I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3139 

To require the Secretary of Energy to submit to Congress an annual report 

on peaker plants in the United States and to provide financial incentives 

for replacing peaker plants with technology that receives, stores, and 

delivers energy generated by renewable energy resources, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 12, 2021 

Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. NADLER, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. 

JONES, and Mr. SOTO) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 the Secretary of Energy to submit to Congress 

an annual report on peaker plants in the United States 

and to provide financial incentives for replacing peaker 

plants with technology that receives, stores, and delivers 

energy generated by renewable energy resources, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Energy Al3 ternatives is Key to Emission Reductions Act of 2021’’ 

4 or the ‘‘PEAKER Act of 2021’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON8 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con9 gress’’ means— 

10 (A) the Committee on Finance of the Sen11 ate; 

12 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

13 Resources of the Senate; 

14 (C) the Committee on Environment and 

15 Public Works of the Senate; 

16 (D) the Committee on Ways and Means of 

17 the House of Representatives; and 

18 (E) the Committee on Energy and Com19 merce of the House of Representatives. 

20 (2) DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITY.—The term 

21 ‘‘disadvantaged community’’ means a community 

22 that— 

23 (A) is located in an area with a high con24 centration of individuals who— 

25 (i) are members of low- and moderate26 income households (as defined in section 


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1 570.3 of title 24, Code of Federal Regula2 tions (or a successor regulation)); 

3 (ii) experience high levels of unem4 ployment; 

5 (iii) face a high rent burden; 

6 (iv) face a high energy burden; 

7 (v) have low levels of home ownership; 

8 (vi) have low levels of educational at9 tainment; or 

10 (vii) are members of groups that have 

11 historically experienced discrimination on 

12 the basis of race or ethnicity; 

13 (B) is burdened by high cumulative envi14 ronmental pollution or other hazards that can 

15 lead to negative public health effects; or 

16 (C) is determined to be a disadvantaged 

17 community, an environmental justice commu18 nity, a climate-burdened community, or an oth19 erwise similarly vulnerable community pursuant 

20 to any Federal or State-level initiative, includ21 ing any relevant mapping initiative. 

22 (3) HIGH ENERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘high 

23 energy burden’’ means, with respect to a household, 

24 expenditure of the household on residential energy 


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1 costs that equals 6 percent or more of the household 

2 income. 

3 (4) PEAKER PLANT.—The term ‘‘peaker plant’’ 

4 means a fossil fuel-fired power plant or unit of a 

5 power plant that is run primarily to meet peak elec6 tricity demand, as determined by the Secretary, in 

7 coordination with the Administrator of the Environ8 mental Protection Agency and the applicable local 

9 electrical grid operator. 

10 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Energy. 

12 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORT ON PEAKER PLANTS IN THE 

13 UNITED STATES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

16 the Secretary, in coordination with the Administrator of 

17 the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House 

18 Environmental Justice Advisory Council, the White House 

19 Environmental Justice Interagency Council, the Council 

20 on Environmental Quality, and any other relevant Federal 

21 entity that the Secretary determines to be appropriate, 

22 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

23 a report that— 

24 (1) identifies each peaker plant in the United 

25 States; and 


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1 (2) for each peaker plant identified under para2 graph (1)— 

3 (A) describes the location of the peaker 

4 plant and related socioeconomic and demo5 graphic data for that location, including wheth6 er the peaker plant is located in or adjacent to 

7 a disadvantaged community; 

8 (B) evaluates the quantity of carbon diox9 ide, nitric oxides, sulfur oxides, fine particulate 

10 matter (PM2.5), and methane emitted per unit 

11 of electricity generated by the peaker plant; 

12 (C) identifies— 

13 (i) the total number of hours that the 

14 peaker plant generates electricity during 

15 the year covered by the report; 

16 (ii) the capacity factor of the plant; 

17 (iii) the average number of hours that 

18 the peaker plant generates electricity each 

19 time that the peaker plant generates elec20 tricity; and 

21 (iv) the percentage of the total num22 ber of instances in which the peaker plant 

23 is started that result in the peaker plant 

24 generating electricity for— 

25 (I) not less than 4 hours; 


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1 (II) not less than 8 hours; and 

2 (III) not less than 12 hours; and 

3 (D) identifies, for each day on which the 3 

4 air monitors closest to the peaker plant indicate 

5 that Federal ozone or particulate matter stand6 ards have been exceeded, the percentage of peak 

7 demand met by the peaker plant for the elec8 trical grid load zone served by the peaker plant. 

9 (b) COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.—In preparing a re10 port under subsection (a), the Secretary shall initiate and 

11 carry out public engagement with residents and stake12 holders from disadvantaged communities containing a 

13 peaker plant. 

14 SEC. 4. CREDIT FOR GENERATION AND STORAGE OF EN15 ERGY FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart E of part IV of sub17 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

18 1986 is amended by inserting after section 48C the fol19 lowing new section: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 48D. RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION AND STOR21 AGE CREDIT. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 46, the 

23 renewable energy generation and storage credit for any 

24 taxable year is an amount equal to 10 percent of the qualiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3139.IH H3139

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1 fied investment for such taxable year with respect to any 

2 qualified renewable energy facility. 

3 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED INVESTMENT WITH RESPECT TO

4 QUALIFIED RENEWABLE ENERGY FACILITIES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

6 (a), the qualified investment with respect to a quali7 fied renewable energy facility for any taxable year is 

8 the basis of any qualified property placed in service 

9 by the taxpayer during such taxable year which is 

10 part of a qualified renewable energy facility. 

11 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED PROPERTY.—For purposes of 

12 this subsection, the term ‘qualified property’ means 

13 property— 

14 ‘‘(A) which is— 

15 ‘‘(i) tangible personal property, or 

16 ‘‘(ii) other tangible property (not in17 cluding a building or its structural compo18 nents), but only if such property is used as 

19 an integral part of the qualified renewable 

20 energy facility, 

21 ‘‘(B) with respect to which depreciation (or 

22 amortization in lieu of depreciation) is allow23 able, 


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1 ‘‘(C) which is constructed, reconstructed, 

2 erected, installed, or acquired by the taxpayer, 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(D) the original use of which commences 

5 with the taxpayer. 

6 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED RENEWABLE ENERGY FACIL7 ITY.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), the term ‘qualified renewable energy 

10 facility’ means a facility which— 

11 ‘‘(i) uses solar, wind, low-impact hy12 droelectric (as certified by the Low Impact 

13 Hydropower Institute), geothermal, tidal, 

14 or wave energy to generate electricity 

15 which will be received and stored by prop16 erty described in clause (ii), 

17 ‘‘(ii) contains property which receives, 

18 stores, and delivers electricity described in 

19 clause (i), provided that such electricity 

20 is— 

21 ‘‘(I)(aa) sold by the taxpayer to 

22 an unrelated person, or 

23 ‘‘(bb) in the case of a facility 

24 which is equipped with a metering de25 vice which is owned and operated by 


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1 an unrelated person, sold or consumed 

2 by the taxpayer, and 

3 ‘‘(II) at a minimum, discharged 

4 at such times as a peaker plant within 

5 the same electrical grid load zone 

6 would operate to meet peak electricity 

7 demand (as determined by the grid 

8 operator for such electrical grid), and 

9 ‘‘(iii) which is placed in service— 

10 ‘‘(I) in a disadvantaged commu11 nity which is located within— 

12 ‘‘(aa) the same census tract 

13 as a peaker plant, or 

14 ‘‘(bb) a census tract that is 

15 adjacent to a census tract in 

16 which a peaker plant is located, 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) after December 31, 2021. 

19 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—For purposes of 

20 this paragraph, a facility shall not be deemed to 

21 be a qualified renewable energy facility unless 

22 the taxpayer demonstrates, to the satisfaction 

23 of the Secretary, that— 

24 ‘‘(i) the property described in clause 

25 (i) of subparagraph (A) is co-located with 


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1 property described in clause (ii) of such 

2 subparagraph, 

3 ‘‘(ii) such taxpayer has, with respect 

4 to the property described in clause (ii) of 

5 such subparagraph, entered into a contract 

6 which ensures that such property operates 

7 primarily to receive, store, and deliver elec8 tricity from any property described in 

9 clause (i) of such subparagraph, or 

10 ‘‘(iii) the property described in clause 

11 (ii) of such subparagraph receives elec12 tricity during periods of typically high pro13 duction of electricity, as a percentage of 

14 the grid generation mix, from sources de15 scribed in clause (i) of such subparagraph, 

16 as determined by the grid operator for the 

17 electrical grid. 

18 ‘‘(c) CERTAIN PROGRESS EXPENDITURE RULES

19 MADE APPLICABLE.—Rules similar to the rules of sub20 sections (c)(4) and (d) of section 46 (as in effect on the 

21 day before the date of the enactment of the Revenue Rec22 onciliation Act of 1990) shall apply for purposes of sub23 section (a). 


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1 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘disadvantaged com2 munity’ and ‘peaker plant’ have the same meanings given 

3 such term under section 2 of the PEAKER Act of 2021.’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (1) Section 46 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para8 graph (5), 

9 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

10 paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

12 paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(7) the renewable energy generation and stor14 age credit.’’. 

15 (2) Section 49(a)(1)(C) of such Code is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause 

18 (iv), 

19 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

20 clause (v) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

22 clause: 

23 ‘‘(vi) the basis of any qualified prop24 erty which is part of a qualified renewable 

25 energy facility under section 48D.’’. 


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1 (3) Section 50(a)(2)(E) of such Code is amend2 ed by striking ‘‘or 48C(b)(2)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘48C(b)(2), or 48D(c)’’. 

4 (4) The table of sections for subpart E of part 

5 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 

6 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec7 tion 48C the following new item: 

‘‘48D. Renewable energy generation and storage credit.’’. 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this subsection shall apply to property placed in service 

10 after December 31, 2020, under rules similar to the rules 

11 of section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

12 (as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 

13 of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990). 

14 SEC. 5. RENEWABLE ENERGY GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means each of the following: 

18 (A) A unit of State or local government. 

19 (B) A tax-exempt nonprofit organization. 

20 (C) A community-owned energy generation 

21 facility or energy storage facility located in a 

22 disadvantaged community. 

23 (D) A community-based energy cooperative 

24 or a similar group of individuals within a comVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Jun 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3139.IH H3139

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1 munity who are pursuing an eligible project de2 scribed in subsection (d). 

3 (E) A partnership between— 

4 (i) 1 or more of the entities described 

5 in subparagraphs (A) through (D); and 

6 (ii)(I) an electric utility; or 

7 (II) a private entity. 

8 (2) ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘energy storage facility’’ means a facility that re10 ceives, stores, and delivers electricity. 

11 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

12 the grant program established under subsection (b). 

13 (4) QUALIFYING COMMUNITY ENERGY PRO14 POSAL.—The term ‘‘qualifying community energy 

15 proposal’’ means a proposal to deploy and implement 

16 renewable energy generation, energy storage tech17 nology, energy efficiency upgrades, energy demand 

18 management strategies, or distributed renewable en19 ergy resources that a qualifying community energy 

20 study determines can reduce the runtime of an exist21 ing or planned peaker plant or otherwise reduce or 

22 replace the need for an existing or planned peaker 

23 plant. 


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1 (5) QUALIFYING COMMUNITY ENERGY STUDY.— 

2 The term ‘‘qualifying community energy study’’ 

3 means a study or assessment that— 

4 (A) seeks to identify clean energy strate5 gies to reduce the runtime of an existing or 

6 planned peaker plant or otherwise reduce or re7 place the need for an existing or planned peaker 

8 plant, including strategies that involve— 

9 (i) renewable energy generation; 

10 (ii) energy storage technology; 

11 (iii) energy efficiency upgrades; 

12 (iv) energy demand management 

13 strategies; or 

14 (v) distributed renewable energy de15 ployment; and 

16 (B) is led by or performed in partnership 

17 with the communities directly impacted by pol18 lution from a peaker plant that is located with19 in the same or an adjacent census tract. 

20 (6) QUALIFYING ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY.— 

21 The term ‘‘qualifying energy storage facility’’ means 

22 an energy storage facility that— 

23 (A) is colocated with a qualifying renew24 able energy facility and operates primarily to 

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1 erated by that qualifying renewable energy fa2 cility; 

3 (B) has entered into a contract with 1 or 

4 more qualifying renewable energy facilities such 

5 that the energy storage system operates pri6 marily to receive, store, and deliver renewable 

7 energy generated by those qualifying renewable 

8 energy facilities; or 

9 (C) receives electricity during periods of 

10 typically high production of renewable energy 

11 (as a percentage of the grid generation mix), as 

12 determined by the operator of the applicable 

13 electrical grid. 

14 (7) QUALIFYING RENEWABLE ENERGY FACIL15 ITY.—The term ‘‘qualifying renewable energy facil16 ity’’ means a facility that— 

17 (A) generates renewable energy; and 

18 (B)(i) is colocated with a qualifying energy 

19 storage facility; or 

20 (ii) has entered into a contract described in 

21 paragraph (6)(B) with 1 or more qualifying en22 ergy storage facilities. 

23 (8) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew24 able energy’’ means electricity that is generated by 

25 or derived from, as applicable— 


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1 (A) a low-impact hydroelectric facility cer2 tified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute; 

3 (B) solar energy; 

4 (C) wind energy; 

5 (D) geothermal energy; 

6 (E) tidal energy; or 

7 (F) wave energy. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es10 tablish a grant program to assist eligible entities in— 

11 (1) carrying out projects for the construction, 

12 reconstruction, erection, installation, or acquisition 

13 of qualifying renewable energy facilities and quali14 fying energy storage facilities; 

15 (2) carrying out projects for the implementation 

16 of qualifying community energy proposals; and 

17 (3) developing and carrying out qualifying com18 munity energy studies. 

19 (c) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

20 under the program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 

21 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

22 and containing such information as the Secretary may re23 quire. 


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1 (d) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS AND QUALIFYING COMMU2 NITY ENERGY STUDIES.—The Secretary may provide a 

3 grant under the program for— 

4 (1) a project described in subsection (b)(1) only 

5 if each qualifying renewable energy facility and 

6 qualifying energy storage facility to be constructed, 

7 reconstructed, erected, installed, or acquired pursu8 ant to the project will— 

9 (A) be located in, or provide a direct and 

10 significant benefit to, a disadvantaged commu11 nity that is located within— 

12 (i) the same census tract as an exist13 ing or planned peaker plant; or 

14 (ii) a census tract that is adjacent to 

15 a census tract in which an existing or 

16 planned peaker plant is or will be located; 

17 and 

18 (B) at a minimum, discharge electricity at 

19 such times as a peaker plant within the same 

20 electrical grid load zone would operate to meet 

21 peak electricity demand, as determined by the 

22 operator of the applicable electrical grid; 

23 (2) a project described in subsection (b)(2) only 

24 if the qualifying community energy proposal to be 

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1 mented in, or provide a direct and significant benefit 

2 to, a disadvantaged community that is located within 

3 a census tract described in clause (i) or (ii) of para4 graph (1)(A); and 

5 (3) the development and carrying out of a 

6 qualifying community energy study only if the quali7 fying community energy study will provide for en8 gagement with, and incorporate feedback from, each 

9 disadvantaged community that is located within a 

10 census tract described in clause (i) or (ii) of para11 graph (1)(A). 

12 (e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.—The Sec13 retary may use amounts appropriated under subsection (i) 

14 to provide grants to eligible entities for the cost of acquir15 ing technical assistance for the preparation and submis16 sion of an application under subsection (c). 

17 (f) PRIORITY FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

18 In evaluating applications submitted by eligible entities de19 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B), the Secretary shall give 

20 priority to applications submitted by local, community21 based organizations or energy cooperatives. 

22 (g) COST SHARING.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), with respect to each project described in 

25 paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) for which a 


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1 grant is provided under the program, the maximum 

2 amount provided for the project under the program 

3 shall not exceed 60 percent of the total cost incurred 

4 by the applicable eligible entity for, as applicable— 

5 (A) the construction, reconstruction, erec6 tion, installation, or acquisition of the applica7 ble qualifying renewable energy facility or quali8 fying energy storage facility; or 

9 (B) the implementation of the applicable 

10 qualifying community energy proposal. 

11 (2) LOCAL, COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

12 AND ENERGY COOPERATIVES.—With respect to a 

13 project described in paragraph (1) that is carried 

14 out by, or for which an application is submitted by, 

15 a local, community-based organization or an energy 

16 cooperative, the maximum amount provided for the 

17 project under the program shall not exceed 80 per18 cent of the total cost incurred by the local, commu19 nity-based organization or energy cooperative for the 

20 activities described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

21 that paragraph, as applicable. 

22 (h) COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.—In carrying out this 

23 section, the Secretary shall initiate and carry out public 

24 engagement, particularly with residents and stakeholders 

25 from disadvantaged communities and communities in or 


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1 adjacent to areas with existing peaker plants identified in 

2 a report under section 3(a), to ensure that— 

3 (1)(A) the public has input into the formulation 

4 of the program; and 

5 (B) based on that input, the program best ad6 dresses the needs and circumstances of disadvan7 taged communities; and 

8 (2) the public has information relating to the 

9 program, including— 

10 (A) the benefits of, and opportunities for, 

11 eligible projects under the program; and 

12 (B) the ways in which disadvantaged com13 munities can best use the program to address 

14 the clean energy goals of those disadvantaged 

15 communities. 

16 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

18 out the program not more than $1,000,000,000 for each 

19 of fiscal years 2022 through 2032. 

Æ 


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