89–010 

Calendar No. 621 

111TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 111–334 

HEAVY DUTY HYBRID VEHICLE RESEARCH, 

DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION ACT 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 679] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 679) to establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to promote research of appropriate technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports 

favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 

bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 679 is to establish a competitive research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to 

advance heavy-duty hybrid vehicle technologies. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Program conducts research and development in a number of areas for both 

light- and heavy-duty applications. The Department’s programs 

generally focus on individual technologies that could be applied by 

manufacturers; and are sometimes structured as commercial-partner initiatives such as FreedomCAR for light-duty vehicles and the 

21st Century Truck Partnership for heavy-duty vehicles. These programs have aided in the development of a number of promising 

technologies that could reduce the fuel consumption of the transportation sector. 

Hybrid technologies can offer a range of economic and environmental benefits. These technologies have gained significant deployVerDate Mar 15 2010 13:45 Oct 04, 2010 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR334.XXX SR334

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ment in the light-duty vehicle market, but are often much more expensive to incorporate into heavier vehicle fleets. Accordingly, additional legislation is needed to provide for specific research and development to advance the commercial deployment of hybrid technologies in the heavy-duty segment. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 679 was introduced by Senator Collins on March 24, 2009. The 

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on 

Energy held a hearing on the bill on June 15, 2010. The Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources considered the bill and ordered 

it favorably reported without amendment on August 5, 2010. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an open 

business session on August 5, 2010, by a voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 679. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides a short title. 

Section 2 (a) defines terms used in the legislation. 

Subsection (b) directs the Secretary to establish a program to 

provide grants to carry out projects to advance research and demonstrate technologies for advanced heavy duty hybrid vehicles. 

Subsection (c) requires the Secretary to issue application requirements and to establish criteria for making grant awards. The Secretary must give priority to applicants who are best able to advance the current state of technology and achieve the greatest reductions in fuel consumption and emissions. Three to seven grants 

are to be awarded, with each grant limited to no more than $3 million per recipient per year. 

Subsection (d) defines two phases of research by award recipients. In phase one, each recipient has one year to build or retrofit 

one or more advanced heavy duty hybrid vehicles. Recipients are 

required to collect and analyze data on the performance of key vehicle components; the estimated costs of producing, operating, and 

maintaining the vehicle; the emissions of the vehicle; and on overall vehicle performance according to guidelines established by the 

Secretary. 

If, at the conclusion of phase one, it is clear that a grant recipient will be unable to complete the requirements of phase two, the 

Secretary has the discretion to waive the requirement for phase 

two research and terminate the grant to that recipient. 

In phase two, recipients are required to demonstrate the advanced manufacturing processes of heavy duty hybrid vehicles by 

producing or retrofitting 50 such vehicles within two years. Recipients must report on the major technological obstacles they encounter in developing and producing the vehicles and on the projected 

costs of each vehicle. 

Subsection (e) directs the Secretary to conduct a study of alternative power train designs for use in advanced heavy duty hybrid 

vehicles. The study would analyze these different designs under 

conditions in which they are typically used, including the average 

number of miles driven, the time spent with the engine at idle, 


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horsepower requirements, the length of time the maximum power 

is required, and other factors the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

Subsection (f) requires the Secretary to report to Congress within 

60 days on the findings of the reports submitted by grant recipients. 

Subsection (g) requires the Secretary to coordinate the research 

conducted under this program with other research conducted by 

the Department. 

Subsection (h) applies the cost sharing provisions of section 988 

of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) to the program. 

Subsection (i) directs the Secretary to establish a pilot program 

through DOE’s National Laboratories and Technology Centers to 

research and test the effects that plug-in hybrid vehicles, including 

heavy-duty plug-in hybrid trucks, will have on the domestic electric 

power grid. 

Subsection (j) authorizes appropriations of $16 million per year 

for fiscal years 2010 through 2012, of which $15 million per year 

must be used for the awards distributed through the program established by subsection (b). 

Section 3 amends the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 (enacted as section 641(g)(1) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17231(g)(1)) to include vehicles with a gross weight over 16,000 pounds in the Secretary’s priorities for advanced energy storage. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 679—Heavy Duty Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and 

Demonstration Act of 2009 

Summary: S. 679 would establish a grant program within the 

Department of Energy (DOE) to advance technologies related to 

heavy duty hybrid vehicles. Heavy duty hybrid vehicles are powered, in part, by a rechargeable energy system and weigh between 

14,000 and 33,000 pounds. S. 679 would authorize the appropriation of $16 million in each of fiscal years 2011 and 2012 for research related to the design, production, and usage of such vehicles 

and a pilot program to examine the widespread use of the electric 

grid by plug-in hybrid vehicles. CBO estimates that implementing 

the bill would cost $32 million over the 2011–2015 period. Enacting 

S. 679 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, payas-you-go procedures do not apply. 

S. 679 contains no intergovernmental or private sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and 

would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: For this estimate, 

CBO assumes that S. 679 will be enacted near the beginning of fiscal year 2011 and that the authorized amounts will be appropriated each year. Estimated outlays are based on historical spending patterns for similar DOE programs. The estimated budgetary 

impact of S. 679 is shown in the following table. The costs of this 

legislation fall within budget function 270 (energy). 


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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2011–2015 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Authorization Level 1 .......................................................................... 16 16 0 0 0 32 

Estimated Outlays .............................................................................. 9 14 7 2 0 32 

Pay-as-you-go considerations: None. 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 679 contains no 

intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA 

and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Martin von Gnechten; Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Ryan Miller; Impact 

on the Private Sector: Amy Petz. 

Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 679. 

The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing 

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 679, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 679, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally 

directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of Energy at the 

June 15, 2010, Subcommittee Committee on Energy hearing on S. 

679 follows: 

STATEMENT OF STEVEN G. CHALK, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AND ACTING DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY, OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND

RENEWABLE ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Madam Chairman, Ranking Member Risch, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to 

appear before you today to discuss proposed clean energy 

legislation. 

The Department and the Subcommittee share common 

goals of strengthening our economy, enhancing our national security, and protecting our environment. As part of 

the Recovery Act, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), oversees a total of $16.8 billion 

in investments. To date, EERE has obligated 96 percent, 


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or $16.07 billion, of its Recovery Act funds. The funds are 

putting America to work laying the foundation for our 

clean energy future. The Department also appreciates the 

authorities you have provided in recent years in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) (P.L. 109–58) and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) (P.L. 

110–140). This year, the Committee has proposed further 

investment and we thank you for all your hard work in reporting the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (S. 

1462). 

Today, I am pleased to offer the Department’s perspective on five pending pieces of legislation related to energy 

efficiency and renewable energy. Note that many of the authorities outlined in the bills would simply reinforce existing authorities, and may not be necessary for the Department to carry out the activities in question. I will discuss 

them in the order listed in the hearing invitation letter I 

received from the Subcommittee. These include the 10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 2010 (S. 3460), the Supply Star Act 

of 2010 (S. 3396), the Improving Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Use By Federal Agencies Act of 2010 (S. 

3251), the Heavy Duty Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act (S. 679), the Gas Turbine Efficiency Act of 2009 (S. 2900). 

S. 3460—10 MILLION SOLAR ROOFS ACT OF 2010

We thank the subcommittee and the sponsor of this legislation for your strong leadership on solar technologies 

over the years. The Department’s goals for solar electric 

technologies are to be cost competitive in their respective 

markets by 2015 and to reach a high penetration of solar 

installations. The Department is investing $232 million in 

2010 to support solar research across the development 

pipeline, from basic photovoltaic (PV) cell technologies to 

manufacturing scale-up to total system development. Within the $232 million, DOE is investing up to $50 million in 

concentrated solar power technology development and deployment related activities and $23 million to understand 

how solar technologies can be better integrated within existing electricity generation and transmission systems. In 

solar hot water heating, DOE is investing approximately 

an additional $6.5 million in 2010. 

The proposed legislation incorporates several significant 

features. We believe that rebates, loan programs, and performance based incentives are all effective means of stimulating demand. Allowing states to choose between these incentives will enable the Act to expand existing state programs that have been effective in promoting solar installations. In addition, the states’ matching funds requirements 

will leverage available federal appropriations and increase 

the resulting deployment of solar technologies, both of 

which are high priorities for the Department. 

To maximize the effectiveness of the proposed legislation, we would recommend two changes. First, while we 

support the state match requirement, we propose that the 


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1Source: Climate Change and Supply Chain Management, McKinsey Quarterly, McKinsey & 

Company, July 2008. 

cost share be set at 50 percent to increase the potential leverage of federal funds. Second, the Secretary should be 

given the ability to reduce this as necessary to increase the 

overall effectiveness of the program. We also believe the 

program could be designed in a creative way such as working with municipalities to promote photovoltaic installations through innovative local programs. We note that by our estimates, the $250 million authorized for FY 2012 would yield roughly 100,000 rooftop solar 

systems, and may not be sufficient to put us on a trajectory to meet the goal of 10 million solar roofs. With these 

changes, the legislation could be an effective tool in increasing deployment of solar electricity technologies Nationwide. We note that existing authorities, such as the 

competitive portion of the state energy program, would 

allow DOE to undertake such a program already. 

S. 3396—SUPPLY STAR ACT OF 2010

Supply chain energy efforts can make an important contribution to overall industrial efficiency and the competitive position of domestic suppliers. Analysis suggests that 

a large part of the carbon footprint for many consumer 

products can be attributed to the supply chain—from raw 

materials, transport, and packaging to the energy consumed in manufacturing processes—on the order of 40 to 

60 percent.1

The Supply Star legislation seeks to build upon existing 

best practices in the industrial community by establishing 

a voluntary recognition program that supports and promotes products and companies with highly energy- and resource-efficient supply chains. 

DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

both have existing initiatives that address supply chain efficiency, such as Save Energy Now® at DOE and the 

Smart Way TransportTM program at EPA. The legislation 

should coordinate with and leverage these programs as a 

structure through which Supply Star activities could be 

conducted. For example, through its national Save Energy 

Now® initiative, DOE encourages manufacturing companies to engage their supply chains in energy and carbon 

management. Specifically, DOE develops processes and resources to assist companies in promoting energy management to their industrial suppliers and customers. Save Energy Now® LEADER Companies make a voluntary commitment to reduce their energy intensity by 25 percent in 

10 years. Many of these companies are interested in improving the efficiency of their supply chains as well. 

The Supply Star bill also builds upon Superior Energy 

Performance (SEP), a voluntary certification program 

working to provide industrial facilities with a roadmap for 

achieving continual improvement in energy efficiency 

while maintaining competitiveness. A central element of 


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SEP is implementation of the forthcoming International 

Organization for Standardization (ISO) 50001 energy management standard, with additional requirements to achieve 

and document energy intensity improvements. DOE is 

working through SEP to bring ISO 50001 to the U.S. Upon 

its expected publication in 2011 this American National 

Standards Institute-accredited program will provide companies with a framework for fostering energy-efficiency at 

the plant level and a consistent methodology for measuring 

and validating energy efficiency and intensity improvements. This new framework will be an important tool to 

integrate into supply chain efforts. 

S. 3251—IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE

ENERGY USE BY FEDERAL AGENCIES ACT OF 2010

On October 5, President Obama signed Executive Order 

13514 requiring Federal agencies to set GHG emission reduction targets, increase energy efficiency, reduce fleet petroleum use, conserve water, reduce waste and promote 

environmentally-responsible produce purchases by federal 

agencies. With this action, the President directed agencies 

to demonstrate the Federal government’s commitment, 

over and above what is already being done, to reducing 

emissions and saving money. 

As a whole, the Federal government has made significant progress in meeting the energy requirements of EISA 

2007 and EPAct 2005. Further progress on these efforts 

would be bolstered by S. 3251. The Department is particularly supportive of provisions clarifying the definition of allowable ‘‘renewable’’ energy sources, and authorizing the 

creation of a revolving fund for Federal facility energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. 

The Department looks forward to working with the Subcommittee on legislation that would provide agencies with 

the flexibility to purchase renewable energy for appropriate time periods, that do not exceed asset life, create appropriate risk sharing between project developers and taxpayers, and that recognize the importance of fiscal responsibility and Congressional Budget Office scoring of contracts. This authority would provide opportunities for more 

on-site renewable power at Federal agencies and would 

provide strong support for growing our domestic clean energy economy. 

The Department’s recommended definition of renewable 

energy follows the definition in section 203 of EPAct 2005, 

with an additional recommendation to allow for both electric energy and thermal energy from renewable sources. It 

is very important to allow thermal energy to count as renewable energy, particularly because renewable thermal 

energy sources such as ground source heat pumps are 

often the lowest-cost option for displacing purchased energy and are already widely deployed. This approach contrasts with the current definition which is limited only to 

‘‘renewable electricity,’’ a definition that reduces incentives 


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for this valuable and cost-effective form of renewable 

power. 

The Department fully supports the creation of a revolving loan fund based on best practices and subject to appropriate interest rates for Federal facility energy efficiency 

and renewable energy projects. There is considerable experience and success at the state and local level with using 

revolving loan funds to assist innovative projects to improve energy efficiency. In addition, there is Federal experience with a similar concept within the General Services 

Administration (GSA) that funds agency relocations, and 

agencies reimburse the fund at slightly above costs to 

gradually increase the amount of funds available for lending. 

Federal agencies are already responding to the requirements of EISA Section 432 to survey their facilities for potential energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades, 

as well as to complete energy audits and to report on 

measures taken. The Department recommends that the renewable energy facility surveys called for in S. 3251 Section 5 should be included as a modification of EISA Section 

432. 

DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program is already 

at work implementing provisions similar to the Federal energy management and data collection standard called for 

in S. 3251 Section 7. As required under EISA Section 432, 

DOE will publish overarching guidance for implementation 

of all Section 432 requirements in 2010. The Department 

is also developing a web-based tracking system for facilitylevel energy data and identified or implemented energy 

conservation measures per EISA. Tasking the GSA to deploy a similar publicly-available resource with facility-level 

energy data would create redundancy as the Department’s 

compliance tracking system will be deployed for use by all 

agencies in July 2010. 

S. 679—HEAVY DUTY HYBRID VEHICLE RESEARCH, 

DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION ACT

The program authorized by S. 679 would complement 

several of the Department’s current activities focused on 

increasing vehicle energy efficiency. One of those programs 

is the SuperTruck Program, in which DOE is seeking to 

improve the freight hauling efficiency of Class 8 trucks by 

50 percent. Other complementary efforts underway include: (1) the development of hybrid school bus technology; 

(2) research, development, and demonstration of mediumduty utility bucket trucks and passenger shuttles using a 

plug-in hybrid electric system; and (3) other medium and 

heavy duty truck deployment activities supported by our 

Clean Cities program. S. 679 has the potential to increase 

the fuel economy attainable by vehicles in this sector. 

There are several technical definitions and reporting requirements about which we would like to seek clarification, and the Department looks forward to working with 

the subcommittee on those provisions. 


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S. 2900—GAS TURBINE EFFICIENCY ACT OF 2009

The Gas Turbine Efficiency Act would establish a research, development, and technology demonstration program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in combined cycle and simple cycle power generation systems. 

The Department believes that industry has economic incentives to invest in research, development and demonstration to increase the efficiency of gas turbines. To the 

extent that the private sector underinvests in basic research, DOE has sufficient authority and existing programs to improve high temperature materials applicable to 

a range of energy technologies. 

The bill is similar to an existing successful program 

within DOE. The Advanced Turbine Systems Program, a 

research, development and demonstration collaborative between the Department’s Offices of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy and Fossil Energy, successfully developed and deployed advanced turbine material and coating 

leading to today’s turbine efficiencies. 

The legislation outlines activities DOE already performs. 

For example, through its Industries of the Future (crosscutting) investments, DOE’s Industrial Technology Program (ITP) aids the development of advanced manufacturing processes for the expanded use of lightweight materials such as titanium. Those breakthroughs help to drive 

production cost down and market impact up. In other efforts, ITP promoted advanced alloys of steel to support 

many of the new clean energy products being developed 

today. Nanocoating technologies are still another group of 

innovations developed with the assistance of ITP that now 

extend the life of tooling systems and provide wear resistance to reduce the cost of manufacture and extend the useful life of products. All of these efforts support the overarching objective of reducing the energy intensity of Industry to help advance the Administration’s energy security 

and environmental performance goals. 

The Department is committed to continuing research of 

high temperature materials which will help industry develop more efficient energy technologies. Meanwhile, the 

private sector has economic incentive to invest in the development and demonstration of efficient gas turbines. 

Therefore, private sector work on later stages of efficient 

natural gas turbine development and demonstration will 

likely be conducted without the need for additional funding 

authorizations beyond that already in place. 

In conclusion, the Department of Energy thanks the 

Subcommittee for the opportunity to comment on these 

proposed initiatives. We look forward to working with Congress to develop strong, effective clean energy policy to ensure U.S. leadership on these global issues and in the 

clean energy economy. 


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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill S. 

679, as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is 

printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is 

shown in roman): 

UNITED STATES ENERGY STORAGE COMPETITIVENESS 

ACT OF 2007 

(Section 641 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; 

42 U.S.C 17231) 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 641. ENERGY STORAGE COMPETITIVENESS. 

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the ‘‘United 

States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007’’. 

* * * * * * * 

(g) APPLIED RESEARCH PROGRAM.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct an applied research program on energy storage systems to support electric 

drive vehicles, vehicles with a gross weight over 16,000 pounds 

stationary applications, and electricity transmission and distribution technologies, including— 

(A) ultracapacitors; 

(B) flywheels; 

(C) batteries and battery systems (including flow batteries); 

(D) compressed air energy systems; 

(E) power conditioning electronics; 

(F) manufacturing technologies for energy storage systems; 

(G) thermal management systems; and 

(H) hydrogen as an energy storage medium. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


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