II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4983 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to encourage 

deployment of electric school buses and vehicle-to-grid technologies and 

applications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. KING, Mr. BENNET, 

Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program 

to encourage deployment of electric school buses and 

vehicle-to-grid technologies and 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 ‘‘Bus Integration Dedi5 cated to Improving Resilience, Eliminating Congestion, 

6 and Triggering Innovation Over Numerous Applications 

7 and Localities Act’’ or the ‘‘BIDIRECTIONAL Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE DEPLOYMENT OF ELEC2 TRIC SCHOOL BUSES AND VEHICLE-TO-EV3 ERYTHING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICA4 TIONS. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘elec7 tric school bus’’ means a school bus that is pro8 pelled— 

9 (A) to a significant extent, as determined 

10 by the Secretary, by an electric motor that— 

11 (i) draws electricity from a battery; 

12 and 

13 (ii) is capable of being recharged from 

14 an external source of electricity; and 

15 (B) by any necessary components or equip16 ment required to facilitate electric-powered 

17 school bus operations. 

18 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti19 ty’’ means— 

20 (A) any person (including any company or 

21 other entity) or State, local, or Tribal entity 

22 that sells electric energy, including— 

23 (i) an electric utility, including— 

24 (I) a local distribution company 

25 or utility; and 

26 (II) an electric cooperative; 


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1 (ii) a municipality; and 

2 (iii) a retail marketer of electricity; 

3 (B) a State public utilities commission; 

4 (C) a third-party energy efficiency program 

5 administrator; 

6 (D) a school bus manufacturer; 

7 (E) a public or private school district; 

8 (F) a supplier of charging infrastructure; 

9 (G) a developer, provider, owner, or oper10 ator of solar, wind, or other renewable or dis11 tributed energy resources; 

12 (H) a third-party school bus fleet or charg13 ing operator; 

14 (I) any other entity, including a partner15 ship, that the Secretary determines to be appro16 priate; and 

17 (J) any partnership or consortium of enti18 ties described in any of subparagraphs (A) 

19 through (I). 

20 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

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

22 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

24 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na25 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 


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1 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

2 U.S.C. 15801). 

3 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

4 the program established under subsection (b)(1). 

5 (6) PROJECT PARTNER.—The term ‘‘project 

6 partner’’, with respect to a project for which a grant 

7 is sought or provided under the Program, means an 

8 eligible entity that is a member of a partnership or 

9 consortium described in paragraph (2)(J) with re10 spect to that project. 

11 (7) REGIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.— 

12 The term ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ 

13 has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 

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

15 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Energy. 

17 (b) PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec20 retary shall establish a program to encourage the de21 ployment of vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-everything 

22 technologies and applications, as described in para23 graph (2), including, at a minimum, a vehicle capa24 ble of discharging at least 10 kilowatts of power to 

25 bidirectional electric vehicle supply equipment that 


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1 provides alternating current power to an electrical 

2 circuit, by providing grants to eligible entities for 

3 projects that include the use of not fewer than 1 

4 electric school bus with bidirectional energy flow ca5 pabilities for an application described in that para6 graph. 

7 (2) APPLICATION DESCRIBED.—An application 

8 referred to in paragraph (1) is— 

9 (A) a vehicle-to-grid application, such as— 

10 (i) provision of a distribution-level 

11 service or participation in a distribution12 level program; 

13 (ii) provision of wholesale market 

14 services, such as capacity, energy, and an15 cillary services; 

16 (iii) provision of microgrid services; or 

17 (iv) aggregations of vehicle-to-grid ap18 plications that provide distribution-level 

19 service, wholesale market services, or 

20 microgrid services; 

21 (B) a vehicle-to-building application; or 

22 (C) any other resilience or other applica23 tion, as determined to be appropriate by the 

24 Secretary. 

25 (3) PRIORITY AND DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS.— 


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1 (A) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under 

2 the Program, the Secretary shall give priority 

3 to projects that, in the determination of the 

4 Secretary, are likely to be economically self-sus5 taining and replicable once established. 

6 (B) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary, to the 

7 maximum extent practicable in accordance with 

8 the priority required to be established under 

9 subparagraph (A), shall provide grants under 

10 the Program for projects across differing situa11 tions, including in a region that is experiencing 

12 congestion, shortages, transmission system con13 straints, or distribution system constraints that 

14 cause the cost of electricity to increase for con15 sumers. 

16 (4) APPLYING FOR ASSISTANCE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desir18 ing a grant under the Program shall submit to 

19 the Secretary an application at such time, in 

20 such manner, and containing such information 

21 as the Secretary may require, subject to this 

22 paragraph. 

23 (B) REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 (i) IN GENERAL.—An application sub25 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall demVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:38 Oct 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4983.IS S4983

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1 onstrate how the assistance requested 

2 under the Program would help the 1 or 

3 more eligible entities submitting the appli4 cation to participate in economically justifi5 able opportunities that recognize 

6 bidirectional electric vehicle charging as a 

7 relevant technology, including existing elec8 tric utility or Regional Transmission Orga9 nization tariffs, programs, initiatives, poli10 cies, arrangements, or other opportunities 

11 that recognize bidirectional electric vehicle 

12 charging as a relevant technology. 

13 (ii) INTERCONNECTION RULES.—An 

14 application submitted under subparagraph 

15 (A) shall include a certification that any 

16 project described in the application and 

17 proposed to be carried out using a grant 

18 provided under the Program will comply 

19 with all applicable interconnection rules. 

20 (5) USE OF FUNDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts provided to 

22 an eligible entity pursuant to a grant under the 

23 Program may be used for— 

24 (i) acquiring and installing 

25 bidirectional charging stations and interVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:38 Oct 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4983.IS S4983

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1 connection upgrades necessary for 

2 bidirectional energy flow; 

3 (ii) retrofitting buildings, parking fa4 cilities, and school buses for bidirectional 

5 charging; 

6 (iii) acquiring and installing any nec7 essary metering and telemetry equipment 

8 or systems; 

9 (iv) acquiring technical assistance 

10 from the Department of Energy, National 

11 Laboratories, or other parties with relevant 

12 expertise for any participating project 

13 partners; and 

14 (v) any application directly related to 

15 establishing, sustaining, and optimizing 

16 bidirectional energy flow, as the Secretary 

17 determines to be appropriate. 

18 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Amounts provided to 

19 an eligible entity pursuant to a grant under the 

20 Program shall be used in a manner that cor21 responds specifically to the incremental addi22 tional cost of implementing 1 or more applica23 tions described in paragraph (2) as compared to 

24 the costs associated with the acquisition, demVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:38 Oct 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4983.IS S4983

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1 onstration, or use of a typical electric school 

2 bus, as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (C) COMMUNITY OUTREACH.— 

4 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

5 (ii), an eligible entity receiving a grant 

6 under the Program shall use not less than 

7 1 percent of the amounts received for out8 reach that is directed at the communities 

9 and bus users receiving or benefitting from 

10 those amounts, for the purpose of increas11 ing awareness of the benefits of grid-inte12 grated school buses and how grid-inte13 grated school buses will be used. 

14 (ii) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 

15 waive the requirement described in clause 

16 (i) if the Secretary determines that the 

17 outreach described in that clause is unnec18 essary or would be of minimal benefit to 

19 the overall goal of sustained technological 

20 deployment. 

21 (6) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible en22 tity receiving a grant under the Program shall en23 sure that amounts derived from non-Federal sources 

24 are provided for the projects funded by the grant in 


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1 a total amount that is equal to, or greater than, the 

2 amount of the grant. 

3 (7) OUTREACH TO POTENTIALLY INTERESTED

4 ENTITIES.—Of the total amount appropriated to 

5 carry out the Program, the Secretary shall use not 

6 less than 1 percent for outreach to potentially inter7 ested eligible entities, including eligible entities par8 ticipating in, or with a demonstrated interest in, the 

9 clean school bus program established under section 

10 741 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

11 16091). 

12 (8) SCHOOL DISTRICT COMPENSATION.—An eli13 gible entity receiving a grant under the Program 

14 shall demonstrate to the Secretary that any school 

15 district participating in the applicable project is ap16 propriately compensated for that participation in a 

17 manner approved by the Secretary, which may in18 clude— 

19 (A) the provision of direct financial com20 pensation to the school district; 

21 (B) the provision or acquisition of electric 

22 school buses for the school district; or 

23 (C) savings resulting from the implementa24 tion of an application described in paragraph 

25 (2). 


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1 (9) ANNUAL SUBMISSION OF DATA.—An eligible 

2 entity receiving a grant under the Program shall an3 nually submit to the Secretary data from vehicles, 

4 chargers, and associated grid infrastructure nec5 essary to determine operational and economic im6 pacts, and additional data as determined to be nec7 essary by the Secretary. 

8 (10) COMPATIBILITY WITH EPA CLEAN SCHOOL

9 BUS PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any other provi10 sion of law, the Secretary may provide a grant under 

11 the Program for applicable projects, programs, or 

12 activities for which amounts are provided under the 

13 clean school bus program established under section 

14 741 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

15 16091), and to eligible entities receiving amounts 

16 under that program, subject to all applicable re17 quirements of this section. 

18 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 submit to Congress a report summarizing any existing 

21 pilot programs, including State-funded and locally funded 

22 pilot programs, involving the use of school buses for the 

23 applications described in subsection (b)(2), including— 


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1 (1) any best practices, challenges, lessons 

2 learned, and promising future directions discernable 

3 from those pilot programs and applications; 

4 (2) any challenges, opportunities, and strategies 

5 unique to the implementation of those applications 

6 in rural areas; 

7 (3) any challenges to the commercial viability of 

8 those applications posed by State, Federal, or other 

9 regulatory barriers; and 

10 (4)(A) any challenges to the economic viability 

11 of projects involving those applications; and 

12 (B) any opportunities and strategies to make 

13 projects involving those applications economically 

14 viable. 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

17 out this section $500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

18 2022 through 2026. 

19 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF MEASURES TO PROMOTE VEHI20 CLE-TO-GRID INTEGRATION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Util22 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(22) VEHICLE-TO-GRID INTEGRATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall con2 sider— 

3 ‘‘(i) measures to promote vehicle-to4 grid integration, including— 

5 ‘‘(I) the establishment of rates, 

6 tariffs, measures, and standards that 

7 enable electric vehicles and electric ve8 hicle charging infrastructure— 

9 ‘‘(aa) to receive interconnec10 tion service as described in sub11 paragraph (B); and 

12 ‘‘(bb) to export power from 

13 the vehicle battery to the dis14 tribution system or the bulk 

15 power system; 

16 ‘‘(II) the establishment of rates, 

17 tariffs, measures, and standards that 

18 enable electric vehicle charging station 

19 site hosts, charging station owners, 

20 aggregators, owners of electric vehicle 

21 fleets or individual fleet vehicles, or 

22 drivers of private light-duty electric 

23 vehicles to receive compensation for 

24 electricity exported from the vehicle 


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1 battery to the distribution system or 

2 the bulk power system; and 

3 ‘‘(III) the establishment of rates, 

4 tariffs, measures, and standards that 

5 enable aggregation of electric vehicles 

6 for the purpose of participating in ac7 tive load management programs, in8 cluding customer demand-response 

9 programs and customer energy stor10 age programs, and providing ancillary 

11 services that recognize the value that 

12 flexible electric vehicle charging can 

13 provide to the distribution system or 

14 the bulk power system; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the impacts of the rates, tariffs, 

16 measures, and standards described in sub17 clauses (I) through (III) of clause (i), or 

18 similar rates, tariffs, measures, and stand19 ards, on all classes and types of vehicles, 

20 including, at a minimum, light-, medium-, 

21 and heavy-duty vehicles. 

22 ‘‘(B) INTERCONNECTION SERVICE DE23 SCRIBED.—The interconnection service referred 

24 to in subparagraph (A)(i)(I)(aa) is interconnec25 tion service that is offered based on— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the standards described in para2 graph (15) (or successor standards); or 

3 ‘‘(ii) as necessary and reasonable, 

4 standards that— 

5 ‘‘(I) are defined in electric vehi6 cle-to-grid communications interfaces, 

7 protocols, or standards; 

8 ‘‘(II) are widely adopted; and 

9 ‘‘(III) to ensure the reliability 

10 and safety of the electric system, 

11 are— 

12 ‘‘(aa) consistent (or adjusted 

13 to be consistent) with the stand14 ards described in clause (i); and 

15 ‘‘(bb) integrated, able to be 

16 integrated, or adjusted in a man17 ner that facilitates integration 

18 with the standards described in 

19 that clause.’’. 

20 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 

21 (1) TIME LIMITATION.—Section 112(b) of the 

22 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 

23 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(9)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of 

2 enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 

3 authority (with respect to each electric utility for 

4 which the State has ratemaking authority) and each 

5 nonregulated electric utility shall commence consid6 eration under section 111, or set a hearing date for 

7 consideration, with respect to the standard estab8 lished by paragraph (22) of section 111(d). 

9 ‘‘(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of 

10 enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 

11 authority (with respect to each electric utility for 

12 which the State has ratemaking authority), and each 

13 nonregulated electric utility shall complete the con14 sideration and make the determination under section 

15 111 with respect to the standard established by 

16 paragraph (22) of section 111(d).’’. 

17 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Section 112(c) of 

18 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

19 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following: ‘‘In the case of the standard es21 tablished by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), the 

22 reference contained in this subsection to the date of 

23 enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a ref24 erence to the date of enactment of that paragraph 

25 (22).’’. 


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1 (3) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 112 of the 

3 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

4 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended— 

5 (i) in subsection (d)— 

6 (I) by redesignating paragraphs 

7 (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 

8 through (C), respectively, and indent9 ing appropriately; and 

10 (II) in the matter preceding sub11 paragraph (A) (as so redesignated), 

12 by striking ‘‘Subsections’’ and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsections’’; 

15 (ii) in subsection (e)— 

16 (I) by redesignating paragraphs 

17 (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 

18 through (C), respectively, and indent19 ing appropriately; and 

20 (II) by striking the subsection 

21 designation and heading and all that 

22 follows through ‘‘Subsections’’ in the 

23 matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

24 (as so redesignated) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(2) TIME-BASED METERING AND COMMUNICA2 TIONS.—Subsections’’; 

3 (iii) in subsection (f)— 

4 (I) by redesignating paragraphs 

5 (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 

6 through (C), respectively, and indent7 ing appropriately; and 

8 (II) by striking the subsection 

9 designation and heading and all that 

10 follows through ‘‘Subsections’’ in the 

11 matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

12 (as so redesignated) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(3) INTERCONNECTION.—Subsections’’; 

15 (iv) in subsection (g)— 

16 (I) by redesignating paragraphs 

17 (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 

18 through (C), respectively, and indent19 ing appropriately; and 

20 (II) by striking the subsection 

21 designation and heading and all that 

22 follows through ‘‘Subsections’’ in the 

23 matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

24 (as so redesignated) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(4) DEMAND-RESPONSE PRACTICES.—Sub2 sections’’; 

3 (v) in subsection (h)— 

4 (I) by redesignating paragraphs 

5 (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 

6 through (C), respectively, and indent7 ing appropriately; and 

8 (II) by striking the subsection 

9 designation and heading and all that 

10 follows through ‘‘Subsections’’ in the 

11 matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

12 (as so redesignated) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(5) ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING PRO15 GRAMS.—Subsections’’; and 

16 (vi) in subsection (d) (as so amended) 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(6) VEHICLE-TO-GRID INTEGRATION.—Sub19 sections (b) and (c) shall not apply to the standard 

20 established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d) in 

21 the case of any electric utility in a State if, before 

22 the date of enactment of this subsection— 

23 ‘‘(A) the State has implemented for the 

24 electric utility the standard (or a comparable 

25 standard); 


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1 ‘‘(B) the State regulatory authority for the 

2 State or the relevant nonregulated electric util3 ity has conducted a proceeding to consider im4 plementation of the standard (or a comparable 

5 standard) for the electric utility; or 

6 ‘‘(C) the State legislature has voted on the 

7 implementation of the standard (or a com8 parable standard) for the electric utility during 

9 the 3-year period ending on that date of enact10 ment.’’. 

11 (B) CROSS REFERENCE.—Section 124 of 

12 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 

13 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of the 

15 standard established by paragraph (22) of sec16 tion 111(d), the reference contained in this sec17 tion to the date of enactment of this Act shall 

18 be deemed to be a reference to the date of en19 actment of that paragraph (22).’’. 

Æ 


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