I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8165 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide assistance 

for low-income solar projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself and Ms. LEE of California) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a program 

to provide assistance for low-income solar projects, 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 ‘‘Affordable Solar En5 ergy for Our Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SOLAR INSTALLATIONS LO7 CATED IN, OR THAT SERVE, LOW-INCOME 

8 AND UNDERSERVED AREAS. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) BENEFICIARY.—The term ‘‘beneficiary’’ 

2 means a low-income household or a low-income 

3 household in an underserved area. 

4 (2) COMMUNITY SOLAR FACILITY.—The term 

5 ‘‘community solar facility’’ means a solar generating 

6 facility that— 

7 (A) through a voluntary program, has mul8 tiple subscribers that receive financial benefits 

9 that are directly attributable to the facility; 

10 (B) has a nameplate rating of 5 megawatts 

11 AC or less; and 

12 (C) is located in the utility distribution 

13 service territory of subscribers. 

14 (3) COMMUNITY SOLAR SUBSCRIPTION.—The 

15 term ‘‘community solar subscription’’ means a share 

16 in the capacity, or a proportional interest in the elec17 tricity generation, of a community solar facility. 

18 (4) COVERED FACILITY.—The term ‘‘covered 

19 facility’’ means— 

20 (A) a community solar facility— 

21 (i) that is located in an underserved 

22 area; or 

23 (ii) at least 50 percent of the capacity 

24 of which is reserved for low-income house25 holds; 


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1 (B) a solar generating facility located at a 

2 residence of a low-income household; or 

3 (C) a solar generating facility located at a 

4 multi-family affordable housing complex. 

5 (5) COVERED STATE.—The term ‘‘covered 

6 State’’ means a State with processes in place to en7 sure that covered facilities deliver financial benefits 

8 to low-income households. 

9 (6) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti10 ty’’ means— 

11 (A) a nonprofit organization that provides 

12 services to low-income households or multi-fam13 ily affordable housing complexes; 

14 (B) a developer, owner, or operator of a 

15 community solar facility that reserves a portion 

16 of the capacity of the facility for subscribers 

17 who are members of low-income households or 

18 for low-income households that otherwise finan19 cially benefit from the facility; 

20 (C) a covered State, or political subdivision 

21 thereof; 

22 (D) an Indian Tribe or a tribally owned 

23 electric utility; 

24 (E) a Native Hawaiian community-based 

25 organization; 


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1 (F) any other national or regional entity 

2 that has experience developing or installing 

3 solar generating facilities for low-income house4 holds that maximize financial benefits to those 

5 households; and 

6 (G) an electric cooperative or municipal 

7 electric utility (as such terms are defined in sec8 tion 3 of the Federal Power Act). 

9 (7) ELIGIBLE INSTALLATION PROJECT.—The 

10 term ‘‘eligible installation project’’ means a project 

11 to install a covered facility in a covered State. 

12 (8) ELIGIBLE PLANNING PROJECT.—The term 

13 ‘‘eligible planning project’’ means a project to carry 

14 out pre-installation activities for the development of 

15 a covered facility in a covered State. 

16 (9) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

17 project’’ means— 

18 (A) an eligible planning project; or 

19 (B) an eligible installation project. 

20 (10) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The term ‘‘feasi21 bility study’’ means any activity to determine the 

22 feasibility of a specific solar generating facility, in23 cluding a customer interest assessment and a siting 

24 assessment, as determined by the Secretary. 


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1 (11) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

2 means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other or3 ganized group or community, including any Alaska 

4 Native village, Regional Corporation, or Village Cor5 poration (as defined in, or established pursuant to, 

6 the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

7 1601 et seq.)), that is recognized as eligible for the 

8 special programs and services provided by the 

9 United States to Indians because of their status as 

10 Indians. 

11 (12) INTERCONNECTION SERVICE.—The term 

12 ‘‘interconnection service’’ has the meaning given 

13 such term in section 111(d)(15) of the Public Utility 

14 Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 

15 2621(d)(15)). 

16 (13) LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD.—The term 

17 ‘‘low-income household’’ means that income in rela18 tion to family size which— 

19 (A) is at or below 200 percent of the pov20 erty level determined in accordance with criteria 

21 established by the Director of the Office of 

22 Management and Budget, except that the Sec23 retary may establish a higher level if the Sec24 retary determines that such a higher level is 


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1 necessary to carry out the purposes of this sec2 tion; 

3 (B) is the basis on which cash assistance 

4 payments have been paid during the preceding 

5 12-month period under titles IV and XVI of the 

6 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq., 

7 1381 et seq.) or applicable State or local law; 

8 or 

9 (C) if a State elects, is the basis for eligi10 bility for assistance under the Low-Income 

11 Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 

12 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.), provided that such basis 

13 is at least 200 percent of the poverty level de14 termined in accordance with criteria established 

15 by the Director of the Office of Management 

16 and Budget. 

17 (14) MULTI-FAMILY AFFORDABLE HOUSING

18 COMPLEX.—The term ‘‘multi-family affordable hous19 ing complex’’ means any federally subsidized afford20 able housing complex in which at least 50 percent of 

21 the units are reserved for low-income households. 

22 (15) NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMMUNITY-BASED OR23 GANIZATION.—The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian commu24 nity-based organization’’ means any organization 

25 that is composed primarily of Native Hawaiians 


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1 from a specific community and that assists in the 

2 social, cultural, and educational development of Na3 tive Hawaiians in that community. 

4 (16) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

5 the program established under subsection (b). 

6 (17) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

7 means the Secretary of Energy. 

8 (18) SOLAR GENERATING FACILITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘solar generating facility’’ means— 

10 (A) a generator that creates electricity 

11 from light photons; and 

12 (B) the accompanying hardware enabling 

13 that electricity to flow— 

14 (i) onto the electric grid; 

15 (ii) into a facility or structure; or 

16 (iii) into an energy storage device. 

17 (19) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

18 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, the 

19 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mar20 iana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American 

21 Samoa. 

22 (20) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘‘subscriber’’ 

23 means a person who— 


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1 (A) owns a community solar subscription, 

2 or an equivalent unit or share of the capacity 

3 or generation of a community solar facility; or 

4 (B) financially benefits from a community 

5 solar facility, even if the person does not own 

6 a community solar subscription for the facility. 

7 (21) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘‘under8 served area’’ means— 

9 (A) a geographical area with low or no 

10 photovoltaic solar deployment, as determined by 

11 the Secretary; 

12 (B) a geographical area that has low or no 

13 access to electricity, as determined by the Sec14 retary; 

15 (C) a geographical area with an average 

16 annual residential retail electricity price that 

17 exceeds the national average annual residential 

18 retail electricity price (as reported by the En19 ergy Information Agency) by 50 percent or 

20 more; or 

21 (D) trust land, as defined in section 3765 

22 of title 38, United States Code. 

23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

24 a program to provide financial assistance to eligible enti25 ties to— 


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1 (1) carry out planning projects that are nec2 essary to establish the feasibility, obtain required 

3 permits, identify beneficiaries, or secure subscribers 

4 to install a covered facility; or 

5 (2) install a covered facility for beneficiaries in 

6 accordance with this section. 

7 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive as9 sistance under the program, an eligible entity shall 

10 submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 

11 in such manner, and containing such information as 

12 the Secretary may require. 

13 (2) INCLUSION FOR INSTALLATION ASSIST14 ANCE.— 

15 (A) REQUIREMENTS.—For an eligible enti16 ty to receive assistance for a project to install 

17 a covered facility, the Secretary shall require 

18 the eligible entity to include— 

19 (i) information in the application that 

20 is sufficient to demonstrate that the eligi21 ble entity has obtained, or has the capacity 

22 to obtain, necessary permits, subscribers, 

23 access to an installation site, and any other 

24 items or agreements necessary to comply 

25 with an agreement under subsection (g)(1) 


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1 and to complete the installation of the ap2 plicable covered facility; 

3 (ii) a description of the mechanism 

4 through which financial benefits will be 

5 distributed to beneficiaries or subscribers; 

6 and 

7 (iii) an estimate of the anticipated fi8 nancial benefit for beneficiaries or sub9 scribers. 

10 (B) CONSIDERATION OF PLANNING

11 PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall consider the 

12 successful completion of an eligible planning 

13 project pursuant to subsection (b)(1) by the eli14 gible entity to be sufficient to demonstrate the 

15 ability of the eligible entity to meet the require16 ments of subparagraph (A)(i). 

17 (d) SELECTION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In selecting eligible projects 

19 to receive assistance under the program, the Sec20 retary shall— 

21 (A) prioritize— 

22 (i) eligible installation projects that 

23 will result in the most financial benefit for 

24 subscribers, as determined by the Sec25 retary; 


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1 (ii) eligible installation projects that 

2 will result in development of covered facili3 ties in underserved areas; and 

4 (iii) eligible projects that include ap5 prenticeship, job training, or community 

6 participation as part of their application; 

7 and 

8 (B) ensure that such assistance is provided 

9 in a manner that results in eligible projects 

10 being carried out on a geographically diverse 

11 basis within and among covered States. 

12 (2) DETERMINATION OF FINANCIAL BEN13 EFIT.—In determining the amount of financial ben14 efit for low-income households of an eligible installa15 tion project, the Secretary shall ensure that all cal16 culations for estimated household energy savings are 

17 based solely on electricity offsets from the applicable 

18 covered facility and use formulas established by the 

19 State or local government with jurisdiction over the 

20 applicable covered facility for verifiable household 

21 energy savings estimates that accrue to low-income 

22 households. 

23 (e) ASSISTANCE.— 

24 (1) FORM.—The Secretary may provide assist25 ance under the program in the form of a grant 


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1 (which may be in the form of a rebate) or a low-in2 terest loan. 

3 (2) MULTIPLE PROJECTS FOR SAME FACIL4 ITY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may 

6 apply for assistance under the program for an 

7 eligible planning project and an eligible installa8 tion project for the same covered facility. 

9 (B) SEPARATE SELECTIONS.—Selection by 

10 the Secretary for assistance under the program 

11 of an eligible planning project does not require 

12 the Secretary to select for assistance under the 

13 program an eligible installation project for the 

14 same covered facility. 

15 (f) USE OF ASSISTANCE.— 

16 (1) ELIGIBLE PLANNING PROJECTS.—An eligi17 ble entity receiving assistance for an eligible plan18 ning project under the program may use such assist19 ance to pay the costs of pre-installation activities as20 sociated with an applicable covered facility, includ21 ing— 

22 (A) feasibility studies; 

23 (B) permitting; 

24 (C) site assessment; 


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1 (D) on-site job training, or other commu2 nity-based activities directly associated with the 

3 eligible planning project; or 

4 (E) such other costs determined by the 

5 Secretary to be appropriate. 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE INSTALLATION PROJECTS.—An 

7 eligible entity receiving assistance for an eligible in8 stallation project under the program may use such 

9 assistance to pay the costs of— 

10 (A) installation of a covered facility, in11 cluding costs associated with materials, permit12 ting, labor, or site preparation; 

13 (B) storage technology sited at a covered 

14 facility; 

15 (C) interconnection service expenses; 

16 (D) on-site job training, or other commu17 nity-based activities directly associated with the 

18 eligible installation project; 

19 (E) offsetting the cost of a subscription for 

20 a covered facility described in subparagraph (A) 

21 of subsection (a)(4) for subscribers that are 

22 members of a low-income household; or 

23 (F) such other costs determined by the 

24 Secretary to be appropriate. 

25 (g) ADMINISTRATION.— 


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1 (1) AGREEMENTS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of re3 ceiving assistance under the program, an eligi4 ble entity shall enter into an agreement with 

5 the Secretary. 

6 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—An agreement en7 tered into under this paragraph— 

8 (i) shall require the eligible entity to 

9 maintain such records and adopt such ad10 ministrative practices as the Secretary may 

11 require to ensure compliance with the re12 quirements of this section and the agree13 ment; 

14 (ii) with respect to an eligible installa15 tion project shall require that any solar 

16 generating facility installed using assist17 ance provided pursuant to the agreement 

18 comply with local building and safety codes 

19 and standards; and 

20 (iii) shall contain such other terms as 

21 the Secretary may require to ensure com22 pliance with the requirements of this sec23 tion. 

24 (C) TERM.—An agreement under this 

25 paragraph shall be for a term that begins on 


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1 the date on which the agreement is entered into 

2 and ends on the date that is 2 years after the 

3 date on which the eligible entity receives assist4 ance pursuant to the agreement, which term 

5 may be extended once for a period of not more 

6 than 1 year if the eligible entity demonstrates 

7 to the satisfaction of the Secretary that such an 

8 extension is necessary to complete the activities 

9 required by the agreement. 

10 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—Of the funds made avail11 able to provide assistance to eligible installation 

12 projects under this section over the period of fiscal 

13 years 2021 through 2025, the Secretary shall use— 

14 (A) not less than 50 percent to provide as15 sistance for eligible installation projects with re16 spect to which low-income households make up 

17 at least 50 percent of the subscribers to the 

18 project; and 

19 (B) not more than 50 percent to provide 

20 assistance for eligible installation projects with 

21 respect to which low-income households make 

22 up at least 25 percent of the subscribers to the 

23 project. 

24 (3) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8165.IH H8165

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1 retary shall publish in the Federal Register regula2 tions to carry out this section, which shall take ef3 fect on the date of publication. 

4 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

6 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec7 tion $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

8 through 2025, to remain available until expended. 

9 (2) AMOUNTS FOR PLANNING PROJECTS.—Of 

10 the amounts appropriated pursuant to this section 

11 over the period of fiscal years 2021 through 2025, 

12 the Secretary shall use not more than 15 percent of 

13 funds to provide assistance to eligible planning 

14 projects. 

15 (i) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ASSISTANCE.—The 

16 Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, encourage eligi17 ble entities that receive assistance under this section to 

18 leverage such funds by seeking additional funding through 

19 federally or locally subsidized weatherization and energy 

20 efficiency programs. 

Æ 


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