BIDIRECTIONAL Act
Bill: S.4983 | Sponsor: Sen. Hickenlooper, John W. (D-CO)
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Bus Integration Dedicated to Improving Resilience, Eliminating Congestion, and Triggering Innovation Over Numerous Applications and Localities Act or the BIDIRECTIONAL Act
This bill establishes requirements to encourage the deployment of vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-everything technologies and applications that enable bidirectional charging, such as technologies that enable electric vehicles to use their batteries to power the energy grid or homes when they are not being driven. Specifically, the bill requires states to consider measures to promote vehicle-to-grid integration under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act.
The bill also directs the Department of Energy to establish a grant program for projects that use at least one electric school bus with such technology. Grants may be awarded to electric energy suppliers, state public utility commissions, school bus manufacturers, school districts, suppliers of charging infrastructure, renewable energy developers, and other eligible entities.

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to encourage 
 deployment of electric school buses and vehicle-to-grid technologies 
               and applications, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bus Integration Dedicated to 
Improving Resilience, Eliminating Congestion, and Triggering Innovation 
Over Numerous Applications and Localities Act'' or the ``BIDIRECTIONAL 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE DEPLOYMENT OF ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES AND 
              VEHICLE-TO-EVERYTHING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Electric school bus.--The term ``electric school bus'' 
        means a school bus that is propelled--
                    (A) to a significant extent, as determined by the 
                Secretary, by an electric motor that--
                            (i) draws electricity from a battery; and
                            (ii) is capable of being recharged from an 
                        external source of electricity; and
                    (B) by any necessary components or equipment 
                required to facilitate electric-powered school bus 
                operations.
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) any person (including any company or other 
                entity) or State, local, or Tribal entity that sells 
                electric energy, including--
                            (i) an electric utility, including--
                                    (I) a local distribution company or 
                                utility; and
                                    (II) an electric cooperative;
                            (ii) a municipality; and
                            (iii) a retail marketer of electricity;
                    (B) a State public utilities commission;
                    (C) a third-party energy efficiency program 
                administrator;
                    (D) a school bus manufacturer;
                    (E) a public or private school district;
                    (F) a supplier of charging infrastructure;
                    (G) a developer, provider, owner, or operator of 
                solar, wind, or other renewable or distributed energy 
                resources;
                    (H) a third-party school bus fleet or charging 
                operator;
                    (I) any other entity, including a partnership, that 
                the Secretary determines to be appropriate; and
                    (J) any partnership or consortium of entities 
                described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (I).
            (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) National laboratory.--The term ``National Laboratory'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy 
        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
            (5) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the program 
        established under subsection (b)(1).
            (6) Project partner.--The term ``project partner'', with 
        respect to a project for which a grant is sought or provided 
        under the Program, means an eligible entity that is a member of 
        a partnership or consortium described in paragraph (2)(J) with 
        respect to that project.
            (7) Regional transmission organization.--The term 
        ``Regional Transmission Organization'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
    (b) Program.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a program 
        to encourage the deployment of vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-
        everything technologies and applications, as described in 
        paragraph (2), including, at a minimum, a vehicle capable of 
        discharging at least 10 kilowatts of power to bidirectional 
        electric vehicle supply equipment that provides alternating 
        current power to an electrical circuit, by providing grants to 
        eligible entities for projects that include the use of not 
        fewer than 1 electric school bus with bidirectional energy flow 
        capabilities for an application described in that paragraph.
            (2) Application described.--An application referred to in 
        paragraph (1) is--
                    (A) a vehicle-to-grid application, such as--
                            (i) provision of a distribution-level 
                        service or participation in a distribution-
                        level program;
                            (ii) provision of wholesale market 
                        services, such as capacity, energy, and 
                        ancillary services;
                            (iii) provision of microgrid services; or
                            (iv) aggregations of vehicle-to-grid 
                        applications that provide distribution-level 
                        service, wholesale market services, or 
                        microgrid services;
                    (B) a vehicle-to-building application; or
                    (C) any other resilience or other application, as 
                determined to be appropriate by the Secretary.
            (3) Priority and diversity of projects.--
                    (A) Priority.--In providing grants under the 
                Program, the Secretary shall give priority to projects 
                that, in the determination of the Secretary, are likely 
                to be economically self-sustaining and replicable once 
                established.
                    (B) Requirement.--The Secretary, to the maximum 
                extent practicable in accordance with the priority 
                required to be established under subparagraph (A), 
                shall provide grants under the Program for projects 
                across differing situations, including in a region that 
                is experiencing congestion, shortages, transmission 
                system constraints, or distribution system constraints 
                that cause the cost of electricity to increase for 
                consumers.
            (4) Applying for assistance.--
                    (A) In general.--An eligible entity desiring a 
                grant under the Program shall submit to the Secretary 
                an application at such time, in such manner, and 
                containing such information as the Secretary may 
                require, subject to this paragraph.
                    (B) Requirements.--
                            (i) In general.--An application submitted 
                        under subparagraph (A) shall demonstrate how 
                        the assistance requested under the Program 
                        would help the 1 or more eligible entities 
                        submitting the application to participate in 
                        economically justifiable opportunities that 
                        recognize bidirectional electric vehicle 
                        charging as a relevant technology, including 
                        existing electric utility or Regional 
                        Transmission Organization tariffs, programs, 
                        initiatives, policies, arrangements, or other 
                        opportunities that recognize bidirectional 
                        electric vehicle charging as a relevant 
                        technology.
                            (ii) Interconnection rules.--An application 
                        submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include 
                        a certification that any project described in 
                        the application and proposed to be carried out 
                        using a grant provided under the Program will 
                        comply with all applicable interconnection 
                        rules.
            (5) Use of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--Amounts provided to an eligible 
                entity pursuant to a grant under the Program may be 
                used for--
                            (i) acquiring and installing bidirectional 
                        charging stations and interconnection upgrades 
                        necessary for bidirectional energy flow;
                            (ii) retrofitting buildings, parking 
                        facilities, and school buses for bidirectional 
                        charging;
                            (iii) acquiring and installing any 
                        necessary metering and telemetry equipment or 
                        systems;
                            (iv) acquiring technical assistance from 
                        the Department of Energy, National 
                        Laboratories, or other parties with relevant 
                        expertise for any participating project 
                        partners; and
                            (v) any application directly related to 
                        establishing, sustaining, and optimizing 
                        bidirectional energy flow, as the Secretary 
                        determines to be appropriate.
                    (B) Requirement.--Amounts provided to an eligible 
                entity pursuant to a grant under the Program shall be 
                used in a manner that corresponds specifically to the 
                incremental additional cost of implementing 1 or more 
                applications described in paragraph (2) as compared to 
                the costs associated with the acquisition, 
                demonstration, or use of a typical electric school bus, 
                as determined by the Secretary.
                    (C) Community outreach.--
                            (i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), an 
                        eligible entity receiving a grant under the 
                        Program shall use not less than 1 percent of 
                        the amounts received for outreach that is 
                        directed at the communities and bus users 
                        receiving or benefitting from those amounts, 
                        for the purpose of increasing awareness of the 
                        benefits of grid-integrated school buses and 
                        how grid-integrated school buses will be used.
                            (ii) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the 
                        requirement described in clause (i) if the 
                        Secretary determines that the outreach 
                        described in that clause is unnecessary or 
                        would be of minimal benefit to the overall goal 
                        of sustained technological deployment.
            (6) Matching requirement.--An eligible entity receiving a 
        grant under the Program shall ensure that amounts derived from 
        non-Federal sources are provided for the projects funded by the 
        grant in a total amount that is equal to, or greater than, the 
        amount of the grant.
            (7) Outreach to potentially interested entities.--Of the 
        total amount appropriated to carry out the Program, the 
        Secretary shall use not less than 1 percent for outreach to 
        potentially interested eligible entities, including eligible 
        entities participating in, or with a demonstrated interest in, 
        the clean school bus program established under section 741 of 
        the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16091).
            (8) School district compensation.--An eligible entity 
        receiving a grant under the Program shall demonstrate to the 
        Secretary that any school district participating in the 
        applicable project is appropriately compensated for that 
        participation in a manner approved by the Secretary, which may 
        include--
                    (A) the provision of direct financial compensation 
                to the school district;
                    (B) the provision or acquisition of electric school 
                buses for the school district; or
                    (C) savings resulting from the implementation of an 
                application described in paragraph (2).
            (9) Annual submission of data.--An eligible entity 
        receiving a grant under the Program shall annually submit to 
        the Secretary data from vehicles, chargers, and associated grid 
        infrastructure necessary to determine operational and economic 
        impacts, and additional data as determined to be necessary by 
        the Secretary.
            (10) Compatibility with epa clean school bus program.--
        Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary may 
        provide a grant under the Program for applicable projects, 
        programs, or activities for which amounts are provided under 
        the clean school bus program established under section 741 of 
        the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16091), and to 
        eligible entities receiving amounts under that program, subject 
        to all applicable requirements of this section.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
summarizing any existing pilot programs, including State-funded and 
locally funded pilot programs, involving the use of school buses for 
the applications described in subsection (b)(2), including--
            (1) any best practices, challenges, lessons learned, and 
        promising future directions discernable from those pilot 
        programs and applications;
            (2) any challenges, opportunities, and strategies unique to 
        the implementation of those applications in rural areas;
            (3) any challenges to the commercial viability of those 
        applications posed by State, Federal, or other regulatory 
        barriers; and
            (4)(A) any challenges to the economic viability of projects 
        involving those applications; and
            (B) any opportunities and strategies to make projects 
        involving those applications economically viable.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $500,000,000 
for the period of fiscal years 2022 through 2026.

SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF MEASURES TO PROMOTE VEHICLE-TO-GRID 
              INTEGRATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory 
Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
            ``(22) Vehicle-to-grid integration.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Each State shall consider--
                            ``(i) measures to promote vehicle-to-grid 
                        integration, including--
                                    ``(I) the establishment of rates, 
                                tariffs, measures, and standards that 
                                enable electric vehicles and electric 
                                vehicle charging infrastructure--
                                            ``(aa) to receive 
                                        interconnection service as 
                                        described in subparagraph (B); 
                                        and
                                            ``(bb) to export power from 
                                        the vehicle battery to the 
                                        distribution system or the bulk 
                                        power system;
                                    ``(II) the establishment of rates, 
                                tariffs, measures, and standards that 
                                enable electric vehicle charging 
                                station site hosts, charging station 
                                owners, aggregators, owners of electric 
                                vehicle fleets or individual fleet 
                                vehicles, or drivers of private light-
                                duty electric vehicles to receive 
                                compensation for electricity exported 
                                from the vehicle battery to the 
                                distribution system or the bulk power 
                                system; and
                                    ``(III) the establishment of rates, 
                                tariffs, measures, and standards that 
                                enable aggregation of electric vehicles 
                                for the purpose of participating in 
                                active load management programs, 
                                including customer demand-response 
                                programs and customer energy storage 
                                programs, and providing ancillary 
                                services that recognize the value that 
                                flexible electric vehicle charging can 
                                provide to the distribution system or 
                                the bulk power system; and
                            ``(ii) the impacts of the rates, tariffs, 
                        measures, and standards described in subclauses 
                        (I) through (III) of clause (i), or similar 
                        rates, tariffs, measures, and standards, on all 
                        classes and types of vehicles, including, at a 
                        minimum, light-, medium-, and heavy-duty 
                        vehicles.
                    ``(B) Interconnection service described.--The 
                interconnection service referred to in subparagraph 
                (A)(i)(I)(aa) is interconnection service that is 
                offered based on--
                            ``(i) the standards described in paragraph 
                        (15) (or successor standards); or
                            ``(ii) as necessary and reasonable, 
                        standards that--
                                    ``(I) are defined in electric 
                                vehicle-to-grid communications 
                                interfaces, protocols, or standards;
                                    ``(II) are widely adopted; and
                                    ``(III) to ensure the reliability 
                                and safety of the electric system, 
                                are--
                                            ``(aa) consistent (or 
                                        adjusted to be consistent) with 
                                        the standards described in 
                                        clause (i); and
                                            ``(bb) integrated, able to 
                                        be integrated, or adjusted in a 
                                        manner that facilitates 
                                        integration with the standards 
                                        described in that clause.''.
    (b) Compliance.--
            (1) Time limitation.--Section 112(b) of the Public Utility 
        Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended 
        by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
        of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with 
        respect to each electric utility for which the State has 
        ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated electric utility 
        shall commence consideration under section 111, or set a 
        hearing date for consideration, with respect to the standard 
        established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d).
            ``(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
        this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with respect 
        to each electric utility for which the State has ratemaking 
        authority), and each nonregulated electric utility shall 
        complete the consideration and make the determination under 
        section 111 with respect to the standard established by 
        paragraph (22) of section 111(d).''.
            (2) Failure to comply.--Section 112(c) of the Public 
        Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following: ``In the case of 
        the standard established by paragraph (22) of section 111(d), 
        the reference contained in this subsection to the date of 
        enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the 
        date of enactment of that paragraph (22).''.
            (3) Prior state actions.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 112 of the Public Utility 
                Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is 
                amended--
                            (i) in subsection (d)--
                                    (I) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
                                through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 
                                through (C), respectively, and 
                                indenting appropriately; and
                                    (II) in the matter preceding 
                                subparagraph (A) (as so redesignated), 
                                by striking ``Subsections'' and 
                                inserting the following:
            ``(1) In general.--Subsections'';
                            (ii) in subsection (e)--
                                    (I) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
                                through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 
                                through (C), respectively, and 
                                indenting appropriately; and
                                    (II) by striking the subsection 
                                designation and heading and all that 
                                follows through ``Subsections'' in the 
                                matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as 
                                so redesignated) and inserting the 
                                following:
            ``(2) Time-based metering and communications.--
        Subsections'';
                            (iii) in subsection (f)--
                                    (I) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
                                through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 
                                through (C), respectively, and 
                                indenting appropriately; and
                                    (II) by striking the subsection 
                                designation and heading and all that 
                                follows through ``Subsections'' in the 
                                matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as 
                                so redesignated) and inserting the 
                                following:
            ``(3) Interconnection.--Subsections'';
                            (iv) in subsection (g)--
                                    (I) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
                                through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 
                                through (C), respectively, and 
                                indenting appropriately; and
                                    (II) by striking the subsection 
                                designation and heading and all that 
                                follows through ``Subsections'' in the 
                                matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as 
                                so redesignated) and inserting the 
                                following:
            ``(4) Demand-response practices.--Subsections'';
                            (v) in subsection (h)--
                                    (I) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
                                through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 
                                through (C), respectively, and 
                                indenting appropriately; and
                                    (II) by striking the subsection 
                                designation and heading and all that 
                                follows through ``Subsections'' in the 
                                matter preceding subparagraph (A) (as 
                                so redesignated) and inserting the 
                                following:
            ``(5) Electric vehicle charging programs.--Subsections''; 
        and
                            (vi) in subsection (d) (as so amended) by 
                        adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) Vehicle-to-grid integration.--Subsections (b) and (c) 
        shall not apply to the standard established by paragraph (22) 
        of section 111(d) in the case of any electric utility in a 
        State if, before the date of enactment of this subsection--
                    ``(A) the State has implemented for the electric 
                utility the standard (or a comparable standard);
                    ``(B) the State regulatory authority for the State 
                or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has 
                conducted a proceeding to consider implementation of 
                the standard (or a comparable standard) for the 
                electric utility; or
                    ``(C) the State legislature has voted on the 
                implementation of the standard (or a comparable 
                standard) for the electric utility during the 3-year 
                period ending on that date of enactment.''.
                    (B) Cross reference.--Section 124 of the Public 
                Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 
                2634) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
                ``In the case of the standard established by paragraph 
                (22) of section 111(d), the reference contained in this 
                section to the date of enactment of this Act shall be 
                deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment of 
                that paragraph (22).''.
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