I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5649 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy to establish a grant program to fund research and 

development with respect to certain cellular phone applications, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2020 

Ms. PORTER (for herself, Ms. STEVENS, and Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy to establish a grant 

program to fund research and development with respect 

to certain cellular phone applications, 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 ‘‘Consumer Access to 

5 Grid Information Act of 2020’’. 

2 

•HR 5649 IH

1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR CELLULAR PHONE APPLICA2 TIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

5 shall establish a grant program under which the Assistant 

6 Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to carry 

7 out an eligible project described in subsection (b). 

8 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—An eligible entity receiving 

9 a grant under subsection (a) may use grant funds for re10 search and development activities with respect to the cre11 ation of a cellular phone application that allows the public 

12 to monitor an applicable power grid, including providing 

13 a user with the ability to— 

14 (1) receive grid system alerts; 

15 (2) view the status of the grid, including— 

16 (A) current demand for power; 

17 (B) the forecasted peak demand for power; 

18 and 

19 (C) trends in demand for power; 

20 (3) monitor power grid capacity; 

21 (4) visualize, through a chart or graph— 

22 (A) the types of energy sources that are 

23 serving the grid, including clean energy sources 

24 and other energy sources, as applicable; 

3 

•HR 5649 IH

1 (B) the percentage of power that is being 

2 provided to the grid from each such energy 

3 source; 

4 (C) the power supply in response to de5 mand on the grid, with a display of the dif6 ferent types of energy sources being used to 

7 meet demand; and 

8 (D) the carbon dioxide emissions resulting 

9 from energy use with respect to the grid, in10 cluding a breakdown showing the percentage of 

11 emissions coming from any energy sources cre12 ating such emissions; and 

13 (5) monitor energy prices in each region served 

14 by an independent system operator. 

15 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

16 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

17 Assistant Secretary an application in such form, at such 

18 time, and containing such information as the Assistant 

19 Secretary determines necessary. 

20 (d) OUTREACH.—The Assistant Secretary shall con21 duct such outreach as the Assistant Secretary determines 

22 is necessary to ensure that eligible entities are aware of 

23 the existence of the grant program established under this 

24 section. 

4 

•HR 5649 IH

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPLICABLE POWER GRID; GRID.—The 

4 terms ‘‘applicable power grid’’ and ‘‘grid’’ mean a 

5 power grid overseen by an eligible entity. 

6 (2) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist7 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of the 

8 Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

9 of the Department of Energy. 

10 (3) CELLULAR PHONE APPLICATION.—The 

11 term ‘‘cellular phone application’’ means a software 

12 application that enables the performance of specific 

13 tasks that may be run on a computer, a mobile de14 vice, the internet, or any other electronic device. 

15 (4) CLEAN ENERGY SOURCE.—The term ‘‘clean 

16 energy source’’ means a fuel, electrical, or energy 

17 source that significantly limits or avoids greenhouse 

18 gas emissions, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 (5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti20 ty’’ means an independent system operator, regional 

21 transmission organization, or other transmission sys22 tem operator. 

23 (6) INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR.—The 

24 term ‘‘independent system operator’’ has the mean25 ing given such term in section 3 of the Federal 

26 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

5 

•HR 5649 IH

1 (7) LOAD.—The term ‘‘load’’ means the total 

2 amount of electrical power that is demanded by 

3 users of the grid. 

4 (8) REGIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.— 

5 The term ‘‘regional transmission organization’’ has 

6 the meaning given such term in section 3 of the 

7 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 

Æ