Community Solar Consumer Choice Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2764 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to increase partici- pation in community solar and the receipt of associated benefits, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Ms. CASTOR of Florida (for herself, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TONKO, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to increase participation in community solar and the receipt of associated benefits, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Solar Con- 4 sumer Choice Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2764 IH SEC. 2. COMMUNITY SOLAR CONSUMER CHOICE PROGRAM; 1 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION IN 2 COMMUNITY SOLAR. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) COMMUNITY SOLAR.—The term ‘‘commu- 5 nity solar’’ means a solar power plant, the benefits 6 of the electricity produced by which are shared by 7 two or more electricity customers. 8 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Energy. 10 (3) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘‘subscriber’’ 11 means an electricity customer who receives a benefit 12 associated with the proportional output of the com- 13 munity solar facility of the customer. 14 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY SOLAR CON- 15 SUMER CHOICE PROGRAM.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 18 shall establish a program to expand community solar 19 options to— 20 (A) individuals, particularly individuals 21 that do not have regular access to onsite solar, 22 including low- and moderate-income individuals; 23 (B) businesses; 24 (C) nonprofit organizations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2764 IH (D) States and local and Tribal govern- 1 ments. 2 (2) ALIGNMENT WITH EXISTING FEDERAL PRO- 3 GRAMS.—The Secretary shall align the program 4 under paragraph (1) with existing Federal programs 5 that serve low-income communities. 6 (3) ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN- 7 MENTS.—In carrying out the program under para- 8 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 9 (A) provide technical assistance to States 10 and local and Tribal governments for projects 11 to increase community solar; 12 (B) assist States and local and Tribal gov- 13 ernments in the development of new and inno- 14 vative financial and business models that lever- 15 age competition in the marketplace in order to 16 serve community solar subscribers; and 17 (C) use National Laboratories (as defined 18 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 19 (42 U.S.C. 15801)) to collect and disseminate 20 data to assist private entities in the financing 21 of, subscription to, and operation of community 22 solar projects. 23 (c) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION IN COM- 24 MUNITY SOLAR.—The Secretary will expand the existing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2764 IH grant, loan, and financing programs to include community 1 solar projects (as defined in paragraph (20) of section 2 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 3 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)), as added pursuant to section 4 3 of this Act). 5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY SOLAR PRO- 6 GRAMS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Util- 8 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) 9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(20) COMMUNITY SOLAR PROGRAMS.—Each 11 electric utility shall offer a community solar program 12 that provides all ratepayers, including low-income 13 ratepayers, equitable and demonstrable access to 14 such community solar program. For the purposes of 15 this paragraph, the term ‘community solar program’ 16 means a service provided to any electric consumer 17 that the electric utility serves through which the 18 value of electricity generated by a community solar 19 facility may be used to offset charges billed to the 20 electric consumer by the electric utility. A ‘commu- 21 nity solar facility’ is— 22 ‘‘(A) a solar photovoltaic system that allo- 23 cates electricity to multiple electric consumers 24 of an electric utility; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2764 IH ‘‘(B) connected to a local distribution of 1 the electric utility; 2 ‘‘(C) located either on or off the property 3 of the electric consumers; and 4 ‘‘(D) may be owned by an electric utility, 5 an electric consumer, or a third party.’’. 6 (b) COMPLIANCE.— 7 (1) TIME LIMITATIONS.—Section 112(b) of the 8 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 9 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended by adding at the end 10 the following: 11 ‘‘(7)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of 12 enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 13 authority (with respect to each electric utility for 14 which the State has ratemaking authority) and each 15 nonregulated utility shall commence consideration 16 under section 111, or set a hearing date for consid- 17 eration, with respect to the standard established by 18 paragraph (20) of section 111(d). 19 ‘‘(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of 20 enactment of this paragraph, each State regulatory 21 authority (with respect to each electric utility for 22 which the State has ratemaking authority), and each 23 nonregulated electric utility shall complete the con- 24 sideration and make the determination under section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2764 IH 111 with respect to the standard established by 1 paragraph (20) of section 111(d).’’. 2 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 112(c) of the 4 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 5 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is amended— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘such paragraph (14)’’ 7 and all that follows through ‘‘paragraphs 8 (16)’’ and inserting ‘‘such paragraph (14). 9 In the case of the standard established by 10 paragraph (15) of section 111(d), the ref- 11 erence contained in this subsection to the 12 date of enactment of this Act shall be 13 deemed to be a reference to the date of en- 14 actment of that paragraph (15). In the 15 case of the standards established by para- 16 graphs (16)’’; and 17 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 18 lowing: ‘‘In the case of the standard estab- 19 lished by paragraph (20) of section 111(d), 20 the reference contained in this subsection 21 to the date of enactment of this Act shall 22 be deemed to be a reference to the date of 23 enactment of that paragraph (20).’’. 24 (B) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2764 IH (i) IN GENERAL.—Section 1254(b) of 1 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 2 Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 971) is amended— 3 (I) by striking paragraph (2); 4 and 5 (II) by redesignating paragraph 6 (3) as paragraph (2). 7 (ii) TREATMENT.—The amendment 8 made by paragraph (2) of section 1254(b) 9 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 10 Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 971) (as in effect 11 on the day before the date of enactment of 12 this Act) is void, and section 112(d) of the 13 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 14 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(d)) shall be in ef- 15 fect as if those amendments had not been 16 enacted. 17 (3) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.— 18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 112 of the 19 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 20 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is amended by adding at the 21 end the following: 22 ‘‘(g) PRIOR STATE ACTIONS.—Subsections (b) and 23 (c) shall not apply to the standard established by para- 24 graph (20) of section 111(d) in the case of any electric 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2764 IH utility in a State if, before the date of enactment of this 1 subsection— 2 ‘‘(1) the State has implemented for the electric 3 utility the standard (or a comparable standard); 4 ‘‘(2) the State regulatory authority for the 5 State or the relevant nonregulated electric utility has 6 conducted a proceeding to consider implementation 7 of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the 8 electric utility; or 9 ‘‘(3) the State legislature has voted on the im- 10 plementation of the standard (or a comparable 11 standard) for the electric utility.’’. 12 (B) CROSS-REFERENCE.—Section 124 of 13 the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 14 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2634) is amended by adding 15 at the end the following: ‘‘In the case of the 16 standard established by paragraph (20) of sec- 17 tion 111(d), the reference contained in this sub- 18 section to the date of enactment of this Act 19 shall be deemed to be a reference to the date 20 of enactment of that paragraph (20).’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2764 IH SEC. 4. FEDERAL CONTRACTS FOR PUBLIC UTILITY SERV- 1 ICES. 2 Section 501(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code, is 3 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC UTILITY CONTRACTS.—A 6 contract under this paragraph for public utility 7 services may be for a period of not more than 8 30 years.’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2764.IH H2764 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS