II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 723 

To amend the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to provide guidance 

on utility energy service contracts used by Federal agencies, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2015 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. COATS, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to 

provide guidance on utility energy service contracts used 

by Federal agencies, 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 ‘‘Utility Energy Service 

5 Contracts Improvement Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Federal Government is the largest con9 sumer of energy in the United States; 


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1 (2) Federal agencies are expected to meet, by 

2 law, Executive order, and mandate, stringent energy 

3 efficiency and conservation targets; 

4 (3) the utility energy service contract (referred 

5 to in this section as ‘‘UESC’’) was developed to pro6 vide Federal agencies an effective means to imple7 ment energy efficiency, renewable energy and water 

8 efficiency projects, and has been used successfully to 

9 invest nearly $2,700,000,000 in property at Federal 

10 facilities; 

11 (4) the General Services Administration, which 

12 manages more than 9,600 Federal properties and is 

13 the lead agency for procuring utility services for the 

14 Federal Government, has determined that UESCs 

15 may extend beyond a 10-year period under the law; 

16 (5) the Federal Energy Management Program, 

17 which oversees the UESC program and is a principal 

18 office guiding agencies to use funding more effec19 tively in meeting Federal and agency-specific energy 

20 and resource management objectives, has determined 

21 that UESCs may extend beyond a 10-year period 

22 under the law; 

23 (6) extensive precedent exists for Federal agen24 cies to contract for energy saving services using conVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:46 Mar 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S723.IS S723

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1 tracts with term limits of more than 10 years but 

2 not to exceed 25 years; 

3 (7) a number of Federal agencies, contrary to 

4 congressional intent, have sought to limit UESC 

5 term limits to periods of less than 10 years; and 

6 (8) greater flexibility with UESCs will help re7 duce the operational cost of Federal agencies, ulti8 mately saving money for taxpayers. 

9 SEC. 3. UTILITY ENERGY SERVICE CONTRACTS. 

10 Part 3 of title V of the National Energy Conservation 

11 Policy Act is amended by adding after section 553 (42 

12 U.S.C. 8259b) the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 554. UTILITY ENERGY SERVICE CONTRACTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency may use, 

15 to the maximum extent practicable, measures provided by 

16 law to meet energy efficiency and conservation mandates 

17 and laws, including through utility energy service con18 tracts. 

19 ‘‘(b) CONTRACT PERIOD.—The term of a utility en20 ergy service contract entered into by a Federal agency may 

21 have a contract period that extends beyond 10 years, but 

22 not to exceed 25 years. 

23 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—The conditions of a utility en24 ergy service contract entered into by a Federal agency 

25 shall include requirements for measurement, verification, 


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1 and performance assurances or guarantees of the sav2 ings.’’. 

Æ 


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