I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3959 
To amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 
to establish a Federal renewable electricity standard for retail electricity 
suppliers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 16, 2021 
Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
Act of 1978 to establish a Federal renewable electricity 
standard for retail electricity suppliers, 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; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.— 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Re-
newable Energy Act of 2021’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 
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(1) the Federal renewable electricity standard 
established by section 610 of the Public Utility Reg-
ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (as added by this Act) 
establishes a market-based policy to create ongoing 
competition among renewable electricity generators 
across the United States and provide the greatest 
quantity of clean electricity for the lowest price; and 
(2) the United States has vast wind, solar, hy-
dropower, and geothermal resources that— 
(A) are renewable; 
(B) are dispersed widely across different 
regions of the United States; 
(C) can be harnessed to generate a signifi-
cant share of electricity in the United States; 
and 
(D) when deployed, will significantly re-
duce and eliminate the emission of harmful 
greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants, which 
have historically been concentrated in under-
served communities and communities of color, 
contributing to disproportionate burdens and 
environmental injustices. 
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SEC. 2. FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 
Title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 
of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding 
after section 609 (7 U.S.C. 918c) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 610. FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CRITERIA
AIR
POLLUTANT.—The term 
‘criteria air pollutant’ means an air pollutant for 
which a national ambient air quality standard has 
been promulgated under section 109 of the Clean 
Air Act. 
‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTED
GENERATION.—The term 
‘distributed generation’ means a non-centralized re-
newable energy resource installation, or inter-
connected series of installations, that generates elec-
tricity near the point of use with a total generating 
capacity of 1 megawatt or less. 
‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘environ-
mental justice community’ means a low-income 
or low-wealth community that is impacted by 
environmental injustice. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘environ-
mental justice community’ includes any commu-
nity that— 
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‘‘(i) is located nearest to an existing 
area of significant environmental pollution 
and degradation; 
‘‘(ii) bears a burden of negative public 
health effects from pollution; 
‘‘(iii) includes 1 or more sites of— 
‘‘(I) a facility that is a part of a 
polluting industry; 
‘‘(II) a waste dump; or 
‘‘(III) a facility for fossil resource 
extraction; 
‘‘(iv) experiences a high incidence of 
climate change impacts and disasters; 
‘‘(v) has been excluded or harmed by 
racist or discriminatory policies that have 
resulted in disproportionate burdens of en-
vironmental pollution and related health 
and socioeconomic disparities; 
‘‘(vi) has a land-based or food subsist-
ence culture that is experiencing ecosystem 
disruption and devastation; 
‘‘(vii) faces relocation and resettle-
ment resulting from— 
‘‘(I) climate change; or 
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‘‘(II) impacts to the environment 
and ecosystems; or 
‘‘(viii) is an Indigenous community. 
‘‘(4) 
FEDERAL
RENEWABLE
ELECTRICITY 
CREDIT.—The term ‘Federal renewable electricity 
credit’ means a credit that— 
‘‘(A) represents, for purposes of compli-
ance with this section, 1 megawatt hour of re-
newable electricity; and 
‘‘(B) is issued pursuant to subsection (e). 
‘‘(5) IMPACTED COMMUNITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘impacted 
community’ means a community that is harmed 
by environmental, economic, or socioeconomic 
injustice. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘impacted 
community’ includes— 
‘‘(i) an environmental justice commu-
nity; and 
‘‘(ii) a community that— 
‘‘(I) has a high concentration of 
low-income and low-wealth house-
holds, including households comprised 
primarily of members of groups that 
have historically experienced discrimi-
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‘‘(7) QUALIFIED
HYDROPOWER.—The term 
‘qualified hydropower’ means energy produced from 
generating capacity added to a dam on or after Jan-
uary 1, 2001, if the Commission certifies that— 
‘‘(A) the dam— 
‘‘(i) was placed in service before the 
date of enactment of this section; 
‘‘(ii) was operated for flood control, 
navigation, or water supply purposes; and 
‘‘(iii) was not producing hydroelectric 
power prior to the addition of the capacity; 
and 
‘‘(B) the hydroelectric project installed on 
the dam— 
‘‘(i) is licensed or is exempt from li-
censing by the Commission; 
‘‘(ii) is in compliance with— 
‘‘(I) the terms and conditions of 
the license or exemption; and 
‘‘(II) other applicable legal re-
quirements for the protection of envi-
ronmental quality, including applica-
ble fish passage requirements; and 
‘‘(iii) is operated so that the water 
surface elevation at any given location and 
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time that would have occurred in the ab-
sence of the hydroelectric project is main-
tained, subject to any license or exemption 
requirements that require changes in water 
surface elevation for the purpose of im-
proving the environmental quality of the 
affected waterway. 
‘‘(8) RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY.—The term ‘re-
newable electricity’ means electricity generated (in-
cluding by means of a fuel cell) from a renewable en-
ergy resource. 
‘‘(9) RENEWABLE
ENERGY
RESOURCE.—The 
term ‘renewable energy resource’ means each of the 
following: 
‘‘(A) Wind energy. 
‘‘(B) Solar energy. 
‘‘(C) Geothermal energy. 
‘‘(D) Biogas derived from anaerobic diges-
tion at wastewater treatment facilities, or from 
farm anaerobic digestion. 
‘‘(E) Qualified hydropower. 
‘‘(F) Marine energy (as defined in section 
632 of the Energy Independence and Security 
Act of 2007). 
‘‘(10) RETAIL ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘retail elec-
tricity supplier’ means, for any calendar year, 
an electric utility that sells not fewer than 
1,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity to elec-
tric consumers during the preceding calendar 
year. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS.—For 
purposes of determining whether an electric 
utility qualifies as a retail electricity supplier 
under subparagraph (A)— 
‘‘(i) the sales made by any affiliate of 
the electric utility to electric consumers, 
other than sales to lessees or tenants of 
the affiliate, shall be considered to be sales 
made by the electric utility; and 
‘‘(ii) sales made by the electric utility 
to an affiliate, lessee, or tenant of the elec-
tric utility shall not be treated as sales to 
electric consumers. 
‘‘(C) AFFILIATE.—In this paragraph, the 
term ‘affiliate’ when used in relation to a per-
son, means another person that directly or indi-
rectly owns or controls, is owned or controlled 
by, or is under common ownership or control 
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with, that person, as determined under regula-
tions promulgated by the Commission. 
‘‘(11) RETAIL ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER’S BASE 
QUANTITY.—The term ‘retail electricity supplier’s 
base quantity’ means the total quantity of electricity 
sold by the retail electricity supplier, expressed in 
megawatt hours, to electric consumers during the 
relevant calendar year, excluding electricity gen-
erated by a hydroelectric facility, other than quali-
fied hydropower. 
‘‘(12) RETIRE AND RETIREMENT.—The terms 
‘retire’ and ‘retirement’ mean, with respect to a 
Federal renewable electricity credit, to disqualify the 
credit for any subsequent use under this section, re-
gardless of whether the use is a sale, transfer, ex-
change, or submission in satisfaction of a compliance 
obligation. 
‘‘(b) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE OBLIGATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in subsection (f), for each of calendar years 
2021 through 2030, not later than March 31 of the 
following calendar year, each retail electricity sup-
plier shall submit to the Commission a quantity of 
Federal renewable electricity credits that represents 
a quantity of megawatt hours of renewable elec-
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tricity that is at least equal to the annual target of 
the retail electricity supplier under subsection (d). 
‘‘(2) EQUITY REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) 
DISTRIBUTED
GENERATION.—The 
Commission shall require that, of the quantity 
of Federal renewable electricity credits required 
to be submitted by a retail electricity supplier 
to comply with paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(i) for the period of calendar years 
2021 through 2024, at least 15 percent of 
such Federal renewable electricity credits 
represent megawatt hours of renewable 
electricity generated by distributed genera-
tion; and 
‘‘(ii) for the period of calendar years 
2025 through 2030, at least 20 percent of 
such Federal renewable electricity credits 
represent megawatt hours of renewable 
electricity generated by distributed genera-
tion. 
‘‘(B) 
IMPACTED
COMMUNITIES.—The 
Commission shall require that, of the quantity 
of Federal renewable electricity credits required 
to be submitted by a retail electricity supplier 
to comply with paragraph (1)— 
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‘‘(i) for the period of calendar years 
2021 through 2024, at least 15 percent of 
such Federal renewable electricity credits 
represent megawatt hours of renewable 
electricity generated in impacted commu-
nities; and 
‘‘(ii) for the period of calendar years 
2025 through 2030, at least 20 percent of 
such Federal renewable electricity credits 
represent megawatt hours of renewable 
electricity generated in impacted commu-
nities. 
‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTED
GENERATION
OCCUR-
RING
IN
A
IMPACTED
COMMUNITY.—For any 
calendar year, distributed generation that oc-
curs in a impacted community may be used for 
purposes of complying with both subparagraph 
(A) and subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 
2022, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 
to implement and enforce the requirements of this 
section. 
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