Low-Income Solar Energy Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4291 To help reduce household energy burdens by expanding access to solar energy for low-income households, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 Mr. MCEACHIN (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To help reduce household energy burdens by expanding ac- cess to solar energy for low-income households, 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 ‘‘Low-Income Solar En- 4 ergy Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act, the term ‘‘low-income’’, used with respect 7 to a household, means a household that is eligible for a 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4291 IH payment under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance 1 Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.), in accordance 2 with— 3 (1) section 2605(b)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 4 8624(b)); and 5 (2) State eligibility guidelines (consistent with 6 such Act) for that payment. 7 SEC. 3. LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE. 8 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 9 2602 of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 10 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621) is amended— 11 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (b), by 12 striking ‘‘2607A),’’ and all that follows and inserting 13 ‘‘2607A), $6,075,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and 14 each subsequent fiscal year.’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘(e) of’’ and 16 inserting ‘‘(f) of’’. 17 (b) RESERVATION OF FUNDS.—Section 2604 of the 18 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 19 U.S.C. 8623) is amended— 20 (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 21 section (f); and 22 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 23 lowing: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4291 IH ‘‘(e)(1) Of the funds available to a State under sub- 1 section (a), a territory under subsection (b), or a tribal 2 organization or other entity under subsection (d), up to 3 25 percent may be reserved by the State, territory, or or- 4 ganization or entity, for solar projects for covered housing. 5 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall expand the program funded 6 under section 2602(b) to include such solar projects, and 7 for purposes of this title shall consider— 8 ‘‘(A) the funds used for such projects to be as- 9 sistance for home energy costs; and 10 ‘‘(B) the projects to be activities that provide 11 assistance for home energy costs, rather than to res- 12 idential weatherization or other energy-related home 13 repair. 14 ‘‘(3) In determining whether to award, under that 15 program, funding that includes a portion for a solar 16 project to a State, territory, or tribal organization or enti- 17 ty, the Secretary shall use the application and request 18 processes specified in this title, with such adjustments as 19 the Secretary may specify in regulations. 20 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall issue regulations and guid- 21 ance for States, territories, and tribal organizations and 22 entities, that receive funds under subsection (a), (b), or 23 (d) (referred to individually in this subsection as a ‘cov- 24 ered recipient’), to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4291 IH ‘‘(A) define the solar projects that may be fund- 1 ed through the reserved funds described in para- 2 graph (1); 3 ‘‘(B) specify the circumstances and process 4 under which a covered recipient, with an arrange- 5 ment with a particular type of local agency or orga- 6 nization to distribute assistance for home energy 7 costs, may instead enter into an arrangement with 8 a different local agency or organization with exper- 9 tise in solar projects, for such projects; and 10 ‘‘(C) specify how a covered recipient may dis- 11 tribute such funds in a manner that usefully fi- 12 nances the work of solar project developers and solar 13 panel installers for such projects. 14 ‘‘(5) Not later than 6 months after the date of enact- 15 ment of the Low-Income Solar Energy Act, the Secretary 16 shall— 17 ‘‘(A) evaluate whether community solar projects 18 could be administered through the program carried 19 out under this title; and 20 ‘‘(B) prepare and submit to Congress a report 21 containing the evaluation. 22 ‘‘(6) In this section, the term ‘covered housing’ means 23 federally assisted housing as defined in section 683 of the 24 Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4291 IH U.S.C. 13641), and housing occupied by a low-income 1 household, as defined in section 2 of the Low-Income Solar 2 Energy Act.’’. 3 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 2605(b)(1)(A) of the 4 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 5 U.S.C. 8624(b)(1)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, includ- 6 ing the costs of solar projects for covered housing as de- 7 fined in section 2604(e)’’ after ‘‘home energy costs’’. 8 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2609 of the 9 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 10 U.S.C. 8628) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including solar 11 projects for covered housing or community solar projects 12 under section 2604(e)’’ after ‘‘home repairs’’. 13 SEC. 4. SOLAR FINANCING AND WORKFORCE TRAINING. 14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECT.—The term 16 ‘‘community solar project’’ means a project for the 17 renewable generation of energy through solar power 18 that has multiple subscribers that receive benefits on 19 utility bills that are directly attributable to the 20 project. 21 (2) COMMUNITY SOLAR SUBSCRIPTION.—The 22 term ‘‘community solar subscription’’ means owner- 23 ship of a financial share in a community solar 24 project that serves multiple consumers. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4291 IH (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means a developer or installer of solar equip- 2 ment. 3 (4) ELIGIBLE HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘‘eligible 4 household’’ means a household that includes an eligi- 5 ble individual as defined in section 32(c)(1) of the 6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for purposes of the 7 credit under section 32 of that Code. 8 (5) INTERCONNECTION.—The term ‘‘inter- 9 connection’’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 10 tion 111(d)(15) of the Public Utility Regulatory 11 Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)(15)). 12 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 13 the Secretary of Energy. 14 (b) SOLAR FINANCING PROGRAM.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 16 a solar financing program under which the Secretary 17 shall offer a variety of financing mechanisms, includ- 18 ing grants, loans, loan guarantees, and interest buy- 19 downs, to support the deployment of solar projects 20 for eligible households, in accordance with this sub- 21 section. 22 (2) GRANTS.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program es- 24 tablished under paragraph (1), the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4291 IH shall award grants to eligible entities for de- 1 ploying residential solar projects or community 2 solar projects— 3 (i) that benefit eligible households; 4 and 5 (ii) in which the tariff, net metering, 6 bill credit, or other valuation of solar en- 7 ergy generation, or the sale of that solar 8 generation by a third party, enables a sav- 9 ings-to-investment ratio of at least 1:1 for 10 an eligible entity over a period of not more 11 than 10 years. 12 (B) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 13 that receives a grant under the program estab- 14 lished under paragraph (1) shall use the grant 15 only to pay for— 16 (i) the cost and installation of solar 17 equipment in buildings in which the dwell- 18 ing units of eligible households are located, 19 including the cost of materials, labor, and 20 permitting; 21 (ii) repairs or upgrades to the build- 22 ings described in clause (i) that may be 23 needed to ensure that solar equipment is 24 installed in a safe manner; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4291 IH (iii) the cost of a community solar 1 subscription. 2 (3) SOLAR HOUSING LOANS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program es- 4 tablished under paragraph (1), the Secretary 5 shall provide loans at zero percent interest— 6 (i) to owners of buildings— 7 (I) that receive assistance under 8 section 8(o) of the United States 9 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 10 1437f(o)); or 11 (II) with respect to which a cred- 12 it is allowable under section 42 of the 13 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for 14 the taxable year in which the loan is 15 provided; and 16 (ii) for the purpose of— 17 (I) installing solar equipment 18 that benefits the dwelling unit of a 19 tenant; 20 (II) if necessary for the installa- 21 tion of solar equipment under sub- 22 clause (I), making any upgrade to the 23 building in which the dwelling unit is 24 located; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4291 IH (III) covering the cost of a com- 1 munity solar subscription. 2 (B) SAVINGS.— 3 (i) IN GENERAL.—An owner of a 4 building receiving a loan under this sub- 5 section shall— 6 (I) reduce the rent that each ten- 7 ant described in clause (ii) is required 8 to pay by an amount that is propor- 9 tional to the savings obtained through 10 any solar upgrades described in sub- 11 paragraph (A); and 12 (II) enter into an affordability 13 agreement with the Secretary to en- 14 sure that the rent of the tenant re- 15 mains affordable for the duration of 16 the tenancy. 17 (ii) TENANT DESCRIBED.—A tenant 18 referred to in clause (i) is a tenant that is 19 in a low-income household and occupying a 20 dwelling unit in the building, which dwell- 21 ing unit is affected by a solar upgrade de- 22 scribed in subparagraph (A). 23 (C) GUIDANCE; REGULATION.—The Sec- 24 retary shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4291 IH (i) publish guidance on what con- 1 stitutes a benefit to the dwelling unit of a 2 tenant under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I); and 3 (ii) promulgate a regulation on the 4 manner in which a community solar sub- 5 scription under subparagraph (A)(ii)(III) 6 shall be managed. 7 (c) COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECTS.—The Secretary 8 shall establish a program under which the Secretary shall 9 make grants for community solar projects— 10 (1) to be used for costs associated with inter- 11 connection of the community solar project, including 12 application fees, interconnection fees, engineering re- 13 views, and other associated costs incurred during the 14 interconnection process; 15 (2) to be used for costs associated with up- 16 grades to a distribution system, if the distribution 17 system requires service or new equipment to accom- 18 modate the installation of the community solar 19 project; and 20 (3) led by nonprofit organizations to support 21 the implementation of the projects for low-income 22 households. 23 (d) MINORITY AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESSES.— 24 The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4291 IH contract with minority or women-owned businesses for the 1 deployment of solar projects that are financed pursuant 2 to this section. 3 (e) SOLAR WORKFORCE PROGRAM.— 4 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 5 (A) ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANT.—The term 6 ‘‘eligible participant’’ means an individual who 7 is a member of an underrepresented group, in- 8 cluding— 9 (i) an individual who is a religious, ra- 10 cial, or ethnic minority; 11 (ii) a woman; 12 (iii) a veteran; 13 (iv) an individual with a disability; 14 (v) an unemployed energy worker; 15 (vi) an energy worker employed by a 16 fossil fuel industry who is being 17 transitioned away from that industry be- 18 cause of a State renewable program or 19 Federal program, as determined by the 20 Secretary; 21 (vii) a socioeconomically disadvan- 22 taged individual; and 23 (viii) a formerly incarcerated indi- 24 vidual. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4291 IH (B) LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 1 BOARD; STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 2 BOARD.—The terms ‘‘local workforce develop- 3 ment board’’ and ‘‘State workforce development 4 board’’ have the meanings given the terms 5 ‘‘local board’’ and ‘‘State board’’, respectively, 6 in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 7 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102). 8 (C) PROGRAM PARTNER.—The term ‘‘pro- 9 gram partner’’ means— 10 (i) a business; 11 (ii) an employer or industry associa- 12 tion; 13 (iii) a labor management organization; 14 (iv) a local workforce development 15 board or State workforce development 16 board; 17 (v) a 2- or 4-year institution of higher 18 education that offers an educational pro- 19 gram leading to an associate’s or bach- 20 elor’s degree in conjunction with a certifi- 21 cate of completion of an apprenticeship or 22 other training program; 23 (vi) the Armed Forces (including the 24 National Guard and the Army Reserve); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Sep 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4291.IH H4291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 4291 IH (vii) a nonprofit organization; 1 (viii) a community-based organization; 2 and 3 (ix) an economic development agency. 4 (2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 5 tablish a solar workforce program to a [Text truncated for display. 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