[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 723 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 723

    To amend the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to provide 
guidance on utility energy service contracts used by Federal agencies, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2015

   Mr. Schatz (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Coats, and Mr. Coons) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to provide 
guidance on utility energy service contracts used by Federal agencies, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Utility Energy Service Contracts 
Improvement Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the Federal Government is the largest consumer of 
        energy in the United States;
            (2) Federal agencies are expected to meet, by law, 
        Executive order, and mandate, stringent energy efficiency and 
        conservation targets;
            (3) the utility energy service contract (referred to in 
        this section as ``UESC'') was developed to provide Federal 
        agencies an effective means to implement energy efficiency, 
        renewable energy and water efficiency projects, and has been 
        used successfully to invest nearly $2,700,000,000 in property 
        at Federal facilities;
            (4) the General Services Administration, which manages more 
        than 9,600 Federal properties and is the lead agency for 
        procuring utility services for the Federal Government, has 
        determined that UESCs may extend beyond a 10-year period under 
        the law;
            (5) the Federal Energy Management Program, which oversees 
        the UESC program and is a principal office guiding agencies to 
        use funding more effectively in meeting Federal and agency-
        specific energy and resource management objectives, has 
        determined that UESCs may extend beyond a 10-year period under 
        the law;
            (6) extensive precedent exists for Federal agencies to 
        contract for energy saving services using contracts with term 
        limits of more than 10 years but not to exceed 25 years;
            (7) a number of Federal agencies, contrary to congressional 
        intent, have sought to limit UESC term limits to periods of 
        less than 10 years; and
            (8) greater flexibility with UESCs will help reduce the 
        operational cost of Federal agencies, ultimately saving money 
        for taxpayers.

SEC. 3. UTILITY ENERGY SERVICE CONTRACTS.

    Part 3 of title V of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act is 
amended by adding after section 553 (42 U.S.C. 8259b) the following:

``SEC. 554. UTILITY ENERGY SERVICE CONTRACTS.

    ``(a) In General.--Each Federal agency may use, to the maximum 
extent practicable, measures provided by law to meet energy efficiency 
and conservation mandates and laws, including through utility energy 
service contracts.
    ``(b) Contract Period.--The term of a utility energy service 
contract entered into by a Federal agency may have a contract period 
that extends beyond 10 years, but not to exceed 25 years.
    ``(c) Requirements.--The conditions of a utility energy service 
contract entered into by a Federal agency shall include requirements 
for measurement, verification, and performance assurances or guarantees 
of the savings.''.
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