I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1743 

To require the Secretary of Energy to carry out an energy storage research 

program, loan program, and technical assistance and grant program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Mr. COLLINS of New York) 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 require the Secretary of Energy to carry out an energy 

storage research program, loan program, and technical 

assistance and grant program, 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 ‘‘Advancing Grid Stor5 age Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘en2 ergy storage system’’ means a system or strategy 

3 that improves the ability to shift the dispatch of en4 ergy in time, across multiple timescales. 

5 (2) ISLANDING.—The term ‘‘islanding’’ means 

6 a distributed generator or energy storage device con7 tinuing to power a location in the absence of electric 

8 power from the primary source. 

9 (3) LOAN.—The term ‘‘loan’’ has the meaning 

10 given the term ‘‘direct loan’’ in section 502 of the 

11 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a). 

12 (4) MICROGRID.—The term ‘‘microgrid’’ means 

13 an integrated energy system consisting of inter14 connected loads and distributed energy resources, in15 cluding generators and energy storage devices, with16 in clearly defined electrical boundaries that— 

17 (A) acts as a single controllable entity with 

18 respect to the grid; and 

19 (B) can connect and disconnect from the 

20 grid to operate in both grid-connected mode 

21 and islanding mode. 

22 (5) RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE.—The term 

23 ‘‘renewable energy source’’ includes— 

24 (A) biomass; 

25 (B) geothermal energy; 


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1 (C) hydropower; 

2 (D) landfill gas; 

3 (E) municipal solid waste; 

4 (F) ocean (including tidal, wave, current, 

5 and thermal) energy; 

6 (G) organic waste; 

7 (H) photosynthetic processes; 

8 (I) photovoltaic energy; 

9 (J) solar energy; and 

10 (K) wind. 

11 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

12 the Secretary of Energy. 

13 SEC. 3. ENERGY STORAGE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out, 

15 within the Office of Electricity, a program for the research 

16 of energy storage systems. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 $50,000,000. 

20 SEC. 4. ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM DEMONSTRATION AND 

21 DEPLOYMENT LOAN PROGRAM. 

22 (a) LOAN PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provisions of 

24 this subsection and subsections (b) and (c), the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1743.IH H1743

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1 retary shall carry out a program to provide to eligi2 ble entities— 

3 (A) loans for the demonstration and de4 ployment of energy storage systems in a specific 

5 project; and 

6 (B) loans to provide funding for programs 

7 to finance the demonstration and deployment of 

8 multiple energy storage systems through a re9 volving loan fund, credit enhancement program, 

10 or other financial assistance program. 

11 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—Entities eligible to receive a 

12 loan under paragraph (1) include— 

13 (A) a State, territory, or possession of the 

14 United States; 

15 (B) a State energy office; 

16 (C) a tribal organization (as defined in sec17 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

18 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 

19 (D) an institution of higher education (as 

20 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

21 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)); and 

22 (E) an electric utility, including— 

23 (i) a rural electric cooperative; 

24 (ii) a municipally owned electric util25 ity; and 


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1 (iii) an investor-owned utility. 

2 (3) SELECTION REQUIREMENTS.—In selecting 

3 eligible entities to receive a loan under this section, 

4 the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent prac5 ticable, ensure— 

6 (A) regional diversity among eligible enti7 ties that receive the loans, including participa8 tion by rural States and small States; and 

9 (B) that specific projects and programs se10 lected for loans— 

11 (i) expand on the existing technology 

12 demonstration and deployment programs 

13 of the Department of Energy; and 

14 (ii) are designed to achieve one or 

15 more of the objectives described in para16 graph (4). 

17 (4) OBJECTIVES.—Each demonstration and de18 ployment project, and each program, selected for a 

19 loan under paragraph (1) shall include one or more 

20 of the following objectives: 

21 (A) With respect to energy storage sys22 tems, the improvement of— 

23 (i) the feasibility of microgrids or 

24 islanding; or 


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1 (ii) the transmission and distribution 

2 capability to improve reliability in rural 

3 areas, including high energy cost rural 

4 areas. 

5 (B) Use of energy storage systems to im6 prove the security of emergency response infra7 structure. 

8 (C) Integration of energy storage systems 

9 with a renewable energy source, at the source 

10 or away from the source. 

11 (D) Use of energy storage systems to pro12 vide ancillary services for grid management. 

13 (E) Advancement of power conversion sys14 tems to make the systems smarter, more effi15 cient, able to communicate with other indenters, 

16 and able to control voltage. 

17 (F) Use of energy storage systems to opti18 mize transmission and distribution operation 

19 and power quality to address overloaded lines 

20 and maintenance of transformers and sub21 stations. 

22 (G) Use of energy storage systems for 

23 peak load management of homes, businesses, 

24 and the grid, particularly to offset investments 

25 in new grid capacity. 


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1 (H) Use of energy storage system devices 

2 to meet electricity demand during nonpeak gen3 eration periods to make better use of existing 

4 grid assets. 

5 (5) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—Any eli6 gible entity that receives a loan under paragraph (1) 

7 may only use the loan to fund projects for, and pro8 grams relating to, the demonstration and deploy9 ment of energy storage systems in households, busi10 nesses, and communities. 

11 (b) LOAN TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

12 (1) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Notwithstanding 

13 any other provision of law, in providing a loan under 

14 this section, the Secretary shall provide the loan on 

15 such terms and conditions as the Secretary deter16 mines, after consultation with the Secretary of the 

17 Treasury, in accordance with this section. 

18 (2) SPECIFIC APPROPRIATION.—No loan shall 

19 be made under this section unless an appropriation 

20 for the full amount of the loan has been specifically 

21 provided for that purpose. 

22 (3) REPAYMENT.—No loan shall be made under 

23 this section unless the Secretary determines that 

24 there is reasonable prospect of repayment of the 

25 principal and interest by the borrower of the loan. 


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1 (4) INTEREST RATE.—A loan provided under 

2 this section shall bear interest at a fixed rate that 

3 is equal or approximately equal, in the determination 

4 of the Secretary, to the interest rate for Treasury 

5 securities of comparable maturity. 

6 (5) TERM.—The term of a loan provided under 

7 this section shall require full repayment over a pe8 riod not to exceed the lesser of— 

9 (A) 20 years; or 

10 (B) 90 percent of the projected useful life 

11 of the physical asset to be financed by the loan 

12 (as determined by the Secretary). 

13 (6) USE OF PAYMENTS.—Payments of principal 

14 and interest on a loan provided under this section 

15 shall— 

16 (A) be retained by the Secretary to support 

17 energy research and development activities; and 

18 (B) remain available until expended, sub19 ject to such conditions as are contained in an20 nual appropriations Acts. 

21 (7) NO PENALTY ON EARLY REPAYMENT.—The 

22 Secretary may not assess any penalty for early re23 payment of a loan provided under this section. 

24 (8) RETURN OF UNUSED PORTION.—In order to 

25 receive a loan under this section, an eligible entity 


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1 shall agree to return to the general fund of the 

2 Treasury any portion of the loan amount that is un3 used by the eligible entity within a reasonable period 

4 of time after the date of the disbursement of the 

5 loan, as determined by the Secretary. 

6 (9) COMPARABLE WAGE RATES.—Each laborer 

7 and mechanic employed by a contractor or subcon8 tractor in performance of construction work fi9 nanced, in whole or in part, by a loan provided 

10 under this section shall be paid wages at rates not 

11 less than the rates prevailing on similar construction 

12 in the locality as determined by the Secretary of 

13 Labor in accordance with subchapter IV of chapter 

14 31 of title 40, United States Code. 

15 (c) RULES AND PROCEDURES; DISBURSEMENT OF

16 LOANS.— 

17 (1) RULES AND PROCEDURES.—Not later than 

18 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

19 Secretary shall adopt rules and procedures for car20 rying out the loan program under subsection (a). 

21 (2) DISBURSEMENT OF LOANS.—Not later than 

22 1 year after the date on which the rules and proce23 dures under paragraph (1) are adopted, the Sec24 retary shall disburse the initial loans provided under 

25 this section. 


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1 (d) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of receipt of the loan and annually thereafter for the term 

3 of the loan, an eligible entity that receives a loan under 

4 this section shall submit to the Secretary a report describ5 ing the performance of each program and activity carried 

6 out using the loan, including itemized loan performance 

7 data. 

8 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 such sums as are necessary. 

11 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND GRANT PROGRAM. 

12 (a) PROGRAM.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta14 tion with the Assistant Secretary, Office of Elec15 tricity, shall carry out a technical assistance and 

16 grant program (referred to in this section as the 

17 ‘‘program’’)— 

18 (A) to disseminate information and provide 

19 technical assistance directly to eligible entities 

20 so the eligible entities can identify, evaluate, 

21 plan, and design energy storage systems; and 

22 (B) to make grants to eligible entities so 

23 that the eligible entities may contract to obtain 

24 technical assistance to identify, evaluate, plan, 

25 and design energy storage systems. 


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1 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The technical 

2 assistance described in paragraph (1) shall include 

3 assistance with one or more of the following activi4 ties relating to energy storage systems: 

5 (A) Identification of opportunities to use 

6 energy storage systems. 

7 (B) Assessment of technical and economic 

8 characteristics. 

9 (C) Utility interconnection. 

10 (D) Permitting and siting issues. 

11 (E) Business planning and financial anal12 ysis. 

13 (F) Engineering design. 

14 (3) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.—The infor15 mation disseminated under paragraph (1)(A) shall 

16 include— 

17 (A) information relating to the topics de18 scribed in paragraph (2), including case studies 

19 of successful examples; 

20 (B) computer software for assessment, de21 sign, and operation and maintenance of energy 

22 storage systems; and 

23 (C) public databases that track the oper24 ation and deployment of existing and planned 

25 energy storage systems. 


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1 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—Any nonprofit or for-profit entity 

2 shall be eligible to receive technical assistance and grants 

3 under the program. 

4 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring 

6 technical assistance or grants under the program 

7 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

8 time, in such manner, and containing such informa9 tion as the Secretary may require. 

10 (2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary 

11 shall seek applications for technical assistance and 

12 grants under the program— 

13 (A) on a competitive basis; and 

14 (B) on a periodic basis, but not less fre15 quently than once every 12 months. 

16 (3) PRIORITIES.—In selecting eligible entities 

17 for technical assistance and grants under the pro18 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible en19 tities with projects that have the greatest potential 

20 for— 

21 (A) facilitating the use of renewable energy 

22 sources; 

23 (B) strengthening the reliability and resil24 iency of energy infrastructure to the impact of 


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1 extreme weather events, power grid failures, 

2 and interruptions in supply of fossil fuels; 

3 (C) improving the feasibility of microgrids 

4 or islanding, particularly in rural areas, includ5 ing high energy cost rural areas; 

6 (D) minimizing environmental impact, in7 cluding regulated air pollutants and greenhouse 

8 gas emissions; and 

9 (E) maximizing local job creation. 

10 (d) GRANTS.—On application by an eligible entity, 

11 the Secretary may award grants under the program to the 

12 eligible entity to provide funds to cover not more than— 

13 (1) 100 percent of the costs of the initial as14 sessment to identify energy storage system opportu15 nities; 

16 (2) 75 percent of the cost of feasibility studies 

17 to assess the potential for the implementation of en18 ergy storage systems; 

19 (3) 60 percent of the cost of guidance on over20 coming barriers to the implementation of energy 

21 storage systems, including financial, contracting, 

22 siting, and permitting issues; and 

23 (4) 45 percent of the cost of detailed engineer24 ing of energy storage systems. 

25 (e) RULES AND PROCEDURES.— 


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1 (1) RULES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 adopt rules and procedures for carrying out the pro4 gram. 

5 (2) GRANTS.—Not later than 120 days after 

6 the date of issuance of the rules and procedures for 

7 the program, the Secretary shall issue grants under 

8 this section. 

9 (f) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to Con10 gress and make available to the public— 

11 (1) not less frequently than once every 2 years, 

12 a report describing the performance of the program 

13 under this section, including a synthesis and analysis 

14 of the information provided in the reports submitted 

15 to the Secretary under section 4(d); and 

16 (2) on termination of the program under this 

17 section, an assessment of the success of, and edu18 cation provided by, the measures carried out by eli19 gible entities under the program. 

20 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $250,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2020 through 

23 2024, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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