II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5259 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to increase participation in community solar programs and the receipt of associated benefits, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. LUJA ́N 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 increase participation in community solar programs 

and the receipt of associated benefits, 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 Solar Con5 sumer Choice Act of 2024’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 5259 IS

1 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY SOLAR CONSUMER CHOICE PROGRAM; 

2 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION IN 

3 COMMUNITY SOLAR. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) COMMUNITY SOLAR FACILITY; COMMUNITY

6 SOLAR PROGRAM; SUBSCRIBER.—The terms ‘‘com7 munity solar facility’’, ‘‘community solar program’’, 

8 and ‘‘subscriber’’ have the meanings given those 

9 terms in paragraph (22)(A) of section 111(d) of the 

10 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 

11 U.S.C. 2621(d)). 

12 (2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na13 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

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

15 U.S.C. 15801). 

16 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Energy. 

18 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY SOLAR CON19 SUMER CHOICE PROGRAM.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

22 shall establish a program to increase access to com23 munity solar programs for— 

24 (A) individuals, particularly individuals 

25 that do not have regular access to onsite solar, 

26 including low- and moderate-income individuals; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 5259 IS

1 (B) businesses; 

2 (C) nonprofit organizations; and 

3 (D) States and local and Tribal govern4 ments. 

5 (2) ALIGNMENT WITH EXISTING FEDERAL PRO6 GRAMS.—The Secretary shall align the program es7 tablished under paragraph (1) with existing Federal 

8 programs that serve low-income communities. 

9 (3) ASSISTANCE TO STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL

10 GOVERNMENTS.—In carrying out the program estab11 lished under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

12 (A) provide technical assistance to State, 

13 local, and Tribal governments, and other enti14 ties, for projects to increase access to commu15 nity solar programs; 

16 (B) assist State, local, and Tribal govern17 ments in the development of new and innovative 

18 financial and business models, including afford19 able rate structures, that leverage competition 

20 in the energy marketplace in order to serve sub21 scribers; and 

22 (C) use National Laboratories to collect 

23 and disseminate data to assist private entities 

24 in the financing of, subscription to, and operVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:15 Oct 11, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5259.IS S5259

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 5259 IS

1 ation of community solar facilities and commu2 nity solar programs. 

3 (c) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION IN COM4 MUNITY SOLAR PROGRAMS.—The Secretary, to the extent 

5 practicable, shall expand the existing grant, loan, and fi6 nancing programs of the Department of Energy to include 

7 community solar programs. 

8 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY SOLAR PRO9 GRAMS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Util11 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(22) COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAMS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(i) COMMUNITY SOLAR FACILITY.— 

16 The term ‘community solar facility’ means 

17 a solar photovoltaic system that— 

18 ‘‘(I) allocates electricity to mul19 tiple electric consumers served by an 

20 electric utility; 

21 ‘‘(II) is connected to local dis22 tribution infrastructure of the electric 

23 utility; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 5259 IS

1 ‘‘(III) is located either on or off 

2 the property of 1 or more subscribers; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(IV) may be owned by an elec5 tric utility, 1 more subscribers, or a 

6 third party. 

7 ‘‘(ii) COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAM.— 

8 The term ‘community solar program’ 

9 means a service provided by an electric 

10 utility to an electric consumer served by 

11 the electric utility through which the value 

12 of electricity generated by a community 

13 solar facility may be used to offset charges 

14 billed to the electric consumer by the elec15 tric utility. 

16 ‘‘(iii) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘sub17 scriber’ means an electric consumer who 

18 participates in a community solar program. 

19 ‘‘(B) STANDARD.— 

20 ‘‘(i) NON-TRIBAL UTILITIES.—Each 

21 electric utility that is not a Tribal utility 

22 shall offer a community solar program to 

23 which all ratepayers of the electric utility, 

24 including low-income ratepayers, have equi25 table and demonstrable access. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 5259 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) TRIBAL UTILITIES.— 

2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A Tribal util3 ity may offer a community solar pro4 gram. 

5 ‘‘(II) RESOURCES.—A Tribal 

6 utility that offers a community solar 

7 program may leverage the resources 

8 made available to the Tribal utility 

9 under this Act to carry out that com10 munity solar program. 

11 ‘‘(C) OWNERSHIP OF COMMUNITY SOLAR

12 FACILITIES.—A community solar program es13 tablished pursuant to this paragraph shall in14 clude a mechanism to allow electric utilities, 

15 non-utilities, and other appropriate entities to 

16 assume complete or partial ownership of rel17 evant community solar facilities, as necessary to 

18 deliver customer benefits and mitigate the im19 pacts of market concentration. 

20 ‘‘(D) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER

21 GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall provide tech22 nical assistance and other guidance necessary to 

23 carry out a community solar program pursuant 

24 to this paragraph, including to State, local, and 

25 Tribal governments, as appropriate.’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 5259 IS

1 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 

2 (1) TIME LIMITATIONS.—Section 112(b) of the 

3 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 

4 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended— 

5 (A) by indenting paragraphs (4) through 

6 (8), and any subparagraphs within those para7 graphs, appropriately; and 

8 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(9)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of enact10 ment of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority 

11 (with respect to each electric utility for which the State 

12 has ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated electric 

13 utility shall commence consideration under section 111, or 

14 set a hearing date for consideration, with respect to the 

15 standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d). 

16 ‘‘(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of enact17 ment of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority 

18 (with respect to each electric utility for which the State 

19 has ratemaking authority), and each nonregulated electric 

20 utility shall complete the consideration and make the de21 termination under section 111 with respect to the stand22 ard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d).’’. 

23 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 5259 IS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 112(c) of the 

2 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

3 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended— 

4 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

5 ‘‘subsection (b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘sub6 section (b)’’; and 

7 (ii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: ‘‘In the case of the standard estab9 lished by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), 

10 the reference contained in this subsection 

11 to the date of enactment of this Act shall 

12 be deemed to be a reference to the date of 

13 enactment of that paragraph (22).’’. 

14 (3) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 112 of the 

16 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

17 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended— 

18 (i) in subsection (h), in the subsection 

19 heading, by striking ‘‘OTHER’’; and 

20 (ii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(i) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Subsections (b) and 

23 (c) shall not apply to the standard established by para24 graph (22) of section 111(d) in the case of any electric 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 5259 IS

1 utility in a State if, before the date of enactment of this 

2 subsection— 

3 ‘‘(1) the State has implemented for the electric 

4 utility the standard (or a comparable standard); 

5 ‘‘(2) the State regulatory authority for the 

6 State or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has 

7 conducted a proceeding to consider implementation 

8 of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the 

9 electric utility; or 

10 ‘‘(3) the State legislature has voted on the im11 plementation of the standard (or a comparable 

12 standard) for the electric utility.’’. 

13 (B) CROSS-REFERENCE.—Section 124 of 

14 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 

15 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by adding 

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

17 standard established by paragraph (22) of sec18 tion 111(d), the reference contained in this sec19 tion to the date of enactment of this Act shall 

20 be deemed to be a reference to the date of en21 actment of that paragraph (22).’’. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 5259 IS

1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC UTILITY SERV2 ICES. 

3 Section 501(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code, is 

4 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC UTILITY CONTRACTS.—A 

7 contract under this paragraph for public utility 

8 services may be for a period of not more than 

9 30 years.’’. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS