SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Energy Op-
portunity Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AUTHORITY
HAVING
JURISDICTION.—The 
term ‘‘authority having jurisdiction’’ means any 
State, county, local, or Tribal office or official with 
jurisdiction— 
(A) to issue permits; 
(B) to conduct inspections to enforce the 
requirements of a relevant code or standard; or 
(C) to approve the installation of, or the 
equipment and materials used in the installa-
tion of, qualifying distributed energy systems. 
(2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 
Distributed Energy Opportunity Board established 
or designated under section 3(a). 
(3) 
DISTRIBUTED
ENERGY
SYSTEM
IN-
STALLER.—The term ‘‘distributed energy system in-
staller’’ means an entity or individual— 
(A) with knowledge and skills relating to— 
(i) the construction and operation of 
the equipment used in qualifying distrib-
uted energy systems; and 
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(ii) the installation of qualifying dis-
tributed energy systems; and 
(B) that has employed safety training to 
recognize and avoid the hazards involved in con-
structing, operating, and installing qualifying 
distributed energy systems. 
(4) QUALIFYING
DISTRIBUTED
ENERGY
SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘‘qualifying distributed energy sys-
tem’’ means any equipment or materials installed in, 
on, or near a residential, commercial, or industrial 
building to support onsite or local energy use, in-
cluding— 
(A) to generate electricity from distributed 
renewable energy sources, including from— 
(i) solar photovoltaic modules or simi-
lar solar energy technologies; 
(ii) wind power systems; and 
(iii) hydrogen electrolysis and fuel cell 
systems; 
(B) to store and discharge electricity from 
batteries with a capacity of at least 2 kilowatt 
hours; 
(C) to charge a plug-in electric drive vehi-
cle at a power rate of at least 2 kilowatts; 
(D) to refuel a fuel cell electric vehicle; or 
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(E) to store and discharge electricity from 
fuel cell systems with a capacity of at least 2 
kilowatt hours. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF THE DIS-
TRIBUTED ENERGY OPPORTUNITY BOARD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta-
tion with trade associations and other entities representing 
distributed energy system installers and organizations rep-
resenting State, local, and Tribal governments engaged in 
permitting, shall establish or designate a nonprofit cor-
poration, to be known as the ‘‘Distributed Energy Oppor-
tunity Board’’, to carry out a program to streamline the 
process for local permitting and inspection of qualifying 
distributed energy systems. 
(b) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall include rep-
resentatives from— 
(1) relevant Federal agencies, or organizations 
that represent those agencies; 
(2) State, local, and Tribal governments, or or-
ganizations that represent those governments; 
(3) distributed energy generation companies; 
(4) battery storage companies; 
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(5) associations that represent the distributed 
energy generation and battery storage industry; 
(6) building code agencies and organizations, 
including a model energy code-setting organization; 
(7) other codes and standards organizations; 
and 
(8) fuel cell system companies. 
(c) PURPOSE AND ACTIVITIES OF THE BOARD.— 
(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Board is to 
establish a voluntary program for facilitating— 
(A) streamlined permitting processes of 
qualifying distributed energy systems; and 
(B) certification of distributed energy sys-
tem installers. 
(2) ACTIVITIES.—The Board shall— 
(A) develop and maintain a streamlined 
permitting process, such as a national online 
permitting system and technology platform for 
expediting, standardizing, and streamlining per-
mitting, that authorities having jurisdiction 
may use, at the discretion of those authorities, 
to receive, review, and approve permit applica-
tions relating to qualifying distributed energy 
systems; 
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(B) establish a model expedited permit-to- 
build protocol for qualifying distributed energy 
systems; 
(C) provide technical assistance to authori-
ties having jurisdiction on using and adopting— 
(i) the streamlined permitting process 
described in subparagraph (A); and 
(ii) the model expedited permit-to- 
build protocol described in subparagraph 
(B); 
(D)(i) investigate the development of vol-
untary national certifications for distributed en-
ergy system installers and qualifying distributed 
energy systems; and 
(ii) if the Board determines that the na-
tional certifications would expedite and stream-
line the permitting and inspection process, de-
velop the voluntary national certifications; 
(E) develop and maintain a voluntary na-
tional inspection protocol integrated with the 
national online permitting system described in 
subparagraphs (A) and (B) and related tools to 
expedite, standardize, and streamline the in-
spection of qualifying distributed energy sys-
tems, including— 
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(i) by investigating the potential for 
using remote inspections; and 
(ii) by investigating the potential for 
sample-based inspection for distributed en-
ergy system installers with a demonstrated 
track record of high-quality work; and 
(F) take any other action to expedite, 
standardize, streamline, or improve the process 
for permitting, inspecting, or interconnecting 
qualifying distributed energy systems. 
(d) FEE AUTHORITY.—The Board may assess fees 
for the provision of services by the Board in amounts de-
termined reasonable and appropriate by the Board, includ-
ing fees from participating distributed energy system in-
stallers relating to the activities of the Board described 
in subsection (c)(2). 
(e) NONPROFIT STATUS.—The Board shall be consid-
ered to be an organization described in section 501(c)(3) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and exempt from 
taxation under section 501(a) of that Code. 
(f) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) provide technical assistance to the Board in 
carrying out the activities described in subsection 
(c)(2); and 
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(2) provide such financial assistance to the 
Board as the Secretary determines to be appropriate 
from any funds appropriated to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTED ENERGY OPPORTUNITY COMMU-
NITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall recognize and 
certify certain communities as ‘‘Distributed Energy Op-
portunity Communities’’. 
(b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary may certify a 
State, local community, or Tribe as a ‘‘Distributed Energy 
Opportunity Community’’ if that State, local community, 
or Tribe has adopted and implemented the model expe-
dited permit-to-build protocol established by the Board. 
(c) PROCESS.—The Secretary may confer a certifi-
cation under subsection (a) through existing programs of 
the Department of Energy. 
(d) GRANTS.—The Secretary may award competitive 
grants, using funds appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this Act, to encourage communities to adopt the model 
expedited permit-to-build protocol and standardized in-
spection processes established by the Board. 
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SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2025. 
Æ 
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