II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2241 

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

States to consider measures to promote greater electrification of the 

transportation sector, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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 require States to consider measures to promote greater electrification of the transportation sector, 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 ‘‘Responsibly and Equi5 tably Change How Auto-charging Rates Get Evaluated 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘RECHARGE Act’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2241 IS

1 SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF MEASURES TO PROMOTE 

2 GREATER ELECTRIFICATION OF THE TRANS3 PORTATION SECTOR. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Util5 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(20) ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING PRO8 GRAMS.—Each State shall consider measures to pro9 mote greater electrification of the transportation sec10 tor, including the establishment of rates that— 

11 ‘‘(A) promote affordable and equitable 

12 electric vehicle charging options for residential, 

13 commercial, and public electric vehicle charging 

14 infrastructure; 

15 ‘‘(B) improve the customer experience as16 sociated with electric vehicle charging, including 

17 by reducing charging times for light-, medium18 , and heavy-duty vehicles; 

19 ‘‘(C) accelerate both third-party investment 

20 and investments by electric utilities in electric 

21 vehicle charging stations for light-, medium-, 

22 and heavy-duty vehicles; and 

23 ‘‘(D) appropriately recover the marginal 

24 costs of delivering electricity to electric vehicles 

25 and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.’’. 

26 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2241 IS

1 (1) TIME LIMITATION.—Section 112(b) of the 

2 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 

3 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(7)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of 

6 enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 

7 authority (with respect to each electric utility for 

8 which the State has ratemaking authority) and each 

9 nonregulated utility shall commence consideration 

10 under section 111, or set a hearing date for consid11 eration, with respect to the standard established by 

12 paragraph (20) of section 111(d). 

13 ‘‘(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of 

14 enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 

15 authority (with respect to each electric utility for 

16 which the State has ratemaking authority), and each 

17 nonregulated electric utility shall complete the con18 sideration and make the determination under section 

19 111 with respect to the standard established by 

20 paragraph (20) of section 111(d).’’. 

21 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Section 112(c) of 

22 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

23 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended by adding at the 

24 end the following: ‘‘In the case of the standard es25 tablished by paragraph (20) of section 111(d), the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2241 IS

1 reference contained in this subsection to the date of 

2 enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a ref3 erence to the date of enactment of that paragraph.’’. 

4 (3) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 112 of the 

6 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

7 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following: 

9 ‘‘(g) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Subsections (b) and 

10 (c) shall not apply to the standard established by para11 graph (20) of section 111(d) in the case of any electric 

12 utility in a State if, before the date of enactment of this 

13 subsection— 

14 ‘‘(1) the State has implemented for the electric 

15 utility the standard (or a comparable standard); 

16 ‘‘(2) the State regulatory authority for the 

17 State or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has 

18 conducted a proceeding to consider implementation 

19 of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the 

20 electric utility; or 

21 ‘‘(3) the State legislature has voted on the im22 plementation of the standard (or a comparable 

23 standard) for the electric utility during the 3-year 

24 period ending on that date of enactment.’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2241 IS

1 (B) CROSS-REFERENCE.—Section 124 of 

2 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 

3 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘this subsection’’ each 

5 place it appears and inserting ‘‘this sec6 tion’’; and 

7 (ii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: ‘‘In the case of the standard estab9 lished by paragraph (20) of section 111(d), 

10 the reference contained in this section to 

11 the date of enactment of this Act shall be 

12 deemed to be a reference to the date of en13 actment of that paragraph.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS