[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5375 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5375
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the energy credit
for certain ocean thermal energy equipment.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 10, 2019
Ms. Gabbard (for herself and Mr. Case) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the energy credit
for certain ocean thermal energy equipment.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``E. Cooper Brown
Ocean Clean Energy Act of 2019''.
(b) Findings Related to Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.--Congress
finds the following with respect to ocean thermal energy conversion
(OTEC):
(1) OTEC is a clean energy technology that produces energy
by using temperature differentials between cooler deep and warm
surface seawaters.
(2) OTEC technology has the potential to produce massive
levels of clean energy to generate electricity.
(3) Deployment of OTEC technology will reduce greenhouse
gases and reliance on fossil fuels.
(4) In tropical and subtropical remote locations,
electricity is expensive to generate. Power generated from OTEC
technology will be inexpensive when compared to the unit cost
of power from a traditional oil based electrical generation
system.
(5) OTEC generated energy would reduce operational costs
for remote military bases such as Kwajalein and Diego Garcia;.
(6) The United States became involved in OTEC research in
1974 with the establishment of the Natural Energy Laboratory of
Hawaii Authority. The laboratory is one of the world's leading
test facilities for OTEC technology. The United States Navy
supported the development of a 105 kW demonstration OTEC plant
at the laboratory site. This facility became operational in
2015 and supplies electricity to the local electricity grid.
(7) In certain regions, onshore OTEC plants are also
feasible and they can be configured to support seawater or lake
water air conditioning (SWAC/LWAC) systems for refrigeration
and cooling, agriculture, and desalination systems for water
purification.
(8) Economic benefits of OTEC include reduced fuel imports,
stable utilities pricing, reduced capital expense to power
companies and governments, and significant energy costs
savings.
(9) Social benefits of OTEC include and an ability to
produce freshwater and promotion of aquaculture.
(c) Findings Related to Seawater Air Conditioning.--Congress finds
the following with respect to seawater air conditioning (SWAC):
(1) SWAC is an alternate-energy system that uses the cold
water from the deep ocean (and in some cases a deep lake) to
cool buildings.
(2) SWAC was developed as a secondary benefit in the
development of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and can
be used in conjunction with an OTEC system or as a standalone
alternate energy system.
(3) The basic process involves water that is pumped from a
deep cold-water source (ocean or lake) and then passed through
a heat exchanger. A closed-loop freshwater water distribution
system is pumped through a heat exchanger cooling the water and
the cooled water is distributed throughout a building or group
of buildings (i.e., a district cooling system).
(4) The SWAC technology has been proven successful with
large systems at Cornell University, Toronto, Canada, and the
Natural Energy Authority of Hawaii (NELHA).
(5) Environmental benefits of SWAC include being a clean,
renewable source of energy, decreased reliance on fossil fuels
for cooling, and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
(6) Economic benefits of SWAC include stable long-term
energy costs and independence from market trends, reduced
operating costs (including lower costs in fuel, freshwater,
equipment, and equipment maintenance), and being a cost-
effective and attractive energy technology investment.
SEC. 2. ENERGY CREDIT FOR CERTAIN OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY PROPERTY.
(a) In General.--Section 48(a)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (vi), by
adding ``or'' at the end of clause (vii), and by adding at the end the
following new clause:
``(viii) equipment which converts ocean
thermal energy to usable energy or which uses
ocean water as a thermal energy sink to cool a
structure,''.
(b) 15-Percent Credit.--Section 48(a)(2)(A) of such Code is
amended--
(1) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i)(IV);
(2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii);
(3) by striking ``any energy property to which clause (i)
does not apply'' in clause (iii) (as so redesignated) and
inserting ``any other energy property''; and
(4) by inserting after clause (i) the following new clause:
``(ii) 15 percent in the case of any energy
property described in paragraph (3)(A)(viii),
and''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to periods after December 31, 2019, under rules similar to the
rules of section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as in
effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the Revenue
Reconciliation Act of 1990).
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