II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5352 

To amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to establish a Federal renewable electricity standard for retail electricity 

suppliers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2024 

Mr. WELCH (for himself and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

Act of 1978 to establish a Federal renewable electricity 

standard for retail electricity suppliers, 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 ‘‘American Renewable 

5 Energy Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Federal renewable electricity standard 

2 established by section 610 of the Public Utility Reg3 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (as added by this Act) 

4 establishes a market-based policy to create ongoing 

5 competition among renewable electricity generators 

6 across the United States and provide the greatest 

7 quantity of clean electricity for the lowest price; and 

8 (2) the United States has vast wind, solar, hy9 dropower, and geothermal resources that— 

10 (A) are renewable; 

11 (B) are dispersed widely across different 

12 regions of the United States; 

13 (C) can be harnessed to generate a signifi14 cant share of electricity in the United States; 

15 and 

16 (D) when deployed, will significantly re17 duce and eliminate the emission of harmful 

18 greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants, which 

19 have historically been concentrated in under20 served communities and communities of color, 

21 contributing to disproportionate burdens and 

22 environmental injustices. 


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1 SEC. 3. FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Public Utility Reg3 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (Public Law 95–617; 92 Stat. 

4 3164) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 610. FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) BASE QUANTITY OF ELECTRICITY.—The 

8 term ‘base quantity of electricity’ means the total 

9 quantity of electricity, expressed in megawatt hours, 

10 sold by a retail electricity supplier to electric con11 sumers during the relevant calendar year, excluding 

12 electricity generated by a hydroelectric facility (other 

13 than qualified hydropower). 

14 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANT.—The term 

15 ‘criteria air pollutant’ means an air pollutant for 

16 which a national ambient air quality standard has 

17 been promulgated under section 109 of the Clean 

18 Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7409). 

19 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTED GENERATION.—The term 

20 ‘distributed generation’ means a noncentralized re21 newable energy resource installation, or inter22 connected series of installations, that generates elec23 tricity near the point of use with a total generating 

24 capacity of 1 megawatt or less. 

25 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘environ2 mental justice community’ means a low-income 

3 or low-wealth community that is impacted by 

4 environmental injustice. 

5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘environ6 mental justice community’ includes any commu7 nity that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is located nearest to an existing 

9 area of significant environmental pollution 

10 and degradation; 

11 ‘‘(ii) bears a burden of negative public 

12 health effects from pollution; 

13 ‘‘(iii) includes 1 or more sites of— 

14 ‘‘(I) a facility that is a part of a 

15 polluting industry; 

16 ‘‘(II) a waste dump; or 

17 ‘‘(III) a facility for fossil resource 

18 extraction; 

19 ‘‘(iv) experiences a high incidence of 

20 climate change impacts and disasters; 

21 ‘‘(v) has been excluded or harmed by 

22 racist or discriminatory policies that have 

23 resulted in disproportionate burdens of en24 vironmental pollution and related health 

25 and socioeconomic disparities; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) has a land-based or food subsist2 ence culture that is experiencing ecosystem 

3 disruption and devastation; 

4 ‘‘(vii) faces relocation and resettle5 ment resulting from— 

6 ‘‘(I) climate change; or 

7 ‘‘(II) impacts to the environment 

8 and ecosystems; or 

9 ‘‘(viii) is an Indigenous community. 

10 ‘‘(5) FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

11 CREDIT.—The term ‘Federal renewable electricity 

12 credit’ means a credit that— 

13 ‘‘(A) represents, for purposes of compli14 ance with this section, 1 megawatt hour of re15 newable electricity; and 

16 ‘‘(B) is issued pursuant to subsection (e). 

17 ‘‘(6) IMPACTED COMMUNITY.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘impacted 

19 community’ means a community that is harmed 

20 by environmental, economic, or socioeconomic 

21 injustice. 

22 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘impacted 

23 community’ includes— 

24 ‘‘(i) an environmental justice commu25 nity; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a community that— 

2 ‘‘(I) has a high concentration of 

3 low-income and low-wealth house4 holds, including households composed 

5 primarily of members of groups that 

6 have historically experienced discrimi7 nation on the basis of race, gender, 

8 national origin, or ethnicity (including 

9 Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Arab, 

10 Asian, and Pacific Islander commu11 nities); 

12 ‘‘(II) has experienced or is expe13 riencing economic transition, 

14 deindustrialization, historic under15 investment, and poverty; or 

16 ‘‘(III) has high unemployment 

17 due to— 

18 ‘‘(aa) a significant decline in 

19 coal mining activity; or 

20 ‘‘(bb) the closure of a coal21 fired power plant. 

22 ‘‘(7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

23 means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other or24 ganized group or community (including any Native 

25 village, Regional Corporation, or Village Corporation 


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1 (as those terms are defined in section 3 of the Alas2 ka Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1602))) 

3 that is recognized as eligible for the special pro4 grams and services provided by the United States to 

5 Indians because of their status as Indians. 

6 ‘‘(8) QUALIFIED HYDROPOWER.—The term 

7 ‘qualified hydropower’ means energy produced from 

8 generating capacity added to a dam on or after Jan9 uary 1, 2001, if the Commission certifies that— 

10 ‘‘(A) the dam— 

11 ‘‘(i) was placed in service before the 

12 date of enactment of this section; 

13 ‘‘(ii) was operated for flood control, 

14 navigation, or water supply purposes; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) was not producing hydroelectric 

16 power prior to the addition of the capacity; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(B) the hydroelectric project installed on 

19 the dam— 

20 ‘‘(i) is licensed or is exempt from li21 censing by the Commission; 

22 ‘‘(ii) is in compliance with— 

23 ‘‘(I) the terms and conditions of 

24 the license or exemption; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) other applicable legal re2 quirements for the protection of envi3 ronmental quality, including applica4 ble fish passage requirements; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) is operated so that the water 

6 surface elevation at any given location and 

7 time that would have occurred in the ab8 sence of the hydroelectric project is main9 tained, subject to any license or exemption 

10 requirements that require changes in water 

11 surface elevation for the purpose of im12 proving the environmental quality of the 

13 affected waterway. 

14 ‘‘(9) RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY.—The term ‘re15 newable electricity’ means electricity generated (in16 cluding by means of a fuel cell) from a renewable en17 ergy resource. 

18 ‘‘(10) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE.—The 

19 term ‘renewable energy resource’ means each of the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(A) Wind energy. 

22 ‘‘(B) Solar energy. 

23 ‘‘(C) Geothermal energy. 

24 ‘‘(D) Biogas derived from— 


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1 ‘‘(i) anaerobic digestion at wastewater 

2 treatment facilities; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) farm anaerobic digestion. 

4 ‘‘(E) Qualified hydropower. 

5 ‘‘(F) Marine energy (as defined in section 

6 632 of the Energy Independence and Security 

7 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17211)). 

8 ‘‘(11) RETAIL ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘retail elec10 tricity supplier’ means, for any calendar year, 

11 an electric utility that sells not fewer than 

12 1,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity to elec13 tric consumers during the preceding calendar 

14 year. 

15 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS.—For 

16 purposes of determining whether an electric 

17 utility qualifies as a retail electricity supplier 

18 under subparagraph (A)— 

19 ‘‘(i) the sales made by any affiliate of 

20 the electric utility to electric consumers, 

21 other than sales to lessees or tenants of 

22 the affiliate, shall be considered to be sales 

23 made by the electric utility; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) sales made by the electric utility 

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1 tric utility shall not be treated as sales to 

2 electric consumers. 

3 ‘‘(C) AFFILIATE.—In this paragraph, the 

4 term ‘affiliate’, when used in relation to an elec5 tric utility, means any person that directly or 

6 indirectly owns or controls, is owned or con7 trolled by, or is under common ownership or 

8 control with, that electric utility, as determined 

9 under regulations promulgated by the Commis10 sion. 

11 ‘‘(12) RETIRE AND RETIREMENT.—The terms 

12 ‘retire’ and ‘retirement’, with respect to a Federal 

13 renewable electricity credit, mean to disqualify the 

14 credit for any subsequent use under this section, re15 gardless of whether the use is a sale, transfer, ex16 change, or submission in satisfaction of a compliance 

17 obligation. 

18 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE OBLIGATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro20 vided in subsection (f), for each of calendar years 

21 2025 through 2034, not later than March 31 of the 

22 following calendar year, each retail electricity sup23 plier shall submit to the Commission a quantity of 

24 Federal renewable electricity credits that represents 

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1 tricity that is at least equal to the annual target of 

2 the retail electricity supplier under subsection (d). 

3 ‘‘(2) EQUITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) DISTRIBUTED GENERATION.—The 

5 Commission shall require that, of the quantity 

6 of Federal renewable electricity credits required 

7 to be submitted by a retail electricity supplier 

8 to comply with paragraph (1)— 

9 ‘‘(i) for the period of calendar years 

10 2025 through 2028, at least 15 percent of 

11 those Federal renewable electricity credits 

12 represent megawatt hours of renewable 

13 electricity generated by distributed genera14 tion; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) for the period of calendar years 

16 2029 through 2034, at least 20 percent of 

17 those Federal renewable electricity credits 

18 represent megawatt hours of renewable 

19 electricity generated by distributed genera20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(B) IMPACTED COMMUNITIES.—The 

22 Commission shall require that, of the quantity 

23 of Federal renewable electricity credits required 

24 to be submitted by a retail electricity supplier 

25 to comply with paragraph (1)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) for the period of calendar years 

2 2025 through 2028, at least 15 percent of 

3 those Federal renewable electricity credits 

4 represent megawatt hours of renewable 

5 electricity generated in impacted commu6 nities; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) for the period of calendar years 

8 2029 through 2034, at least 20 percent of 

9 those Federal renewable electricity credits 

10 represent megawatt hours of renewable 

11 electricity generated in impacted commu12 nities. 

13 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTED GENERATION OCCUR14 RING IN AN IMPACTED COMMUNITY.—For any 

15 calendar year, distributed generation that oc16 curs in an impacted community may be used 

17 for purposes of complying with both subpara18 graph (A) and subparagraph (B). 

19 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 

21 2026, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 

22 to implement and enforce the requirements of this 

23 section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating regu2 lations under paragraph (1), the Commission shall, 

3 to the maximum extent practicable— 

4 ‘‘(A) preserve the integrity and incorporate 

5 best practices of existing State and Tribal re6 newable electricity programs; 

7 ‘‘(B) preserve the integrity of voluntary re8 newable energy markets; 

9 ‘‘(C) design and implement those regula10 tions in a manner that seeks to be equitable 

11 and just; 

12 ‘‘(D) identify and prioritize measures to 

13 maximize reductions of emissions of greenhouse 

14 gases and criteria air pollutants in impacted 

15 communities; 

16 ‘‘(E) ensure that activities undertaken to 

17 comply with those regulations result in a net 

18 decrease in emissions of criteria air pollutants 

19 in impacted communities; 

20 ‘‘(F) ensure that the deployment of any 

21 new renewable electricity generation provides 

22 economic, health, and resiliency benefits to the 

23 communities and areas in which the applicable 

24 generation facility or resource is built or in25 stalled, including through the use of community 


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1 benefit agreements or equivalent means as de2 termined appropriate by the Commission; 

3 ‘‘(G) prioritize measures that will 

4 incentivize or allow for distributed, community, 

5 and public ownership over renewable energy 

6 projects; 

7 ‘‘(H) establish and delegate to an appro8 priate entity the administration of a national 

9 Federal renewable electricity credit trading 

10 market for the issuance and trade of Federal 

11 renewable electricity credits, relying on existing 

12 and emerging State, Tribal, or regional track13 ing systems that issue and track non-Federal 

14 renewable electricity credits; 

15 ‘‘(I) establish and delegate to appropriate 

16 entities the administration of not fewer than 6 

17 regional, geographically-based, Federal renew18 able electricity credit trading markets, and de19 termine the optimal levels of credit trading al20 lowed within and between regions to maximize 

21 deployment of new renewable electricity genera22 tion within each region; 

23 ‘‘(J) cooperate with States and Indian 

24 Tribes— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to facilitate coordination between 

2 State, Tribal, and Federal renewable elec3 tricity programs; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) to minimize administrative bur5 dens and costs to retail electricity sup6 pliers; and 

7 ‘‘(K) encourage strategic deployment of 

8 distributed generation to maximize system ben9 efits that can lower costs for all customers, in10 cluding siting generation resources in grid-con11 strained areas and colocation of renewable en12 ergy resources with energy storage. 

13 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL TARGETS.—For each calendar 

15 year, the annual target of a retail electricity supplier 

16 shall be equal to the number of megawatt hours that 

17 is equal to the product obtained by multiplying— 

18 ‘‘(A) the required annual percentage for 

19 that calendar year under paragraph (2) or (3), 

20 as applicable; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the base quantity of electricity of that 

22 retail electricity supplier for that calendar year. 

23 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED ANNUAL PERCENTAGE FOR

24 CALENDAR YEARS 2025 THROUGH 2034.—For each of 


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1 calendar years 2025 through 2034, the required an2 nual percentage shall be as follows: 

Required annual 

‘‘Year: percentage: 

2025 ................................................................................................... 20.0

2026 ................................................................................................... 24.5

2027 ................................................................................................... 29.0

2028 ................................................................................................... 34.0

2029 ................................................................................................... 39.0

2030 ................................................................................................... 45.0

2031 ................................................................................................... 51.0

2032 ................................................................................................... 57.0

2033 ................................................................................................... 63.5

2034 ................................................................................................... 70.0. 

3 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED ANNUAL PERCENTAGE FOR

4 SUBSEQUENT CALENDAR YEARS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) CALENDAR YEARS 2035 THROUGH

6 2044.—Not later than December 31, 2034, the 

7 Commission shall promulgate regulations estab8 lishing required annual percentages for each of 

9 calendar years 2035 through 2044. 

10 ‘‘(B) INCREASE.—Except at provided in 

11 subparagraph (C), for each of calendar years 

12 2035 through 2044, the required annual per13 centage shall be equal to the sum obtained by 

14 adding— 

15 ‘‘(i) the required annual percentage 

16 for the previous calendar year; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) 3 percentage points. 

18 ‘‘(C) FEASIBILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) ADJUSTMENT.—Subject to clause 

2 (ii), for any of calendar years 2035 

3 through 2044, the Commission may in4 crease or decrease the 3 percentage point 

5 increase required under subparagraph (B) 

6 if the Commission determines necessary 

7 based on technical and economic feasibility 

8 studies or other equivalent means. 

9 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—For each of 

10 calendar years 2035 through 2044, the 

11 percentage point increase required under 

12 this paragraph for the required annual 

13 percentage shall be greater than zero. 

14 ‘‘(D) MINIMUM PERCENTAGE.—In no case 

15 shall the required annual percentage for any 

16 calendar year after calendar year 2035 be less 

17 than the required annual percentage for cal18 endar year 2035. 

19 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY CRED20 ITS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ISSUANCE; TRACKING; 

23 VERIFICATION.—The regulations promulgated 

24 under this section shall include provisions govVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:03 Nov 25, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5352.IS S5352

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1 erning the issuance, tracking, and verification 

2 of Federal renewable electricity credits. 

3 ‘‘(B) CREDIT RATIO.—Except as provided 

4 in paragraphs (2) through (5), the Commission 

5 shall issue to each generator of renewable elec6 tricity 1 Federal renewable electricity credit for 

7 each megawatt hour of renewable electricity 

8 generated by the generator after December 31, 

9 2024. 

10 ‘‘(C) SERIAL NUMBER.—The Commission 

11 shall assign a unique serial number to each 

12 Federal renewable electricity credit. 

13 ‘‘(2) GENERATION FROM CERTAIN STATE RE14 NEWABLE ELECTRICITY PROGRAMS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If renewable elec16 tricity is generated with the support of pay17 ments from a retail electricity supplier pursuant 

18 to a State renewable electricity program 

19 (whether through State alternative compliance 

20 payments or through payments to a State re21 newable electricity procurement fund or enti22 ty)— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Commission shall issue Fed24 eral renewable electricity credits to the re25 tail electricity supplier for the portion of 


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1 the relevant renewable electricity genera2 tion that is attributable to the payments 

3 made by the retail electricity supplier, as 

4 determined pursuant to regulations pro5 mulgated by the Commission; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) for any remaining portion of the 

7 relevant renewable electricity generation, 

8 the Commission shall issue Federal renew9 able electricity credits to the generator, as 

10 provided in paragraph (1), subject to the 

11 condition that not more than 1 Federal re12 newable electricity credit shall be issued 

13 for any 1 megawatt hour of electricity. 

14 ‘‘(B) STATE GUIDANCE.—In determining 

15 how Federal renewable electricity credits will be 

16 apportioned among retail electricity suppliers 

17 and generators under this paragraph, the Com18 mission shall consider information and guidance 

19 issued by the applicable 1 or more States. 

20 ‘‘(3) CERTAIN POWER SALES CONTRACTS.—Ex21 cept as otherwise provided in paragraph (2), if a 

22 generator has sold renewable electricity to a retail 

23 electricity supplier under a contract for power from 

24 a facility placed in service before the date of enact25 ment of this section, and the contract does not proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:03 Nov 25, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5352.IS S5352

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1 vide for the determination of ownership of the Fed2 eral renewable electricity credits associated with the 

3 generation, the Commission shall issue the Federal 

4 renewable electricity credits to the retail electricity 

5 supplier for the duration of the contract. 

6 ‘‘(4) CREDITS BASED ON QUALIFIED HYDRO7 POWER.—For purposes of this subsection, the num8 ber of megawatt hours of renewable electricity gen9 eration from qualified hydropower shall be cal10 culated— 

11 ‘‘(A) based solely on the increase in aver12 age annual generation directly resulting from 

13 the capacity additions described in subsection 

14 (a)(8); and 

15 ‘‘(B) using the same water flow informa16 tion used to determine a historic average an17 nual generation baseline for the applicable hy18 droelectric facility, as certified by the Commis19 sion. 

20 ‘‘(5) CREDITS BASED ON FARM ANAEROBIC DI21 GESTION.—For any calendar year, a generator may 

22 only receive Federal renewable electricity credits for 

23 renewable electricity generated from biogas that is 

24 derived from farm anaerobic digestion if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any manure used for that anaerobic 

2 digestion is from a farm that only provides its 

3 manure for anaerobic digestion to 1 anaerobic 

4 digester system; 

5 ‘‘(B) the anaerobic digester system used by 

6 that generator has a capacity of less than, or 

7 equal to, 1 megawatt; and 

8 ‘‘(C) during that calendar year, the total 

9 renewable electricity produced from biogas de10 rived from farm anaerobic digestion in the ap11 plicable State represents not more than 10 per12 cent of the total electricity usage in the State. 

13 ‘‘(6) GENERATION FROM MIXED RENEWABLE

14 AND NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES.—If electricity is 

15 generated using both a renewable energy resource 

16 and an energy resource that is not a renewable en17 ergy resource, the Commission shall issue Federal 

18 renewable electricity credits based on the proportion 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(A) the electricity generated that is at21 tributable to the renewable energy resource; 

22 bears to 

23 ‘‘(B) the total electricity generated. 

24 ‘‘(7) PROHIBITION AGAINST DOUBLE-COUNT25 ING.—The Commission shall ensure that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) no Federal renewable electricity cred2 it is used more than once for compliance with 

3 this section; and 

4 ‘‘(B) not more than 1 Federal renewable 

5 electricity credit is issued for any megawatt 

6 hour of renewable electricity generated. 

7 ‘‘(8) TRADING.—The lawful holder of a Federal 

8 renewable electricity credit may— 

9 ‘‘(A) sell, exchange, or transfer the credit; 

10 ‘‘(B) submit the credit for compliance 

11 under subsection (b); or 

12 ‘‘(C) submit the credit for retirement by 

13 the Commission. 

14 ‘‘(9) BANKING.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal renewable 

16 electricity credit may be submitted in satisfac17 tion of the compliance obligation under sub18 section (b) for— 

19 ‘‘(i) the compliance year for which the 

20 credit was issued; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the first or second compliance 

22 year thereafter. 

23 ‘‘(B) RETIREMENT.—The Commission 

24 shall retire any Federal renewable electricity 

25 credit that has not been retired by April 2 of 


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1 the calendar year that is 2 years after the cal2 endar year during which the credit was issued. 

3 ‘‘(10) RETIREMENT.—The Commission shall re4 tire a Federal renewable electricity credit imme5 diately upon submission by the lawful holder of the 

6 credit, whether in satisfaction of a compliance obli7 gation under subsection (b) or for another reason. 

8 ‘‘(f) ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE PAYMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A retail electricity supplier 

10 may satisfy the requirements of subsection (b) in 

11 whole or in part by submitting, in accordance with 

12 this subsection, in lieu of a Federal renewable elec13 tricity credit that would otherwise be submitted, an 

14 alternative compliance payment equal to $50, ad15 justed for inflation on January 1 of each year after 

16 calendar year 2024, in accordance with regulations 

17 promulgated by the Commission. 

18 ‘‘(2) PAYMENT TO STATE FUNDS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (B), payments made under this 

21 subsection shall be made directly to the 1 or 

22 more States in which the applicable retail elec23 tricity supplier sells electricity, subject to the 

24 conditions that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the amount of each payment shall 

2 be based on the proportion that— 

3 ‘‘(I) the portion of the base quan4 tity of electricity of the retail elec5 tricity supplier that is sold within the 

6 applicable State; bears to 

7 ‘‘(II) the base quantity of elec8 tricity of the retail electricity supplier; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the payments are deposited di10 rectly into a fund of the State treasury es11 tablished for that purpose; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the State uses the funds in ac13 cordance with paragraphs (3) and (4). 

14 ‘‘(B) NONCOMPLIANCE.—If the Commis15 sion determines that a State is in substantial 

16 noncompliance with paragraph (3) or (4), the 

17 Commission shall direct that any future alter18 native compliance payments that would other19 wise be paid to the State under this subsection 

20 shall instead be paid to the Commission and de21 posited in the Treasury. 

22 ‘‘(3) STATE USE OF FUNDS.—As a condition of 

23 receipt of alternative compliance payments pursuant 

24 to this subsection, a State shall— 

25 ‘‘(A) use the payments exclusively for— 


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1 ‘‘(i) deploying technologies that gen2 erate electricity from renewable energy re3 sources; 

4 ‘‘(ii) deploying technologies that store 

5 electricity for use at a later time; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) implementing cost-effective en7 ergy efficiency programs to achieve energy 

8 savings; and 

9 ‘‘(B) invest or use the payments in a man10 ner designed to ensure that impacted commu11 nities receive, or directly benefit from, at least 

12 50 percent of the funds. 

13 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of re15 ceipt of alternative compliance payments pursu16 ant to this subsection, a State shall submit to 

17 the Commission an annual report, in accord18 ance with regulations promulgated by the Com19 mission, containing a full accounting of the use 

20 of the payments, including a detailed descrip21 tion of the activities funded by the payments, 

22 and demonstrating compliance with the require23 ments of this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.—A State shall submit a 

25 report under subparagraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) not later than 1 year after the 

2 date on which the first alternative compli3 ance payment is received; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) every year thereafter until all al5 ternative compliance payments are ex6 pended. 

7 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION COLLECTION.—The Commission 

8 may require any retail electricity supplier, renewable elec9 tricity generator, or other entity that the Commission de10 termines appropriate, to provide any information the Com11 mission determines appropriate to carry out this section. 

12 ‘‘(h) ENFORCEMENT AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

13 ‘‘(1) FAILURE TO SUBMIT CREDITS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any person fails to 

15 comply with the requirements of subsection (b) 

16 or (f) for a calendar year, the person shall be 

17 liable to pay to the Commission a civil penalty 

18 equal to the product obtained by multiplying— 

19 ‘‘(i) double the alternative compliance 

20 payment calculated under subsection (f)(1) 

21 for that calendar year; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate quantity of Fed23 eral renewable electricity credits or equiva24 lent alternative compliance payments that 

25 the person failed to submit in violation of 


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1 the requirements of subsections (b) and (f) 

2 for that calendar year. 

3 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission 

4 shall assess a civil penalty under subparagraph 

5 (A) in accordance with the procedures described 

6 in section 31(d) of the Federal Power Act (16 

7 U.S.C. 823b(d)). 

8 ‘‘(2) VIOLATION OF OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person who vio10 lates or fails or refuses to comply with any re11 quirement of this section (including any regula12 tion promulgated or order issued under this sec13 tion), other than a requirement of subsection 

14 (b) or (f), shall be subject to a civil penalty 

15 under section 316A(b) of the Federal Power 

16 Act (16 U.S.C. 825o–1(b)). 

17 ‘‘(B) ASSESSMENT.—The penalty under 

18 subparagraph (A) shall be assessed by the Com19 mission in the same manner as in the case of 

20 a violation referred to in section 316A(b) of the 

21 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825o–1(b)). 

22 ‘‘(3) JUDICIAL REVIEW.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any person aggrieved 

24 by a final action taken by the Commission 

25 under this section, other than the assessment of 


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1 a civil penalty under paragraph (1) or (2), may 

2 use the procedures for review described in sec3 tion 313 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

4 825l). 

5 ‘‘(B) REFERENCE.—For purposes of this 

6 paragraph, references to an order in section 

7 313 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825l) 

8 shall be considered to refer also to all other 

9 final actions of the Commission under this sec10 tion other than the assessment of a civil penalty 

11 under paragraph (1) or (2). 

12 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATION.—Nothing in this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) diminishes or qualifies any authority of a 

14 State, a political subdivision of a State, or an Indian 

15 Tribe— 

16 ‘‘(A) to adopt or enforce any law (includ17 ing regulations) respecting renewable electricity, 

18 including any law establishing requirements 

19 that are more stringent than those established 

20 by this section, subject to the condition that no 

21 such law may relieve any person of any require22 ment otherwise applicable under this section; or 

23 ‘‘(B) to regulate the acquisition and dis24 position of Federal renewable electricity credits 

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1 tion of the State, political subdivision, or Indian 

2 Tribe, including the authority to require a retail 

3 electricity supplier to acquire and submit to the 

4 Commission for retirement Federal renewable 

5 electricity credits in excess of those submitted 

6 under this section; or 

7 ‘‘(2) affects the application of, or the responsi8 bility for, compliance with any other provision of law 

9 (including regulations).’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con11 tents in section 1(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Poli12 cies Act of 1978 (Public Law 95–617; 92 Stat. 3118) is 

13 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

14 title VI the following: 

‘‘Sec. 609. Rural and remote communities electrification grants. 

‘‘Sec. 610. Federal renewable electricity standard.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. CLARIFYING STATE AUTHORITY TO ADOPT RENEW16 ABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES. 

17 Section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

18 Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a–3) is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(o) CLARIFICATION OF STATE AUTHORITY TO

21 ADOPT RENEWABLE ENERGY INCENTIVES.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF STATE-APPROVED PRO23 DUCTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM.—In this subsection, 

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1 gram’ means a requirement imposed pursuant to 

2 State law, or by a State regulatory authority acting 

3 within its authority under State law, that an electric 

4 utility purchase renewable energy (as defined in sec5 tion 609(a)) at a specified rate. 

6 ‘‘(2) STATE AUTHORITY TO ADOPT RENEWABLE

7 ENERGY INCENTIVES.—Notwithstanding any other 

8 provision of this Act or the Federal Power Act (16 

9 U.S.C. 791a et seq.), a State law or State regulatory 

10 authority may set the rates for a sale of electricity 

11 by a facility generating renewable energy (as defined 

12 in section 609(a)) pursuant to a State-approved pro13 duction incentive program under which the facility 

14 voluntarily participates in the State-approved pro15 duction incentive program.’’. 

Æ 


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