zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Resolving Environmental and Grid Reliability Conflicts Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure that any emergency order issued under such Act for the interconnection of facilities for the generation, transmission, and sale of electric energy, that may result in a conflict with a requirement of any environmental law, shall: (1) require generation, delivery, interchange, or transmission of electric energy only during hours necessary to meet the emergency and serve the public interest; and (2) to the maximum extent practical, be consistent with any other applicable environmental law and minimize any adverse environmental impacts.

Provides that any omission or action taken by a party to comply with such an order that results in noncompliance with any environmental law shall not: (1) be considered a violation of such law; or (2) subject such party to any requirement of, or any civil or criminal liability under, such law.

Requires such an order that may result in a conflict with environmental law to expire within 90 days after it is issued. Authorizes FERC to renew or reissue such order for subsequent periods, not to exceed 90 days each, as necessary to meet the emergency and serve the public interest.

Requires FERC, in renewing or reissuing such order, to: (1) consult with the primary federal agency with expertise in the environmental interest protected by such law and include in any such order conditions determined to be necessary to minimize any adverse environmental impacts, and (2) make such conditions available to the public. Authorizes FERC to exclude such a condition from the order if such condition would prevent the order from adequately addressing the emergency.

Authorizes, during an emergency, a municipality engaged in the transmission or sale of electric energy and not otherwise subject to FERC's jurisdiction to make temporary connections with public utilities subject to FERC's jurisdiction and construct temporary facilities for the transmission of electric energy in interstate commerce as may be necessary or appropriate to meet such emergency.

Date: 2013-01-15
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on June 27, 2013. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Collinsville Renewable Energy Production Act - Authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), upon request of the town of Canton, Connecticut (Town), to: (1) reinstate the expired license for either or each of the projects numbered 10822 and 10823; (2) extend for two years after the date on which either or each such project is reinstated the time period during which the licensee must commence project construction, and (3) transfer such license to the Town upon a showing that the transfer is in the public interest.

Sets forth the conditions of such transfer, including those for the protection, mitigation, and enhancement of fish and wildlife and related habitat.

Directs FERC to supplement the environmental impact statement or similar analysis prepared in connection with the issuance of the original license to examine all new circumstances and information relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the reinstatement or impact of the license.

Date: 2013-01-18
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Leave our Lakes Alone Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to prohibit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from considering public use and environmental purposes in issuing a license for a project in a state whose law expressly authorizes such a prohibition.

Defines "public use and environmental purposes" to mean the purposes of energy conservation, the protection, mitigation of damage to, and enhancement of, fish and wildlife, the protection of recreational opportunities, the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality, and other beneficial public uses, including irrigation, flood control, and water supply, as such purposes apply to land within a project boundary above the highest target elevation for normal operations of the project.

Exempts projects on federal land from application of this Act.

Date: 2013-03-18
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Security in Energy and Manufacturing Act of 2013 or the SEAM Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the qualifying advanced energy project credit by allocating in 2013 $5 billion of grants or tax credit amounts to manufacturers of goods and components (other than for assembly of components) in the United States that are used in alternative energy projects.

Date: 2013-04-09
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Taxation
Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to provide grants, in addition to loans and loan guarantees, for the costs of construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment for broadband service in rural areas.

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to make a grant to an entity for a project with respect to which a loan or loan guarantee is also made.

Date: 2013-04-18
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships as corporations, to expand the definition of "qualifying income" for such partnerships to include income and gains from renewable and alternative fuels (in addition to fossil fuels), including energy derived from thermal resources, waste, renewable fuels and chemicals, energy efficient buildings, gasification, and carbon capture in secure geological storage.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Taxation
Recognizing the National Benefits of Flood Protection Act of 2013 - Requires a feasibility study for a flood, hurricane, or storm damage reduction project to include calculations of the anticipated: (1) reduction in damage to public and private property and infrastructure; (2) direct and indirect economic benefits, including from potential reductions in national and regional economic volatility, disruptions, and losses; and (3) benefits to public safety, including protection of evacuation routes.

Authorizes the non-federal interest for such a project to submit to the Chief of Engineers a request for a project review if the Chief: (1) determines that the project is not feasible, (2) issues an unfavorable report for the project, or (3) identifies the feasibility study for the project as inactive.

Directs the Chief to establish a panel to conduct such reviews for each Corps of Engineers division not later than 60 days after the first request for a review of a project within that division is submitted. Requires such panel to conduct a review of: (1) the feasibility study for the project; (2) the adequacy and accessibility of the economic, engineering, and environmental methods, models, and analyses used in preparing such study; (3) public comments on the project; and (4) any additional information submitted by the non-federal interest as part of the review request.

Requires: (1) the panel to submit a final report containing an economic, engineering, and environmental analysis of the feasibility study and a determination of the project's feasibility; and (2) the Chief, if the panel determines that a project is feasible, to issue a favorable report for the project.

Directs the Chief to: (1) give priority to the completion of feasibility studies for projects in areas that have experienced flooding or hurricane damage during the preceding 10 years, and (2) submit an analysis of the connection between such Corps projects and navigation and the protection of energy infrastructure.

Date: 2013-04-26
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Water resources development
Bureau of Reclamation Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act - Amends the Water Conservation and Utilization Act (WCUA) to: (1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the Bureau of Reclamation) to enter into leases of power privileges for electric power generation in connection with any project constructed pursuant to such Act, using the processes, terms, and conditions applicable to the lease under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939; and (2) grant the Secretary authority over any project constructed pursuant to such Act in addition to and alternative to any existing authority relating to a particular project.

Specifies that no findings required as prerequisites for construction of a water conservation or utilization project under WCUA shall be required for such a lease.

Requires: (1) all right, title, and interest in and to installed power facilities constructed by non-federal entities pursuant to such a lease, and any direct revenues derived from such lease, to remain with the lessee; and (2) lease charges to be credited to the project from which the power is derived.

Date: 2013-05-14
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
No More Excuses Energy Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow the issuance of tax-exempt facility bonds for the financing of domestic use oil refinery facilities, (2) extend the tax credit for a facility using wind to produce electricity (with specified reductions to phase-out the credit over the course of the extension), (3) set the rate of the excise tax on liquefied natural gas to 24.3 cents per energy equivalent of a gallon of diesel, (4) extend through 2014 the excise tax credit for alternative fuel, (5) allow tax credits for the production of electricity from nuclear energy and the production of fuel from certain onshore wells, and (6) repeal the minimum gas capture requirement for purposes of the carbon dioxide sequestration tax credit.

 Requires the President to designate at least 10 sites for oil or natural gas refineries on federal lands and make such sites available to the private sector for construction of refineries.

Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from denying an application for nuclear waste disposal on the grounds of present or future insufficient capacity.

American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program in the Coastal Plain of Alaska.

Repeals the prohibition against producing oil and gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Sets forth requirements for the sale of oil and natural gas leases in the Coastal Plain, environmental protection, transportation easements, and royalty payments to Alaska.

Establishes in the Treasury the Coastal Plain Local Government Impact Aid Assistance Fund to assist Alaska jurisdictions that are directly impacted by oil and gas exploration and production in the Coastal Plain.

Amends the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 to repeal the moratorium on oil and gas leasing in certain areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Directs the Secretary to include the areas removed from such moratorium within the areas available for leasing under the 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing program.

Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to address climate change.

Excludes "greenhouse gas" from the definition of "air pollutant" except in connection with concerns other than climate change.

Date: 2013-05-21
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Environmental Compliance Cost Transparency Act of 2013 - Requires the Administrators of each of the Bonneville Power Administration, the Western Area Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, and the Southeastern Power Administration to: (1) include in monthly billing statements sent to customers estimates of each customer's share of such Administration's direct and indirect costs for compliance with any relevant federal environmental laws impacting the conservation of fish and wildlife; and (2) provide to appropriate congressional committees an annual report estimating the total direct and indirect costs incurred by the Administration related to compliance with such laws, sources of replacement power, and integrating wind energy resources.

Date: 2013-05-23
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Environmental protection
Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act or SHIELD Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with or without notice, hearing, or report, to order emergency measures to protect the reliability of either the bulk-power system or the defense critical electric infrastructure whenever the President issues a written directive or determination identifying an imminent grid security threat.

Directs FERC to consult with governmental authorities in Canada, Mexico, and the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) regarding implementation of emergency measures.

Prescribes: (1) implementation procedures; and (2) related cost recovery measures affecting owners, operators, and users of either the bulk-power system or the defense critical electric infrastructure.

Directs FERC to require any owner, user, or operator of the domestic bulk-power system to implement measures to protect the system against specified vulnerabilities.

Requires FERC to issue an order directing ERO to submit for approval, within 30 days, a reliability standard requiring implementation, by any owner, operator, or user of the bulk-power system in the United States, of measures to protect the bulk-power system against an identified grid security vulnerability (including a protection plan with automated hardware-based solutions).

Directs FERC also to order the ERO to submit reliability standards to: (1) protect the bulk-power system from a reasonably foreseeable geomagnetic storm event or electromagnetic pulse event (EMP); and (2) require entities that own or operate large transformers to ensure their adequate availability to restore promptly the reliable operation of the bulk-power system in the event of destruction or disability as a result of attack or a geomagnetic storm or EMP.

Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to: (1) develop technical expertise in the protection of electric energy systems against either geomagnetic storms or malicious acts using electronic communications or electromagnetic weapons; and (2) share it with owners, operators, or users of systems for the generation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy located in the United States and with state commissions.

Date: 2013-06-18
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Powering America for Tomorrow Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to designate one or more regions within the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Interconnection to be represented by specified regional transmission planners.

Sets forth application and approval procedures for regional transmission planners.

Prescribes: (1) a regional transmission plan design, and (2) a regional transmission planning process.

Requires the federal power marketing administrations and transmitting utilities in a designated region to integrate their transmission plans with the regional transmission plans required under this Act, and to otherwise participate in a regional transmission planning process.

Directs FERC to require that: (1) all regional high voltage electric transmission cost allocation processes and methodologies adhere to a clear and consistent set of specified regulatory principles, and (2) regional transmission planners coordinate planning across regional boundaries within an Interconnection.

Authorizes a regional transmission planner, as part of a plan submitted to FERC, to identify regional transmission projects required by, and consistent with, the public convenience and necessity.

Directs FERC, in issuing a certificate of public convenience and necessity, to give substantial deference to any proposed finding of public convenience and necessity in the plan submitted by a regional transmission planner.

Excludes from review for any environmental assessment or environmental impact statement required under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 any proposed finding by a regional transmission planner of public convenience and necessity with respect to a regional transmission project.

Retains state exclusive authority over the siting of any transmission facility that is not a part of a regional transmission project.

Specifies federal siting authority with respect to any transmission facility identified as part or all of a regional transmission project for which a certificate of public convenience and necessity has been issued.

Date: 2013-07-19
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Saving More American Resources Today Grid Study Act of 2013 or SMART Grid Study Act of 2013 - Directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), and the heads of other federal departments and agencies, as necessary, to enter into an agreement with the National Research Council to research the future resilience and reliability of the nation's electric power transmission and distribution system.

Names such research the "Saving More American Resources Today Study" or "SMART Study."

Date: 2013-08-01
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Emergency management
Renewable Electricity Standard Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require a retail electric supplier to submit to the Secretary of Energy (DOE) for 2014 and thereafter one or more of the following: (1) specified federal renewable energy credits, (2) certification of the renewable energy generated and electricity savings, and (3) specified alternative compliance payments. Prescribes, for 2014 through 2039, a schedule of graduated annual percentages of a retail electric supplier's base amount that shall be generated from renewable energy resources (increasing from 6% in 2014 to 25% in 2025).

Directs the Secretary to establish a program to: (1) verify and issue federal renewable energy credits to generators of renewable energy; (2) track the sale, exchange, and retirement of the credits; and (3) enforce the federal renewable energy credits program.

Directs the Secretary to issue a generator of electric energy one federal renewable energy credit for each kilowatt hour of electric energy generated by the use of a renewable energy resource at an eligible facility.

Prescribes rules for federal renewable energy credit trading and for borrowing and repayment of federal renewable energy credits.

Provides that this Act does not diminish the authority of a state or its political subdivision to: (1) adopt or enforce any law (including regulations) respecting renewable energy, or (2) regulate the acquisition and disposition of federal renewable energy credits by retail electric suppliers.

Permits an electric utility that has sales of electric energy subject to rate regulation to recover the full cost of renewable energy obtained to comply with this Act.

Establishes in the Treasury a state renewable energy account for a grant program for promoting renewable energy production and providing energy assistance and weatherization services to low-income consumers.

Date: 2013-12-04
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Agreement Act of 2014 - Directs the National Park Service (NPS) to transfer $4 million to counties within Great Smoky Mountains National Park in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement entered into by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Department of the Interior, dated February 2010, that supersedes the agreement of July 30, 1943.

Date: 2013-12-23
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to publish a cost-benefit analysis before issuing any decision that would either: (1) authorize creation of a new capacity zone, or (2) affect the supply and demand curves or models used to determine prices at points in a capacity zone.

Prohibits FERC from issuing any such decision if it determines that such analysis shows that costs will be raised for ratepayers.

Date: 2014-03-27
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Supporting Home Owner Rights Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal Power Act, regarding the issuance of licenses for construction of dams, conduits, and reservoirs, to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), when deciding whether to issue a license for project works, to give equal consideration to minimizing infringement on the useful exercise and enjoyment of property rights held by nonlicensees.

Requires the licensee, in developing any recreational resource within the project boundary, to consider private landownership as a means to encourage and facilitate private investment, increased tourism, and recreational use.

Date: 2014-06-26
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Energy and Water Research Integration Act of 2014 - Requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to integrate water considerations into its energy research, development, and demonstration programs and projects by: (1) advancing energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices that meet the objectives of minimizing freshwater withdrawal and consumption, increasing water use efficiency, and utilizing nontraditional water sources with efforts to improve the quality of the water from those sources; (2) considering the effects climate variability may have on water supplies and quality for energy generation and fuel production; and (3) improving the understanding of the energy required to provide reliable water supplies and the water required to provide reliable energy supplies.

Directs DOE to develop and update every five years a strategic plan to carry out the integration.

Requires DOE to establish an Energy-Water Subcommittee of the Energy Advisory Board to promote and enable improved energy and water resource data collection, reporting, and technological innovation.

Prohibits this Act from being construed to require state, tribal, or local governments to take any action that may result in an increased financial burden by restricting their water use.

Date: 2014-07-24
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Environmental protection
Providing Opportunities to Work for Energy Reliability Act or the POWER Act - Amends the Federal Power Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to review any decision by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NAERC) to approve a new balancing authority that would alter cost allocations under an existing system support resources agreement.

Precludes such new balancing authority from taking effect until approved by FERC.

Requires FERC to publish a cost-benefit analysis of the proposed NAERC decision, including its likely financial impact upon ratepayers, before issuing a decision to approve, disapprove, or modify the NAERC decision.

Date: 2014-11-17
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on February 11, 2014. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, with respect to the implementation of direct spending reductions, to require the President to order a sequestration for FY2024 on the date the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issues its sequestration preview report for such fiscal year.

Makes the reduction in annual cost-of-living adjustments of military retired pay for armed forces members under age 62 enacted by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 inapplicable to those who first became members before January 1, 2014. (That Act reduced the cost-of-living adjustments from the full Consumer Price Index [CPI] to the CPI less 1%.)

Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to replace the requirement to establish a Medicare Improvement Fund with one that requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a Transitional Fund for Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Reform, available to provide funds to pay for physicians' services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to supplement the conversion factor for 2017 if the conversion factor for that year is less than that for 2013. Makes $2.3 billion available to the Fund from the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for expenditures during or after 2017.

Date: 2013-01-22
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), upon the request of the licensee for the project numbered 12063 (Little Wood River Ranch, Idaho), to: (1) extend for three years after enactment of this Act the time period during which the licensee is required to commence the construction of project works; or (2) if the license for Project No. 12063 has been terminated, reinstate the license and extend for three years after enactment of this Act the time period during which the licensee is required to commence the construction of project works.

Date: 2013-02-11
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), upon the request of the licensee for the project numbered 12423 (American Falls Reservoir, Idaho), to reinstate the license and extend for three years after enactment of this Act the time period during which the licensee is required to commence the construction of project works.

Date: 2013-02-11
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to increase from 5,000 to 10,000 kilowatts the size of small hydroelectric power projects which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may exempt from its license requirements.

 (Sec. 4) Amends the Federal Power Act to revise the limitation on the maximum installation capacity of qualifying conduit hydropower facilities that are eligible for an exemption from licensing requirements.

 Requires any person, state, or municipality proposing to construct a qualifying conduit hydropower facility to file with FERC a notice of intent to do so. Requires FERC, within 15 days after receiving such a notice of intent, to make an initial determination as to whether the facility meets the qualifying criteria.

Waives license requirements for any conduit hydroelectric facility that: (1) uses for electric power generation only the hydroelectric potential of a non-federally owned conduit, (2) has a maximum installed capacity of 5 megawatts, and (3) is not currently licensed or exempted from license requirements.

 Redefines "conduit" to specify any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of electricity.

Authorizes FERC to: (1) exempt from license requirements any electric power generation facility that utilizes for such generation only the hydroelectric potential of a conduit, and has an installed capacity or 40 megawatts or fewer; and (2) extend the preliminary permit period for up to 2 additional years beyond the 3 years otherwise allowed if it finds that the permittee has implemented activities under the permit in good faith and with reasonable diligence.

 (Sec. 6) Directs FERC to: (1) investigate the feasibility of issuing a license for hydropower development at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage projects during a two-year period, and (2) hold workshops and develop hydropower pilot projects.

(Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to study: (1) the technical flexibility that existing pumped storage facilities can provide to support intermittent renewable electric energy generation, including the potential for such facilities to be upgraded or retrofitted with advanced commercially available technology; and (2) the technical potential of existing pumped storage facilities and new advanced pumped storage facilities to provide grid reliability benefits.

Date: 2013-03-13
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Water resources development
Amends the Federal Power Act regarding annual charges payable by licensees to the United States for use of federal lands to exclude land that has been sold, exchanged, or otherwise transferred from federal ownership, yet remains subject to a power site reservation under the Act.

Date: 2013-03-14
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Renewable Electricity Standard Act of 2013 - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require a retail electric supplier to submit to the Secretary of Energy (DOE) for 2014 and thereafter one or more of the following: (1) specified federal renewable energy credits, (2) certification of the renewable energy generated and electricity savings, and (3) specified alternative compliance payments. Prescribes, for 2014 through 2039, a schedule of graduated annual percentages of a retail electric supplier's base amount that shall be generated from renewable energy resources (increasing from 6% in 2014 to 25% in 2025).

Directs the Secretary to establish a program to: (1) verify and issue federal renewable energy credits to generators of renewable energy; (2) track the sale, exchange, and retirement of the credits; and (3) enforce the federal renewable energy credits program.

Directs the Secretary to issue a generator of electric energy one federal renewable energy credit for each kilowatt hour of electric energy generated by the use of a renewable energy resource at an eligible facility.

Prescribes rules for federal renewable energy credit trading and for borrowing and repayment of federal renewable energy credits.

Provides that this Act does not diminish the authority of a state or its political subdivision to: (1) adopt or enforce any law (including regulations) respecting renewable energy, or (2) regulate the acquisition and disposition of federal renewable energy credits by retail electric suppliers.

Permits an electric utility that has sales of electric energy subject to rate regulation to recover the full cost of renewable energy obtained to comply with this Act.

Establishes in the Treasury a state renewable energy account for a grant program for promoting renewable energy production and providing energy assistance and weatherization services to low-income consumers.

Date: 2013-10-29
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Electricity Security and Affordability Act - Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing, implementing, or enforcing any proposed or final rule under the Clean Air Act that establishes a performance standard for greenhouse gas emissions from any new source that is a fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating unit unless the rule meets specified requirements of this Act.

Requires the Administrator to separate sources fueled with coal and natural gas into separate categories.

Prohibits the Administrator, however, from setting a standard based on the best system of emission reduction for new sources within the coal category unless it has been achieved on average for at least one continuous 12-month period (excluding planned outages) by each of at least 6 units within the category. Requires each such unit to: (1) be located at a different electric generating station in the United States, (2) be representative of the operating characteristics of electric generation at its location, and (3) be operated for the entire 12-month period on a full commercial basis. Prohibits the use of any results obtained from a demonstration project in setting the standard.

Requires the Administrator, in separating sources fueled with coal into a separate category, to establish a separate subcategory for new sources that are fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units using coal with an average heat content of 8300 or less British Thermal Units (BTUs) per pound.

Prohibits the Administrator, in issuing any rule establishing performance standards for greenhouse gas emissions from new sources in such subcategory, from setting a standard based on the best system of emission reduction unless the standard has been achieved on average for at least one continuous 12-month period (excluding planned outages) by each of at least 3 units within such subcategory that meets the unit requirements specified by this Act for the coal category.

Precludes from taking effect, unless a federal law is enacted specifying an effective date, any EPA rule or guideline that: (1) establishes any performance standard for greenhouse gas emissions from a modified or reconstructed source that is a fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating unit, or (2) applies to greenhouse gas emissions from such an existing source.

Nullifies the force and effect of specified proposed rules (or similar successor proposed or final rules) for Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions for New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units that are issued before enactment of this Act.

Date: 2014-01-09
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Environmental protection
War Powers Consultation Act of 2014 - States that: (1) the purpose of this Act is to establish a means by which the judgment of both the President and Congress can be brought to bear when deciding whether the United States should engage in a significant armed conflict; and (2) this Act is not meant to define, circumscribe, or enhance the constitutional war powers of either the executive or legislative branch of government.

Repeals the War Powers Resolution.

Establishes the Joint Congressional Consultation Committee.

Directs the President to: (1) consult regularly with the Committee regarding significant matters of foreign policy and national security; (2) before ordering the deployment of members of the Armed Forces into a significant armed conflict, consult with and report to the Committee regarding the circumstances necessitating the significant armed conflict, the objectives, and the conflict's estimated scope and duration; and (3) consult with the Committee at least every two months for the duration of any significant armed conflict.

States that, if the President determines that the need for secrecy or other emergency circumstances preclude carrying out such reporting before significant armed conflict is ordered or begins, the President shall carry out such reporting not later than three days after the beginning of the significant armed conflict.

Declares that, within 30 days after the deployment of members of the Armed Forces into a significant armed conflict for which Congress has not enacted a formal declaration of war or otherwise enacted a specific authorization for the use of military force, the chair and vice chair of the Committee shall introduce a joint resolution of approval. Sets forth related congressional procedures, including the introduction of a joint resolution of disapproval if a vote against a resolution of approval's passage has taken place.

States that nothing in this Act shall be construed as modifying U.S. obligations under any treaty or international agreement.

Date: 2014-01-16
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: International affairs
Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to publish a cost-benefit analysis before issuing any decision that would either: (1) authorize creation of a new capacity zone, or (2) affect the supply and demand curves or models used to determine prices at points in a capacity zone.

Prohibits FERC from issuing any such decision if it determines that such analysis shows that costs will be raised for ratepayers.

 Backdates the effective date of this Act to January 1, 2014.

Date: 2014-11-13
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Resolving Environmental and Grid Reliability Conflicts Act of 2015

This bill amends the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure that any emergency order that may result in conflict with federal, state, or local environmental law or regulations:

 requires generation, delivery, interchange, or transmission of electricity only during hours necessary to meet the emergency and serve the public interest; be consistent with applicable environmental law; and minimizes any adverse environmental impacts to the maximum extent practical. Any necessary action or omission in such an emergency that does not comply with federal, state, or local environmental law or regulation shall not be considered a violation of it, or subject the party involved to any related requirement, civil or criminal liability, or a citizen suit.

Such emergency orders must expire within 90 days. FERC may renew or reissue an order for subsequent periods of no more than 90 days each as necessary to meet the emergency and serve the public interest.

During an emergency, a municipality engaged in the transmission or sale of electricity, and not otherwise subject to FERC jurisdiction, may make temporary connections with public utilities that are subject to FERC jurisdiction, and construct necessary or appropriate temporary electricity transmission facilities, without becoming subject to FERC jurisdiction by reason of that temporary connection or construction.

Date: 2015-03-24
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Environmental Compliance Cost Transparency Act of 2015

This bill requires the Bonneville Power Administration, the Western Area Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration, and the Southeastern Power Administration to include in monthly billing statements sent to each customer estimates of the customer's share of such administration's direct and indirect costs for compliance with any relevant federal environmental laws impacting the conservation of fish and wildlife.

Each administration must report each year on: (1) estimates of its total direct and indirect compliance costs, and (2) sources of replacement power.

Date: 2015-04-16
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, upon request, to reinstate the construction license granted to Clark Canyon Hydro Company for the Clark Canyon Dam Hydroelectric Project located on the Beaverhead River in Beaverhead County, Montana.

Clark Canyon Hydro Company is required to commence construction on the project within three years.

Date: 2015-04-28
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend by six years the time period during which Gibson Dam Hydroelectric Company is required to commence construction on the Gibson Dam Hydroelectric Project located on the Sun River in Lewis, Clark, and Teton Counties, Montana.

The six-year time period starts upon expiration of the last extension.

Date: 2015-04-28
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
This bill requires the Department of Energy (DOE), acting through the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, to submit to Congress a plan to establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve for the storage, in strategically located facilities, of spare large power transformers in sufficient numbers to temporarily replace critically damaged large power transformers.

DOE may not establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve until Congress has approved the plan.

Date: 2015-05-08
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Reliable Investment in Vital Energy Reauthorization Act or the RIVER Act

This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reauthorize through FY2025 the program of hydroelectric production incentives and incentive payments to the owners or operators of hydroelectric facilities at existing dams to make capital improvements directly related to improving efficiency.

Date: 2015-06-10
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Supporting Home Owner Rights Enforcement Act

Amends the Federal Power Act, regarding the issuance of licenses for construction of dams, conduits, and reservoirs, to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, when deciding whether to issue a license for project works, to give equal consideration to minimizing infringement on the useful exercise and enjoyment of property rights held by nonlicensees.

Requires the licensee, in developing any recreational resource within the project boundary, to consider private landownership as a means to encourage and facilitate private investment, increased tourism, and recreational use.

Date: 2015-06-25
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Fair Ratepayer Accountability, Transparency, and Efficiency Standards Act or the Fair RATES Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Federal Power Act to permit a party to seek a rehearing and subsequent judicial review of any rate change filed by a public utility that takes effect without the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issuing an order making such change effective. (Public utilities must give FERC and the public a 60-day notice before a proposed rate change can take effect.)

Date: 2015-07-08
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(Sec. 1) This bill authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend by six years the time period during which Wilkesboro Hydroelectric Company is required to commence construction on the W. Kerr Scott Hydropower Project located on the Yadkin River in Wilkes County, North Carolina.

In addition, FERC must reinstate the construction license if it is expired.

Date: 2015-09-08
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
This bill authorizes the licensee for the Terror Lake Hydroelectric Project (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC] project number 2743) to occupy up to 20 acres of federal land to construct, operate, and maintain the Upper Hidden Basin Diversion Expansion without further authorization of the Department of the Interior or under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

This is the expansion of the Terror Lake Hydroelectric Project described in the Upper Hidden Basin Grant Application dated July 2, 2014, as submitted by Kodiak Electric Association, Inc., to the Alaska Energy Authority Renewable Energy Fund Round VIII.

The Expansion must meet the terms and conditions contained in any amendment to a license which may be issued by FERC subsequent to its environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Date: 2015-12-08
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
21st Century Power Grid Act

This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a financial assistance program to carry out eligible projects related to the modernization of the electric grid, including the application of technologies to improve observability, advanced controls, and prediction of system performance on the distribution system and related transmission system inter-dependencies.

To be eligible for financial assistance, a project shall: (1) be designed to improve the performance and efficiency of the future electric grid, while ensuring the continued provision of safe, secure, reliable, and affordable power, and provide new options for customer-owned resources; and (2) demonstrate secure integration and management of energy resources and secure integration and interoperability of communications and information technologies.

An eligible project shall include the participation of a partnership consisting of two or more entities that: (1) may include any institution of higher education, a National Laboratory, a representative of a state or local government, a representative of an Indian tribe, or a federal power marketing administration; and (2) shall include an investor-owned electric utility, a publicly owned utility, a technology provider, a rural electric cooperative, a regional transmission organization, or an independent system operator.

Each eligible project shall include: (1) the development of a cybersecurity plan written in accordance with guidelines developed by DOE; and (2) a privacy impact assessment that evaluates the project against the five core concepts in DOE's Voluntary Code of Conduct, commonly known as the DataGuard Energy Data Privacy Program, or the most recent revisions to DOE's privacy program.

Date: 2015-12-09
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Ratepayer Fairness Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require a state regulatory authority and a nonregulated electric utility (entities), to the extent that they allow electric utility rates to include charges that subsidize customer-side technology, to consider whether that subsidy would:

 result in benefits predominately enjoyed by only the users of the customer-side technology; shift costs of a customer-side technology to electricity consumers that do not use it, particularly in cases in which disparate economic or resource conditions exist among the electricity consumers cross-subsidizing the customer-side technology; negatively affect resource utilization, fuel diversity, grid reliability, or grid security; give any unfair competitive advantage to market the customer-side technology, including an analysis of whether a state regulatory authority has uncovered fraudulent customer-side technology marketing practices; and be necessary to fulfill an obligation to serve electric consumers. The bill sets deadlines within which the entities must set a hearing date to consider and subsequently determine the subsidization of customer-side technology.

Date: 2015-12-10
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
Clean Distributed Energy Grid Integration Act

This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to: (1) study the status of integration of clean distributed energy into electric grids, (2) identify issues requiring additional research or regulatory development, and (3) make grants for research proposals that address technical barriers identified in the study.

"Clean distributed energy" means energy technologies that are located on the customer site operating on the customer side of the electric meter and are interconnected with the electric grid. DOE shall convene a stakeholder working group to:

 address regulatory barriers to deployment of intelligent grid integration of clean distributed energy technologies; and provide guidance on how to address the technical, regulatory, and economic factors that limit widespread integration of grid-level clean distributed energy use in order to advance the integration of such energy into electric grids. DOE may make grants to implement integration demonstration projects, based on study findings, to state and local agencies, public institutions, private companies, electric utilities, and equipment manufacturers.

Date: 2016-01-25
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend by six years the time period during which Jordan Hydroelectric Limited Partnership is required to commence construction on the Gathright Hydroelectric Project located in Alleghany County, Virginia.

In addition, FERC is authorized to reinstate the construction license if it is expired.

Date: 2016-02-01
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

(Sec. 1) This bill authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to extend by six years the time period during which Jordan Hydroelectric Limited Partnership is required to commence construction on the Flannagan Dam and Reservoir Hydroelectric Project located in Dickenson County, Virginia.

In addition, FERC is authorized to reinstate the construction license if it is expired.

Date: 2016-02-01
Topic: Energy (Electricity)
Subject: Energy