II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3489 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to establish 

an energy circuit rider program to disseminate technical and other assistance to rural communities to support energy efficiency and clean energy 

projects that save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 13, 2023 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr. WELCH) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to establish an energy circuit rider program to disseminate technical and other assistance to rural communities to support energy efficiency and clean energy 

projects that save energy and reduce greenhouse gas 

emissions. 

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 ‘‘Energy Circuit Riders 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENERGY CIRCUIT RIDER PROGRAM. 

2 Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De3 velopment Act is amended by inserting after section 378 

4 (7 U.S.C. 2008m) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 379. ENERGY CIRCUIT RIDER PROGRAM. 

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

7 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en8 tity’ means— 

9 ‘‘(A) a State; 

10 ‘‘(B) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 

11 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu12 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 

13 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization; 

14 ‘‘(D) a cooperative extension service; 

15 ‘‘(E) an institution of higher education; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(F) a regional planning commission or 

18 other public entity serving 2 or more rural 

19 areas. 

20 ‘‘(2) ENERGY CIRCUIT RIDER.—The term ‘En21 ergy Circuit Rider’ means an individual who is 

22 trained to provide and support, on a professional 

23 basis, assistance (including technical assistance) and 

24 informed decisionmaking in the planning, financing, 

25 and implementation of energy efficiency or clean enVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Dec 29, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3489.IS S3489

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1 ergy projects, including with respect to 1 or more of 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) Energy planning. 

4 ‘‘(B) Energy audits. 

5 ‘‘(C) Applicable Federal funding opportu6 nities and tax incentives. 

7 ‘‘(D) Applicable State, local, and utility8 based incentives, including, as appropriate, co9 ordinating with the State energy office in that 

10 State. 

11 ‘‘(E) Project financing. 

12 ‘‘(F) Grant writing. 

13 ‘‘(G) Community-based capacity building. 

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

15 the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary 

16 for Rural Development. 

17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab18 lish a program, to be known as the ‘Energy Circuit Rider 

19 Program’, under which the Secretary shall provide to eligi20 ble entities grants for the hiring, training, and retention 

21 by eligible entities of 1 or more Energy Circuit Riders. 

22 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

24 grant under the Energy Circuit Rider Program, an 

25 eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary an appliVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Dec 29, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3489.IS S3489

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1 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing 

2 such information as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(2) TERM.—The term of a grant provided 

4 under the Energy Circuit Rider Program shall be 

5 more than 3, but not more than 6, years, as the Sec6 retary determines to be appropriate to achieve the 

7 purposes of this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

9 the cost of carrying out activities under the grant 

10 shall be not more than 75 percent. 

11 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under the 

12 Energy Circuit Rider Program, the Secretary shall 

13 give priority to an eligible entity the application 

14 under paragraph (1) of which is recommended by 

15 the director of the relevant State rural development 

16 office. 

17 ‘‘(d) ENERGY CIRCUIT RIDER ASSISTANCE.—An En18 ergy Circuit Rider employed by an eligible entity using a 

19 grant provided under this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) shall offer assistance and support de21 scribed in subsection (a)(2) to not fewer than 2 

22 rural areas served by, or in the vicinity of, the eligi23 ble entity; and 

24 ‘‘(2) may provide technical assistance to the eli25 gible entity in applying for— 


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1 ‘‘(A) loans under section 6407(c) of the 

2 Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 

3 2002 (7 U. S.C. 8107a(c)); and 

4 ‘‘(B) financial assistance under the Rural 

5 Energy for America Program established under 

6 section 9007 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 8107). 

7 ‘‘(e) INFORMATION SHARING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall facili9 tate the sharing among Energy Circuit Riders of in10 formation relating to best practices. 

11 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION FROM OTHER AGENCIES.— 

12 The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

13 Energy, the Secretary of Transportation, the Sec14 retary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the En15 vironmental Protection Agency, the Chief of Engi16 neers, and the heads of such other Federal depart17 ments and agencies as the Secretary determines to 

18 be appropriate, shall make available to Energy Cir19 cuit Riders information relating to other Federal in20 centives available to eligible entities for energy effi21 ciency and clean energy projects. 

22 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not less frequently 

23 than annually, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

24 report describing the accomplishments of the Energy Cir25 cuit Rider Program, including with respect to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) energy savings; 

2 ‘‘(2) monetary savings to communities; and 

3 ‘‘(3) reductions in carbon emissions. 

4 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

6 out this section $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

7 through 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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