I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8626 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a grant program to improve 

the energy resilience, energy democracy, and security of communities, 

prioritizing environmental justice communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2020 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N (for herself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. SIRES, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Mr. SOTO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. TONKO, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 

HAALAND, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 

MOORE, Ms. HOULAHAN, and Mr. SUOZZI) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a grant 

program to improve the energy resilience, energy democracy, and security of communities, prioritizing environmental justice communities, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Resilient Com3 munities Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CLEAN ENERGY MICROGRID GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall es6 tablish and carry out a program to provide grants to eligi7 ble entities. 

8 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use a 

9 grant provided under the program established pursuant to 

10 subsection (a) to— 

11 (1) obtain technical assistance to— 

12 (A) upgrade building codes and standards 

13 for resiliency to climate change hazards (includ14 ing wildfires, flooding, sea level rise, landslides, 

15 drought, storms, temperature extremes, and 

16 other extreme weather events); 

17 (B) develop an infrastructure resilience 

18 plan to identify and overcome known climate 

19 change hazards to critical community infra20 structure; or 

21 (C) conduct a needs assessment of prospec22 tive clean energy microgrid projects and, as ap23 plicable, design prospective clean energy 

24 microgrids, including assistance to address per25 mitting and siting challenges, understand and 

26 facilitate financing options, and understand the 


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1 technical characteristics of clean energy 

2 microgrids; 

3 (2) provide community outreach and collabo4 rative planning with respect to a prospective project 

5 described in paragraph (3); or 

6 (3) carry out a project to develop and con7 struct— 

8 (A) a clean energy microgrid that supports 

9 critical community infrastructure; or 

10 (B) a clean energy microgrid for residences 

11 of medical baseline customers. 

12 (c) PRIORITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In providing grants under 

14 the program established pursuant to subsection (a), 

15 the Secretary of Energy shall give priority to an eli16 gible entity that proposes to use a grant to obtain 

17 technical assistance described in subsection (b)(1), 

18 provide outreach described in subsection (b)(2), or 

19 carry out a project described in subsection (b)(3), 

20 that will benefit an environmental justice commu21 nity. 

22 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND COMMUNITY

23 OUTREACH GRANTS.—After priority given under 

24 paragraph (1), in providing grants to obtain tech25 nical assistance described in subsection (b)(1) or 


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1 provide outreach described in subsection (b)(2), the 

2 Secretary of Energy shall give priority to an eligible 

3 entity proposing to obtain technical assistance or 

4 provide outreach that the Secretary of Energy deter5 mines will further the development of clean energy 

6 microgrids that are community-owned energy sys7 tems. 

8 (3) CLEAN ENERGY MICROGRID GRANTS.—After 

9 priority given under paragraph (1), in providing 

10 grants under the program established pursuant to 

11 subsection (a) for projects described in subsection 

12 (b)(3), the Secretary of Energy shall give priority to 

13 an eligible entity that— 

14 (A) proposes to develop and construct a 

15 clean energy microgrid that, in comparison to 

16 other clean energy microgrids for which grants 

17 are sought under such program, will result in 

18 the greatest reduction— 

19 (i) of greenhouse gas emissions; 

20 (ii) of emissions of criteria air pollut21 ants; 

22 (iii) in public health disparities in 

23 communities experiencing a dispropor24 tionate level of air pollution; or 


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1 (iv) in the energy cost burden for 

2 communities; 

3 (B) proposes to develop and construct a 

4 clean energy microgrid that is a community5 owned energy system; 

6 (C) proposes to develop and construct a 

7 clean energy microgrid that, in comparison to 

8 other clean energy microgrids for which grants 

9 are sought under such program, will provide the 

10 greatest amount of resiliency benefits to a juris11 diction in which the microgrid is located; 

12 (D) proposes to develop and construct a 

13 clean energy microgrid that minimizes land use 

14 impacts by— 

15 (i) siting sources of clean energy with16 in the already-built environment, including 

17 over rooftops and parking lots; 

18 (ii) siting sources of clean energy on 

19 existing brownfield sites or contaminated 

20 sites; 

21 (iii) co-locating sources of clean en22 ergy on agricultural lands or over res23 ervoirs; or 

24 (iv) siting sources of clean energy on 

25 compatible lands; 


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1 (E) proposes to, in developing and con2 structing a clean energy microgrid, utilize or in3 volve small businesses or nonprofits that pri4 marily operate or are located within environ5 mental justice communities, particularly those 

6 that are women-owned and operated or minor7 ity-owned and operated; 

8 (F) has previously received a grant to ob9 tain technical assistance under such program; 

10 or 

11 (G) imposes registered apprentice utiliza12 tion requirements on projects, provided that 

13 such requirements comply with the apprentice 

14 to journey worker ratios established by the De15 partment of Labor or the applicable State Ap16 prenticeship Agency. 

17 (d) EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

19 funds are made available to carry out this section, 

20 the Secretary of Energy shall develop and carry out 

21 an educational outreach program to inform eligible 

22 entities about the program established pursuant to 

23 subsection (a). 

24 (2) CONTRACTS.—The Secretary of Energy 

25 may enter into third-party contracts to implement 


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1 the educational outreach program under paragraph 

2 (1). In entering into contracts pursuant to this para3 graph, the Secretary shall prioritize entering into 

4 contracts with women-owned and operated or minor5 ity-owned and operated entities. 

6 (3) PRIORITY.—The educational outreach pro7 gram under paragraph (1) shall prioritize— 

8 (A) providing information on the program 

9 established pursuant to subsection (a) to eligi10 ble entities that serve an environmental justice 

11 community and to environmental justice com12 munities; and 

13 (B) promoting public understanding of the 

14 community benefits of clean energy microgrids 

15 for critical community infrastructure. 

16 (e) COST SHARE.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para18 graph (2), the Federal share of the cost of technical 

19 assistance, outreach, or a project for which a grant 

20 is provided pursuant to the program established pur21 suant to subsection (a) shall not exceed 60 percent 

22 of such cost. 

23 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

24 The Federal share of the cost of technical assistance 

25 that is obtained for, outreach that is provided to, or 


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1 a project that is carried out in, an environmental 

2 justice community, and for which a grant is provided 

3 pursuant to the program established pursuant to 

4 subsection (a) shall not exceed 90 percent of such 

5 cost. 

6 (f) LIMITATION ON AMOUNT.—The amount of a 

7 grant provided to an eligible entity under this section to 

8 carry out a project described in subsection (b)(3) may not 

9 exceed $10,000,000. 

10 (g) USE OF AMERICAN IRON, STEEL, AND MANUFAC11 TURED GOODS.— 

12 (1) No funds authorized under this section shall 

13 be made available with respect to a project unless all 

14 of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in 

15 the project are produced in the United States. 

16 (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in any case 

17 or category of cases in which the Secretary of En18 ergy finds that— 

19 (A) applying paragraph (1) would be in20 consistent with the public interest; 

21 (B) iron, steel, and the relevant manufac22 tured goods are not produced in the United 

23 States in sufficient and reasonably available 

24 quantities and of a satisfactory quality; or 


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1 (C) inclusion of iron, steel, and manufac2 tured goods produced in the United States will 

3 increase the cost of the overall project by more 

4 than 25 percent. 

5 (3) If the Secretary of Energy receives a re6 quest for a waiver under this subsection, the Sec7 retary shall make available to the public on an infor8 mal basis a copy of the request and information 

9 available to the Secretary concerning the request, 

10 and shall allow for informal public input on the re11 quest for at least 15 days prior to making a finding 

12 based on the request. The Secretary shall make the 

13 request and accompanying information available by 

14 electronic means, including on the official public 

15 website of the Department of Energy. 

16 (4) This subsection shall be applied in a man17 ner consistent with the United States obligations 

18 under international agreements. 

19 (h) PREVAILING WAGES.—All laborers and mechan20 ics employed by contractors or subcontractors in the per21 formance of construction, alteration, or repair work as22 sisted, in whole or in part, by a grant under this section 

23 shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing 

24 on similar construction in the locality as determined by 

25 the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter IV 


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1 of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code. With respect 

2 to the labor standards in this subsection, the Secretary 

3 of Labor shall have the authority and functions set forth 

4 in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 1950 (64 Stat. 

5 1267; 5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 40, United 

6 States Code. 

7 (i) PROJECT LABOR.—An eligible entity that uses a 

8 grant provided under this section to construct a clean en9 ergy microgrid shall ensure, to the greatest extent prac10 ticable, that any subgrantee of such eligible entity, and 

11 any subgrantee thereof, that carries out such construction 

12 employs at least 40 percent of laborers or mechanics for 

13 such construction that are individuals who— 

14 (1) are domiciled, if the applicable construction 

15 area is— 

16 (A) a major urban area, not further than 

17 15 miles from such construction area; or 

18 (B) not a major urban area, not further 

19 than 50 miles from such construction area; 

20 (2) are displaced and unemployed energy work21 ers; 

22 (3) are members of the Armed Forces serving 

23 on active duty, separated from active duty, or retired 

24 from active duty; 


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1 (4) have been incarcerated or served time in a 

2 juvenile or adult detention or correctional facility, or 

3 been placed on probation, community supervision, or 

4 in a diversion scheme; 

5 (5) have a disability; 

6 (6) are homeless; 

7 (7) are receiving public assistance; 

8 (8) lack a general education diploma or high 

9 school diploma; 

10 (9) are emancipated from the foster care sys11 tem; 

12 (10) reside or work in an environmental justice 

13 community; or 

14 (11) are registered apprentices with fewer than 

15 15 percent of the required graduating apprentice 

16 hours in a program. 

17 (j) REPORTS.—The Secretary of Energy shall submit 

18 to Congress, and make available on the public website of 

19 the Department of Energy, an annual report on the pro20 gram established pursuant to subsection (a) that includes, 

21 with respect to the previous year— 

22 (1) the number of grants provided; 

23 (2) the total dollar amount of all grants pro24 vided; 

25 (3) a list of grant disbursements by State; 


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1 (4) for each grant provided— 

2 (A) a description of the technical assist3 ance obtained, outreach provided, or project 

4 carried out with grants funds; and 

5 (B) whether the grant is provided to obtain 

6 technical assistance, provide outreach, or carry 

7 out a project with respect to an environmental 

8 justice community; and 

9 (5) for each grant provided to carry out a clean 

10 energy microgrid project— 

11 (A) employment data for such project, in12 cluding the number of jobs created and what 

13 percent of laborers and mechanics hired for 

14 such project meet the criteria under subsection 

15 (i); 

16 (B) the greenhouse gas and criteria air 

17 pollutant reduction impacts for such project; 

18 (C) the public health benefits from such 

19 project; and 

20 (D) the reduced energy cost burden from 

21 such project. 

22 (k) FUNDING.— 

23 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For 

24 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2030, there is au25 thorized to be appropriated— 


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1 (A) $50,000,000 for grants for technical 

2 assistance described in subsection (b)(1) and 

3 outreach described in subsection (b)(2); and 

4 (B) $1,500,000,000 for grants for projects 

5 described in subsection (b)(3). 

6 (2) COMMUNITY-OWNED ENERGY SYSTEMS.— 

7 To the maximum extent practicable, not less than 10 

8 percent of the amount appropriated under para9 graph (1)(B) for any fiscal year shall be used to pro10 vide grants for projects to develop and construct 

11 clean energy microgrids that are community-owned 

12 energy systems. 

13 (3) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

14 (A) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OUT15 REACH.—The Secretary may use not more than 

16 2 percent of the amount appropriated for any 

17 fiscal year under paragraph (1)(A) for adminis18 trative expenses. 

19 (B) CLEAN ENERGY MICROGRID

20 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may use not more 

21 than 2 percent of the amount appropriated for 

22 any fiscal year under paragraph (1)(B) for ad23 ministrative expenses, including expenses for 

24 carrying out the educational outreach program 

25 under subsection (d). 


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1 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) CLEAN ENERGY.—The term ‘‘clean energy’’ 

3 means electric energy generated from solar, wind, 

4 geothermal, existing hydropower, micro-hydropower, 

5 hydrokinetic, or hydrogen fuel cells. 

6 (2) COMMUNITY OF COLOR.—The term ‘‘com7 munity of color’’ means a geographically distinct 

8 area in which the population of any of the following 

9 categories of individuals is higher than the average 

10 populations of that category for the State in which 

11 the community is located: 

12 (A) Black. 

13 (B) African American. 

14 (C) Asian. 

15 (D) Pacific Islander. 

16 (E) Other non-White race. 

17 (F) Non-White Hispanic. 

18 (G) Latino. 

19 (H) Linguistically isolated. 

20 (3) COMMUNITY-OWNED ENERGY SYSTEM.— 

21 The term ‘‘community-owned energy system’’ means 

22 an energy system owned— 

23 (A) by the local government where the sys24 tem is located; 


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1 (B) by a nonprofit organization that is 

2 based in the local jurisdiction where the energy 

3 system is located; 

4 (C) collectively, by community members; or 

5 (D) by a worker-owned or community6 owned for-profit entity. 

7 (4) COMPATIBLE LAND.—The term ‘‘compatible 

8 land’’ means land that is at least 5 miles away from 

9 existing protected areas and within 3 miles of exist10 ing transmission infrastructure. 

11 (5) CRITICAL COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

12 The term ‘‘critical community infrastructure’’ means 

13 infrastructure that is necessary to providing vital 

14 community and individual functions, including— 

15 (A) schools; 

16 (B) town halls; 

17 (C) public safety facilities; 

18 (D) hospitals; 

19 (E) health clinics; 

20 (F) community centers; 

21 (G) community nonprofit facilities pro22 viding essential services; 

23 (H) libraries; 

24 (I) grocery stores; 

25 (J) emergency management facilities; 


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1 (K) water systems; 

2 (L) homeless shelters; 

3 (M) senior housing; and 

4 (N) public or affordable housing. 

5 (6) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti6 ty’’ means— 

7 (A) a State, territory of the United States, 

8 or Tribal agency; 

9 (B) a local government; 

10 (C) an electric utility; 

11 (D) a nonprofit organization; or 

12 (E) a partnership between— 

13 (i) a private entity, or a nonprofit or14 ganization, that owns critical community 

15 infrastructure; and 

16 (ii) a State, territory of the United 

17 States, Tribal agency, or local government. 

18 (7) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 

19 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 

20 a community with significant representation of com21 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 

22 and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is 

23 at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse 

24 human health or environmental effects. 


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1 (8) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘low2 income community’’ means any census block group 

3 in which 30 percent or more of the population are 

4 individuals with an annual household income equal 

5 to, or less than, the greater of— 

6 (A) an amount equal to 80 percent of the 

7 median income of the area in which the house8 hold is located, as reported by the Department 

9 of Housing and Urban Development; and 

10 (B) 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

11 line. 

12 (9) MAJOR URBAN AREA.—The term ‘‘major 

13 urban area’’ means a metropolitan statistical area 

14 within the United States with an estimated popu15 lation that is greater than or equal to 1,500,000. 

16 (10) MEDICAL BASELINE CUSTOMER.—The 

17 term ‘‘medical baseline customer’’ means a customer 

18 of an electric utility with special energy needs due 

19 to a medical condition, including energy needs for— 

20 (A) a motorized wheelchair; 

21 (B) a ventilator; 

22 (C) a dialysis machine; 

23 (D) an apnea monitor; 

24 (E) an electrostatic nebulizer; 

25 (F) a respirator; 


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1 (G) medication requiring refrigeration; and 

2 (H) for a customer with a vulnerable res3 piratory system, an air cleaning system. 

4 (11) MICROGRID.—The term ‘‘microgrid’’ 

5 means an interconnected system of loads and clean 

6 energy resources (including distributed energy re7 sources, energy storage, demand response tools, and 

8 other management, forecasting, and analytical tools) 

9 which— 

10 (A) is appropriately sized to meet the crit11 ical needs of its customers; 

12 (B) is contained within a clearly defined 

13 electrical boundary and has the ability to oper14 ate as a single and controllable entity; 

15 (C) has the ability to— 

16 (i) connect to, disconnect from, or run 

17 in parallel with the applicable grid region; 

18 or 

19 (ii) be managed and isolated from the 

20 applicable grid region in order to withstand 

21 larger disturbances and maintain the sup22 ply of electricity to a connected location; 

23 (D) has no point of interconnection to the 

24 applicable grid region with a throughput capac25 ity in excess of 20 megawatts; and 


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1 (E) can connect to one building or multiple 

2 interconnected buildings. 

3 (12) MICRO-HYDROPOWER.—The term ‘‘micro4 hydropower’’ means hydropower that produces no 

5 more than 100 kilowatts of electricity using the nat6 ural flow of water. 

7 (13) PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES.—The 

8 term ‘‘produced in the United States’’ means, in the 

9 case of iron or steel, that all manufacturing proc10 esses, including the application of a coating, occur in 

11 the United States. 

12 (14) REGISTERED APPRENTICE.—The term 

13 ‘‘registered apprentice’’ means a person in an ap14 prenticeship program that is registered with, and ap15 proved by, the United States Department of Labor 

16 or a State Apprenticeship Agency in accordance with 

17 parts 29 and 30 of title 29, Code of Federal Regula18 tions (as in effect on January 1, 2020). 

19 (15) SMALL BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘small busi20 ness’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘small busi21 ness concern’’ under section 3 of the Small Business 

22 Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

23 (16) TRIBAL AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY.— 

24 The term ‘‘Tribal and indigenous community’’ 

25 means a population of people who are members of— 


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1 (A) a federally recognized Indian Tribe; 

2 (B) a State-recognized Indian Tribe; 

3 (C) an Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian 

4 community or organization; or 

5 (D) any other community of indigenous 

6 people located in a State. 

Æ 


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