longer being a cus9 tomer of the eligible entity. 

10 ‘‘(3) ENERGY ASSESSMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Prior to the installa12 tion of energy efficiency measures at the prop13 erty of a qualified consumer that receives a loan 

14 from an eligible entity under this section, and 

15 to assist in the selection of the energy efficiency 

16 measures to be installed, the eligible entity shall 

17 conduct an energy assessment or audit to deter18 mine the impact of proposed energy efficiency 

19 measures on— 

20 ‘‘(i) the energy costs and consumption 

21 of the qualified consumer; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the health and safety of the occu23 pants of the property on which the energy 

24 efficiency measures are to be installed. 

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1 ‘‘(B) FIELD OR ONLINE ASSESSMENT.—An 

2 energy assessment or audit under subparagraph 

3 (A) may be conducted in the field or online, as 

4 determined by the State or Indian tribe that 

5 has issued a loan to the eligible entity under 

6 subsection (e). 

7 ‘‘(4) INTEREST.—A loan described in para8 graph (1)(A) may bear interest, not to exceed 5 per9 cent, which may be used— 

10 ‘‘(A) to establish a loan loss reserve for the 

11 eligible entity; 

12 ‘‘(B) to offset the personnel and program 

13 costs of the eligible entity in providing the loan; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(C) for any other related purpose, as de16 termined by the eligible entity, in consultation 

17 with the State or Indian tribe that has issued 

18 a loan to the eligible entity under subsection 

19 (e). 

20 ‘‘(5) OUTSIDE CONTRACTS.—An eligible entity 

21 may enter into 1 or more contracts with 1 or more 

22 qualified entities, as determined by the State or In23 dian tribe that has issued a loan to the eligible enti24 ty under subsection (e)— 

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1 ‘‘(A) to assist the eligible entity in admin2 istering the loans described in paragraph 

3 (1)(A); and 

4 ‘‘(B) to carry out any of the requirements 

5 of the eligible entity described in subsection 

6 (e)(4)(A). 

7 ‘‘(g) DIRECT LOANS FROM STATES AND INDIAN

8 TRIBES.—A State or Indian tribe may act as an eligible 

9 entity under subsection (f) to provide loans directly to 

10 qualified consumers— 

11 ‘‘(1) in accordance with that subsection; and 

12 ‘‘(2) if the State or Indian tribe satisfies the re13 quirements under subsection (e)(4), as determined 

14 by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(h) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) PLAN.—Not later than 120 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

18 establish and begin carrying out a plan— 

19 ‘‘(A) to measure and verify the success of 

20 the program in implementing energy efficiency 

21 measures; 

22 ‘‘(B) to provide training to the employees 

23 of eligible entities relating to carrying out the 

24 requirements of eligible entities under this sec25 tion; and 

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1 ‘‘(C) to provide technical assistance to 

2 States, Indian tribes, and eligible entities relat3 ing to carrying out the requirements of this sec4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AWARENESS.—Not later than 120 

6 days after the date of enactment of this section, the 

7 Secretary shall establish and begin carrying out a 

8 plan to make eligible entities and the general public 

9 aware of the program, including by developing a 

10 marketing program to raise awareness of the pro11 gram. 

12 ‘‘(3) OUTSIDE CONTRACTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

14 enter into 1 or more contracts with 1 or more 

15 qualified entities, as determined by the Sec16 retary, to carry out paragraphs (1) and (2). 

17 ‘‘(B) USE OF SUBCONTRACTORS AUTHOR18 IZED.—A qualified entity that enters into a 

19 contract with the Secretary under subparagraph 

20 (A) may use 1 or more subcontractors to assist 

21 the qualified entity in carrying out the contract. 

22 ‘‘(4) ACCOUNTING.—The Secretary, and each 

23 State and Indian tribe participating in the program, 

24 shall take appropriate steps to streamline the ac25 counting requirements for eligible entities under the 

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1 program while maintaining adequate assurances of 

2 the repayment of the loans made to those eligible en3 tities under the program. 

4 ‘‘(i) EFFECT ON AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall impede, impair, or modify the authority of the 

6 Secretary to offer loans or grants under any other law. 

7 ‘‘(j) REPORT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 15 months 

9 after the date on which the program is established, 

10 and 90 days after the end of each fiscal year for 

11 each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary shall sub12 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress and 

13 make publicly available a report that describes, with 

14 respect to the program— 

15 ‘‘(A) the number of applications received 

16 by each State and Indian tribe from eligible en17 tities for that fiscal year; 

18 ‘‘(B) the number of loans made by each 

19 State and Indian tribe for that fiscal year— 

20 ‘‘(i) to eligible entities; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) directly to qualified consumers; 

22 ‘‘(C) the eligible entities that are the re23 cipients of the loans described in subparagraph 

24 (B)(i); and 

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1 ‘‘(D) the manner in which the program 

2 was advertised to eligible entities and the gen3 eral public. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con5 sult with and obtain information from States and 

6 Indian tribes in preparing the report submitted 

7 under paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

10 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec11 tion $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

12 through 2026. 

13 ‘‘(2) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The fund14 ing provided to a State or Indian tribe under sub15 section (d) for each fiscal year shall be used to sup16 plement, not supplant, any Federal, State, or other 

17 funds otherwise made available to that State or In18 dian tribe under— 

19 ‘‘(A) a State energy conservation plan es20 tablished under part D of title III of the En21 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 6321 et seq.); or 

23 ‘‘(B) the Weatherization Assistance Pro24 gram for Low-Income Persons established 

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1 servation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6861 

2 et seq.).’’. 

3 (b) STATE ENERGY CONSERVATION PLANS.—Section 

4 362(d)(5) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 6322(d)(5)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

9 after the semicolon; and 

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

11 ‘‘(C) which may include the community en12 ergy savings program under section 362A;’’. 

13 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

14 for the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (Public Law 

15 94–163; 89 Stat. 872) is amended by inserting after the 

16 item relating to section 362 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 362A. Community energy savings program.’’. 

Æ