107 
President or the President’s designee shall identify, and 
provide public notice of, specific additional high-voltage 
electric transmission facilities and other nontransmission 
alternatives required to substantially increase the genera-
tion of electricity from renewable energy within each Na-
tional Renewable Energy Zone. 
‘‘(d) PUBLIC VIEWS.—Before designating an area as 
a National Renewable Energy Zone, the President or the 
President’s designee shall afford each affected State, In-
dian Tribe and other interested persons a reasonable op-
portunity to present their views and recommendations be-
fore a designation shall be effective. 
‘‘(e) EXPANSION.—The President or the President’s 
designee shall every three years after the date of enact-
ment consider whether to expand an existing National Re-
newable Energy Zone or designate a new National Renew-
able Energy Zone pursuant to the criteria set forth in sub-
section (a). 
‘‘SEC. 233. ENCOURAGING CLEAN ENERGY SUPERHIGHWAY 
DEVELOPMENT IN NATIONAL RENEWABLE 
ENERGY ZONES. 
‘‘(a) COST RECOVERY.—(1) The Commission shall 
issue and enforce such regulations as are necessary to en-
sure that a public utility transmission provider that fi-
nances transmission capacity to transmit electricity from 
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renewable energy from a National Renewable Energy Zone 
to an electricity consuming area after the date of enact-
ment of this subtitle recovers through its rates for trans-
mission service all costs and a reasonable return on equity 
associated with the construction and operation of such new 
transmission capacity. 
‘‘(2) A regulation under paragraph (1) shall be en-
forceable in accordance with the provisions of law applica-
ble to enforcement of regulations under this Act. 
‘‘(b) 
ALTERNATIVE
TRANSMISSION
FINANCING 
MECHANISM.—The Commission shall permit a renewable 
energy trunkline built by a public utility transmission pro-
vider in a National Renewable Energy Zone to, in advance 
of generation interconnection requests, be initially funded 
through a transmission charge imposed upon all trans-
mission customers of the transmission provider or, if the 
renewable energy trunkline is built in an area served by 
a regional transmission organization or independent sys-
tem operator, all of the transmission customers of such 
transmission operator, if the Commission makes each of 
the following findings: 
‘‘(1) The renewable energy resources that would 
utilize the renewable energy trunkline are remote 
from the grid and load centers. 
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‘‘(2) The renewable energy trunkline will likely 
result in multiple individual renewable energy elec-
tric generation projects being developed by multiple 
competing developers. The renewable energy trunk-
line has at least one project subscribed through an 
executed generation interconnection agreement with 
the transmission provider and has tangible dem-
onstration of additional interest. 
As new electric generation projects are constructed and 
interconnected to the renewable energy trunkline, the 
transmission services contract holder for such generation 
project will, on a going forward basis, pay a pro-rata share 
of the renewable energy trunkline facility’s costs, thus re-
ducing the effect on the rates of customers of the public 
utility transmission provider.’’. 
(b) TRANSMISSION COST ALLOCATION.—Section 206 
of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824e) is amended 
by adding the following new subsection at the end thereof: 
‘‘(e)(1) Within six months of the date the President 
designates an area as a National Renewable Energy Zone, 
the State utility commissions or other appropriate bodies 
having jurisdiction over the public utilities providing serv-
ice in the National Renewable Energy Zone or an adjacent 
electricity consuming area may jointly propose to the Com-
mission a cost allocation plan for high-voltage electric 
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transmission facilities built by a public utility transmission 
provider that would serve the electricity consuming area. 
‘‘(2) The Commission may approve the plan proposed 
by the States pursuant to paragraph (1) if, taking into 
account the users of the transmission facilities, the plan 
will result in rates that are just and reasonable and not 
unduly discriminatory or preferential and the plan would 
not unduly inhibit the development of renewable energy 
electric generation projects. 
‘‘(3) Unless a plan has been approved by the Commis-
sion pursuant to paragraph (2), the Commission shall fair-
ly allocate the costs of new high-voltage electric trans-
mission facilities built in the area by one or more public 
utility transmission providers (recognizing the national 
and regional benefits associated with increased access to 
electricity from renewable energy) pursuant to a rolled- 
in transmission charge. nothing in this subsection shall ex-
pand, directly or indirectly, the jurisdiction of the Com-
mission with respect to any Federal Transmitting Util-
ity.’’. 
(c) FEDERAL TRANSMITTING UTILITIES.—(1) If no 
privately or publicly funded entity commits within one 
year of the identification required in section 232(c) of the 
Federal Power Act to finance (either on its own or through 
a third party financing arrangement with a Federal 
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Transmitting Utility) a high-voltage electric transmission 
facility identified in such notice, a Federal Transmitting 
Utility shall finance the construction of the high-voltage 
electric transmission facility and operate and maintain 
such facility if the Federal Transmitting Utility deter-
mines— 
(A) the facility would be located within the 
area in which the Federal Transmitting Utility 
is statutorily authorized to construct trans-
mission facilities; 
(B) the facility may be constructed and op-
erated without having a material detrimental 
impact on reliability; and 
(C) equally effective nontransmission op-
tions are unavailable. 
(2)(A) Subject to the availability of appropriated 
funds, the Department of Energy is authorized to issue 
and sell bonds, notes, and other evidence of indebtedness 
to the Secretary of Treasury from time to time in an 
amount not to exceed $10,000,000,000 outstanding at any 
one time. The Department of Energy shall deposit the 
amounts raised pursuant to this subsection to a Trans-
mission Fund, which shall be located in the U.S. Treasury. 
(B) Amounts deposited in the Transmission Fund 
shall be available without further appropriation or fiscal 
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