I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 891 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a grant program to improve 

the energy resilience, energy democracy, and security of communities, 

prioritizing environmental justice communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2023 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. 

BUSH, Mr. CARSON, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. 

HAYES, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. BEYER, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. PORTER, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. CASAR, Mr. COHEN, 

Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Ms. MENG, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. TLAIB, 

Mr. TONKO, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. GALLEGO, Mrs. 

MCBATH, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 

OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, and Mr. 

DESAULNIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a grant 

program to improve the energy resilience, energy democracy, and security of communities, prioritizing environmental justice communities, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Resilient Com3 munities Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CLEAN ENERGY MICROGRID GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall es6 tablish and carry out a program to provide grants to eligi7 ble entities. 

8 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use a 

9 grant provided under the program established pursuant to 

10 subsection (a) to— 

11 (1) obtain technical assistance to— 

12 (A) upgrade building codes and standards 

13 for resiliency to climate change hazards (includ14 ing wildfires, flooding, sea level rise, landslides, 

15 drought, storms, temperature extremes, and 

16 other extreme weather events); 

17 (B) develop a FEMA Hazard Mitigation 

18 Plan to identify and overcome known climate 

19 change hazards to critical community infra20 structure; or 

21 (C) conduct a needs assessment of prospec22 tive clean energy microgrid projects and, as ap23 plicable, design prospective clean energy 

24 microgrids, including assistance to address per25 mitting and siting challenges, understand and 

26 facilitate financing options, and understand the 


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1 technical characteristics of clean energy 

2 microgrids; 

3 (2) provide community outreach and collabo4 rative planning with respect to a prospective project 

5 described in paragraph (3); or 

6 (3) carry out a project to develop and con7 struct— 

8 (A) a clean energy microgrid that supports 

9 critical community infrastructure; or 

10 (B) a clean energy microgrid for residences 

11 of medical baseline customers. 

12 (c) PRIORITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In providing grants under 

14 the program established pursuant to subsection (a), 

15 the Secretary of Energy shall give priority to an eli16 gible entity that proposes to use a grant to obtain 

17 technical assistance described in subsection (b)(1), 

18 provide outreach described in subsection (b)(2), or 

19 carry out a project described in subsection (b)(3), 

20 that will benefit an environmental justice commu21 nity. 

22 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND COMMUNITY

23 OUTREACH GRANTS.—After priority given under 

24 paragraph (1), in providing grants to obtain tech25 nical assistance described in subsection (b)(1) or 


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1 provide outreach described in subsection (b)(2), the 

2 Secretary of Energy shall give priority to an eligible 

3 entity proposing to obtain technical assistance or 

4 provide outreach that the Secretary of Energy deter5 mines will further the development of clean energy 

6 microgrids that are community-owned energy sys7 tems. 

8 (3) CLEAN ENERGY MICROGRID GRANTS.—After 

9 priority given under paragraph (1), in providing 

10 grants under the program established pursuant to 

11 subsection (a) for projects described in subsection 

12 (b)(3), the Secretary of Energy shall give priority to 

13 an eligible entity that— 

14 (A) proposes to develop and construct a 

15 clean energy microgrid that, in comparison to 

16 other clean energy microgrids for which grants 

17 are sought under such program, will result in 

18 the greatest reduction— 

19 (i) of greenhouse gas emissions; 

20 (ii) of emissions of criteria air pollut21 ants; 

22 (iii) in public health disparities in 

23 communities experiencing a dispropor24 tionate level of air pollution; or 


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1 (iv) in the energy cost burden for 

2 communities; 

3 (B) proposes to develop and construct a 

4 clean energy microgrid that is a community5 owned energy system; 

6 (C) proposes to develop and construct a 

7 clean energy microgrid that, in comparison to 

8 other clean energy microgrids for which grants 

9 are sought under such program, will provide the 

10 greatest amount of resiliency benefits to a juris11 diction in which the microgrid is located; 

12 (D) proposes to develop and construct a 

13 clean energy microgrid that minimizes land use 

14 impacts by— 

15 (i) siting sources of clean energy with16 in the already-built environment, including 

17 over rooftops and parking lots; 

18 (ii) siting sources of clean energy on 

19 existing brownfield sites or contaminated 

20 sites; 

21 (iii) co-locating sources of clean en22 ergy on agricultural lands or over res23 ervoirs; or 

24 (iv) siting sources of clean energy on 

25 compatible lands; 


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1 (E) proposes to, in developing and con2 structing a clean energy microgrid, utilize or in3 volve small businesses or nonprofits that pri4 marily operate or are located within environ5 mental justice communities, particularly those 

6 that are women-owned and operated or minor7 ity-owned and operated; 

8 (F) has previously received a grant to ob9 tain technical assistance under such program; 

10 (G) imposes registered apprentice utiliza11 tion requirements on projects, provided that 

12 such requirements comply with the apprentice 

13 to journey worker ratios established by the De14 partment of Labor or the applicable State Ap15 prenticeship Agency; or 

16 (H) proposes to develop and construct a 

17 clean energy microgrid in an area designated 

18 nonattainment and classified as an Extreme 

19 Area or Severe Area for one or more criteria air 

20 pollutants. 

21 (d) EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAM.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

23 funds are made available to carry out this section, 

24 the Secretary of Energy shall develop and carry out 

25 an educational outreach program to inform eligible 


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1 entities about the program established pursuant to 

2 subsection (a). 

3 (2) CONTRACTS.—The Secretary of Energy 

4 may enter into third-party contracts to implement 

5 the educational outreach program under paragraph 

6 (1). In entering into contracts pursuant to this para7 graph, the Secretary shall prioritize entering into 

8 contracts with women-owned and operated or minor9 ity-owned and operated entities. 

10 (3) PRIORITY.—The educational outreach pro11 gram under paragraph (1) shall prioritize— 

12 (A) providing information on the program 

13 established pursuant to subsection (a) to eligi14 ble entities that serve an environmental justice 

15 community and to environmental justice com16 munities; and 

17 (B) promoting public understanding of the 

18 community benefits of clean energy microgrids 

19 for critical community infrastructure. 

20 (e) COST SHARE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para22 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of technical 

23 assistance, outreach, or a project for which a grant 

24 is provided pursuant to the program established purVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H891.IH H891

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1 suant to subsection (a) shall not exceed 60 percent 

2 of such cost. 

3 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

4 The Federal share of the cost of technical assistance 

5 that is obtained for, outreach that is provided to, or 

6 a project that is carried out in, an environmental 

7 justice community, and for which a grant is provided 

8 pursuant to the program established pursuant to 

9 subsection (a) shall not exceed 90 percent of such 

10 cost. 

11 (f) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—The amount of a 

12 grant provided to an eligible entity under this section to 

13 carry out a project described in subsection (b)(3) may not 

14 exceed $10,000,000. 

15 (g) USE OF AMERICAN IRON, STEEL, AND MANUFAC16 TURED GOODS.— 

17 (1) No funds authorized under this section shall 

18 be made available with respect to a project unless all 

19 of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in 

20 the project are produced in the United States. 

21 (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in any case 

22 or category of cases in which the Secretary of En23 ergy finds that— 

24 (A) applying paragraph (1) would be in25 consistent with the public interest; 


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1 (B) iron, steel, and the relevant manufac2 tured goods are not produced in the United 

3 States in sufficient and reasonably available 

4 quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or 

5 (C) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufac6 tured goods produced in the United States will 

7 increase the cost of the overall project by more 

8 than 25 percent. 

9 (3) If the Secretary of Energy receives a re10 quest for a waiver under this subsection, the Sec11 retary shall make available to the public on an infor12 mal basis a copy of the request and information 

13 available to the Secretary concerning the request, 

14 and shall allow for informal public input on the re15 quest for at least 15 days prior to making a finding 

16 based on the request. The Secretary shall make the 

17 request and accompanying information available by 

18 electronic means, including on the official public 

19 website of the Department of Energy. 

20 (4) This subsection shall be applied in a man21 ner consistent with the United States obligations 

22 under international agreements. 

23 (h) PREVAILING WAGES.—All laborers and mechan24 ics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the per25 formance of construction, alteration, or repair work asVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H891.IH H891

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1 sisted, in whole or in part, by a grant under this section 

2 shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing 

3 on similar construction in the locality as determined by 

4 the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV 

5 of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. With respect 

6 to the labor standards in this subsection, the Secretary 

7 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth 

8 in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 

9 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United 

10 States Code. 

11 (i) PROJECT LABOR.—An eligible entity that uses a 

12 grant provided under this section to construct a clean en13 ergy microgrid shall ensure, to the greatest extent prac14 ticable, that any subgrantee of such eligible entity, and 

15 any subgrantee thereof, that carries out such construction 

16 employs at least 40 percent of laborers or mechanics for 

17 such construction that are individuals who— 

18 (1) are domiciled, if the applicable construction 

19 area is— 

20 (A) a major urban area, not further than 

21 15 miles from such construction area; or 

22 (B) not a major urban area, not further 

23 than 50 miles from such construction area; 

24 (2) are displaced and unemployed energy work25 ers; 


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1 (3) are members of the Armed Forces serving 

2 on active duty, separated from active duty, or retired 

3 from active duty; 

4 (4) have been incarcerated or served time in a 

5 juvenile or adult detention or correctional facility, or 

6 been placed on probation, community supervision, or 

7 in a diversion scheme; 

8 (5) have a disability; 

9 (6) are homeless; 

10 (7) are receiving public assistance; 

11 (8) lack a general education diploma or high 

12 school diploma; 

13 (9) are emancipated from the foster care sys14 tem; 

15 (10) reside or work in an environmental justice 

16 community; or 

17 (11) are registered apprentices with fewer than 

18 15 percent of the required graduating apprentice 

19 hours in a program. 

20 (j) REPORTS.—The Secretary of Energy shall submit 

21 to Congress, and make available on the public website of 

22 the Department of Energy, an annual report on the pro23 gram established pursuant to subsection (a) that includes, 

24 with respect to the previous year— 

25 (1) the number of grants provided; 


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1 (2) the total dollar amount of all grants pro2 vided; 

3 (3) a list of grant disbursements by State; 

4 (4) for each grant provided— 

5 (A) a description of the technical assist6 ance obtained, outreach provided, or project 

7 carried out with grants funds; and 

8 (B) whether the grant is provided to obtain 

9 technical assistance, provide outreach, or carry 

10 out a project with respect to an environmental 

11 justice community; and 

12 (5) for each grant provided to carry out a clean 

13 energy microgrid project— 

14 (A) employment data for such project, in15 cluding the number of jobs created and what 

16 percent of laborers and mechanics hired for 

17 such project meet the criteria under subsection 

18 (i); 

19 (B) the greenhouse gas and criteria air 

20 pollutant reduction impacts for such project; 

21 (C) the public health benefits from such 

22 project; and 

23 (D) the reduced energy cost burden from 

24 such project. 

25 (k) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

2 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2033, there is au3 thorized to be appropriated— 

4 (A) $50,000,000 for grants for technical 

5 assistance described in subsection (b)(1) and 

6 outreach described in subsection (b)(2); and 

7 (B) $1,500,000,000 for grants for projects 

8 described in subsection (b)(3). 

9 (2) COMMUNITY-OWNED ENERGY SYSTEMS.— 

10 To the maximum extent practicable, not less than 10 

11 percent of the amount appropriated under para12 graph (1)(B) for any fiscal year shall be used to pro13 vide grants for projects to develop and construct 

14 clean energy microgrids that are community-owned 

15 energy systems. 

16 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

17 (A) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OUT18 REACH.—The Secretary may use not more than 

19 2 percent of the amount appropriated for any 

20 fiscal year under paragraph (1)(A) for adminis21 trative expenses. 

22 (B) CLEAN ENERGY MICROGRID

23 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may use not more 

24 than 2 percent of the amount appropriated for 

25 any fiscal year under paragraph (1)(B) for adVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H891.IH H891

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1 ministrative expenses, including expenses for 

2 carrying out the educational outreach program 

3 under subsection (d). 

4 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) CLEAN ENERGY.—The term ‘‘clean energy’’ 

6 means electric energy generated from solar, wind, 

7 geothermal, existing hydropower, micro-hydropower, 

8 hydrokinetic, or hydrogen fuel cells. 

9 (2) COMMUNITY OF COLOR.—The term ‘‘com10 munity of color’’ means a geographically distinct 

11 area in which the population of any of the following 

12 categories of individuals is higher than the average 

13 populations of that category for the State in which 

14 the community is located: 

15 (A) Black. 

16 (B) African American. 

17 (C) Asian. 

18 (D) Pacific Islander. 

19 (E) Other non-White race. 

20 (F) Non-White Hispanic. 

21 (G) Latino. 

22 (H) Linguistically isolated. 

23 (3) COMMUNITY-OWNED ENERGY SYSTEM.— 

24 The term ‘‘community-owned energy system’’ means 

25 an energy system owned— 


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1 (A) by the local government where the sys2 tem is located; 

3 (B) by a nonprofit organization that is 

4 based in the local jurisdiction where the energy 

5 system is located; 

6 (C) collectively, by community members; or 

7 (D) by a worker-owned or community8 owned for-profit entity. 

9 (4) COMPATIBLE LAND.—The term ‘‘compatible 

10 land’’ means land that is at least 5 miles away from 

11 existing protected areas and within 3 miles of exist12 ing transmission infrastructure. 

13 (5) CRITICAL COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

14 The term ‘‘critical community infrastructure’’ means 

15 infrastructure that is necessary to providing vital 

16 community and individual functions, including— 

17 (A) schools; 

18 (B) town halls; 

19 (C) public safety facilities; 

20 (D) hospitals; 

21 (E) health clinics; 

22 (F) community centers; 

23 (G) community nonprofit facilities pro24 viding essential services; 

25 (H) libraries; 


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1 (I) grocery stores; 

2 (J) emergency management facilities; 

3 (K) water systems; 

4 (L) homeless shelters; 

5 (M) senior housing; and 

6 (N) public or affordable housing. 

7 (6) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti8 ty’’ means— 

9 (A) a State, territory of the United States, 

10 or Tribal agency; 

11 (B) a local government or political subdivi12 sion of a State, including a municipally owned 

13 electric utility and an agency, authority, cor14 poration, or instrumentality of a State or In15 dian Tribe; 

16 (C) an electric utility; 

17 (D) a nonprofit organization; or 

18 (E) a partnership between— 

19 (i) a private entity, or a nonprofit or20 ganization, that owns critical community 

21 infrastructure; and 

22 (ii) a State, territory of the United 

23 States, Tribal agency, or local government. 

24 (7) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

25 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 


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1 a community with significant representation of com2 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 

3 and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is 

4 at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse 

5 human health or environmental effects. 

6 (8) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low7 income community’’ means any census block group 

8 in which 30 percent or more of the population are 

9 individuals with an annual household income equal 

10 to, or less than, the greater of— 

11 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

12 median income of the area in which the house13 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

14 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

15 (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

16 line. 

17 (9) MAJOR URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘major 

18 urban area’’ means a metropolitan statistical area 

19 within the United States with an estimated popu20 lation that is greater than or equal to 1,500,000. 

21 (10) MEDICAL BASELINE CUSTOMER.—The 

22 term ‘‘medical baseline customer’’ means a customer 

23 of an electric utility with special energy needs due 

24 to a medical condition, including energy needs for— 

25 (A) a motorized wheelchair; 


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1 (B) a ventilator; 

2 (C) a dialysis machine; 

3 (D) an apnea monitor; 

4 (E) an electrostatic nebulizer; 

5 (F) a respirator; 

6 (G) medication requiring refrigeration; and 

7 (H) for a customer with a vulnerable res8 piratory system, an air cleaning system. 

9 (11) MICROGRID.—The term ‘‘microgrid’’ 

10 means an interconnected system of loads and clean 

11 energy resources (including distributed energy re12 sources, energy storage, demand response tools, and 

13 other management, forecasting, and analytical tools) 

14 which— 

15 (A) is appropriately sized to meet the crit16 ical needs of its customers; 

17 (B) is contained within a clearly defined 

18 electrical boundary and has the ability to oper19 ate as a single and controllable entity; 

20 (C) has the ability to— 

21 (i) connect to, disconnect from, or run 

22 in parallel with the applicable grid region; 

23 or 

24 (ii) be managed and isolated from the 

25 applicable grid region in order to withstand 


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1 larger disturbances and maintain the sup2 ply of electricity to a connected location; 

3 (D) has no point of interconnection to the 

4 applicable grid region with a throughput capac5 ity in excess of 20 megawatts; and 

6 (E) can connect to one building or multiple 

7 interconnected buildings. 

8 (12) MICRO-HYDROPOWER.—The term ‘‘micro9 hydropower’’ means hydropower that produces no 

10 more than 100 kilowatts of electricity using the nat11 ural flow of water. 

12 (13) PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES.—The 

13 term ‘‘produced in the United States’’ means, in the 

14 case of iron or steel, that all manufacturing proc15 esses, including the application of a coating, occur in 

16 the United States. 

17 (14) REGISTERED APPRENTICE.—The term 

18 ‘‘registered apprentice’’ means a person in an ap19 prenticeship program that is registered with, and ap20 proved by, the United States Department of Labor 

21 or a State Apprenticeship Agency in accordance with 

22 parts 29 and 30 of title 29, Code of Federal Regula23 tions (as in effect on January 1, 2020). 

24 (15) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi25 ness’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘small busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H891.IH H891

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1 ness concern’’ under section 3 of the Small Business 

2 Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

3 (16) TRIBAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.— 

4 The term ‘‘Tribal and indigenous community’’ 

5 means a population of people who are members of— 

6 (A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

7 (B) a State-recognized Indian Tribe; 

8 (C) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

9 community or organization; or 

10 (D) any other community of indigenous 

11 people located in a State. 

Æ 


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