I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2439

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Commerce

AN ACT

To authorize the appropriation of funds for the construction

of the Southeastern Alaska Intertie system, 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. SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA INTERTIE AUTHOR2 IZATION LIMIT.

3 Upon the completion and submission to the United

4 States Congress by the Forest Service of the ongoing High

5 Voltage Direct Current viability analysis pursuant to

6 United States Forest Service Collection Agreement

7 #00CO–111005–105 or no later than February 1, 2001,

8 there is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Sec9 retary of Energy such sums as may be necessary to assist

10 in the construction of the Southeastern Alaska Intertie

11 system as generally identified in Report #97–01 of the

12 Southeast Conference. Such sums shall equal 80 percent

13 of the cost of the system and may not exceed

14 $384,000,000. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to

15 limit or waive any otherwise applicable State or Federal

16 law.

17 SEC. 2. NAVAJO ELECTRIFICATION DEMONSTRATION PRO18 GRAM.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy

20 shall establish a 5-year program to assist the Navajo na21 tion to meet its electricity needs. The purpose of the pro22 gram shall be to provide electric power to the estimated

23 18,000 occupied structures on the Navajo Nation that lack

24 electric power. The goal of the program shall be to ensure

25 that every household on the Navajo Nation that requests
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1 it has access to a reliable and affordable source of elec2 tricity by the year 2006.

3 (b) SCOPE.—In order to meet the goal in subsection

4 (a), the Secretary of Energy shall provide grants to the

5 Navajo Nation to—

6 (1) extend electric transmission and distribution

7 lines to new or existing structures that are not

8 served by electric power and do not have adequate

9 electric power service;

10 (2) purchase and install distributed power gen11 erating facilities, including small gas turbines, fuel

12 cells, solar photovoltaic systems, solar thermal sys13 tems, geothermal systems, wind power systems, or

14 biomass-fueled systems;

15 (3) purchase and install other equipment associ16 ated with the generation, transmission, distribution,

17 and storage of electric power;

18 (4) provide training in the installation, oper19 ation, or maintenance of the lines, facilities, or

20 equipment in paragraphs (1) through (3); or

21 (5) support other activities that the Secretary

22 of Energy determines are necessary to meet the goal

23 of the program.

24 (c) TECHNICAL SUPPORT.—At the request of the

25 Navajo Nation, the Secretary of Energy may provide tech-
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1 nical support through Department of Energy laboratories

2 and facilities to the Navajo Nation to assist in achieving

3 the goal of this program.

4 (d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than February 1,

5 2002 and for each of the five succeeding years, the Sec6 retary of Energy shall submit a report to Congress on the

7 status of the programs and the progress towards meeting

8 its goal under subsection (a).

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

10 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of En11 ergy to carry out this section $15,000,000 for each of the

12 fiscal years 2002 through 2006.

Passed the Senate October 5 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.