II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1209 

To establish a State Energy Race to the Top Initiative to assist energy 

policy innovation in the States to promote the goal of doubling electric 

and thermal energy productivity by January 1, 2030. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2013 

Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To establish a State Energy Race to the Top Initiative 

to assist energy policy innovation in the States to promote the goal of doubling electric and thermal energy 

productivity by January 1, 2030. 

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 ‘‘State Energy Race 

5 to the Top Initiative Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to assist energy policy in8 novation in the States to promote the goal of doubling 


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1 electric and thermal energy productivity by January 1, 

2 2030. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en6 tity’’ means— 

7 (A) a public power utility; 

8 (B) an electric cooperative; and 

9 (C) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 

10 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu11 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)). 

12 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean13 ing given the term in section 3 of the Energy Policy 

14 and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6202). 

15 SEC. 4. PHASE 1: INITIAL ALLOCATION OF GRANTS TO 

16 STATES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

19 an invitation to States to submit plans to participate in 

20 an electric and thermal energy productivity challenge in 

21 accordance with this section. 

22 (b) GRANTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 7, the 

24 Secretary shall use funds made available under secVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Jun 26, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1209.IS S1209

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1 tion 8(b)(1) to provide an initial allocation of grants 

2 to not more than 25 States. 

3 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant provided 

4 to a State under this section shall be not less than 

5 $1,000,000 nor more than $3,500,000. 

6 (c) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—To receive a grant 

7 under this section, not later than 90 days after the date 

8 of issuance of the invitation under subsection (a), a State 

9 shall submit to the Secretary an application to receive the 

10 grant by submitting a revised State energy conservation 

11 plan under section 362 of the Energy Policy and Con12 servation Act (42 U.S.C. 6322). 

13 (d) DECISION BY SECRETARY.— 

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

15 the submission of revised State energy conservation 

16 plans under subsection (c), the Secretary shall make 

17 a final decision on the allocation of grants under 

18 this section. 

19 (2) BASIS.—The Secretary shall base the deci20 sion of the Secretary under paragraph (1) on— 

21 (A) plans for improvement in electric and 

22 thermal energy productivity consistent with this 

23 Act; and 

24 (B) other factors determined appropriate 

25 by the Secretary, including geographic diversity. 


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1 (3) RANKING.—The Secretary shall— 

2 (A) rank revised plans submitted under 

3 this section in order of the greatest to least 

4 likely contribution to improving energy produc5 tivity in a State; and 

6 (B) provide grants under this section in 

7 accordance with the ranking and the scale and 

8 scope of a plan. 

9 (e) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—A revised State energy 

10 conservation plan submitted under subsection (c) shall 

11 provide— 

12 (1) a description of the manner in which— 

13 (A) energy savings will be monitored and 

14 verified; 

15 (B) a statewide baseline of energy use and 

16 potential resources for calendar year 2010 will 

17 be established to measure improvements; 

18 (C) the plan will promote achievement of 

19 energy savings and demand reduction goals; 

20 (D) public and private sector investments 

21 in energy efficiency will be leveraged, including 

22 through banks, credit unions, and institutional 

23 investors; and 


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1 (E) the plan will not cause cost-shifting 

2 among utility customer classes or negatively im3 pact low-income populations; and 

4 (2) an assurance that— 

5 (A) the State energy office required to sub6 mit the plan and the State public service com7 mission are cooperating and coordinating pro8 grams and activities under this Act; 

9 (B) the State is cooperating with local 

10 units of government to expand programs as ap11 propriate; and 

12 (C) grants provided under this Act will be 

13 used to supplement and not supplant Federal, 

14 State, or ratepayer-funded programs or activi15 ties in existence on the date of enactment of 

16 this Act. 

17 (f) USES.—A State may use grants provided under 

18 this section to promote— 

19 (1) the expansion of industrial energy effi20 ciency, combined heat and power, and waste heat-to21 power utilization; 

22 (2) the expansion of policies and programs that 

23 will advance energy efficiency retrofits for public and 

24 private commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, and 

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1 ings) through expanded energy service performance 

2 contracts, zero net-energy buildings, or improved 

3 building energy efficiency codes; 

4 (3) the establishment or expansion of incentives 

5 in the electric utility sector to enhance demand re6 sponse and energy efficiency, including consideration 

7 of additional incentives to promote the purposes of 

8 section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Poli9 cies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)), such as ap10 propriate, cost-effective heat and power and waste 

11 heat-to-power incentives, financing of energy effi12 ciency programs, data use incentives, district heat13 ing, and regular energy audits; and 

14 (4) leadership by example, in which State ac15 tivities involving both facilities and vehicle fleets can 

16 be a model for other action to promote energy effi17 ciency and can be expanded with Federal grants pro18 vided under this Act. 

19 SEC. 5. PHASE 2: SUBSEQUENT ALLOCATION OF GRANTS TO 

20 STATES. 

21 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 18 months after the 

22 receipt of grants under section 4, each State that received 

23 grants under section 4 may submit to the Secretary a re24 port that describes— 


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1 (1) the performance of the programs and activi2 ties carried out with the grants; and 

3 (2) the manner in which additional funds would 

4 be used to carry out programs and activities to pro5 mote the purposes of this Act. 

6 (b) GRANTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

8 after the date of the receipt of the reports required 

9 under subsection (a), subject to section 7, the Sec10 retary shall use amounts made available under sec11 tion 8(b)(2) to provide grants to not more than 6 

12 States to carry out the programs and activities de13 scribed in subsection (a)(2). 

14 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant provided 

15 to a State under this section shall be not more than 

16 $30,000,000. 

17 (3) BASIS.—The Secretary shall base the deci18 sion of the Secretary to provide grants under this 

19 section on— 

20 (A) the performance of the State in the 

21 programs and activities carried out with grants 

22 provided under section 4; 

23 (B) the potential of the programs and ac24 tivities descried in subsection (a)(2) to achieve 

25 the purposes of this Act; 


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1 (C) the desirability of maintaining a total 

2 project portfolio that is geographically and 

3 functionally diverse; and 

4 (D) the amount of non-Federal funds that 

5 are leveraged as a result of the grants to ensure 

6 that Federal dollars are leveraged effectively. 

7 SEC. 6. ALLOCATION OF GRANTS TO COVERED ENTITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall invite 

10 covered entities to submit plans to participate in an elec11 tric and thermal energy productivity challenge in accord12 ance with this section. 

13 (b) SUBMISSION OF PLANS.—To receive a grant 

14 under this section, not later than 90 days after the date 

15 of issuance of the invitation under subsection (a), a cov16 ered entity shall submit to the Secretary a plan to increase 

17 electric and thermal energy productivity by the covered en18 tity. 

19 (c) DECISION BY SECRETARY.— 

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

21 the submission of plans under subsection (b), the 

22 Secretary shall make a final decision on the alloca23 tion of grants under this section. 

24 (2) BASIS.—The Secretary shall base the deci25 sion of the Secretary under paragraph (1) on— 


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1 (A) plans for improvement in electric and 

2 thermal energy productivity consistent with this 

3 Act; 

4 (B) plans for continuation of the improve5 ments after the receipt of grants under this 

6 Act; and 

7 (C) other factors determined appropriate 

8 by the Secretary, including— 

9 (i) geographic diversity; 

10 (ii) size differences among covered en11 tities; and 

12 (iii) equitable treatment of each sector 

13 under this section. 

14 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION. 

15 (a) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—To evaluate pro16 gram performance and effectiveness under this Act, the 

17 Secretary shall consult with the National Research Coun18 cil regarding requirements for data and evaluation for re19 cipients of grants under this Act. 

20 (b) COORDINATION WITH STATE ENERGY CON21 SERVATION PROGRAMS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants to States under this 

23 Act shall be provided through additional funding to 

24 carry out State energy conservation programs under 


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1 part D of title III of the Energy Policy and Con2 servation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.). 

3 (2) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE ENERGY CON4 SERVATION PROGRAMS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A grant provided to a 

6 State under this Act shall be used to supple7 ment (and not supplant) funds provided to the 

8 State under part D of title III of the Energy 

9 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 

10 et seq.). 

11 (B) MINIMUM FUNDING.—A grant pro12 vided to a State shall not be provided to a State 

13 for a fiscal year under this Act if the amount 

14 of the grant provided to the State for the fiscal 

15 year under part D of title III of the Energy 

16 Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 

17 et seq.) is less than $50,000,000. 

18 (c) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—The participation 

19 of a State or covered entity in a challenge established 

20 under this Act shall be voluntary. 

21 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out this Act $200,000,000 for fiscal years 

24 2014 through 2017. 


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1 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the total amount of funds 

2 made available under subsection(a)— 

3 (1) 30 percent shall be used to provide an ini4 tial allocation of grants to States under section 4; 

(2) 521 5 ⁄2 percent shall be used to provide a sub6 sequent allocation of grants to States under section 

7 5; 

(3) 121 8 ⁄2 percent shall be used to make grants 

9 to public power utilities, electric cooperatives, and 

10 Indian tribes under section 6; and 

11 (4) 5 percent shall be available to the Secretary 

12 for the cost of administration and technical support 

13 to carry out this Act. 

14 SEC. 9. OFFSET. 

15 Section 422(f) of the Energy Independence and Secu16 rity Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17082(f)) (as otherwise 

17 amended by this Act) is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (4), by adding ‘‘and’’ after the 

19 semicolon at the end; and 

20 (2) by striking paragraph (5) through the pe21 riod at the end of the subsection and inserting: 

22 ‘‘(5) $0 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 

23 2017.’’. 

Æ 


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