II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1175 

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

the Secretary of Energy to make loans to electric utilities to carry 

out projects to comply with any Federal renewable electricity standard, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2009 

Ms. CANTWELL 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 authorize the Secretary of Energy to make loans to 

electric utilities to carry out projects to comply with 

any Federal renewable electricity standard, 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. LOANS FOR PROJECTS TO COMPLY WITH FED4 ERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 

5 Section 610 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

6 Act of 1978 (as added by section 2(a) of the American 


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1 Renewable Electricity Production Act of 2009) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as 

4 subsections (l) and (m), respectively; and 

5 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(k) LOANS FOR PROJECTS TO COMPLY WITH FED8 ERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD.— 

9 ‘‘(1) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this sub10 section are— 

11 ‘‘(A) to reduce the cost incurred by electric 

12 utilities in complying with the requirements of 

13 this section; and 

14 ‘‘(B) to minimize the impact of the re15 quirements on electricity rates for consumers. 

16 ‘‘(2) LOANS.—The Secretary shall make loans 

17 available to electric utilities to carry out qualified 

18 projects approved by the Secretary to comply with 

19 the requirements of this section. 

20 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED PROJECTS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A loan may be made 

22 under this subsection for a project— 

23 ‘‘(i) to construct a renewable energy 

24 generation facility; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to install an energy efficiency or 

2 electricity demand reduction technology; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) to carry out any other project 

4 approved by the Secretary that the Sec5 retary determines is consistent with the 

6 purposes of this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(B) DISAPPROVAL.—The Secretary may 

8 disapprove an application for a loan for a 

9 project under this subsection if the Secretary 

10 determines that— 

11 ‘‘(i) the revenues generated under the 

12 project are unlikely to be sufficient to 

13 cover the repayment obligations of the pro14 posed loan; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) the project is not otherwise con16 sistent with the purposes of this sub17 section. 

18 ‘‘(4) TERMS.—A loan made by the Secretary to 

19 an electric utility under this subsection shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) be for a term of not to exceed 30 

21 years; and 

22 ‘‘(B) bear an annual interest rate that is 

23 50 basis points more than the Federal funds 

24 rate established by the Board of Governors of 

25 the Federal Reserve System. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law, the debt to the Federal Government 

3 under a loan made to an electric utility under this 

4 subsection shall have priority in any case in which 

5 the electric utility files for bankruptcy protection 

6 under title 11, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

9 as are necessary to carry out this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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