II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1264 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish 

a renewable electricity standard, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2015 

Mr. UDALL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to establish a renewable electricity standard, 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 ‘‘Renewable Electricity 

5 Standard Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VI of the Public Utility Reg8 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 610. RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

3 ‘‘(1) BASE QUANTITY OF ELECTRICITY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘base quan5 tity of electricity’ means the total quantity of 

6 electric energy sold by a retail electric supplier, 

7 expressed in terms of kilowatt hours, to electric 

8 customers for purposes other than resale during 

9 the most recent calendar year for which infor10 mation is available. 

11 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘base quan12 tity of electricity’ does not include— 

13 ‘‘(i) electric energy that is not incre14 mental hydropower generated by a hydro15 electric facility; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) electricity generated through the 

17 incineration of municipal solid waste. 

18 ‘‘(2) BIOMASS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘biomass’ 

20 means— 

21 ‘‘(i) cellulosic (plant fiber) organic 

22 materials from a plant that is planted for 

23 the purpose of being used to produce en24 ergy; 

25 ‘‘(ii) nonhazardous plant or algal mat26 ter that is derived from— 


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1 ‘‘(I) an agricultural crop, crop 

2 byproduct, or residue resource; or 

3 ‘‘(II) waste, such as landscape or 

4 right-of-way trimmings (but not in5 cluding municipal solid waste, recycla6 ble postconsumer waste paper, paint7 ed, treated, or pressurized wood, wood 

8 contaminated with plastic, or metals); 

9 ‘‘(iii) animal waste or animal byprod10 ucts; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) landfill methane. 

12 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL FOREST LAND AND CER13 TAIN OTHER PUBLIC LAND.—In the case of or14 ganic material removed from National Forest 

15 System land or from public land administered 

16 by the Secretary of the Interior, the term ‘bio17 mass’ means only organic material from— 

18 ‘‘(i) ecological forest restoration; 

19 ‘‘(ii) precommercial thinnings; 

20 ‘‘(iii) brush; 

21 ‘‘(iv) mill residues; or 

22 ‘‘(v) slash. 

23 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL

24 LAND.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), the 

25 term ‘biomass’ does not include material or 


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1 matter that would otherwise qualify as biomass 

2 if the material or matter is located on the fol3 lowing Federal land: 

4 ‘‘(i) Federal land containing old 

5 growth forest or late successional forest 

6 unless the Secretary of the Interior or the 

7 Secretary of Agriculture determines that 

8 the removal of organic material from the 

9 land— 

10 ‘‘(I) is appropriate for the appli11 cable forest type; and 

12 ‘‘(II) maximizes the retention 

13 of— 

14 ‘‘(aa) late-successional and 

15 large and old growth trees; 

16 ‘‘(bb) late-successional and 

17 old growth forest structure; and 

18 ‘‘(cc) late-successional and 

19 old growth forest composition. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Federal land on which the re21 moval of vegetation is prohibited, including 

22 components of the National Wilderness 

23 Preservation System. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Wilderness study areas. 

25 ‘‘(iv) Inventoried roadless areas. 


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1 ‘‘(v) Components of the National 

2 Landscape Conservation System. 

3 ‘‘(vi) National Monuments. 

4 ‘‘(3) EXISTING FACILITY.—The term ‘existing 

5 facility’ means a facility for the generation of elec6 tric energy from a renewable energy resource that is 

7 not an eligible facility. 

8 ‘‘(4) INCREMENTAL HYDROPOWER.—The term 

9 ‘incremental hydropower’ means additional genera10 tion that is achieved from increased efficiency or ad11 ditions of capacity made on or after— 

12 ‘‘(A) the date of enactment of this section; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(B) the effective date of an existing appli15 cable State renewable portfolio standard pro16 gram at a hydroelectric facility that was placed 

17 in service before that date. 

18 ‘‘(5) INDIAN LAND.—The term ‘Indian land’ 

19 means— 

20 ‘‘(A) any land within the limits of any In21 dian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria; 

22 ‘‘(B) any land not within the limits of any 

23 Indian reservation, pueblo, or rancheria title to 

24 which on the date of enactment of this section 

25 was held by— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the United States for the benefit 

2 of any Indian tribe or individual; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) any Indian tribe or individual 

4 subject to restriction by the United States 

5 against alienation; 

6 ‘‘(C) any dependent Indian community; or 

7 ‘‘(D) any land conveyed to any Alaska Na8 tive corporation under the Alaska Native 

9 Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 

10 seq.). 

11 ‘‘(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

12 means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other orga13 nized group or community, including any Alaskan 

14 Native village or regional or village corporation as 

15 defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Na16 tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 

17 that is recognized as eligible for the special pro18 grams and services provided by the United States to 

19 Indians because of their status as Indians. 

20 ‘‘(7) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘renew21 able energy’ means electric energy generated by a re22 newable energy resource. 

23 ‘‘(8) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE.—The 

24 term ‘renewable energy resource’ means solar, wind, 


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1 ocean, tidal, geothermal energy, biomass, landfill 

2 gas, incremental hydropower, or hydrokinetic energy. 

3 ‘‘(9) REPOWERING OR COFIRING INCREMENT.— 

4 The term ‘repowering or cofiring increment’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(A) the additional generation from a 

7 modification that is placed in service on or after 

8 the date of enactment of this section, to expand 

9 electricity production at a facility used to gen10 erate electric energy from a renewable energy 

11 resource; 

12 ‘‘(B) the additional generation above the 

13 average generation during the 3-year period 

14 ending on the date of enactment of this section 

15 at a facility used to generate electric energy 

16 from a renewable energy resource or to cofire 

17 biomass that was placed in service before the 

18 date of enactment of this section; or 

19 ‘‘(C) the portion of the electric generation 

20 from a facility placed in service on or after the 

21 date of enactment of this section, or a modifica22 tion to a facility placed in service before the 

23 date of enactment of this section made on or 

24 after January 1, 2001, associated with cofiring 

25 biomass. 


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1 ‘‘(10) RETAIL ELECTRIC SUPPLIER.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘retail elec3 tric supplier’ means a person that sells electric 

4 energy to electric consumers that sold not less 

5 than 1,000,000 megawatt hours of electric en6 ergy to electric consumers for purposes other 

7 than resale during the preceding calendar year. 

8 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘retail electric 

9 supplier’ includes a person that sells electric en10 ergy to electric consumers that, in combination 

11 with the sales of any affiliate organized after 

12 the date of enactment of this section, sells not 

13 less than 1,000,000 megawatt hours of electric 

14 energy to consumers for purposes other than re15 sale. 

16 ‘‘(C) SALES TO PARENT COMPANIES OR

17 AFFILIATES.—For purposes of this paragraph, 

18 sales by any person to a parent company or to 

19 other affiliates of the person shall not be treat20 ed as sales to electric consumers. 

21 ‘‘(D) GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro23 vided in clause (ii), the term ‘retail electric 

24 supplier’ does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the United States, a State, 

2 any political subdivision of a State, or 

3 any agency, authority, or instrumen4 tality of the United States, State, or 

5 political subdivision; or 

6 ‘‘(II) a rural electric cooperative. 

7 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSION.—The term ‘retail 

8 electric supplier’ includes an entity that is 

9 a political subdivision of a State, or an 

10 agency, authority, or instrumentality of the 

11 United States, a State, a political subdivi12 sion of a State, a rural electric cooperative 

13 that sells electric energy to electric con14 sumers, or any other entity that sells elec15 tric energy to electric consumers that 

16 would not otherwise qualify as a retail elec17 tric supplier if the entity notifies the Sec18 retary that the entity voluntarily agrees to 

19 participate in the Federal renewable elec20 tricity standard program. 

21 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE.—For calendar year 2015 and 

22 each calendar year thereafter, each retail electric supplier 

23 shall meet the requirements of subsection (c) by submit24 ting to the Secretary, not later than April 1 of the fol25 lowing calendar year, 1 or more of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Federal renewable energy credits issued 

2 under subsection (e). 

3 ‘‘(2) Certification of the renewable energy gen4 erated and electricity savings pursuant to the funds 

5 associated with State compliance payments as speci6 fied in subsection (e)(4)(G). 

7 ‘‘(3) Alternative compliance payments pursuant 

8 to subsection (h). 

9 ‘‘(c) REQUIRED ANNUAL PERCENTAGE.—For each of 

10 calendar years 2015 through 2039, the required annual 

11 percentage of the base quantity of electricity of a retail 

12 electric supplier that shall be generated from renewable 

13 energy resources, or otherwise credited towards the per14 centage requirement pursuant to subsection (d), shall be 

15 the applicable percentage specified in the following table: 

Required Amount 

‘‘Calendar Years Percentage 

2015 ............................................................................................. 7.5

2016 ............................................................................................. 8.0

2017 ............................................................................................. 8.5

2018 ............................................................................................. 9.5

2019 ............................................................................................. 10.5

2020 ............................................................................................. 12.0

2021 ............................................................................................. 13.5

2022 ............................................................................................. 15.0

2023 ............................................................................................. 16.5

2024 ............................................................................................. 18.0

2025 ............................................................................................. 20.0

2026 ............................................................................................. 22.0

2027 ............................................................................................. 24.0

2028 ............................................................................................. 26.0

2029 ............................................................................................. 28.0

2030 and thereafter through 2039 .............................................. 30.0. 

16 ‘‘(d) RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A retail electric supplier 

2 may satisfy the requirements of subsection (b)(1) 

3 through the submission of Federal renewable energy 

4 credits— 

5 ‘‘(A) issued to the retail electric supplier 

6 under subsection (e); 

7 ‘‘(B) obtained by purchase or exchange 

8 under subsection (f); or 

9 ‘‘(C) borrowed under subsection (g). 

10 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL RENEWABLE ENERGY CRED11 ITS.—A Federal renewable energy credit may be 

12 counted toward compliance with subsection (b)(1) 

13 only once. 

14 ‘‘(e) ISSUANCE OF FEDERAL RENEWABLE ENERGY

15 CREDITS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

17 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary 

18 shall establish by rule a program— 

19 ‘‘(A) to verify and issue Federal renewable 

20 energy credits to generators of renewable en21 ergy; 

22 ‘‘(B) to track the sale, exchange, and re23 tirement of the credits; and 

24 ‘‘(C) to enforce the requirements of this 

25 section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXISTING NON-FEDERAL TRACKING SYS2 TEMS.—To the maximum extent practicable, in es3 tablishing the program, the Secretary shall rely on 

4 existing and emerging State or regional tracking 

5 systems that issue and track non-Federal renewable 

6 energy credits. 

7 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An entity that gen9 erates electric energy through the use of a re10 newable energy resource may apply to the Sec11 retary for the issuance of renewable energy 

12 credits. 

13 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for the 

14 issuance of the credits, the applicant shall dem15 onstrate to the Secretary that— 

16 ‘‘(i) the electric energy will be trans17 mitted onto the grid; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a generation offset, 

19 the electric energy offset would have other20 wise been consumed onsite. 

21 ‘‘(C) CONTENTS.—The application shall 

22 indicate— 

23 ‘‘(i) the type of renewable energy re24 source that is used to produce the elec25 tricity; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the location at which the electric 

2 energy will be produced; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) any other information the Sec4 retary determines appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(4) QUANTITY OF FEDERAL RENEWABLE EN6 ERGY CREDITS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

8 provided in this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

9 issue to a generator of electric energy 1 Federal 

10 renewable energy credit for each kilowatt hour 

11 of electric energy generated by the use of a re12 newable energy resource at an eligible facility. 

13 ‘‘(B) INCREMENTAL HYDROPOWER.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purpose of 

15 compliance with this section, Federal re16 newable energy credits for incremental hy17 dropower shall be based on the increase in 

18 average annual generation resulting from 

19 the efficiency improvements or capacity ad20 ditions. 

21 ‘‘(ii) WATER FLOW INFORMATION.— 

22 The incremental generation shall be cal23 culated using the same water flow informa24 tion that is— 


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1 ‘‘(I) used to determine a historic 

2 average annual generation baseline for 

3 the hydroelectric facility; and 

4 ‘‘(II) certified by the Secretary or 

5 the Federal Energy Regulatory Com6 mission. 

7 ‘‘(iii) OPERATIONAL CHANGES.—The 

8 calculation of the Federal renewable energy 

9 credits for incremental hydropower shall 

10 not be based on any operational changes at 

11 the hydroelectric facility that is not di12 rectly associated with the efficiency im13 provements or capacity additions. 

14 ‘‘(C) INDIAN LAND.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

16 shall issue 2 renewable energy credits for 

17 each kilowatt hour of electric energy gen18 erated and supplied to the grid in a cal19 endar year through the use of a renewable 

20 energy resource at an eligible facility lo21 cated on Indian land. 

22 ‘‘(ii) BIOMASS.—For purposes of this 

23 paragraph, renewable energy generated by 

24 biomass cofired with other fuels is eligible 


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1 for 2 credits only if the biomass was grown 

2 on the land. 

3 ‘‘(D) ON-SITE ELIGIBLE FACILITIES.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 

5 electric energy generated by a renewable 

6 energy resource at an on-site eligible facil7 ity that is not larger than 1 megawatt in 

8 capacity and is used to offset all or part of 

9 the requirements of a customer for electric 

10 energy, the Secretary shall issue 3 renew11 able energy credits to the customer for 

12 each kilowatt hour generated. 

13 ‘‘(ii) INDIAN LAND.—In the case of an 

14 on-site eligible facility on Indian land, the 

15 Secretary shall issue not more than 3 cred16 its per kilowatt hour. 

17 ‘‘(E) COMBINATION OF RENEWABLE AND

18 NONRENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES.—If both 

19 a renewable energy resource and a nonrenew20 able energy resource are used to generate the 

21 electric energy, the Secretary shall issue the 

22 Federal renewable energy credits based on the 

23 proportion of the renewable energy resources 

24 used. 


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1 ‘‘(F) RETAIL ELECTRIC SUPPLIERS.—If a 

2 generator has sold electric energy generated 

3 through the use of a renewable energy resource 

4 to a retail electric supplier under a contract for 

5 power from an existing facility and the contract 

6 has not determined ownership of the Federal 

7 renewable energy credits associated with the 

8 generation, the Secretary shall issue the Fed9 eral renewable energy credits to the retail elec10 tric supplier for the duration of the contract. 

11 ‘‘(G) COMPLIANCE WITH STATE RENEW12 ABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD PROGRAMS.—Pay13 ments made by a retail electricity supplier, di14 rectly or indirectly, to a State for compliance 

15 with a State renewable portfolio standard pro16 gram, or for an alternative compliance mecha17 nism, shall be valued at 1 credit per kilowatt 

18 hour for the purpose of subsection (b)(2) based 

19 on the quantity of electric energy generation 

20 from renewable resources that results from the 

21 payments. 

22 ‘‘(f) RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT TRADING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal renewable en24 ergy credit may be sold, transferred, or exchanged 

25 by the entity to whom the credit is issued or by any 


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1 other entity that acquires the Federal renewable en2 ergy credit, other than renewable energy credits 

3 from existing facilities. 

4 ‘‘(2) CARRYOVER.—A Federal renewable energy 

5 credit for any year that is not submitted to satisfy 

6 the minimum renewable generation requirement of 

7 subsection (c) for that year may be carried forward 

8 for use pursuant to subsection (b)(1) within the next 

9 3 years. 

10 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION.—The Secretary may dele11 gate to an appropriate market-making entity the ad12 ministration of a national tradeable renewable en13 ergy credit market for purposes of creating a trans14 parent national market for the sale or trade of re15 newable energy credits. 

16 ‘‘(g) RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT BORROWING.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 

18 31, 2015, a retail electric supplier that has reason 

19 to believe the retail electric supplier will not be able 

20 to fully comply with subsection (b) may— 

21 ‘‘(A) submit a plan to the Secretary dem22 onstrating that the retail electric supplier will 

23 earn sufficient Federal renewable energy credits 

24 within the next 3 calendar years that, when 

25 taken into account, will enable the retail electric 


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1 supplier to meet the requirements of subsection 

2 (b) for calendar year 2015 and the subsequent 

3 calendar years involved; and 

4 ‘‘(B) on the approval of the plan by the 

5 Secretary, apply Federal renewable energy cred6 its that the plan demonstrates will be earned 

7 within the next 3 calendar years to meet the re8 quirements of subsection (b) for each calendar 

9 year involved. 

10 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT.—The retail electric supplier 

11 shall repay all of the borrowed Federal renewable 

12 energy credits by submitting an equivalent number 

13 of Federal renewable energy credits, in addition to 

14 the credits otherwise required under subsection (b), 

15 by calendar year 2023 or any earlier deadlines speci16 fied in the approved plan. 

17 ‘‘(h) ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE PAYMENTS.—As a 

18 means of compliance under subsection (b)(4), the Sec19 retary shall accept payment equal to the lesser of— 

20 ‘‘(1) 200 percent of the average market value of 

21 Federal renewable energy credits and Federal energy 

22 efficiency credits for the applicable compliance pe23 riod; or 

24 ‘‘(2) 3 cents per kilowatt hour (as adjusted on 

25 January 1 of each year following calendar year 2006 


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1 based on the implicit price deflator for the gross na2 tional product). 

3 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION COLLECTION.—The Secretary 

4 may collect the information necessary to verify and 

5 audit— 

6 ‘‘(1)(A) the annual renewable energy generation 

7 of any retail electric supplier; and 

8 ‘‘(B) Federal renewable energy credits sub9 mitted by a retail electric supplier pursuant to sub10 section (b)(1); 

11 ‘‘(2) the validity of Federal renewable energy 

12 credits submitted for compliance by a retail electric 

13 supplier to the Secretary; and 

14 ‘‘(3) the quantity of electricity sales of all retail 

15 electric suppliers. 

16 ‘‘(j) ENVIRONMENTAL SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Incre17 mental hydropower shall be subject to all applicable envi18 ronmental laws and licensing and regulatory requirements. 

19 ‘‘(k) STATE PROGRAMS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section di21 minishes any authority of a State or political sub22 division of a State— 

23 ‘‘(A) to adopt or enforce any law (includ24 ing regulations) respecting renewable energy, 

25 including programs that exceed the required 


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1 quantity of renewable energy under this section; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(B) to regulate the acquisition and dis4 position of Federal renewable energy credits by 

5 retail electric suppliers. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION.—No law or 

7 regulation referred to in paragraph (1)(A) shall re8 lieve any person of any requirement otherwise appli9 cable under this section. 

10 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH STATE PROGRAM.— 

11 The Secretary, in consultation with States that have 

12 in effect renewable energy programs, shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) preserve the integrity of the State 

14 programs, including programs that exceed the 

15 required quantity of renewable energy under 

16 this section; and 

17 ‘‘(B) facilitate coordination between the 

18 Federal program and State programs. 

19 ‘‘(4) EXISTING RENEWABLE ENERGY PRO20 GRAMS.—In the regulations establishing the program 

21 under this section, the Secretary shall incorporate 

22 common elements of existing renewable energy pro23 grams, including State programs, to ensure adminis24 trative ease, market transparency and effective en25 forcement. 


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1 ‘‘(5) MINIMIZATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE BUR2 DENS AND COSTS.—In carrying out this section, the 

3 Secretary shall work with the States to minimize ad4 ministrative burdens and costs to retail electric sup5 pliers. 

6 ‘‘(l) RECOVERY OF COSTS.—An electric utility that 

7 has sales of electric energy that are subject to rate regula8 tion (including any utility with rates that are regulated 

9 by the Commission and any State regulated electric util10 ity) shall not be denied the opportunity to recover the full 

11 amount of the prudently incurred incremental cost of re12 newable energy obtained to comply with the requirements 

13 of subsection (b). 

14 ‘‘(m) PROGRAM REVIEW.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

16 into an arrangement with the National Academy of 

17 Sciences under which the Academy shall conduct a 

18 comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of the pro19 gram established under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION.—The study shall include an 

21 evaluation of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the effectiveness of the program in 

23 increasing the market penetration and lowering 

24 the cost of the eligible renewable energy tech25 nologies; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the opportunities for any additional 

2 technologies and sources of renewable energy 

3 emerging since the date of enactment of this 

4 section; 

5 ‘‘(C) the impact on the regional diversity 

6 and reliability of supply sources, including the 

7 power quality benefits of distributed generation; 

8 ‘‘(D) the regional resource development 

9 relative to renewable potential and reasons for 

10 any investment in renewable resources; and 

11 ‘‘(E) the net cost/benefit of the renewable 

12 electricity standard to the national and State 

13 economies, including— 

14 ‘‘(i) retail power costs; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the economic development bene16 fits of investment; 

17 ‘‘(iii) avoided costs related to environ18 mental and congestion mitigation invest19 ments that would otherwise have been re20 quired; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the impact on natural gas de22 mand and price; and 

23 ‘‘(v) the effectiveness of green mar24 keting programs at reducing the cost of re25 newable resources. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than January 1, 

2 2019, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a re3 port describing the results of the evaluation and any 

4 recommendations for modifications and improve5 ments to the program. 

6 ‘‘(n) STATE RENEWABLE ENERGY ACCOUNT.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 

8 Treasury a State renewable energy account. 

9 ‘‘(2) DEPOSITS.—All money collected by the 

10 Secretary from the alternative compliance payments 

11 under subsection (h) shall be deposited into the 

12 State renewable energy account established under 

13 paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Proceeds deposited in 

16 the State renewable energy account shall be 

17 used by the Secretary, subject to annual appro18 priations, for a program to provide grants— 

19 ‘‘(i) to the State agency responsible 

20 for administering a fund to promote renew21 able energy generation for customers of the 

22 State or an alternative agency designated 

23 by the State; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) if no agency described in clause 

25 (i), to the State agency developing State 


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1 energy conservation plans under section 

2 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 6322). 

4 ‘‘(B) USE.—The grants shall be used for 

5 the purpose of— 

6 ‘‘(i) promoting renewable energy pro7 duction; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) providing energy assistance and 

9 weatherization services to low-income con10 sumers. 

11 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA.—The Secretary may issue 

12 guidelines and criteria for grants awarded 

13 under this paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(D) STATE-APPROVED FUNDING MECHA15 NISMS.—At least 75 percent of the funds pro16 vided to each State for each fiscal year shall be 

17 used to promote renewable energy production 

18 through grants, production incentives, or other 

19 State-approved funding mechanisms. 

20 ‘‘(E) ALLOCATION.—The funds shall be al21 located to the States on the basis of retail elec22 tric sales subject to the renewable electricity 

23 standard under this section or through vol24 untary participation. 


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1 ‘‘(F) RECORDS.—State agencies receiving 

2 grants under this paragraph shall maintain 

3 such records and evidence of compliance as the 

4 Secretary may require.’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

6 of contents of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 

7 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. prec. 2601) is amended by adding at 

8 the end of the items relating to title VI the following: 

‘‘Sec. 609. Rural and remote communities electrification grants. 

‘‘Sec. 610. Renewable electricity standard.’’. 

Æ 


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