II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1621 

To improve thermal energy efficiency and use, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2009 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To improve thermal energy efficiency and use, 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 ‘‘Thermal Energy Effi5 ciency Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) approximately 40 percent of the total quan9 tity of energy consumed in the United States is used 


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1 in heating and air conditioning buildings and indus2 trial process heat; 

3 (2) thermal energy is an essential, but often 

4 overlooked, segment of the national energy mix; 

5 (3) district energy systems use 1 or more cen6 tral plants to provide thermal energy or combined 

7 heat and power to multiple buildings that range in 

8 size from campus applications to systems heating en9 tire towns or cities; 

10 (4) district energy systems provide several ad11 vantages that support secure, affordable, renewable, 

12 and sustainable energy for the United States, includ13 ing— 

14 (A) fuel flexibility to reduce fossil fuel con15 sumption and greenhouse gas emissions; 

16 (B) use of local fuels that keep jobs and 

17 energy dollars in local economies; 

18 (C) stable, predictable energy costs for 

19 businesses and industry; and 

20 (D) reduction in reliance on fossil fuels; 

21 (5) district energy systems provide infrastruc22 ture to produce and distribute thermal energy and 

23 use electric energy from sources of industrial surplus 

24 heat and from renewable sources, such as biomass, 

25 geothermal, and solar; 


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1 (6) as of 2009, the United States had approxi2 mately 2,500 operating district energy systems; 

3 (7) combined heat and power systems increase 

4 energy efficiency of power plants by capturing ther5 mal energy and using the thermal energy to provide 

6 heating and cooling, more than doubling the effi7 ciency of conventional power plants; and 

8 (8) according to the Oak Ridge National Lab9 oratory, if the United States was able to increase 

10 combined heat and power from approximately 9 per11 cent of total electric generation capacity on the date 

12 of enactment of this Act to 20 percent by 2030, the 

13 increase would— 

14 (A) save as much energy as half of all 

15 household energy consumption; 

16 (B) create approximately 1,000,000 new 

17 jobs; 

18 (C) avoid more than 800,000,000 metric 

19 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, 

which is equivalent to taking 1 20 ⁄2 of all United 

21 States passenger vehicles off the road; and 

22 (D) save hundreds of millions of barrels of 

23 oil equivalent. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) COMBINED HEAT AND POWER.—The term 

5 ‘‘combined heat and power’’ means simultaneous 

6 generation of electric energy and heat in a single, in7 tegrated system, with an overall efficiency of 60 per8 cent or higher based on a higher-heating value basis. 

9 (3) DISTRICT ENERGY SYSTEM.—The term 

10 ‘‘district energy system’’ means a system that pro11 vides thermal energy from 1 or more central plants 

12 to at least 2 or more buildings through a network 

13 of pipes to provide steam, hot water, or chilled water 

14 to be used for space heating, air conditioning, do15 mestic hot water, compression, process energy, or 

16 other end uses for the thermal energy. 

17 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti18 ty’’ means— 

19 (A) an institutional entity; 

20 (B) a commercial or industrial entity; or 

21 (C) a Federal agency or facility. 

22 (5) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Ther23 mal Energy Efficiency Fund established by section 

24 4(a). 


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1 (6) INSTITUTIONAL ENTITY.—The term ‘‘insti2 tutional entity’’ means— 

3 (A) an institution of higher education; 

4 (B) a public school district; 

5 (C) a local government; 

6 (D) a State government; 

7 (E) a tribal government; 

8 (F) a municipal utility; or 

9 (G) a nonprofit or public hospital; or 

10 (H) a designee of 1 of the entities de11 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (G). 

12 (7) QUALIFYING PROJECT.—The term ‘‘quali13 fying project’’ means a district energy, combined 

14 heat and power, or recoverable waste energy project 

15 that (in accordance with guidance issued by the Sec16 retary)— 

17 (A) reduces or avoids greenhouse gas emis18 sions; and 

19 (B)(i) produces thermal energy from re20 newable energy resources (such as biomass, geo21 thermal, and solar resources) and natural cool22 ing sources (such as cold lake or ocean water 

23 sources); 


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1 (ii) captures and productively uses thermal 

2 energy from an existing electric generation fa3 cility; 

4 (iii) provides for the capture and produc5 tive use of thermal energy in a new electric gen6 eration facility; 

7 (iv) integrates new electricity generation 

8 into an existing district energy system; 

9 (v) captures and productively uses surplus 

10 thermal energy from an industrial or municipal 

11 process (such as wastewater treatment); or 

12 (vi) distributes and transfers to buildings 

13 the thermal energy from the energy sources de14 scribed in clauses (i) through (v). 

15 (8) RECOVERABLE WASTE ENERGY.—The term 

16 ‘‘recoverable waste energy’’ means electrical, ther17 mal, or mechanical energy that— 

18 (A) may be recovered or generated through 

19 modification of an existing facility or addition 

20 of a new facility; and 

21 (B) if not for that recovery, would be wast22 ed. 

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

24 the Secretary of Energy. 


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1 SEC. 4. THERMAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY FUND. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

3 Treasury a fund to be known as the ‘‘Thermal Energy 

4 Efficiency Fund’’. 

5 (b) ALLOCATION.—If a program for the regulation of 

6 greenhouse gas emissions is established by Federal law 

7 (including regulations) for any of calendar years 2012 

8 through 2050 and emission allowances are allocated under 

9 the program, the Administrator shall allocate to the Fund 

10 2 percent of the quantity of emission allowances estab11 lished for the calendar year. 

12 (c) AUCTIONING.—The Administrator shall auction 

13 all of the emission allowances allocated to the Fund for 

14 a calendar year under subsection (b). 

15 (d) DEPOSITS.—The Administrator shall deposit all 

16 proceeds of auctions conducted pursuant to subsection (c), 

17 immediately on receipt of those proceeds, in the Fund. 

18 SEC. 5. GRANTS FOR QUALIFYING PROJECTS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each calendar year during 

20 which a program described in section 4(b) is in effect, the 

21 Secretary shall use amounts in the Fund, without further 

22 appropriation, to make competitive grants to eligible enti23 ties to carry out qualifying projects in accordance with this 

24 section, as determined by the Secretary. 


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1 (b) USE ALLOCATION.—Of the amount of grants that 

2 are made available for each of calendar years 2012 

3 through 2050 under this section, the Secretary shall use— 

4 (1) at least 75 percent of the amount to make 

5 grants to support infrastructure construction and 

6 development for qualifying projects; 

7 (2) at least 15 percent of the amount to make 

8 grants to support planning, engineering, and feasi9 bility studies for qualifying projects; and 

10 (3) the remainder to make grants described in 

11 paragraph (1) or (2), as determined by the Sec12 retary. 

13 (c) RECIPIENT ALLOCATION.—Of the amount of 

14 grants that are made available for each of calendar years 

15 2012 through 2050 under this section, the Secretary shall 

16 use— 

17 (1) at least 40 percent of the amount to make 

18 grants to institutional entities to carry out quali19 fying projects; 

20 (2) at least 40 percent of the amount to make 

21 grants to industrial and commercial entities to carry 

22 out qualifying projects; and 

23 (3) the remainder to make grants described in 

24 paragraph (1) or (2) or to fund qualifying projects 


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1 carried out by Federal agencies or facilities, as de2 termined by the Secretary. 

3 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to 

4 obtain a grant, a recipient (other than a Federal agency 

5 or facility) shall provide matching funds in an amount 

6 equal to at least— 

7 (1) in the case of each of calendar years 2012 

8 through 2017, 25 percent of the amount of the 

9 grant; and 

10 (2) in the case of each of calendar years 2018 

11 through 2050, 50 percent of the amount of the 

12 grant. 

13 SEC. 6. COMBINED HEAT AND POWER. 

14 It is the goal of the United States that by calendar 

15 year 2030, 20 percent or more of the total electrical power 

16 capacity of the United States be met through combined 

17 heat and power. 

Æ 


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