[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3209 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3209
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to
improve the resiliency of the power grid to natural disasters and
reduce the risk of wildfires caused by power lines, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 13, 2021
Mr. Neguse (for himself and Mr. Schrader) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to
improve the resiliency of the power grid to natural disasters and
reduce the risk of wildfires caused by power lines, 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 ``Disaster Safe Power Grid Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means an
electric utility, including--
(A) a publicly owned electric utility;
(B) a municipal electric utility;
(C) a cooperatively owned electric utility;
(D) an investor-owned electric utility; and
(E) a Federal agency or federally owned corporation
that is an electric utility (as defined in section 3 of
the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796)).
(2) Power line.--The term ``power line'' includes a
transmission line or a distribution line, as applicable.
(3) Program.--The term ``program'' means the program
established under subsection (b).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish within the Office
of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability a program under which
the Secretary shall make grants to eligible entities to carry out
activities that--
(1) are supplemental to existing power grid-hardening
efforts of the eligible entity planned for any given year;
(2) are designed to enhance public safety; and
(3)(A) reduce the risk of any power lines owned or operated
by the eligible entity causing a wildfire; or
(B) increase the resiliency of the power grid to withstand
natural disasters, such as earthquakes, ice storms, wind
storms, snow storms, heat storms, and other natural disasters.
(c) Application.--
(1) In general.--An eligible entity desiring a grant under
the program shall submit to the Secretary an application at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as
the Secretary may require.
(2) Requirement.--As a condition of receiving a grant under
the program, an eligible entity shall submit to the Secretary
as part of the application of the eligible entity under
paragraph (1)--
(A) a wildfire mitigation plan, if the eligible
entity seeks a grant for purposes of implementing a
project or otherwise carrying out activities to reduce
wildfire risk, as described in subsection (b)(3)(A); or
(B) a report detailing past, current, and future
efforts by the eligible entity to improve the
resiliency of the power grid with respect to natural
disasters, if the eligible entity seeks a grant for
purposes of increasing the resiliency of the power
grid, as described in subsection (b)(3)(B).
(d) Use of Grant Funds.--An eligible entity may use a grant
provided under the program--
(1) for the undergrounding of new and existing power lines
and circuits;
(2) to harden overhead power lines with fire resistant or
more resilient equipment, such as steel poles and covered
wires;
(3) to replace obsolete overhead conductors and underground
cables;
(4) to install fast-tripping protection systems;
(5) to construct and operate 1 or more weather monitoring
stations;
(6) to install fault location equipment or early fault
detection equipment;
(7) for the relocation of power lines to roadways;
(8) to carry out vegetation or fuels management activities
in accordance with Federal, State, and local laws (including
regulations);
(9) to install technology or equipment to mitigate hazards
from or to animals and related damage to the power grid;
(10) to install cameras, sensors, or other technology that
provides real-time information about conditions;
(11) to install technology to detect downed conductors;
(12) for the installation of electrical facilities
necessary to sustain targeted microgrid operations, including
storage for the integration of distributed energy resources
into power grid operations, for the benefit of community
resiliency following a main power grid outage;
(13) to harden facilities, substations, and other systems
for seismic events; and
(14) for other, related power grid upgrades to reduce the
risk of wildfire ignition or damage from natural disasters.
(e) Priority.--In making grants under the program, the Secretary
shall give priority to projects that, in the determination of the
Secretary, will generate the greatest community benefit in improving
power grid resiliency to natural disasters or reducing the risk of
wildfire ignition from power lines or equipment relative to the cost of
the project.
(f) Set Asides.--
(1) Wildfire set aside.--In making grants under the
program, the Secretary shall ensure that not less than 40
percent of the total amounts made available to eligible
entities under the program are made available to eligible
entities that seek a grant for purposes of implementing a
project or otherwise carrying out activities to reduce wildfire
risk, as described in subsection (b)(3)(A).
(2) Small utilities set aside.--In making grants under the
program, the Secretary shall ensure that not less than 20
percent of the amounts made available to eligible entities
under the program are made available to eligible entities that
sell not more than 4,000,000 megawatt hours of electricity per
year.
(g) Matching Requirement.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), as a
condition of receiving a grant under the program, an eligible
entity shall provide matching funds in the form of cash or an
in-kind contribution in an amount equal to not less than 100
percent of the amounts made available under the grant.
(2) Exception for small utilities.--With respect to an
eligible entity that sells not more than 4,000,000 megawatt
hours of electricity per year, as a condition of receiving a
grant under the program, the eligible entity shall provide
matching funds in the form of cash or an in-kind contribution
in an amount equal to not less than \1/3\ of the amounts made
available under the grant.
(3) Existing efforts.--On approval by the Secretary,
amounts expended by an eligible entity on power grid resiliency
or wildfire risk mitigation efforts during the 1-year period
ending on the date on which a grant is received under the
program shall count toward the matching requirement described
in paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable.
(h) Federal Power Marketing Administrations.--Any amounts made
available to a Federal power marketing administration pursuant to a
grant under the program shall be nonreimbursable.
(i) Biennial Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary
shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives a report describing the manner in which, and the extent
to which--
(1) the resiliency of the power grid has increased under
the program during the period covered by the report; and
(2) the risk of wildfires caused by power lines has been
reduced under the program during the period covered by the
report.
(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program $10,000,000,000
for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2031.
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