I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2885 
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an electric grid resilience 
grant program and an electric grid resilience research and development 
program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2021 
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. BRADY, Mr. BURGESS, Ms. MATSUI, 
Mr. HUFFMAN, and Mr. LAMALFA) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition 
to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an electric 
grid resilience grant program and an electric grid resil-
ience research and development program. 
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 ‘‘Preventing Outages 
With Enhanced Resilience and Operations Nationwide Act 
of 2021’’ or the ‘‘POWER ON Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. ELECTRIC GRID RESILIENCE GRANTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means— 
(A) an electric grid operator; 
(B) an electricity generator; 
(C) a transmission owner or operator; 
(D) a distribution provider; 
(E) a fuel supplier; and 
(F) any other relevant entity, as deter-
mined by the Secretary. 
(2) EXTREME WEATHER.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘extreme 
weather’’ means a weather phenomenon that— 
(i) occurs outside of the historical fre-
quency prior to 1990; or 
(ii) is unexpected, unusual, severe, or 
unseasonal. 
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘extreme 
weather’’ includes— 
(i) a tornado; 
(ii) a thunderstorm; 
(iii) an ice storm; 
(iv) a heat wave; 
(v) flooding; 
(vi) drought; 
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(vii) high winds; and 
(viii) mudslides. 
(3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(4) RESILIENCE EVENT.—The term ‘‘resilience 
event’’ means an event in which, due to extreme 
weather, a wildfire, or any other natural disaster, 
operations of the electric grid are disrupted, preven-
tively shut off, or cannot operate safely. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 
(A) a State; 
(B) the District of Columbia; and 
(C) any territory of the United States. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall establish an electric grid resilience pro-
gram under which the Secretary shall provide grants 
to States and Indian Tribes to award grants to eligi-
ble entities to carry out projects that enhance the 
physical resilience of the electric grid. 
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State or Indian Tribe on or after January 
1, 2011. 
(iv) The total amount, on a per capita 
basis, of public and private expenditures 
during the previous 10 years to carry out 
mitigation efforts to reduce the likelihood 
and consequences of resilience events in 
the State or on the land of the Indian 
Tribe, with States or Indian Tribes with 
higher per capita expenditures receiving 
additional weight or consideration as com-
pared to States or Indian Tribes with 
lower per capita expenditures. 
(4) ANNUAL UPDATE OF DATA USED IN DIS-
TRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—Beginning 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
annually update— 
(A) all data relating to the factors de-
scribed in paragraph (3)(B); and 
(B) all other data used in distributing 
grants to States and Indian Tribes under this 
subsection. 
(5) MATCHING
FUNDS.—A State or Indian 
Tribe that receives a grant under this subsection 
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shall be required to match not less than 15 percent 
of the amount of the grant. 
(6) PLAN REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall en-
sure that each grant provided to a State or Indian 
Tribe under this subsection will— 
(A) be allocated in accordance with a pub-
lished State or Indian Tribe plan that— 
(i) is adopted by the State or Indian 
Tribe after notice and a public hearing; 
and 
(ii) describes the proposed funding 
distributions and recipients of the electric 
grid resilience grants to be provided by the 
State or Indian Tribe; and 
(B) be allocated, pursuant to the applicable 
State or Indian Tribe plan, to eligible entities 
for projects within the State or on the land of 
the Indian Tribe, as applicable. 
(7) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Of any amounts made 
available to the Secretary to carry out the pro-
gram established under paragraph (1) for a fis-
cal year, the Secretary may use not more than 
10 percent for the administrative expenses of 
carrying out that program. 
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(B) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Not more than 10 
percent of the amount of a grant provided by 
the Secretary to a State or Indian Tribe under 
this subsection may be used for administrative 
expenses. 
(c) USE OF GRANTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded to an eligi-
ble entity under the electric grid resilience program 
established under subsection (b)(1) may be used for 
activities, technologies, equipment, and hardening 
measures to enable the electric grid to better with-
stand the effects of extreme weather, a wildfire, or 
any other natural disaster, including— 
(A) weatherization technologies and equip-
ment; 
(B) fire-resistant technologies and fire pre-
vention systems; 
(C) monitoring technologies; 
(D) the undergrounding of electrical equip-
ment; 
(E) utility pole management; 
(F) the relocation of power lines; 
(G) vegetation and fuel-load management; 
(H) the use or construction of distributed 
energy resources for enhancing system adaptive 
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capacity during extreme weather events, includ-
ing— 
(i) microgrids; and 
(ii) battery-storage subcomponents; 
(I) adaptive protection technologies; and 
(J) advanced modeling technologies. 
(2) PROHIBITED USES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded to an 
eligible entity under the electric grid resilience 
program established under subsection (b)(1) 
may not be used for— 
(i) construction of a new— 
(I) electric generating facility; or 
(II) large-scale battery-storage 
facility that is not used for enhancing 
system adaptive capacity during ex-
treme weather events; or 
(ii) cybersecurity. 
(B) CERTAIN INVESTMENTS ELIGIBLE FOR 
RECOVERY.— 
(i) IN
GENERAL.—An eligible entity 
may not seek cost recovery for the portion 
of the cost of any system, technology, or 
equipment that is funded through a grant 
awarded under the electric grid resilience 
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program 
established 
under 
subsection 
(b)(1). 
(ii) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in 
this subparagraph prohibits an eligible en-
tity from recovering through traditional or 
incentive-based ratemaking any portion of 
an investment in a system, technology, or 
equipment that is not funded by a grant 
awarded under the electric grid resilience 
program 
established 
under 
subsection 
(b)(1). 
(d) EVALUATION OF FUNDED PROJECTS.—The Sec-
retary shall carry out periodic evaluations of— 
(1) the electric grid resilience program estab-
lished under subsection (b)(1); and 
(2) the projects carried out by eligible entities 
receiving grants under that program. 
(e) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
report describing the electric grid resilience program 
established under subsection (b)(1), including the re-
sults of the periodic evaluations carried out under 
subsection (d). 
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(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The report under para-
graph (1) shall include information and data pro-
vided by each State or Indian Tribe receiving a 
grant from the Secretary under subsection (b) on— 
(A) the costs of the projects for which 
grants are awarded to eligible entities by States 
or Indian Tribes under that subsection; and 
(B) the types of activities, technologies, 
equipment, and hardening measures funded by 
those grants. 
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this section $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 
through 2026. 
SEC. 3. ELECTRIC GRID RESILIENCE RESEARCH AND DE-
VELOPMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy 
(referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall estab-
lish a research, development, demonstration, and commer-
cial application program to enhance resilience and 
strengthen emergency response and management of the 
electric grid. 
(b) GRANTS.—Under the program established under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall award competitive 
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grants to eligible entities described in subsection (c) to 
conduct research, development, demonstration, and com-
mercial application activities to improve the resilience of 
the electric grid by developing technologies and capabili-
ties to withstand and address the current and projected 
impact on electric grid infrastructure of— 
(1) extreme weather (as defined in section 
2(a)); 
(2) wildfires; and 
(3) other natural disasters. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re-
ceive a grant under subsection (b) is— 
(1) an institution of higher education, including 
a historically Black college or university and a mi-
nority-serving institution; 
(2) a nonprofit organization; 
(3) a National Laboratory; 
(4) a unit of State, local, or Tribal government; 
(5) an electric utility or electric cooperative; 
(6) a retail service provider of electricity; 
(7) a private commercial entity; 
(8) a partnership or consortium of 2 or more 
entities described in any of paragraphs (1) through 
(7); and 
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(9) any other entity the Secretary determines to 
be appropriate. 
Æ 
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