I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5527 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide financial 

assistance for projects relating to the modernization of the electric grid, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. 

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

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program 

to provide financial assistance for projects relating to 

the modernization of the electric grid, 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 ‘‘21st Century Power 

5 Grid Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR GRID MODERNIZATION 

2 PROJECTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall es4 tablish a program to provide financial assistance to eligible 

5 partnerships to carry out projects related to the mod6 ernization of the electric grid, including— 

7 (1) projects for the deployment of technologies 

8 to improve monitoring of, advanced controls for, and 

9 prediction of performance of, a distribution system; 

10 and 

11 (2) projects related to transmission system 

12 planning and operation. 

13 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Projects for which an eli14 gible partnership may receive financial assistance under 

15 subsection (a)— 

16 (1) shall be designed to improve the resiliency, 

17 performance, or efficiency of the electric grid, while 

18 ensuring the continued provision of safe, secure, reli19 able, and affordable power; 

20 (2) may be designed to deploy a new product or 

21 technology that could be used by customers of an 

22 electric utility; and 

23 (3) shall demonstrate— 

24 (A) secure integration and management of 

25 energy resources, including through distributed 

26 energy generation, combined heat and power, 

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1 microgrids, energy storage, electric vehicles, en2 ergy efficiency, demand response, or control3 lable loads; or 

4 (B) secure integration and interoperability 

5 of communications and information technologies 

6 related to the electric grid. 

7 (c) CYBERSECURITY PLAN.—Each project carried 

8 out with financial assistance provided under subsection (a) 

9 shall include the development of a cybersecurity plan writ10 ten in accordance with guidelines developed by the Sec11 retary of Energy. 

12 (d) PRIVACY EFFECTS ANALYSIS.—Each project car13 ried out with financial assistance provided under sub14 section (a) shall include a privacy effects analysis that 

15 evaluates the project in accordance with the Voluntary 

16 Code of Conduct of the Department of Energy, commonly 

17 known as the ‘‘DataGuard Energy Data Privacy Pro18 gram’’, or the most recent revisions to the privacy pro19 gram of the Department. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi22 ble partnership’’ means a partnership consisting of 

23 two or more entities, which— 

24 (A) may include— 

25 (i) any institution of higher education; 

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1 (ii) a National Laboratory; 

2 (iii) a State or a local government or 

3 other public body created by or pursuant 

4 to State law; 

5 (iv) an Indian Tribe; 

6 (v) a Federal power marketing admin7 istration; or 

8 (vi) an entity that develops and pro9 vides technology; and 

10 (B) shall include at least one of any of— 

11 (i) an electric utility; 

12 (ii) a Regional Transmission Organi13 zation; or 

14 (iii) an Independent System Operator. 

15 (2) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 

16 utility’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

17 3(22) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

18 796(22)), except that such term does not include an 

19 entity described in subparagraph (B) of such sec20 tion. 

21 (3) FEDERAL POWER MARKETING ADMINISTRA22 TION.—The term ‘‘Federal power marketing admin23 istration’’ means the Bonneville Power Administra24 tion, the Southeastern Power Administration, the 

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1 Southwestern Power Administration, or the Western 

2 Area Power Administration. 

3 (4) INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR; RE4 GIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.—The terms 

5 ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ and ‘‘Regional 

6 Transmission Organization’’ have the meanings 

7 given those terms in section 3 of the Federal Power 

8 Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

9 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

10 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

11 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

12 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

13 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy 

15 to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal 

16 years 2021 through 2025, to remain available until ex17 pended. 

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