II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 886 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide for a smart energy 

and water efficiency pilot program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. UDALL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide for 

a smart energy and water efficiency pilot program. 

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 ‘‘Smart Energy and 

5 Water Efficiency Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PILOT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 Subtitle A of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 

9 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

10 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 918. SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PILOT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en5 tity’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a utility; 

7 ‘‘(B) a municipality; 

8 ‘‘(C) a water district; and 

9 ‘‘(D) any other authority that provides 

10 water, wastewater, or water reuse services. 

11 ‘‘(2) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY

12 PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘smart energy and 

13 water efficiency pilot program’ or ‘pilot program’ 

14 means the pilot program established under sub15 section (b). 

16 ‘‘(b) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY

17 PILOT PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab19 lish and carry out a smart energy and water effi20 ciency pilot program in accordance with this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the smart en22 ergy and water efficiency pilot program is to award 

23 grants to eligible entities to demonstrate novel and 

24 innovative technology-based solutions that will— 

25 ‘‘(A) increase the energy efficiency of 

26 water, wastewater, and water reuse systems; 


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1 ‘‘(B) improve energy efficiency of water, 

2 wastewater, and water reuse systems to help 

3 communities across the United States make sig4 nificant progress in conserving water, saving 

5 energy, and reducing costs; and 

6 ‘‘(C) support the implementation of inno7 vative processes and the installation of ad8 vanced automated systems that provide real9 time data on energy and water. 

10 ‘‘(3) PROJECT SELECTION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

12 make competitive, merit-reviewed grants under 

13 the pilot program to not less than 3, but not 

14 more than 5, eligible entities. 

15 ‘‘(B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting 

16 an eligible entity to receive a grant under the 

17 pilot program, the Secretary shall consider— 

18 ‘‘(i) energy and cost savings; 

19 ‘‘(ii) the novelty of the technology to 

20 be used; 

21 ‘‘(iii) the degree to which the project 

22 integrates next-generation sensors, soft23 ware, analytics, and management tools; 

24 ‘‘(iv) the anticipated cost-effectiveness 

25 of the pilot project in terms of energy effiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Apr 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S886.IS S886

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1 ciency savings, water savings or reuse, and 

2 infrastructure costs averted; 

3 ‘‘(v) whether the technology can be 

4 deployed in a variety of geographic regions 

5 and the degree to which the technology can 

6 be implemented on a smaller or larger 

7 scale; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) whether the project will be com9 pleted in 5 years or less. 

10 ‘‘(C) APPLICATIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

12 (ii), an eligible entity seeking a grant 

13 under the pilot program shall submit to 

14 the Secretary an application at such time, 

15 in such manner, and containing such infor16 mation as the Secretary determines to be 

17 necessary. 

18 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS.—An application 

19 under clause (i) shall, at a minimum, in20 clude— 

21 ‘‘(I) a description of the project; 

22 ‘‘(II) a description of the tech23 nology to be used in the project; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the anticipated results, in2 cluding energy and water savings, of 

3 the project; 

4 ‘‘(IV) a comprehensive budget for 

5 the project; 

6 ‘‘(V) the names of the project 

7 lead organization and any partners; 

8 ‘‘(VI) the number of users to be 

9 served by the project; and 

10 ‘‘(VII) any other information 

11 that the Secretary determines to be 

12 necessary to complete the review and 

13 selection of a grant recipient. 

14 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATION.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 300 

16 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

17 the Secretary shall select grant recipients under 

18 this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

20 annually carry out an evaluation of each project 

21 for which a grant is provided under this section 

22 that— 

23 ‘‘(i) evaluates the progress and impact 

24 of the project; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) assesses the degree to which the 

2 project is meeting the goals of the pilot 

3 program. 

4 ‘‘(C) TECHNICAL AND POLICY ASSIST5 ANCE.—On the request of a grant recipient, the 

6 Secretary shall provide technical and policy as7 sistance. 

8 ‘‘(D) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary 

9 shall make available to the public— 

10 ‘‘(i) a copy of each evaluation carried 

11 out under subparagraph (B); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) a description of any best prac13 tices identified by the Secretary as a result 

14 of those evaluations. 

15 ‘‘(E) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec16 retary shall submit to Congress a report con17 taining the results of each evaluation carried 

18 out under subparagraph (B). 

19 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not 

21 less than $7,500,000 of amounts made available to 

22 the Secretary to carry out this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) PRIORITIZATION.—In funding activities 

24 under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize 

25 funding in the following manner: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Any unobligated amounts made avail2 able to the Secretary to carry out the activities 

3 of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy 

4 Office. 

5 ‘‘(B) Any unobligated amounts (other than 

6 those described in subparagraph (A)) made 

7 available to the Secretary.’’. 

Æ 


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