I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2141

To require electric generation facilities owned and operated by the Department

of Defense in the Western United States to generate electricity and

to conserve energy in electric emergencies, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 12, 2001

Mr. THOMPSON of California (for himself, Ms. HARMAN, Ms. SOLIS, Mrs.

CAPPS, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr.

FILNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Energy

and Commerce, 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 electric generation facilities owned and operated

by the Department of Defense in the Western United

States to generate electricity and to conserve energy in

electric emergencies, 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 ‘‘Department of Defense

5 Energy Reduction Act of 2001’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act:

3 (1) The term ‘‘qualified electric generator’’

4 means any electric facility (other than a hydro5 electric generation facility) owned or operated by the

6 United States Department of Defense and located at

7 a fixed location in the western region.

8 (2) The term ‘‘western region’’ means that por9 tion of the United States that is encompassed by the

10 Western Systems Coordinating Council of the North

11 American Electric Reliability Council.

12 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF GENERATION.

13 (a) PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORIZATION.—In order to as14 sist in relieving energy demand during electric power

15 emergencies in the western region, the President shall au16 thorize the Secretary of Defense to use all qualified elec17 tric generators in the western region during such emer18 gencies to generate electric energy for facilities of the De19 partment of Defense or to provide additional electric en20 ergy for sale at cost (as determined by the Secretary) to

21 other persons for consumption or for resale. The Secretary

22 shall use generators that have the least adverse environ23 mental effects before using generators that have more ad24 verse environmental effects.

25 (b) REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.—No electric energy

26 may be sold by the Secretary under this section unless
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1 the Secretary determines that there is an adequate assur2 ance the United States will be reimbursed for the full cost

3 of such electric energy. Notwithstanding sections 1341

4 and 3302 of title 31 of the United States Code or any

5 other provision of law, all proceeds of any sale of electric

6 energy under this section shall be retained by the Sec7 retary of Defense, and such amounts shall be available

8 without further appropriation to the Secretary to pay the

9 costs incurred by the Secretary for generating the electric

10 energy concerned. The authority of this section shall ter11 minate on the date 2 years after the enactment of this

12 Act.

13 SEC. 4. MOBILE GENERATORS.

14 The President shall direct the Secretary of Defense

15 to immediately develop plan for the deployment of avail16 able mobile electric generation facilities owned or operated

17 by the Department of Defense in the event of energy emer18 gencies. Such plan shall—

19 (1) include the identification and preparation of

20 sites and the interconnection facilities to permit

21 their operation in an environmentally and operation22 ally optimal manner;

23 (2) assure that units remain available for de24 ployment in least-cost ways from the current loca25 tions to areas where electric emergencies may occur;
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1 (3) coordinate with the Western Systems Co2 ordinating Council (WSCC) to develop operational

3 and management agreements to provide the WSCC

4 with maximum flexibility regarding the use of such

5 facilities in California;

6 (4) summarize actions required by the State

7 and Federal governments to deploy and provide com8 pensation for the use of these units; and

9 (5) develop environmental proposals or arrange10 ments to allow these facilities to be used in a State

11 experiencing an electric emergency.

12 SEC. 5. COORDINATION.

13 In issuing an authorization under section 3 and devel14 oping a plan under section 4, the President shall coordi15 nate with the Western Systems Coordinating Council of

16 the North American Electric Reliability Council. In order

17 to minimize any public health risk associated with the use

18 of qualified Federal electric generation facilities, the Presi19 dent shall coordinate such authorization with State and

20 local air quality management agencies.

21 SEC. 6. ENERGY CONSERVATION MEASURES.

22 The Secretary of Defense shall require all facilities

23 under the Secretary’s jurisdiction in the western region

24 to reduce energy consumption by eliminating non-essential

25 activities that use significant amounts of electric energy
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1 to the extent that such reduction does not jeopardize mili2 tary readiness or public health and safety and will not re3 sult in lay-offs of military or civilian personnel.

4 SEC. 7. MILITARY READINESS.

5 The President may exclude from the coverage of this

6 Act any electric generation facility in order to ensure mili7 tary readiness or to ensure that such facility is available

8 to respond to natural disasters. If the President deter9 mines to exclude any electric generation facility from use

10 under this subsection, the President shall submit, within

11 30 days after such determination, a report to Congress

12 regarding such exclusion, together with an explanation of

13 the reasons for such determination.

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