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117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 3717
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide grants
to improve power lines.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 4, 2021
Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program
to provide grants to improve power lines.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Power Line Resiliency
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Act’’.
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SEC. 2. POWER LINE IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROGRAM.
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(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after
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the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary of En-
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ergy shall establish a program to provide grants to electric
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utilities to carry out eligible activities.
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•HR 3717 IH
(b) GRANTS.—
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(1) APPLICATION.—To apply for a grant pro-
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vided under this section, an electric utility shall sub-
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mit to the Secretary of Energy an application at
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such time, in such manner, and containing such in-
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formation as the Secretary of Energy may require.
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(2) SELECTION.—The Secretary of Energy
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shall provide grants under this section—
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(A) on a competitive basis; and
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(B) to geographically diverse electric utili-
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ties.
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(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary of Energy shall
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prioritize providing a grant under this section to any
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electric utility that sells electricity in an area that
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has a history of extreme weather events.
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(c) SUNSET.—The program established under sub-
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section (a) shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after
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the date of enactment of this section.
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(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
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(1) ELECTRIC
UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric
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utility’’ has the meaning given such term in section
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3(22) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C.
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796(22)).
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(2) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY.—
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•HR 3717 IH
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible ac-
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tivity’’ means an activity that—
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(i) is designed to improve the per-
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formance or efficiency of a power line;
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(ii) makes a power line more resilient
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to an extreme weather event; or
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(iii) otherwise ensures that an end-
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user has access to electricity during an ex-
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treme weather event.
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(B) INCLUDES.—The term ‘‘eligible activ-
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ity’’ includes—
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(i) burying a power line;
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(ii) hardening a power line; and
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(iii) if burying a power line is not fea-
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sible, providing a generator to a household
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that is located in a remote area.
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(3) EXTREME
WEATHER
EVENT.—The term
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‘‘extreme weather event’’ means an historically rare
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or severe natural disaster, including a heat wave,
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drought, flood, tornado, and hurricane.
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(4) POWER LINE.—The term ‘‘power line’’ in-
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cludes distribution lines and transmission lines.
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Æ
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