II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1346 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an e-prize competition pilot 

program to provide up to 4 financial awards to eligible entities that 

develop and verifiably demonstrate technology that reduces the cost of 

electricity or space heat in a high-cost region. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2015 

Ms. MURKOWSKI 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 an e-prize 

competition pilot program to provide up to 4 financial 

awards to eligible entities that develop and verifiably 

demonstrate technology that reduces the cost of electricity or space heat in a high-cost region. 

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 ‘‘E-Prize Competition 

5 Pilot Program Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COMPETITION BOARD.—The term ‘‘Com2 petition Board’’ means the competition board estab3 lished under section 3(a)(2). 

4 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti5 ty’’ means any— 

6 (A) nonpublic entity; or 

7 (B) public-private partnership in which the 

private entity is more than 1 8 ⁄2 of the partner9 ship. 

10 (3) ENERGY TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIALIZATION

11 FUND.—The term ‘‘Energy Technology Commer12 cialization Fund’’ means the fund established under 

13 section 1001(e) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 

14 (42 U.S.C. 16391). 

15 (4) HIGH-COST REGION.—The term ‘‘high-cost 

16 region’’ means a region in which the average cost of 

17 electrical power or space heat exceeds 150 percent of 

18 the national average retail cost, as determined by 

19 the Secretary. 

20 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Energy. 

22 SEC. 3. PRIZE COMPETITION PILOT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

24 (1) establish a prize competition under which 

25 eligible entities compete to develop and verifiably 


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1 demonstrate technology that reduces the cost of elec2 tricity or space heat in high-cost regions by at least 

3 25 percent; 

4 (2) establish a Competition Board to award not 

5 more than 4 prizes, each in an amount of not more 

6 than $1,000,000; and 

7 (3) use for each award amounts made available 

8 to the Energy Technology Commercialization Fund. 

9 (b) DURATION.—The duration for the prize competi10 tion shall be not less than 2 years or more than 5 years. 

11 (c) SELECTION.—In selecting a winner for each prize, 

12 the Competition Board shall evaluate the technology based 

13 on the following criteria: 

14 (1) Cost-effectiveness and ease of installation 

15 and maintenance of the technology. 

16 (2) Amount by which the technology will de17 crease electricity or space heating costs in a high18 cost region. 

19 (3) Ability of the technology to be deployed in 

20 a variety of climates and locations. 

21 (4) Ease of use of the technology. 

22 (5) Whether the technology is designed to be of 

23 immediate or imminent use. 

24 (6) Potential for private sector investment in 

25 the technology. 


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1 (7) Potential of the technology to transform an 

2 existing industry or establish a new industry. 

Æ 


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