Sec. 31101. Program to enhance electric infrastructure resilience, reliability, and energy security
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/bill/116/hr/2741/ih/section-31101·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
The Secretary of Energy shall establish a competitive grant program to provide grants to States, units of local government, and Indian tribe economic development entities to enhance energy security through measures for electricity delivery infrastructure hardening and enhanced resilience and reliability. The Secretary of Energy may make grants on a competitive basis to enable broader use of resiliency-related technologies, upgrades, and institutional measures and practices designed to— improve the resilience, reliability, and security of electricity delivery infrastructure; improve preparedness and restoration time to mitigate power disturbances resulting from physical and cyber attacks, electromagnetic pulse attacks, geomagnetic disturbances, seismic events, severe weather, and climate change; continue delivery of power to facilities critical to public health, safety, and welfare, including hospitals, assisted living facilities, and schools; continue delivery of power to electricity-dependent essential services, including fueling stations and pumps, wastewater and sewage treatment facilities, gas pipeline infrastructure, communications systems, transportation services and systems, and services provided by emergency first responders; enhance regional grid resilience and the resilience of electricity-dependent regional infrastructure; and facilitate greater incorporation of renewable energy generation into the electric grid.
Resiliency-related technologies, upgrades, and measures with respect to which grants may be made under this section include— hardening or enhanced protection of utility poles, wiring, cabling, and other distribution components, facilities, or structures; advanced grid technologies capable of isolating or repairing problems remotely, such as advanced metering infrastructure, high-tech sensors, grid monitoring and control systems, and remote reconfiguration and redundancy systems; cybersecurity products and components; distributed generation, including back-up generation to power critical facilities and essential services, and related integration components, such as advanced inverter technology; microgrid systems, including hybrid microgrid systems for isolated communities; combined heat and power; waste heat resources; non-grid-scale energy storage technologies; electronically controlled reclosers and similar technologies for power restoration; advanced energy analytics technology, such as internet-based and cloud-based computing solutions and subscription licensing models; efforts that enhance resilience through planning, preparation, response, and recovery activities; operational capabilities to enhance resilience through rapid response recovery; and efforts to ensure availability of key critical components through contracts, cooperative agreements, stockpiling and prepositioning, or other measures.
Specific projects or programs established, or to be established, pursuant to grants provided under this section shall be implemented through grant recipients by public and publicly regulated entities on a cost-shared basis. In carrying out projects or programs established, or to be established, pursuant to grants provided under this section, recipients shall cooperate, as applicable, with— State public utility commissions; State energy offices; electric infrastructure owners and operators; and other entities responsible for maintaining electric reliability.
To the extent practicable, grant recipients shall utilize the most current data, metrics, and frameworks related to— electricity delivery infrastructure hardening and enhancing resilience and reliability; and current and future threats, including physical and cyber attacks, electromagnetic pulse, geomagnetic disturbances, seismic events, severe weather, and climate change. Grant recipients shall demonstrate to the Secretary of Energy, with measurable and verifiable data, how the deployment of resiliency-related technologies, upgrades, and measures achieve improvements in the resiliency and recovery of electricity delivery infrastructure and related services, including a comparison of data collected before and after deployment.
Metrics for demonstrating improvements in resiliency and recovery may include— power quality during power disturbances when delivered power does not meet power quality requirements of the customer; duration of customer interruptions; number of customers impacted; cost impacts, including business and other economic losses; impacts on electricity-dependent essential services and critical facilities; and societal impacts. Grant recipients shall demonstrate to the Secretary of Energy how projects or programs established, or to be established, pursuant to grants provided under this section further applicable State and local energy assurance plans.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $515,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, of which not more than $15,000,000 per fiscal year may be used for administrative expenses.