American Renewable Energy Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3959 To amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish a Federal renewable electricity standard for retail electricity suppliers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 16, 2021 Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to establish a Federal renewable electricity standard for retail electricity suppliers, 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; FINDINGS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.— 4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Re- 5 newable Energy Act of 2021’’. 6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3959 IH (1) the Federal renewable electricity standard 1 established by section 610 of the Public Utility Reg- 2 ulatory Policies Act of 1978 (as added by this Act) 3 establishes a market-based policy to create ongoing 4 competition among renewable electricity generators 5 across the United States and provide the greatest 6 quantity of clean electricity for the lowest price; and 7 (2) the United States has vast wind, solar, hy- 8 dropower, and geothermal resources that— 9 (A) are renewable; 10 (B) are dispersed widely across different 11 regions of the United States; 12 (C) can be harnessed to generate a signifi- 13 cant share of electricity in the United States; 14 and 15 (D) when deployed, will significantly re- 16 duce and eliminate the emission of harmful 17 greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants, which 18 have historically been concentrated in under- 19 served communities and communities of color, 20 contributing to disproportionate burdens and 21 environmental injustices. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3959 IH SEC. 2. FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 1 Title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 2 of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding 3 after section 609 (7 U.S.C. 918c) the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 610. FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY STANDARD. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANT.—The term 7 ‘criteria air pollutant’ means an air pollutant for 8 which a national ambient air quality standard has 9 been promulgated under section 109 of the Clean 10 Air Act. 11 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTED GENERATION.—The term 12 ‘distributed generation’ means a non-centralized re- 13 newable energy resource installation, or inter- 14 connected series of installations, that generates elec- 15 tricity near the point of use with a total generating 16 capacity of 1 megawatt or less. 17 ‘‘(3) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘environ- 19 mental justice community’ means a low-income 20 or low-wealth community that is impacted by 21 environmental injustice. 22 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘environ- 23 mental justice community’ includes any commu- 24 nity that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3959 IH ‘‘(i) is located nearest to an existing 1 area of significant environmental pollution 2 and degradation; 3 ‘‘(ii) bears a burden of negative public 4 health effects from pollution; 5 ‘‘(iii) includes 1 or more sites of— 6 ‘‘(I) a facility that is a part of a 7 polluting industry; 8 ‘‘(II) a waste dump; or 9 ‘‘(III) a facility for fossil resource 10 extraction; 11 ‘‘(iv) experiences a high incidence of 12 climate change impacts and disasters; 13 ‘‘(v) has been excluded or harmed by 14 racist or discriminatory policies that have 15 resulted in disproportionate burdens of en- 16 vironmental pollution and related health 17 and socioeconomic disparities; 18 ‘‘(vi) has a land-based or food subsist- 19 ence culture that is experiencing ecosystem 20 disruption and devastation; 21 ‘‘(vii) faces relocation and resettle- 22 ment resulting from— 23 ‘‘(I) climate change; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3959 IH ‘‘(II) impacts to the environment 1 and ecosystems; or 2 ‘‘(viii) is an Indigenous community. 3 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY 4 CREDIT.—The term ‘Federal renewable electricity 5 credit’ means a credit that— 6 ‘‘(A) represents, for purposes of compli- 7 ance with this section, 1 megawatt hour of re- 8 newable electricity; and 9 ‘‘(B) is issued pursuant to subsection (e). 10 ‘‘(5) IMPACTED COMMUNITY.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘impacted 12 community’ means a community that is harmed 13 by environmental, economic, or socioeconomic 14 injustice. 15 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘impacted 16 community’ includes— 17 ‘‘(i) an environmental justice commu- 18 nity; and 19 ‘‘(ii) a community that— 20 ‘‘(I) has a high concentration of 21 low-income and low-wealth house- 22 holds, including households comprised 23 primarily of members of groups that 24 have historically experienced discrimi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3959 IH nation on the basis of race, gender, 1 national origin, or ethnicity (including 2 Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Arab, 3 Asian, and Pacific Islander commu- 4 nities); 5 ‘‘(II) has experienced or is expe- 6 riencing economic transition, 7 deindustrialization, historic under- 8 investment, and poverty; or 9 ‘‘(III) has high unemployment 10 due to— 11 ‘‘(aa) a significant decline in 12 coal mining activity; or 13 ‘‘(bb) the closure of a coal- 14 fired power plant. 15 ‘‘(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 16 means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other or- 17 ganized group or community (including any Native 18 village, Regional Corporation, or Village Corporation 19 (as those terms are defined in section 3 of the Alas- 20 ka Native Claims Settlement Act)) that is recognized 21 as eligible for the special programs and services pro- 22 vided by the United States to Indians because of 23 their status as Indians. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3959 IH ‘‘(7) QUALIFIED HYDROPOWER.—The term 1 ‘qualified hydropower’ means energy produced from 2 generating capacity added to a dam on or after Jan- 3 uary 1, 2001, if the Commission certifies that— 4 ‘‘(A) the dam— 5 ‘‘(i) was placed in service before the 6 date of enactment of this section; 7 ‘‘(ii) was operated for flood control, 8 navigation, or water supply purposes; and 9 ‘‘(iii) was not producing hydroelectric 10 power prior to the addition of the capacity; 11 and 12 ‘‘(B) the hydroelectric project installed on 13 the dam— 14 ‘‘(i) is licensed or is exempt from li- 15 censing by the Commission; 16 ‘‘(ii) is in compliance with— 17 ‘‘(I) the terms and conditions of 18 the license or exemption; and 19 ‘‘(II) other applicable legal re- 20 quirements for the protection of envi- 21 ronmental quality, including applica- 22 ble fish passage requirements; and 23 ‘‘(iii) is operated so that the water 24 surface elevation at any given location and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3959 IH time that would have occurred in the ab- 1 sence of the hydroelectric project is main- 2 tained, subject to any license or exemption 3 requirements that require changes in water 4 surface elevation for the purpose of im- 5 proving the environmental quality of the 6 affected waterway. 7 ‘‘(8) RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY.—The term ‘re- 8 newable electricity’ means electricity generated (in- 9 cluding by means of a fuel cell) from a renewable en- 10 ergy resource. 11 ‘‘(9) RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCE.—The 12 term ‘renewable energy resource’ means each of the 13 following: 14 ‘‘(A) Wind energy. 15 ‘‘(B) Solar energy. 16 ‘‘(C) Geothermal energy. 17 ‘‘(D) Biogas derived from anaerobic diges- 18 tion at wastewater treatment facilities, or from 19 farm anaerobic digestion. 20 ‘‘(E) Qualified hydropower. 21 ‘‘(F) Marine energy (as defined in section 22 632 of the Energy Independence and Security 23 Act of 2007). 24 ‘‘(10) RETAIL ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3959 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘retail elec- 1 tricity supplier’ means, for any calendar year, 2 an electric utility that sells not fewer than 3 1,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity to elec- 4 tric consumers during the preceding calendar 5 year. 6 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS.—For 7 purposes of determining whether an electric 8 utility qualifies as a retail electricity supplier 9 under subparagraph (A)— 10 ‘‘(i) the sales made by any affiliate of 11 the electric utility to electric consumers, 12 other than sales to lessees or tenants of 13 the affiliate, shall be considered to be sales 14 made by the electric utility; and 15 ‘‘(ii) sales made by the electric utility 16 to an affiliate, lessee, or tenant of the elec- 17 tric utility shall not be treated as sales to 18 electric consumers. 19 ‘‘(C) AFFILIATE.—In this paragraph, the 20 term ‘affiliate’ when used in relation to a per- 21 son, means another person that directly or indi- 22 rectly owns or controls, is owned or controlled 23 by, or is under common ownership or control 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3959 IH with, that person, as determined under regula- 1 tions promulgated by the Commission. 2 ‘‘(11) RETAIL ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER’S BASE 3 QUANTITY.—The term ‘retail electricity supplier’s 4 base quantity’ means the total quantity of electricity 5 sold by the retail electricity supplier, expressed in 6 megawatt hours, to electric consumers during the 7 relevant calendar year, excluding electricity gen- 8 erated by a hydroelectric facility, other than quali- 9 fied hydropower. 10 ‘‘(12) RETIRE AND RETIREMENT.—The terms 11 ‘retire’ and ‘retirement’ mean, with respect to a 12 Federal renewable electricity credit, to disqualify the 13 credit for any subsequent use under this section, re- 14 gardless of whether the use is a sale, transfer, ex- 15 change, or submission in satisfaction of a compliance 16 obligation. 17 ‘‘(b) ANNUAL COMPLIANCE OBLIGATION.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro- 19 vided in subsection (f), for each of calendar years 20 2021 through 2030, not later than March 31 of the 21 following calendar year, each retail electricity sup- 22 plier shall submit to the Commission a quantity of 23 Federal renewable electricity credits that represents 24 a quantity of megawatt hours of renewable elec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3959 IH tricity that is at least equal to the annual target of 1 the retail electricity supplier under subsection (d). 2 ‘‘(2) EQUITY REQUIREMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(A) DISTRIBUTED GENERATION.—The 4 Commission shall require that, of the quantity 5 of Federal renewable electricity credits required 6 to be submitted by a retail electricity supplier 7 to comply with paragraph (1)— 8 ‘‘(i) for the period of calendar years 9 2021 through 2024, at least 15 percent of 10 such Federal renewable electricity credits 11 represent megawatt hours of renewable 12 electricity generated by distributed genera- 13 tion; and 14 ‘‘(ii) for the period of calendar years 15 2025 through 2030, at least 20 percent of 16 such Federal renewable electricity credits 17 represent megawatt hours of renewable 18 electricity generated by distributed genera- 19 tion. 20 ‘‘(B) IMPACTED COMMUNITIES.—The 21 Commission shall require that, of the quantity 22 of Federal renewable electricity credits required 23 to be submitted by a retail electricity supplier 24 to comply with paragraph (1)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3959 IH ‘‘(i) for the period of calendar years 1 2021 through 2024, at least 15 percent of 2 such Federal renewable electricity credits 3 represent megawatt hours of renewable 4 electricity generated in impacted commu- 5 nities; and 6 ‘‘(ii) for the period of calendar years 7 2025 through 2030, at least 20 percent of 8 such Federal renewable electricity credits 9 represent megawatt hours of renewable 10 electricity generated in impacted commu- 11 nities. 12 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTED GENERATION OCCUR- 13 RING IN A IMPACTED COMMUNITY.—For any 14 calendar year, distributed generation that oc- 15 curs in a impacted community may be used for 16 purposes of complying with both subparagraph 17 (A) and subparagraph (B). 18 ‘‘(c) ESTABLISHMENT.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 1, 20 2022, the Commission shall promulgate regulations 21 to implement and enforce the requirements of this 22 section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:10 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3959.IH H3959 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 3959 IH ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating regu- 1 lations under paragraph (1), the Commission shall, 2 to the maximum extent practicable— 3 ‘‘(A) preserve the integrity and incorporate 4 best practices of existing State and Tribal re- 5 newable electricity programs; 6 ‘‘(B) preserve the integrity of voluntary re- 7 newable energy markets; 8 ‘‘(C) design and implement such regula- 9 tions in a manner that seeks to be equitable 10 and just; 11 ‘‘(D) identify and prioritize measures to 12 maximize reductions of emissions of greenhouse 13 gases and criteria air pollutants in impacted 14 communities; 15 ‘‘(E) ensure that activities undertaken to 16 comply with such regulations result in a net de- 17 crease in emissions of criteria air pollutants in 18 impacted communities; 19 ‘‘(F) ensure that the deployment of any 20 new renewable elect [Text truncated for display. 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