II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1246 

To establish a home energy retrofit finance program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2009 

Mr. SANDERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a home energy retrofit finance program. 

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 ‘‘Home Energy Retrofit 

5 Finance Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) many families lack access to upfront capital 

9 to make cost-effective energy improvements to 

10 homes and apartments; 

11 (2) a number of States, local governments, and 

12 energy utilities are considering enacting, or have alVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:57 Jun 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1246.IS S1246

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1 ready enacted, innovative energy efficiency and re2 newable energy finance programs; 

3 (3) home retrofits create and support jobs in 

4 the United States in a number of fields, including 

5 jobs for electricians, heating and air conditioning in6 stallers, carpenters, construction, roofers, industrial 

7 truck drivers, energy auditors and inspectors, con8 struction managers, insulation workers, renewable 

9 energy installers, and others; 

10 (4) cost-effective energy improvements pay for 

11 themselves over time and also save consumers en12 ergy, reduce energy demand and peak electricity de13 mand, move the United States towards energy inde14 pendence, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and im15 prove the value of residential properties; 

16 (5) modeling has shown that— 

17 (A) energy efficiency and renewable energy 

18 upgrades in just 15 percent of residential build19 ings in the United States would require 

20 $280,000,000,000 in financing; and 

21 (B) the upgrades described in subpara22 graph (A) could reduce carbon dioxide emis23 sions by more than a gigaton; and 

24 (6) home retrofits— 


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1 (A) are a key strategy to reducing global 

2 warming pollution; and 

3 (B) create and support green jobs. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘eligi7 ble participant’’ means a homeowner, apartment 

8 complex owner, residential cooperative association, 

9 or condominium association that finances energy ef10 ficiency measures and renewable energy improve11 ments to homes and residential buildings under this 

12 Act. 

13 (2) ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE AND RE14 NEWABLE ENERGY IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘en15 ergy efficiency measure and renewable energy im16 provement’’ means any installed measure (including 

17 products, equipment, systems, services, and prac18 tices) that would result in a reduction in— 

19 (A) end-use demand for externally supplied 

20 energy or fuel by a consumer, facility, or user; 

21 and 

22 (B) carbon dioxide emissions, as deter23 mined by the Secretary. 


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1 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

2 the Home Energy Retrofit Finance Program estab3 lished under section 4(a). 

4 (4) QUALIFIED PROGRAM DELIVERY ENTITY.— 

5 The term ‘‘qualified program delivery entity’’ means 

6 a local government, energy utility, or any other enti7 ty designated by the Secretary that administers the 

8 program for a State under this Act. 

9 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Energy. 

11 SEC. 4. HOME ENERGY RETROFIT FINANCE PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall provide 

13 Home Energy Retrofit Finance Program grants to States 

14 for the purpose of establishing or expanding a State re15 volving finance fund to support financing offered by quali16 fied program delivery entities for energy efficiency meas17 ures and renewable energy improvements to existing 

18 homes and residential buildings (including apartment 

19 complexes, residential cooperative associations, and condo20 minium buildings under 5 stories). 

21 (b) FUNDING MECHANISM.—In carrying out the pro22 gram, the Secretary shall provide funds to States, for use 

23 by qualified program delivery entities that administer fi24 nance programs directly or under agreements with collabo25 rating third party entities, to capitalize revolving finance 


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1 funds and increase participation in associated financing 

2 programs. 

3 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF QUALIFIED PROGRAM DELIVERY

4 ENTITIES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

6 guidance to the States on application requirements 

7 for a local government or energy utility that seeks 

8 to participate in the program, including criteria that 

9 require, at a minimum— 

10 (A) a description of a method for deter11 mining eligible energy professionals who can be 

12 contracted with under the program for energy 

13 audits and energy improvements, including a 

14 plan to provide preference for entities that— 

15 (i) hire locally; 

16 (ii) partner with State Workforce In17 vestment Boards, labor organizations, com18 munity-based organizations, and other job 

19 training entities; or 

20 (iii) are committed to ensuring that at 

21 least 15 percent of all work hours are per22 formed by participants from State-ap23 proved apprenticeship programs; and 

24 (B) a certification that all of the work de25 scribed in subparagraph (A) will be carried out 


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1 in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 

2 of title 40, United States Code. 

3 (2) REPAYMENT OVER TIME.—To be eligible to 

4 participate in the program, a qualified program de5 livery entity shall establish a method by which eligi6 ble participants may pay over time for the financed 

7 cost of allowable energy efficiency measures and re8 newable energy improvements. 

9 (d) ALLOCATION.—In making funds available to 

10 States for each fiscal year under this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall use the allocation formula used to allocate funds to 

12 States to carry out State energy conservation plans under 

13 part D of title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.). 

15 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts in a State re16 volving finance fund— 

17 (1) not more than 20 percent may be used by 

18 qualified program delivery entities for interest rate 

19 reductions for eligible participants; and 

20 (2) the remainder shall be available to provide 

21 direct funding or other financial support to qualified 

22 program delivery entities. 

23 (f) STATE REVOLVING FINANCE FUNDS.—On repay24 ment of any funds made available by qualified program 

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1 posited in the applicable State revolving finance fund to 

2 support additional financing to qualified program delivery 

3 entities for energy efficiency measures and renewable en4 ergy improvements. 

5 (g) COORDINATION WITH STATE ENERGY EFFI6 CIENCY RETROFIT PROGRAMS.—Home energy retrofit 

7 programs that receive financing through the program shall 

8 be carried out in accordance with all authorized measures, 

9 performance criteria, and other requirements of any appli10 cable Federal home energy efficiency retrofit programs. 

11 (h) PROGRAM EVALUATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

13 a program evaluation to determine— 

14 (A) how the program is being used by eli15 gible participants, including what improvements 

16 have been most typical and what regional dis17 tinctions exist, if any; 

18 (B) what improvements could be made to 

19 increase the effectiveness of the program; and 

20 (C) the quantity of verifiable energy sav21 ings and renewable energy deployment achieved 

22 through the program. 

23 (2) REPORTS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:57 Jun 12, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1246.IS S1246

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1 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

2 and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

3 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

4 House of Representatives a report that de5 scribes the results of the program evaluation re6 quired under this subsection, including any rec7 ommendations. 

8 (B) STATE REPORTS.—Not less than once 

9 every 2 years, States participating in the pro10 gram shall submit to the Secretary reports on 

11 the use of funds through the program that in12 clude any information that the Secretary may 

13 require. 

14 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro16 priated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act 

17 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2015. 

18 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An amount not 

19 exceeding 5 percent of the amounts made available under 

20 subsection (a) shall be available for each fiscal year to pay 

21 the administrative expenses necessary to carry out this 

22 Act. 

Æ 


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