BIDIRECTIONAL Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1548 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to encourage deployment of electric school buses and vehicle-to-grid technologies and applications, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 10, 2023 Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Ms. SMITH, Mr. KING, Mr. HEINRICH, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- sources A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to encourage deployment of electric school buses and vehicle-to-grid technologies and applications, 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 ‘‘Bus Integration Dedi- 4 cated to Improving Resilience, Eliminating Congestion, 5 and Triggering Innovation Over Numerous Applications 6 and Localities Act’’ or the ‘‘BIDIRECTIONAL Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1548 IS SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO ENCOURAGE DEPLOYMENT OF ELEC- 1 TRIC SCHOOL BUSES AND VEHICLE-TO-EV- 2 ERYTHING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICA- 3 TIONS. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 (1) ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUS.—The term ‘‘elec- 6 tric school bus’’ means a school bus that is pro- 7 pelled— 8 (A) to a significant extent, as determined 9 by the Secretary, by an electric motor that— 10 (i) draws electricity from a battery; 11 and 12 (ii) is capable of being recharged from 13 an external source of electricity; and 14 (B) by any necessary components or equip- 15 ment required to facilitate electric-powered 16 school bus operations. 17 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 18 ty’’ means— 19 (A) any person (including any company or 20 other entity) or State, local, or Tribal entity 21 that sells electric energy, including— 22 (i) an electric utility, including— 23 (I) a local distribution company 24 or utility; and 25 (II) an electric cooperative; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1548 IS (ii) a municipality; and 1 (iii) a retail marketer of electricity; 2 (B) a State public utilities commission; 3 (C) a third-party energy efficiency program 4 administrator; 5 (D) a school bus manufacturer; 6 (E) a public or private school district; 7 (F) a supplier of charging infrastructure; 8 (G) a developer, provider, owner, or oper- 9 ator of solar, wind, or other renewable or dis- 10 tributed energy resources; 11 (H) a third-party school bus fleet or charg- 12 ing operator; 13 (I) any other entity, including a partner- 14 ship, that the Secretary determines to be appro- 15 priate; and 16 (J) any partnership or consortium of enti- 17 ties described in any of subparagraphs (A) 18 through (I). 19 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 20 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 21 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 22 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 23 (4) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 24 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1548 IS in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 1 U.S.C. 15801). 2 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 3 the program established under subsection (b)(1). 4 (6) PROJECT PARTNER.—The term ‘‘project 5 partner’’, with respect to a project for which a grant 6 is sought or provided under the Program, means an 7 eligible entity that is a member of a partnership or 8 consortium described in paragraph (2)(J) with re- 9 spect to that project. 10 (7) REGIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION.— 11 The term ‘‘Regional Transmission Organization’’ 12 has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 13 Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796). 14 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 15 the Secretary of Energy. 16 (b) PROGRAM.— 17 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retary shall establish a program to encourage the de- 20 ployment of vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-everything 21 technologies and applications, as described in para- 22 graph (2), including, at a minimum, a vehicle capa- 23 ble of discharging at least 10 kilowatts of power to 24 bidirectional electric vehicle supply equipment that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1548 IS provides alternating current power to an electrical 1 circuit, by providing grants to eligible entities for 2 projects that include the use of not fewer than 1 3 electric school bus with bidirectional energy flow ca- 4 pabilities for an application described in that para- 5 graph. 6 (2) APPLICATION DESCRIBED.—An application 7 referred to in paragraph (1) is— 8 (A) a vehicle-to-grid application, such as— 9 (i) provision of a distribution-level 10 service or participation in a distribution- 11 level program; 12 (ii) provision of wholesale market 13 services, such as capacity, energy, and an- 14 cillary services; 15 (iii) provision of microgrid services; or 16 (iv) aggregations of vehicle-to-grid ap- 17 plications that provide distribution-level 18 service, wholesale market services, or 19 microgrid services; 20 (B) a vehicle-to-building application; or 21 (C) any other resilience or other applica- 22 tion, as determined to be appropriate by the 23 Secretary. 24 (3) PRIORITY AND DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1548 IS (A) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under 1 the Program, the Secretary shall give priority 2 to projects that, in the determination of the 3 Secretary, are likely to be economically self-sus- 4 taining and replicable once established. 5 (B) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary, to the 6 maximum extent practicable in accordance with 7 the priority required to be established under 8 subparagraph (A), shall provide grants under 9 the Program for projects across differing situa- 10 tions, including in a region that is experiencing 11 congestion, shortages, transmission system con- 12 straints, or distribution system constraints that 13 cause the cost of electricity to increase for con- 14 sumers. 15 (4) APPLYING FOR ASSISTANCE.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desir- 17 ing a grant under the Program shall submit to 18 the Secretary an application at such time, in 19 such manner, and containing such information 20 as the Secretary may require, subject to this 21 paragraph. 22 (B) REQUIREMENTS.— 23 (i) IN GENERAL.—An application sub- 24 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall dem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1548 IS onstrate how the assistance requested 1 under the Program would help the 1 or 2 more eligible entities submitting the appli- 3 cation to participate in economically justifi- 4 able opportunities that recognize 5 bidirectional electric vehicle charging as a 6 relevant technology, including existing elec- 7 tric utility or Regional Transmission Orga- 8 nization tariffs, programs, initiatives, poli- 9 cies, arrangements, or other opportunities 10 that recognize bidirectional electric vehicle 11 charging as a relevant technology. 12 (ii) INTERCONNECTION RULES.—An 13 application submitted under subparagraph 14 (A) shall include a certification that any 15 project described in the application and 16 proposed to be carried out using a grant 17 provided under the Program will comply 18 with all applicable interconnection rules. 19 (5) USE OF FUNDS.— 20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts provided to 21 an eligible entity pursuant to a grant under the 22 Program may be used for— 23 (i) acquiring and installing 24 bidirectional charging stations and inter- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1548 IS connection upgrades necessary for 1 bidirectional energy flow; 2 (ii) retrofitting buildings, parking fa- 3 cilities, and school buses for bidirectional 4 charging; 5 (iii) acquiring and installing any nec- 6 essary metering and telemetry equipment 7 or systems; 8 (iv) acquiring technical assistance 9 from the Department of Energy, National 10 Laboratories, or other parties with relevant 11 expertise for any participating project 12 partners; and 13 (v) any application directly related to 14 establishing, sustaining, and optimizing 15 bidirectional energy flow, as the Secretary 16 determines to be appropriate. 17 (B) REQUIREMENT.—Amounts provided to 18 an eligible entity pursuant to a grant under the 19 Program shall be used in a manner that cor- 20 responds specifically to the incremental addi- 21 tional cost of implementing 1 or more applica- 22 tions described in paragraph (2) as compared to 23 the costs associated with the acquisition, dem- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1548 IS onstration, or use of a typical electric school 1 bus, as determined by the Secretary. 2 (C) COMMUNITY OUTREACH.— 3 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 4 (ii), an eligible entity receiving a grant 5 under the Program shall use not less than 6 1 percent of the amounts received for out- 7 reach that is directed at the communities 8 and bus users receiving or benefitting from 9 those amounts, for the purpose of increas- 10 ing awareness of the benefits of grid-inte- 11 grated school buses and how grid-inte- 12 grated school buses will be used. 13 (ii) WAIVER.—The Secretary may 14 waive the requirement described in clause 15 (i) if the Secretary determines that the 16 outreach described in that clause is unnec- 17 essary or would be of minimal benefit to 18 the overall goal of sustained technological 19 deployment. 20 (6) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible en- 21 tity receiving a grant under the Program shall en- 22 sure that amounts derived from non-Federal sources 23 are provided for the projects funded by the grant in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1548 IS a total amount that is equal to, or greater than, the 1 amount of the grant. 2 (7) OUTREACH TO POTENTIALLY INTERESTED 3 ENTITIES.—Of the total amount appropriated to 4 carry out the Program, the Secretary shall use not 5 less than 1 percent for outreach to potentially inter- 6 ested eligible entities, including eligible entities par- 7 ticipating in, or with a demonstrated interest in, the 8 clean school bus program established under section 9 741 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 10 16091). 11 (8) SCHOOL DISTRICT COMPENSATION.—An eli- 12 gible entity receiving a grant under the Program 13 shall demonstrate to the Secretary that any school 14 district participating in the applicable project is ap- 15 propriately compensated for that participation in a 16 manner approved by the Secretary, which may in- 17 clude— 18 (A) the provision of direct financial com- 19 pensation to the school district; 20 (B) the provision or acquisition of electric 21 school buses for the school district; or 22 (C) savings resulting from the implementa- 23 tion of an application described in paragraph 24 (2). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1548 IS (9) ANNUAL SUBMISSION OF DATA.—An eligible 1 entity receiving a grant under the Program shall an- 2 nually submit to the Secretary data from vehicles, 3 chargers, and associated grid infrastructure nec- 4 essary to determine operational and economic im- 5 pacts, and additional data as determined to be nec- 6 essary by the Secretary. 7 (10) COMPATIBILITY WITH EPA CLEAN SCHOOL 8 BUS PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 9 sion of law, the Secretary may provide a grant under 10 the Program for applicable projects, programs, or 11 activities for which amounts are provided under the 12 clean school bus program established under section 13 741 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 14 16091), and to eligible entities receiving amounts 15 under that program, subject to all applicable re- 16 quirements of this section. 17 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 19 submit to Congress a report summarizing any existing 20 pilot programs, including State-funded and locally funded 21 pilot programs, involving the use of school buses for the 22 applications described in subsection (b)(2), including— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1548 IS (1) any best practices, challenges, lessons 1 learned, and promising future directions discernable 2 from those pilot programs and applications; 3 (2) any challenges, opportunities, and strategies 4 unique to the implementation of those applications 5 in rural areas; 6 (3) any challenges to the commercial viability of 7 those applications posed by State, Federal, or other 8 regulatory barriers; and 9 (4)(A) any challenges to the economic viability 10 of projects involving those applications; and 11 (B) any opportunities and strategies to make 12 projects involving those applications economically 13 viable. 14 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 15 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 16 out this section $500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 17 2024 through 2028. 18 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION OF MEASURES TO PROMOTE VEHI- 19 CLE-TO-GRID INTEGRATION. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 111(d) of the Public Util- 21 ity Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) 22 is amended by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(22) VEHICLE-TO-GRID INTEGRATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1548.IS S1548 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1548 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall con- 1 sider— 2 ‘‘(i) measures to promote vehicle-to- 3 grid inte [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]