Rural Clean Energy Superhighways Act

Bill: 110-hr-4059
Sponsor: Rep. Inslee, Jay [D-WA-1]
Introduced: 2007-11-01 in the House
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative procedure
Alternative energy sources
Biomass energy
Economics and Public Finance
Electric power production
Electric power transmission
Electric utilities
Electric utility rates
Energy conservation
Energy demand
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Geothermal resources
Government Operations and Politics
Government trust funds
Hydroelectric power
Independent regulatory commissions
Indian lands
Law
Marine and coastal resources, fisheries
Methane
Minorities
Native Americans
Natural gas
Ocean energy resources
Power marketing administrations
Solar energy
Wind power

Summary:
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: 
Rural Clean Energy Superhighways Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to direct the President to designate an area as a National Renewable Energy Zone if it meets specified prerequisites.
 
Requires the President, after such designation, to identify, and provide public notice of, additional renewable energy trunkline facilities and network upgrades required to increase substantially the generation of electricity from renewable energy within each Zone.
 

 
Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to promulgate regulations to ensure that a public utility that finances transmission capacity to transmit electricity from renewable energy from a Zone to an electricity consuming area recovers through transmission service rates all prudently incurred costs and a reasonable return on equity associated with construction and operation of the new transmission capacity.
 
Directs FERC, in specified circumstances, to permit a renewable energy trunkline built by a public utility located in a Zone to be initially funded through transmission charges imposed upon: (1) all the utility's transmission customers in advance of significant generation interconnection requests; or (2) all the transmission customers of a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) or independent system operator, if the trunkline is built in an area served by one or the other.
 
Prescribes cost allocation procedures for new projects and network upgrades.
 
Requires a Federal Transmitting Utility (a Federal Power Marketing Administration, including the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), that owns or operates electric transmission facilities) to finance a network upgrade or a renewable energy trunkline facility, if within a certain time frame no privately or publicly funded entity commits to do so.
 
Authorizes the deposit of specified funds in a Transmission Fund in the Treasury for expenditure by the Secretary of Energy in financing network upgrades or trunkline facilities.
 
Requires the Federal Power Marketing Administrations and TVA to: (1) promote energy conservation and renewable energy electric resource development; and (2) identify opportunities for promoting development of facilities generating electricity from renewable energy on Indian lands.
 
Authorizes each such entity to acquire, on behalf of the U.S. government, electricity from renewable energy and renewable energy credits.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2007-11-07
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
action_date: 2007-11-06
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2007-11-01
text: Introduced in House