POWER ON Act of 2021
Bill: S.1432 | Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John (R-TX)
Policy area: Energy

Summary:
Preventing Outages With Enhanced Resilience and Operations Nationwide Act of 2021 or the POWER ON Act of 2021
This bill provides incentives for enhancing the resilience of the electric power grid to natural disasters and strengthening the emergency response and management of the grid.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish an electric grid resilience program. Under the program, DOE must provide grants to states and Indian tribes for projects that enhance the physical resilience of the electric grid to natural disasters.
In addition, DOE must establish a research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program to enhance resilience and strengthen emergency response and management of the electric grid. Under the program, DOE must award grants to improve the resilience of the electric grid by developing technologies and capabilities to withstand and address the current and projected impact on electric grid infrastructure of natural disasters, such as wildfires.

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an electric grid 
 resilience grant program and an electric grid resilience research and 
                          development program.

    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 ``Preventing Outages With Enhanced 
Resilience and Operations Nationwide Act of 2021'' or the ``POWER ON 
Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. ELECTRIC GRID RESILIENCE GRANTS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' 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 determined by the 
                Secretary.
            (2) Extreme weather.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``extreme weather'' means 
                a weather phenomenon that--
                            (i) occurs outside of the historical 
                        frequency 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;
                            (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, preventively 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 Secretary shall establish an 
        electric grid resilience program under which the Secretary 
        shall provide grants to States and Indian Tribes to award 
        grants to eligible entities to carry out projects that enhance 
        the physical resilience of the electric grid.
            (2) Annual application.--
                    (A) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant 
                under this subsection for a fiscal year, a State or 
                Indian Tribe shall submit to the Secretary an 
                application for that fiscal year that describes the 
                criteria and methods that will be used by the State or 
                Indian Tribe to award electric grid resilience grants 
                to eligible entities.
                    (B) Requirement.--The Secretary shall use amounts 
                appropriated under subsection (f) for a fiscal year to 
                provide grants under this subsection only to States and 
                Indian Tribes that have submitted an application under 
                subparagraph (A) for that fiscal year.
            (3) Distribution of funds.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall provide grants 
                to States and Indian Tribes under this subsection based 
                on a formula determined by the Secretary, in accordance 
                with subparagraph (B).
                    (B) Requirement.--The formula referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) shall be based on the following 
                factors:
                            (i) The total population of the State or 
                        Indian Tribe.
                            (ii) The probability of resilience events 
                        in the State or on the land of the Indian Tribe 
                        during the previous 10 years, as determined 
                        based on the number of federally declared 
                        disasters or emergencies in the State or on the 
                        land of the Indian Tribe, as applicable, 
                        including--
                                    (I) disasters for which Fire 
                                Management Assistance Grants are 
                                provided under section 420 of the 
                                Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
                                Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 
                                5187);
                                    (II) major disasters declared by 
                                the President under section 401 of that 
                                Act (42 U.S.C. 5170);
                                    (III) emergencies declared by the 
                                President under section 501 of that Act 
                                (42 U.S.C. 5191); and
                                    (IV) any other federally declared 
                                disaster or emergency in the State or 
                                on the land of the Indian Tribe.
                            (iii) The number and severity, measured by 
                        population and economic impacts, of resilience 
                        events experienced by the 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 compared to States or Indian 
                        Tribes with lower per capita expenditures.
            (4) Annual update of data used in distribution 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 described 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 shall be required to match not 
        less than 15 percent of the amount of the grant.
            (6) Plan required.--The Secretary shall ensure that each 
        grant provided to a State or Indian Tribe under this subsection 
        will--
                    (A) be allocated in accordance with a published 
                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 program established 
                under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 
                may use not more than 10 percent for the administrative 
                expenses of carrying out that program.
                    (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 eligible 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 withstand the effects of extreme weather, a wildfire, 
        or any other natural disaster, including--
                    (A) weatherization technologies and equipment;
                    (B) fire-resistant technologies and fire prevention 
                systems;
                    (C) monitoring technologies;
                    (D) the undergrounding of electrical equipment;
                    (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 capacity during 
                extreme weather events, including--
                            (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 extreme 
                                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 program established 
                        under subsection (b)(1).
                            (ii) Savings provision.--Nothing in this 
                        subparagraph prohibits an eligible entity 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 Secretary shall carry out 
periodic evaluations of--
            (1) the electric grid resilience program established 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 results of the periodic evaluations carried out 
        under subsection (d).
            (2) Requirements.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
        include information and data provided 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 DEVELOPMENT.

    (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 establish a research, development, 
demonstration, and commercial 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 grants to eligible entities 
described in subsection (c) to conduct research, development, 
demonstration, and commercial application activities to improve the 
resilience of the electric grid by developing technologies and 
capabilities 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 receive a grant under 
subsection (b) is--
            (1) an institution of higher education, including a 
        historically Black college or university and a minority-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
            (9) any other entity the Secretary determines to be 
        appropriate.
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