21st Century Power Grid Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5527 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide financial assistance for projects relating to the modernization of the electric grid, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. VEASEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide financial assistance for projects relating to the modernization of the electric grid, 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 ‘‘21st Century Power 4 Grid Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5527.IH H5527 2 •HR 5527 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM FOR GRID MODERNIZATION 1 PROJECTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall es- 3 tablish a program to provide financial assistance to eligible 4 partnerships to carry out projects related to the mod- 5 ernization of the electric grid, including— 6 (1) projects for the deployment of technologies 7 to improve monitoring of, advanced controls for, and 8 prediction of performance of, a distribution system; 9 and 10 (2) projects related to transmission system 11 planning and operation. 12 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Projects for which an eli- 13 gible partnership may receive financial assistance under 14 subsection (a)— 15 (1) shall be designed to improve the resiliency, 16 performance, or efficiency of the electric grid, while 17 ensuring the continued provision of safe, secure, reli- 18 able, and affordable power; 19 (2) may be designed to deploy a new product or 20 technology that could be used by customers of an 21 electric utility; and 22 (3) shall demonstrate— 23 (A) secure integration and management of 24 energy resources, including through distributed 25 energy generation, combined heat and power, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5527.IH H5527 3 •HR 5527 IH microgrids, energy storage, electric vehicles, en- 1 ergy efficiency, demand response, or control- 2 lable loads; or 3 (B) secure integration and interoperability 4 of communications and information technologies 5 related to the electric grid. 6 (c) CYBERSECURITY PLAN.—Each project carried 7 out with financial assistance provided under subsection (a) 8 shall include the development of a cybersecurity plan writ- 9 ten in accordance with guidelines developed by the Sec- 10 retary of Energy. 11 (d) PRIVACY EFFECTS ANALYSIS.—Each project car- 12 ried out with financial assistance provided under sub- 13 section (a) shall include a privacy effects analysis that 14 evaluates the project in accordance with the Voluntary 15 Code of Conduct of the Department of Energy, commonly 16 known as the ‘‘DataGuard Energy Data Privacy Pro- 17 gram’’, or the most recent revisions to the privacy pro- 18 gram of the Department. 19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi- 21 ble partnership’’ means a partnership consisting of 22 two or more entities, which— 23 (A) may include— 24 (i) any institution of higher education; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5527.IH H5527 4 •HR 5527 IH (ii) a National Laboratory; 1 (iii) a State or a local government or 2 other public body created by or pursuant 3 to State law; 4 (iv) an Indian Tribe; 5 (v) a Federal power marketing admin- 6 istration; or 7 (vi) an entity that develops and pro- 8 vides technology; and 9 (B) shall include at least one of any of— 10 (i) an electric utility; 11 (ii) a Regional Transmission Organi- 12 zation; or 13 (iii) an Independent System Operator. 14 (2) ELECTRIC UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 15 utility’’ has the meaning given that term in section 16 3(22) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 17 796(22)), except that such term does not include an 18 entity described in subparagraph (B) of such sec- 19 tion. 20 (3) FEDERAL POWER MARKETING ADMINISTRA- 21 TION.—The term ‘‘Federal power marketing admin- 22 istration’’ means the Bonneville Power Administra- 23 tion, the Southeastern Power Administration, the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5527.IH H5527 5 •HR 5527 IH Southwestern Power Administration, or the Western 1 Area Power Administration. 2 (4) INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR; RE- 3 GIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.—The terms 4 ‘‘Independent System Operator’’ and ‘‘Regional 5 Transmission Organization’’ have the meanings 6 given those terms in section 3 of the Federal Power 7 Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 8 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 9 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 10 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 12 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 13 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy 14 to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal 15 years 2021 through 2025, to remain available until ex- 16 pended. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Dec 29, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5527.IH H5527