I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2665 
To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart energy and water 
efficiency program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 10, 2019 
Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation 
and Infrastructure, 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 direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart energy 
and water efficiency program, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Energy and 
Water Efficiency Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) a municipality; 
(B) a water district; and 
(C) any other entity that provides water, 
wastewater, or water reuse services, including a 
joint water and power authority. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(3) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY 
PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘smart energy and water effi-
ciency program’’ or ‘‘program’’ means the program 
established under subsection (b). 
(b) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PRO-
GRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
and carry out a smart energy and water efficiency 
program in accordance with this section. 
(2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—In carrying out the 
smart energy and water efficiency program, the Sec-
retary shall award grants to eligible entities to carry 
out projects that implement advanced and innovative 
technology-based solutions that will improve the en-
ergy or water efficiency of water, wastewater, or 
water reuse systems to— 
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(A) help eligible entities make significant 
progress in conserving water, conserving energy, 
or reducing the operating costs of such systems; 
(B) support the implementation of innova-
tive processes or the installation of advanced 
automated systems that provide real-time data 
on energy and water; or 
(C) improve predictive maintenance of 
water, wastewater, or water reuse systems 
through the use of Internet-connected tech-
nologies, such as sensors, intelligent gateways, 
or security embedded in hardware. 
(3) PROJECT SELECTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
make competitive, merit-reviewed grants under 
the program to not fewer than 3, but not more 
than 5, eligible entities. 
(B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting an 
eligible entity to receive a grant under the pro-
gram, the Secretary shall consider— 
(i) energy and cost savings anticipated 
to result from the project; 
(ii) the innovative nature, commercial 
viability, and reliability of the technology 
to be used; 
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(iii) the degree to which the project 
integrates innovative sensors, software, 
hardware, 
analytics, 
and 
management 
tools; 
(iv) the anticipated cost-effectiveness 
of the project in terms of energy savings, 
water savings or reuse, and infrastructure 
costs averted; 
(v) whether the technology can be de-
ployed in a variety of geographic regions 
and the degree to which the technology can 
be implemented on a smaller or larger 
scale, including whether the technology can 
be implemented by other types of eligible 
entities; and 
(vi) whether implementation of the 
project will be complete within 5 years. 
(C) APPLICATIONS.— 
(i) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to clause 
(ii), an eligible entity seeking a grant 
under the program shall submit to the Sec-
retary an application at such time, in such 
manner, and containing such information 
as the Secretary determines to be nec-
essary. 
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(ii) CONTENTS.—An application under 
clause (i) shall, at a minimum, include— 
(I) a description of the project; 
(II) a description of the tech-
nology to be used in the project; 
(III) the anticipated results, in-
cluding energy and water savings, of 
the project; 
(IV) a comprehensive budget for 
the project; and 
(V) the number of households or 
customers that are served by the eligi-
ble entity and will benefit from the 
project. 
(4) ADMINISTRATION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 300 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall select grant recipients under 
this section. 
(B) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall 
annually for 5 years carry out an evaluation of 
each project for which a grant is provided 
under this section that— 
(i) evaluates the progress and effects 
of the project; and 
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(ii) assesses the degree to which the 
project can be replicated in other regions, 
systems, and situations. 
(C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—On the re-
quest of a grant recipient, the Secretary shall 
provide technical assistance to the grant recipi-
ent to carry out the project. 
(D) BEST
PRACTICES.—The Secretary 
shall make available to the public— 
(i) a copy of each evaluation carried 
out under subparagraph (B); and 
(ii) a description of any best practices 
identified by the Secretary as a result of 
those evaluations. 
(E) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than the date on which the Secretary completes 
the last evaluation required under subparagraph 
(B), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
report containing the results of each evaluation 
carried out under such subparagraph. 
(c) FUNDING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not 
less than $15,000,000 of amounts made available to 
the Secretary to carry out this section. 
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(2) PRIORITIZATION.—In funding activities 
under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize 
funding in the following manner: 
(A) The Secretary shall first use any unob-
ligated amounts made available to the Secretary 
to carry out the activities of the Energy Effi-
ciency and Renewable Energy Office. 
(B) After any amounts described in sub-
paragraph (A) have been used, the Secretary 
shall then use any unobligated amounts (other 
than those described in subparagraph (A)) 
made available to the Secretary. 
Æ 
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