II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2649 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a natural gas demand 

response pilot program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2018 

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

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a natural 

gas demand response pilot program, 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 ‘‘Energy Infrastructure 

5 Demand Response Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATURAL GAS DEMAND RESPONSE PILOT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

10 means the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 


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1 (2) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro2 gram’’ means the natural gas demand response pilot 

3 program established under subsection (b)(1). 

4 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

5 the Secretary of Energy. 

6 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 150 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec9 retary, in consultation with the Commission, shall 

10 establish a natural gas demand response pilot pro11 gram to use the latest demand response technology 

12 from the energy sector for natural gas— 

13 (A) to reduce the cost of energy for con14 sumers; 

15 (B) to reduce market price volatility; 

16 (C) to increase reliability of the energy sys17 tem; and 

18 (D) to achieve reductions in air emissions 

19 and other benefits. 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraph (B), to be eligible to participate 

23 in the pilot program, an entity shall be— 

24 (i) a gas utility, including a local dis25 tribution company; 


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1 (ii) a State public utilities commis2 sion; 

3 (iii) an electric utility, including a 

4 local distribution company; 

5 (iv) a municipality; 

6 (v) a large industrial consumer, large 

7 commercial consumer, or retail marketer of 

8 natural gas; or 

9 (vi) a third-party energy efficiency 

10 program administrator. 

11 (B) LIMITATIONS.—An entity described in 

12 any of clauses (ii) through (v) of subparagraph 

13 (A) shall not be eligible to participate in the 

14 pilot program if the State law to which the enti15 ty is subject specifically precludes the participa16 tion of the entity in a natural gas demand re17 sponse pilot program. 

18 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary shall carry 

19 out the pilot program under different scenarios, in20 cluding in a region that is experiencing fuel short21 ages or natural gas infrastructure constraints that 

22 cause the cost of energy to increase for consumers. 

23 (4) DATA COLLECTION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 

25 pilot program, the Secretary shall collect data, 


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1 including data on, with respect to the regions in 

2 which the pilot program is carried out— 

3 (i) the reduction in natural gas usage; 

4 (ii) decreases in the frequency and se5 verity of natural gas infrastructure con6 straints; and 

7 (iii) changes in energy costs and reli8 ability. 

9 (B) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 

10 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re11 sources of the Senate and the Committee on 

12 Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep13 resentatives a report describing— 

14 (i) how to improve data collection; 

15 (ii) the metrics that should be used to 

16 quantify natural gas demand response 

17 usage; and 

18 (iii) opportunities to improve the 

19 measurement and verification of changes in 

20 natural gas consumption resulting from 

21 natural gas demand response measures, in22 cluding opportunities to collect data that 

23 could be used to estimate the quantity of 

24 natural gas that could be shifted through 


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1 the implementation of natural gas demand 

2 response measures. 

3 (c) APPLICATIONS; CERTIFICATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—On establishment of the 

5 pilot program under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary 

6 shall submit to all relevant eligible entities notice 

7 that the Secretary is accepting applications for the 

8 pilot program. 

9 (2) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 200 

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

12 each eligible entity desiring certification to par13 ticipate in the pilot program shall submit to the 

14 Secretary an application containing such infor15 mation as the Secretary may require. 

16 (B) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE CERTAIN IN17 FORMATION.—The Secretary may require as 

18 part of the application under subparagraph (A) 

19 information on— 

20 (i) the current energy prices and en21 ergy supply issues in the region in which 

22 the eligible entity is located; and 

23 (ii) how implementation of the pilot 

24 program in the region in which the eligible 

25 entity is located can alleviate the current 


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1 energy prices and energy supply issues in 

2 the region. 

3 (3) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 250 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec5 retary shall notify each eligible entity that applied 

6 for certification under paragraph (2)(A) of whether 

7 the eligible entity is certified to participate in the 

8 pilot program. 

9 (d) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall termi10 nate on the date that is 2 years after the date on which 

11 the pilot program is established under subsection (b)(1). 

12 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the pilot pro14 gram $4,000,000. 

15 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL STUDY AND REPORT. 

16 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study on 

17 the potential for natural gas demand response across en18 ergy sectors and geographic regions. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

21 to Congress a report on the results of study conducted 

22 under subsection (a), including— 

23 (1) a description and quantification of— 

24 (A) potential natural gas and energy sav25 ings and load shifting; and 


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1 (B) the costs and benefits associated with 

2 those savings, including avoided energy costs, 

3 reduced market price volatility, improved elec4 tric and gas system reliability, deferred or 

5 avoided pipeline or utility capital investment, 

6 and air emissions reductions; 

7 (2) an identification of geographic areas that 

8 would benefit most from implementing demand re9 sponse measures for natural gas infrastructure; and 

10 (3) a description of— 

11 (A) existing and emerging technologies 

12 that can be used for demand response in the 

13 natural gas sector; and 

14 (B) best practices for developing a strategy 

15 for deployment of those technologies in the nat16 ural gas sector. 

Æ 


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