IB 

Union Calendar No. 102 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 906 

[Report No. 114–142] 

To modify the efficiency standards for grid-enabled water heaters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mr. WHITFIELD (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LATTA, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. 

CRAMER, and Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania) introduced the 

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

JUNE 9, 2015 

Additional sponsors: Mr. BYRNE, Mr. EMMER of Minnesota, Mr. DUNCAN of 

South Carolina, Mr. MULVANEY, Mr. NOLAN, Mr. GIBSON, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. MESSER, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. BLUM, and Mr. 

WOMACK

JUNE 9, 2015 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 11, 2015] 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 906 RH

A BILL 

To modify the efficiency standards for grid-enabled water 

heaters. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 906 RH

1 SECTION 1. GRID-ENABLED WATER HEATERS. 

2 Part B of title III of the Energy Policy and Conserva3 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 325(e) (42 U.S.C. 6295(e)), by 

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR GRID-EN7 ABLED WATER HEATERS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(i) ACTIVATION LOCK.—The term ‘ac10 tivation lock’ means a control mechanism 

11 (either a physical device directly on the 

12 water heater or a control system integrated 

13 into the water heater) that is locked by de14 fault and contains a physical, software, or 

15 digital communication that must be acti16 vated with an activation key to enable the 

17 product to operate at its designed specifica18 tions and capabilities and without which 

19 activation the product will provide not 

20 greater than 50 percent of the rated first 

21 hour delivery of hot water certified by the 

22 manufacturer. 

23 ‘‘(ii) GRID-ENABLED WATER HEAT24 ER.—The term ‘grid-enabled water heater’ 

25 means an electric resistance water heater 

26 that— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 906 RH

1 ‘‘(I) has a rated storage tank vol2 ume of more than 75 gallons; 

3 ‘‘(II) is manufactured on or after 

4 April 16, 2015; 

5 ‘‘(III) has— 

6 ‘‘(aa) an energy factor of not 

7 less than 1.061 minus the product 

8 obtained by multiplying— 

9 ‘‘(AA) the rated storage 

10 volume of the tank, expressed 

11 in gallons; and 

12 ‘‘(BB) 0.00168; or 

13 ‘‘(bb) an equivalent alter14 native standard prescribed by the 

15 Secretary and developed pursuant 

16 to paragraph (5)(E); 

17 ‘‘(IV) is equipped at the point of 

18 manufacture with an activation lock; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(V) bears a permanent label ap21 plied by the manufacturer that— 

22 ‘‘(aa) is made of material 

23 not adversely affected by water; 

24 ‘‘(bb) is attached by means of 

25 non-water-soluble adhesive; and 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 906 RH

1 ‘‘(cc) advises purchasers and 

2 end-users of the intended and ap3 propriate use of the product with 

4 the following notice printed in 

5 16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold 

6 font: 

7 ‘‘ ‘IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This water heater is in8 tended only for use as part of an electric thermal storage 

9 or demand response program. It will not provide adequate 

10 hot water unless enrolled in such a program and activated 

11 by your utility company or another program operator. Con12 firm the availability of a program in your local area before 

13 purchasing or installing this product.’. 

14 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The manufacturer or 

15 private labeler shall provide the activation key 

16 for a grid-enabled water heater only to a utility 

17 or other company that operates an electric ther18 mal storage or demand response program that 

19 uses such a grid-enabled water heater. 

20 ‘‘(C) REPORTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) MANUFACTURERS.—The Secretary 

22 shall require each manufacturer of grid-en23 abled water heaters to report to the Sec24 retary annually the quantity of grid-enVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Jun 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H906.RH H906

asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 906 RH

1 abled water heaters that the manufacturer 

2 ships each year. 

3 ‘‘(ii) OPERATORS.—The Secretary 

4 shall require utilities and other demand re5 sponse and thermal storage program opera6 tors to report annually the quantity of grid7 enabled water heaters activated for their 

8 programs using forms of the Energy Infor9 mation Agency or using such other mecha10 nism that the Secretary determines appro11 priate after an opportunity for notice and 

12 comment. 

13 ‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIRE14 MENTS.—The Secretary shall treat shipment 

15 data reported by manufacturers as con16 fidential business information. 

17 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In 2017 and 2019, 

19 the Secretary shall publish an analysis of 

20 the data collected under subparagraph (C) 

21 to assess the extent to which shipped prod22 ucts are put into use in demand response 

23 and thermal storage programs. 

24 ‘‘(ii) PREVENTION OF PRODUCT DIVER25 SION.—If the Secretary determines that 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 906 RH

1 sales of grid-enabled water heaters exceed by 

2 15 percent or greater the quantity of such 

3 products activated for use in demand re4 sponse and thermal storage programs annu5 ally, the Secretary shall, after opportunity 

6 for notice and comment, establish proce7 dures to prevent product diversion for non8 program purposes. 

9 ‘‘(E) COMPLIANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraphs (A) 

11 through (D) shall remain in effect until the 

12 Secretary determines under this section 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(I) grid-enabled water heaters do 

15 not require a separate efficiency re16 quirement; or 

17 ‘‘(II) sales of grid-enabled water 

18 heaters exceed by 15 percent or greater 

19 the quantity of such products activated 

20 for use in demand response and ther21 mal storage programs annually and 

22 procedures to prevent product diversion 

23 for non-program purposes would not be 

24 adequate to prevent such product di25 version. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 906 RH

1 ‘‘(ii) EFFECTIVE DATE.—If the Sec2 retary exercises the authority described in 

3 clause (i) or amends the efficiency require4 ment for grid-enabled water heaters, that 

5 action will take effect on the date described 

6 in subsection (m)(4)(A)(ii). 

7 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying 

8 out this section with respect to electric 

9 water heaters, the Secretary shall consider 

10 the impact on thermal storage and demand 

11 response programs, including any impact 

12 on energy savings, electric bills, peak load 

13 reduction, electric reliability, integration of 

14 renewable resources, and the environment. 

15 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying 

16 out this paragraph, the Secretary shall re17 quire that grid-enabled water heaters be 

18 equipped with communication capability to 

19 enable the grid-enabled water heaters to 

20 participate in ancillary services programs 

21 if the Secretary determines that the tech22 nology is available, practical, and cost-effec23 tive.’’; 

24 (2) in section 332(a) (42 U.S.C. 6302(a))— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 906 RH

1 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

2 the end; 

3 (B) in the first paragraph (6), by striking 

4 the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

5 (C) by redesignating the second paragraph 

6 (6) as paragraph (7); 

7 (D) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (7) 

8 (as so redesignated), by striking the period at the 

9 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

10 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(8) for any person to— 

12 ‘‘(A) activate an activation lock for a grid13 enabled water heater with knowledge that such 

14 water heater is not used as part of an electric 

15 thermal storage or demand response program; 

16 ‘‘(B) distribute an activation key for a grid17 enabled water heater with knowledge that such 

18 activation key will be used to activate a grid-en19 abled water heater that is not used as part of an 

20 electric thermal storage or demand response pro21 gram; 

22 ‘‘(C) otherwise enable a grid-enabled water 

23 heater to operate at its designed specification 

24 and capabilities with knowledge that such water 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 906 RH

1 heater is not used as part of an electric thermal 

2 storage or demand response program; or 

3 ‘‘(D) knowingly remove or render illegible 

4 the label of a grid-enabled water heater described 

5 in section 325(e)(6)(A)(ii)(V).’’; 

6 (3) in section 333(a) (42 U.S.C. 6303(a))— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of section 

9 332(a)’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or (5) 

11 of section 332(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), 

12 (2), (5), (6), (7), or (8) of section 332(a)’’; and 

13 (4) in section 334 (42 U.S.C. 6304)— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of section 

16 332(a)’’; and 

17 (B) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(6)’’ and in18 serting ‘‘section 332(a)(7)’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 102 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 906 

[Report No. 114–142] 

A BILL 

To modify the efficiency standards for grid-enabled 

water heaters. 

JUNE 9, 2015 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS