[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2241 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2241
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require
States to consider measures to promote greater electrification of the
transportation sector, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 2021
Mr. Hickenlooper (for himself and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require
States to consider measures to promote greater electrification of the
transportation sector, 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 ``Responsibly and Equitably Change How
Auto-charging Rates Get Evaluated Act'' or the ``RECHARGE Act''.
SEC. 2. CONSIDERATION OF MEASURES TO PROMOTE GREATER ELECTRIFICATION OF
THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR.
(a) In General.--Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(20) Electric vehicle charging programs.--Each State
shall consider measures to promote greater electrification of
the transportation sector, including the establishment of rates
that--
``(A) promote affordable and equitable electric
vehicle charging options for residential, commercial,
and public electric vehicle charging infrastructure;
``(B) improve the customer experience associated
with electric vehicle charging, including by reducing
charging times for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty
vehicles;
``(C) accelerate both third-party investment and
investments by electric utilities in electric vehicle
charging stations for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty
vehicles; and
``(D) appropriately recover the marginal costs of
delivering electricity to electric vehicles and
electric vehicle charging infrastructure.''.
(b) Compliance.--
(1) Time limitation.--Section 112(b) of the Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(b)) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
``(7)(A) Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with
respect to each electric utility for which the State has
ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated utility shall
commence consideration under section 111, or set a hearing date
for consideration, with respect to the standard established by
paragraph (20) of section 111(d).
``(B) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this paragraph, each State regulatory authority (with respect
to each electric utility for which the State has ratemaking
authority), and each nonregulated electric utility shall
complete the consideration and make the determination under
section 111 with respect to the standard established by
paragraph (20) of section 111(d).''.
(2) Failure to comply.--Section 112(c) of the Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) is
amended by adding at the end the following: ``In the case of
the standard established by paragraph (20) of section 111(d),
the reference contained in this subsection to the date of
enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the
date of enactment of that paragraph.''.
(3) Prior state actions.--
(A) In general.--Section 112 of the Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2622) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Prior State Actions.--Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply
to the standard established by paragraph (20) of section 111(d) in the
case of any electric utility in a State if, before the date of
enactment of this subsection--
``(1) the State has implemented for the electric utility
the standard (or a comparable standard);
``(2) the State regulatory authority for the State or the
relevant nonregulated electric utility has conducted a
proceeding to consider implementation of the standard (or a
comparable standard) for the electric utility; or
``(3) the State legislature has voted on the implementation
of the standard (or a comparable standard) for the electric
utility during the 3-year period ending on that date of
enactment.''.
(B) Cross-reference.--Section 124 of the Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C.
2634) is amended--
(i) by striking ``this subsection'' each
place it appears and inserting ``this
section''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``In the case of the standard established by
paragraph (20) of section 111(d), the reference
contained in this section to the date of
enactment of this Act shall be deemed to be a
reference to the date of enactment of that
paragraph.''.
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