I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5423 

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

for an annual electric production cost report. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 27, 2010 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. BARTLETT, and Mr. EHLERS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 

to provide for an annual electric production cost report. 

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 ‘‘Transparent Review 

5 of the Affordability and Cost of Electricity (TRACE) Re6 newable Energy Act of 2010’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) Federal energy-specific subsidies and sup10 port to all forms of energy were estimated to be 

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1 $16.6 billion in 2007, indicating that total Federal 

2 energy subsidies have more than doubled over the 

3 previous ten years, according to the Federal Finan4 cial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy Markets 

5 2007 report by the Energy Information Administra6 tion. 

7 (2) Research, development, and installation of 

8 renewable and other low-emission technologies for 

9 electric power generation have been a high priority 

10 for the 110th and 111th Congresses. 

11 (3) There is a growing need for accurate report12 ing on the costs associated with each form of alter13 native energy generation technology because of the 

14 significant Federal action and investment in such 

15 technology. 

16 (4) The costs associated with alternative energy 

17 generation technology should be analyzed and made 

18 available to assess the ability of each new technology 

19 to compete in the marketplace, without Federal sub20 sidy or support, and to optimize the deployment of 

21 such technology. 

22 (5) The Energy Information Administration has 

23 previously created forms and guidelines to collect the 

24 necessary information for such reporting and has 

25 collected information for several years; however, the 

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1 program ended due to funding constraints and the 

2 lack of an authorization from Congress. 

3 SEC. 3. ELECTRIC PRODUCTION COST REPORT. 

4 Title II of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 

5 of 1978 is amended by adding after section 214 (16 

6 U.S.C. 824 note) the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 215. ELECTRIC PRODUCTION COST REPORT. 

8 ‘‘(a) ELECTRICITY REPORT.—The Secretary, acting 

9 through the Administrator of the Energy Information Ad10 ministration (in this section referred to as the ‘Adminis11 trator’), shall prepare and publish an annual report, at 

12 the times specified in subsection (c), setting forth the costs 

13 of electricity production per kilowatt hour, by sector and 

14 energy source, for each type of electric energy generation. 

15 The report shall include each of the following for the pe16 riod covered by the report: 

17 ‘‘(1) The quantity of carbon dioxide emitted per 

18 kilowatt hour. 

19 ‘‘(2) The cost of electricity generation in cents 

20 per kilowatt hour, or dollars per megawatt hour, for 

21 each type of electric energy generation in the United 

22 States. 

23 ‘‘(3) The factors used to levelize costs, includ24 ing amortized capital costs, current and projected 

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1 fuel costs, regular operation and maintenance, pro2 jected equipment, and hardware lifetimes. 

3 ‘‘(4) The costs for constructing new electric 

4 transmission lines dedicated to, or intended specifi5 cally to benefit, electric generation facilities in each 

6 sector and for each energy source, to the extent 

7 practicable. 

8 ‘‘(b) COLLECTION AND USE OF DATA.— 

9 ‘‘(1) DATA COLLECTION.—The Administrator 

10 shall collect data and use all currently available data 

11 necessary to complete the report under subsection 

12 (a). Such data may be collected from any electric 

13 utility, including public utilities, independent power 

14 producers, cogenerating and qualified facilities, and 

15 all State, local, and federally owned power pro16 ducers. 

17 ‘‘(2) COOPERATION OF OTHER AGENCIES.—The 

18 heads of other Federal departments, agencies, and 

19 instrumentalities of the United States shall assist 

20 with the collection of data as necessary to complete 

21 the report under subsection (a), including the Chair22 man of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

23 the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service, the 

24 Director of the Minerals Management Service, and 

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1 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

2 Agency. 

3 ‘‘(c) ISSUANCE OF REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) REPORTS FOR DATA PREVIOUSLY COL5 LECTED.—As soon as practicable, the Administrator 

6 shall prepare and publish reports containing the in7 formation specified in subsection (a) for each year 

8 for which the data was collected before the date of 

9 the enactment of this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) FIRST REPORT.—For the year 2012, 

12 the Administrator shall collect all necessary 

13 data for the completion of the report under sub14 section (a) by January 31, 2013, and shall 

15 issue the report based on that data by June 30, 

16 2013. 

17 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

18 For each year after 2012, the Administrator 

19 shall collect all necessary data for the comple20 tion of the report under subsection (a) by Janu21 ary 31 of the year following the year for which 

22 the data was collected, and shall issue the re23 port based on that data not later than April 30 

24 of the year following the year for which the 

25 data was collected. 

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1 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF ELECTRICITY REPORT.—Following 

2 the completion of each report under subsection (a), the 

3 Administrator may review the findings with organizations 

4 that have expertise in the energy industry and dem5 onstrated experience generating similar industry reports, 

6 for the purpose of improving the utility, accuracy, and 

7 timeliness of future reports.’’. 

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