[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2422 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2422
To advance the integration of clean distributed energy into electric
grids, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 1, 2019
Mrs. Shaheen introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To advance the integration of clean distributed energy into electric
grids, 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 ``Clean Energy Grid Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) research by the Secretary of Energy and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has found
that clean distributed energy technologies can create important
values for both the host facility and the electric grid
operator;
(2) the values described in paragraph (1) can include, for
the host facility--
(A) energy bill savings;
(B) additional revenue from offering ancillary
services to the electric grid operator;
(C) increased electric reliability in the event of
grid outages; and
(D) improved electric power quality;
(3) the values described in paragraph (1) can include, for
the electric grid operator--
(A) avoiding the need for transmission and
distribution upgrade investments;
(B) enhanced grid stability by providing reactive
power;
(C) voltage and frequency stabilization; and
(D) more reliable and stable operation of the grid
by providing dispatchable energy to the grid during
periods of insufficient capacity or supply; and
(4) new advances in intelligent sensing and simulation and
control technologies offer the potential to enhance the
benefits of clean distributed generation to both the host
facility and the electric grid operator from dynamic, adaptive,
and anticipatory response to changing grid conditions.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Ancillary service.--The term ``ancillary service''
means those services necessary to support the transmission of
electric power from seller to purchaser given the obligations
of control areas and transmitting utilities within those
control areas to maintain reliable operations of the
interconnected transmission system.
(2) Clean distributed energy.--The term ``clean distributed
energy'' means energy technologies that are located on or near
the customer site operating on the customer side of the
electric meter and are interconnected with the electric grid,
including--
(A) clean electric generation;
(B) customer electric efficiency measures;
(C) electric demand flexibility; and
(D) energy storage.
(3) Grid.--The term ``grid'' means the electric grid that
is composed of both distribution and transmission lines, and
associated facilities, including substations, sensors, and
operational controls.
(4) Intelligence.--The term ``intelligence'' means any
devices or technologies that manifest adaptive, anticipatory,
and dynamic optimization behavior.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND DEPLOYMENT PLAN FOR ENHANCED INTEGRATION OF CLEAN
DISTRIBUTED ENERGY WITH THE GRID.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall carry out efforts for
advancing the integration of clean distributed energy into electric
grids.
(b) Study and Report on the Status of Grid Integration.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, after consultation with
State public utility commissions, State energy offices,
regional transmission organizations, electric and natural gas
utilities, independent power producers, clean distributed
energy providers, public interest organizations, and other
appropriate stakeholders, shall conduct a study on the status
of integration of clean distributed energy into the grid,
identifying any issues that require additional research or
regulatory development.
(2) Inclusions.--In conducting the study under paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall--
(A) identify and quantify the benefits to all
stakeholders of expanded integration of clean
distributed energy resources into the grid;
(B) identify any technical issues (including
cybersecurity concerns) that require research to
identify solutions; and
(C) identify any regulatory barriers that inhibit
the expanded integration of clean distributed energy
resources into the grid.
(3) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
report describing the results of the study conducted under
paragraph (1).
(4) Best practices.--Based on the findings of the report
described in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall establish and
distribute to States best practices to encourage the
integration of clean distributed energy into the grid.
(5) Funding.--The Secretary shall use unobligated funds of
the Department of Energy to carry out this subsection.
(c) Research Into the Technical Barriers to the Integration of
Clean Distributed Energy With the Grid.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall--
(A) issue a solicitation for research proposals to
address the technical barriers identified in the report
submitted under subsection (b)(3); and
(B) make grants to those applicants with research
proposals selected by the Secretary in accordance with
paragraph (2).
(2) Criteria.--The Secretary shall select research
proposals to receive a grant under this subsection on the basis
of merit, using criteria identified by the Secretary, including
the likelihood that the research results will address critical
barriers identified by the Secretary.
(3) Funding.--Beginning in the first full fiscal year
following the date of enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter for 2 years, the Secretary may request funding as
necessary to carry out this subsection, but in no case shall
funding exceed $5,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year.
(d) Creation of a Stakeholder Working Group.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall convene a working
group (referred to in this subsection as the ``Group'') to
address regulatory barriers to deployment of intelligent grid
integration of clean distributed energy technologies.
(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the Group is to provide
guidance on how to address the regulatory and economic factors
that limit widespread integration of grid-level clean
distributed energy use in order to advance the integration of
clean distributed energy into electric grids.
(3) Membership.--The Group shall be composed of--
(A) representatives from--
(i) State public utility commissions;
(ii) State energy offices;
(iii) regional transmission organizations;
(iv) electric and natural gas utilities;
(v) independent power producers;
(vi) clean distributed energy providers;
and
(vii) public interest organizations; and
(B) any other appropriate stakeholders determined
by the Secretary to have a material interest in the
development, implementation, siting, and integration of
clean distributed energy technology or systems into the
electric grid.
(4) Duties.--The duties of the Group shall be--
(A) to review the regulatory barriers identified in
the report prepared by the Secretary under subsection
(b)(3);
(B) to identify any additional regulatory barriers
that inhibit the installation of distributed energy;
and
(C) to recommend to the Secretary actions that
should be considered to remove the barriers identified
under subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(5) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit
to Congress a report based on the recommendations of the Group
under paragraph (4)(C), to be made publicly available.
(6) Funding.--The Secretary may request funding as
necessary to carry out this subsection, but in no case shall
funding exceed $2,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year.
(e) Demonstrations of Intelligent Grid Integration of Clean
Distributed Energy Systems.--
(1) In general.--Based on the findings in the reports
conducted under this section and not later than 3 years after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a
solicitation for demonstration of integration of distributed
energy resources into the grid.
(2) Eligible entities.--Any individual entity or group of
entities may submit to the Secretary proposals for
demonstration projects based on the solicitation described in
paragraph (1), including--
(A) State and local agencies;
(B) public institutions;
(C) private companies;
(D) electric and natural gas utilities; and
(E) equipment manufacturers.
(3) Grants authorized.--The Secretary may make grants, in
amounts not to exceed a total of $5,000,000, to eligible
entities to carry out demonstration projects, to be selected
based on--
(A) the technical merits of the demonstration
project;
(B) the likelihood that the demonstration project
will address critical barriers identified by the
Secretary under this section; and
(C) the share of non-Federal funds for the
demonstration project.
(4) Funding.--Beginning in the third full fiscal year
following the date of enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter for 3 years, the Secretary may request funding as
necessary to carry out this subsection, but in no case shall
funding exceed $15,000,000 in any 1 fiscal year.
(f) Report.--The Secretary annually shall submit to Congress a
report that--
(1) describes the progress made in carrying out this
section; and
(2) identifies any technical or regulatory issues that
require legislative action.
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