Renewable Energy for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2360 To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a renewable energy grant program for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands of the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2019 Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. PLASKETT, and Miss GONZA´LEZ-COLO´N of Puerto Rico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Science, Space, and Tech- nology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a renew- able energy grant program for Puerto Rico and the Vir- gin Islands of the United States, 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 ‘‘Renewable Energy for 4 Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2360.IH H2360 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2360 IH SEC. 2. RENEWABLE ENERGY GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri- 3 culture shall establish a renewable energy program (in this 4 section referred to as the ‘‘program’’) under which the 5 Secretary may award grants to covered entities to facili- 6 tate projects, in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands of the 7 United States, described in subsection (c). 8 (b) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for a grant under 9 the program, a covered entity shall submit to the Sec- 10 retary an application at such time, in such form, and con- 11 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 12 (c) GRANT USES.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A covered entity receiving a 14 grant under the program may use grant funds for 15 a project, in Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands of the 16 United States— 17 (A) to develop or construct a renewable en- 18 ergy system; 19 (B) to carry out an activity to increase en- 20 ergy efficiency; 21 (C) to develop or construct an energy stor- 22 age system or device for— 23 (i) a system developed or constructed 24 under subparagraph (A); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2360.IH H2360 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2360 IH (ii) an activity carried out under sub- 1 paragraph (B); 2 (D) to develop or construct— 3 (i) a smart grid; or 4 (ii) a microgrid; or 5 (E) to train residents of Puerto Rico or 6 the Virgin Islands of the United States to de- 7 velop, construct, maintain, or operate a renew- 8 able energy system. 9 (2) LIMITATION.—A covered entity receiving a 10 grant under the program may not use grant funds 11 to develop or construct a facility that generates elec- 12 tricity using energy derived from— 13 (A) fossil fuels; or 14 (B) nuclear power. 15 (d) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of En- 16 ergy shall ensure that Department of Energy national lab- 17 oratories offer to provide technical assistance to each cov- 18 ered entity carrying out a project assisted with a grant 19 under the program. 20 (e) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the es- 21 tablishment of the program, and on an annual basis there- 22 after, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report con- 23 taining— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2360.IH H2360 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2360 IH (1) an estimate of the amount of funds dis- 1 bursed under the program; 2 (2) an estimate of the energy conservation 3 achieved as a result of the program; 4 (3) a description of challenges encountered in 5 implementing projects described in subsection (c)(1); 6 and 7 (4) recommendations as to additional legislative 8 measures to increase the use of renewable energy in 9 Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands of the United 10 States, as appropriate. 11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 13 necessary to carry out this section. 14 SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.— 16 (1) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 180 17 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 18 Comptroller General of the United States shall— 19 (A) conduct a study regarding renewable 20 energy and energy efficiency in Puerto Rico and 21 the Virgin Islands of the United States; and 22 (B) submit to Congress a report con- 23 taining— 24 (i) the findings of the study; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2360.IH H2360 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2360 IH (ii) related recommendations. 1 (2) COMPONENTS.—The study conducted under 2 paragraph (1) shall consider, in relation to Puerto 3 Rico and the Virgin Islands of the United States, 4 the potential— 5 (A) to modify existing electric power sys- 6 tems to use renewable energy sources; 7 (B) to expand the use of microgrids; and 8 (C) to improve energy resiliency. 9 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated $1,500,000 to carry out this 11 section. 12 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 14 (1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 15 tity’’ means a not-for-profit organization determined 16 eligible by the Secretary of Agriculture for purposes 17 of this Act. 18 (2) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NATIONAL LAB- 19 ORATORIES.—The term ‘‘Department of Energy na- 20 tional laboratories’’ has the same meaning as the 21 term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ under section 2 of the 22 Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801). 23 (3) MICROGRID.—The term ‘‘microgrid’’ means 24 an electric system— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2360.IH H2360 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2360 IH (A) that serves the local community with a 1 power generation and distribution system; and 2 (B) that has the ability— 3 (i) to disconnect from a traditional 4 electric grid; and 5 (ii) to operate autonomously when dis- 6 connected. 7 (4) RENEWABLE ENERGY; RENEWABLE ENERGY 8 SYSTEM.—The terms ‘‘renewable energy’’ and ‘‘re- 9 newable energy system’’ have the meanings given 10 those terms in section 9001 of the Farm Security 11 and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101). 12 (5) SMART GRID.—The term ‘‘smart grid’’ 13 means an intelligent electric grid that uses digital 14 communications technology, information systems, 15 and automation to, while maintaining high system 16 reliability— 17 (A) detect and react to local changes in 18 usage; 19 (B) improve system operating efficiency; 20 and 21 (C) reduce spending costs. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:08 Apr 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2360.IH H2360 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS