II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1201 

To advance the integration of clean distributed energy into electric grids, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

Mrs. SHAHEEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To advance the integration of clean distributed energy into 

electric grids, 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 ‘‘Clean Distributed En5 ergy Grid Integration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) research by the Secretary of Energy and the 

9 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

10 Agency has found that clean distributed energy techVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201

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1 nologies can create important values for both the 

2 host facility and the electric grid operator; 

3 (2) the values described in paragraph (1) can 

4 include, for the host facility— 

5 (A) energy bill savings; 

6 (B) additional revenue from offering ancil7 lary services to the electric grid operator; 

8 (C) increased electric reliability in the 

9 event of grid outages; and 

10 (D) improved electric power quality; 

11 (3) the values described in paragraph (1) can 

12 include, for the electric grid operator— 

13 (A) avoiding the need for transmission and 

14 distribution upgrade investments; 

15 (B) enhanced grid stability by providing 

16 reactive power; 

17 (C) voltage and frequency stabilization; 

18 and 

19 (D) more reliable and stable operation of 

20 the grid by providing dispatchable energy to the 

21 grid during periods of insufficient capacity or 

22 supply; and 

23 (4) new advances in intelligent sensing and sim24 ulation and control technologies offer the potential 

25 to enhance the benefits of clean distributed generaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201

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1 tion to both the host facility and the electric grid op2 erator from dynamic, adaptive, and anticipatory re3 sponse to changing grid conditions. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ANCILLARY SERVICE.—The term ‘‘ancillary 

7 service’’ means those services necessary to support 

8 the transmission of electric power from seller to pur9 chaser given the obligations of control areas and 

10 transmitting utilities within those control areas to 

11 maintain reliable operations of the interconnected 

12 transmission system. 

13 (2) CLEAN DISTRIBUTED ENERGY.—The term 

14 ‘‘clean distributed energy’’ means energy tech15 nologies that are located on the customer site oper16 ating on the customer side of the electric meter and 

17 are interconnected with the electric grid. 

18 (3) COMBINED HEAT AND POWER TECH19 NOLOGY.—The term ‘‘combined heat and power 

20 technology’’ means the generation of electric energy 

21 and heat in a single, integrated system that meets 

22 the efficiency criteria in clauses (ii) and (iii) of sec23 tion 48(c)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

24 1986, under which heat that is conventionally reVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 May 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1201.IS S1201

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1 jected is recovered and used to meet thermal energy 

2 requirements. 

3 (4) ENERGY STORAGE.—The term ‘‘energy 

4 storage’’ means technologies that store electric en5 ergy and are able to discharge on demand to meet 

6 customer or grid needs for electric energy. 

7 (5) FUEL CELL.—The term ‘‘fuel cell’’ means a 

8 device that produces electric energy directly from a 

9 chemical reaction. 

10 (6) GRID.—The term ‘‘grid’’ means the electric 

11 grid that is composed on both distribution and 

12 transmission lines, and associated facilities, includ13 ing substations, sensors, and operational controls. 

14 (7) INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘intelligence’’ 

15 means any devices or technologies that manifest 

16 adaptive, anticipatory, and dynamic optimization be17 havior. 

18 (8) QUALIFIED WASTE HEAT RESOURCE.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified 

20 waste heat resource’’ means— 

21 (i) exhaust heat or flared gas from 

22 any industrial process; 

23 (ii) waste gas or industrial tail gas 

24 that would otherwise be flared, incinerated, 

25 or vented; 


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1 (iii) a pressure drop in any gas for an 

2 industrial or commercial process; or 

3 (iv) any other form of waste heat re4 source, as determined by the Secretary. 

5 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘qualified 

6 waste heat resource’’ does not include a heat re7 source from a process the primary purpose of 

8 which is the generation of electricity using a 

9 fossil fuel. 

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

11 the Secretary of Energy. 

12 (10) WASTE HEAT TO POWER TECHNOLOGY.— 

13 The term ‘‘waste heat to power technology’’ means 

14 a system that generates electricity through the re15 covery of a qualified waste heat resource. 

16 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND DEPLOYMENT PLAN FOR EN17 HANCED INTEGRATION OF CLEAN DISTRIB18 UTED ENERGY WITH THE GRID. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out ef20 forts for advancing the integration of clean distributed en21 ergy into electric grids. 

22 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON THE STATUS OF GRID

23 INTEGRATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the efforts 

25 under subsection (a) and not later than 180 days 


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1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec2 retary shall conduct a study on the status of integra3 tion of clean distributed energy into the grid, identi4 fying any issues that require additional research or 

5 regulatory development. 

6 (2) INCLUSIONS.—In conducting the study 

7 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

8 (A) identify and quantify the benefits to all 

9 stakeholders of expanded integration of clean 

10 distributed energy resources into the grid; 

11 (B) identify any technical issues that re12 quire research to identify solutions; and 

13 (C) identify any regulatory barriers that 

14 inhibit the expanded integration of clean dis15 tributed energy resources into the grid. 

16 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

18 submit to Congress a report describing the results of 

19 the study conducted under paragraph (1). 

20 (4) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall use unobli21 gated funds of the Department of Energy to carry 

22 out this subsection. 

23 (c) RESEARCH INTO THE TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO

24 THE INTEGRATION OF CLEAN DISTRIBUTED ENERGY

25 WITH THE GRID.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall— 

4 (A) issue a solicitation for research pro5 posals to address the technical barriers identi6 fied in the report submitted under subsection 

7 (b)(3); and 

8 (B) make grants to those applicants with 

9 research proposals selected by the Secretary in 

10 accordance with paragraph (2). 

11 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall select re12 search proposals to receive a grant under this sub13 section on the basis of merit, using criteria identified 

14 by the Secretary, including the likelihood that the 

15 research results will address critical barriers identi16 fied by the Secretary. 

17 (3) FUNDING.—Beginning in the first full fiscal 

18 year following the date of enactment of this Act, and 

19 annually thereafter for 2 years, the Secretary may 

20 request funding as necessary to carry out this sub21 section, but in no case shall funding exceed 

22 $5,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year. 

23 (d) CREATION OF A STAKEHOLDER WORKING

24 GROUP.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary shall convene a working group (referred to in 

4 this subsection as the ‘‘Group’’) to address regu5 latory barriers to deployment of intelligent grid inte6 gration of clean distributed energy technologies. 

7 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Group is to 

8 provide guidance on how to address the technical, 

9 regulatory and economic factors that limit wide10 spread integration of grid-level clean distributed en11 ergy use in order to advance the integration of clean 

12 distributed energy into electric grids. 

13 (3) MEMBERSHIP.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Group shall be 

15 composed of representatives of all groups deter16 mined by the Secretary to have a material in17 terest in the development, implementation, 

18 siting, and integration of clean distributed en19 ergy technology or systems into the electric 

20 grid. 

21 (B) CRITERIA.—Members shall be se22 lected— 

23 (i) from representatives that apply as 

24 a result of a public announcement from the 

25 Secretary; and 


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1 (ii) by the Secretary based on quali2 fications and balance of interests rep3 resented by the selected individuals. 

4 (4) DUTIES.—The duties of the Group shall 

5 be— 

6 (A) to review the regulatory barriers iden7 tified in the report prepared by the Secretary 

8 under subsection (b)(3); 

9 (B) to identify any additional regulatory 

10 barriers that inhibit the installation of distrib11 uted energy; and 

12 (C) to recommend to the Secretary any ac13 tions that should be undertaken to remove these 

14 barriers. 

15 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

17 prepare and submit to Congress a report based on 

18 the recommendations of the Group under paragraph 

19 (4)(C), to be made publicly available. 

20 (6) FUNDING.—The Secretary may request 

21 funding as necessary to carry out this subsection, 

22 but in no case shall funding exceed $2,000,000 in 

23 any 1 fiscal year. 

24 (e) DEMONSTRATIONS OF INTELLIGENT GRID INTE25 GRATION OF CLEAN DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEMS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the findings in the 

2 reports conducted under this section and not later 

3 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 

4 the Secretary shall issue a solicitation for dem5 onstration of integration of distributed energy re6 sources into the grid. 

7 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Any individual entity 

8 or group of entities may submit to the Secretary 

9 proposals for demonstration projects based on the 

10 solicitation described in paragraph (1), including— 

11 (A) State and local agencies; 

12 (B) public institutions; 

13 (C) private companies; 

14 (D) electric utilities; and 

15 (E) equipment manufacturers. 

16 (3) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

17 make grants, in amounts not to exceed a total of 

18 $5,000,000, to eligible entities to carry out dem19 onstration projects, to be selected based on— 

20 (A) the technical merits of the demonstra21 tion project; 

22 (B) the likelihood that the demonstration 

23 project will address critical barriers identified 

24 by the Secretary under this section; and 


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1 (C) the share of non-Federal funds for the 

2 demonstration project. 

3 (4) FUNDING.—Beginning in the third full fis4 cal year following the date of enactment of this Act, 

5 and annually thereafter for 3 years, the Secretary 

6 may request funding as necessary to carry out this 

7 subsection, but in no case shall funding exceed 

8 $15,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year. 

9 (f) REPORT.—The Secretary annually shall submit to 

10 Congress a report that— 

11 (1) describes the progress made in carrying out 

12 this section; and 

13 (2) identifies any technical or regulatory issues 

14 that require legislative action. 

Æ 


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