To establish a renewable portfolio standard.

SA 791. Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. Coleman, Mr. Jeffords, Ms.
Collins, Mr. Dorgan, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Reid, Mr.
Salazar, Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr.
Johnson, and Ms. Snowe) proposed an amendment to the bill H.R. 6,
Reserved; as follows:

At the end of title II, add the following:

Subtitle F--Renewable Portfolio Standard

SEC. 271. RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD.

Title VI of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of
1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end
the following:

``SEC. 609. FEDERAL RENEWABLE PORTFOLIO STANDARD.

``(a) Renewable Energy Requirement.--
``(1) In general.--Each electric utility that sells
electricity to electric consumers shall obtain a percentage
of the base amount of electricity it sells to electric
consumers in any calendar year from new renewable energy or
existing renewable energy. The percentage obtained in a
calendar year shall not be less than the amount specified in
the following table:

``Calendar year:                             Minimum annual percentage:
2008 through 2011............................................2.5 ....

2012 through 2015............................................5.0 ....

2016 through 2019............................................7.5 ....

2020 through 2030...........................................10.0.....

``(2) Means of compliance.--An electric utility shall meet
the requirements of paragraph (1) by--
``(A) generating electric energy using new renewable energy
or existing renewable energy;
``(B) purchasing electric energy generated by new renewable
energy or existing renewable energy;
``(C) purchasing renewable energy credits issued under
subsection (b); or
``(D) a combination of the foregoing.
``(b) Renewable Energy Credit Trading Program.--
``(1) Not later than January 1, 2007, the Secretary shall
establish a renewable energy credit trading program to permit
an electric utility that does not generate or purchase enough
electric energy from renewable energy to meet its obligations
under subsection (a)(1) to satisfy such requirements by
purchasing sufficient renewable energy credits.
``(2) As part of such program the Secretary shall--
``(A) issue renewable energy credits to generators of
electric energy from new renewable energy;
``(B) sell renewable energy credits to electric utilities
at the rate of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (as adjusted for
inflation under subsection (g));
``(C) ensure that a kilowatt hour, including the associated
renewable energy credit, shall be used only once for purposes
of compliance with this section; and
``(D) allow double credits for generation from facilities
on Indian Lands, and triple credits for generation from small
renewable distributed generators (meaning those those no
larger than 1 megawatt).
``(3) Credits under paragraph (2)(A) may only be used for
compliance with this section for 3 years from the date
issued.
``(c) Enforcement.--
``(1) Civil penalties.--Any electric utility that fails to
meet the renewable energy requirements of subsection (a)
shall be subject to a civil penalty.
``(2) Amount of penalty.--The amount of the civil penalty
shall be determined by multiplying the number of kilowatt-
hours of electric energy sold to electric consumers in
violation of subsection (a) by the greater of 1.5 cents
(adjusted for inflation under subsection (g)) or 200 percent
of the average market value of renewable energy credits
during the year in which the violation occurred.
``(3) Mitigation or waiver.--The Secretary may mitigate or
waive a civil penalty under this subsection if the electric
utility was unable to comply with subsection (a) for reasons
outside of the reasonable control of the utility. The
Secretary shall reduce the amount of any penalty determined
under paragraph (2) by an amount paid by the electric utility
to a State for failure to comply with the requirement of a
State renewable energy program if the State requirement is
greater than the applicable requirement of subsection (a).
``(4) Procedure for assessing penalty.--The Secretary shall
assess a civil penalty under this subsection in accordance
with the procedures prescribed by section 333(d) of the
Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 6303).
``(d) State Renewable Energy Account Program.--
``(1) The Secretary shall establish, not later than
December 31, 2008, a State renewable energy account program.
``(2) All money collected by the Secretary from the sale of
renewable energy credits and the assessment of civil
penalties under this section shall be deposited into the
renewable energy account established pursuant to this
subsection. The State renewable energy account shall be held
by the Secretary and shall not be transferred to the Treasury
Department.
``(3) Proceeds deposited in the State renewable energy
account shall be used by the Secretary, subject to
appropriations, for a program to provide grants to the State
agency responsible for developing State energy conservation
plans under section 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation
Act (42 U.S.C. 6322) for the purposes of promoting renewable
energy production, including programs that promote
technologies that reduce the use of electricity at customer
sites such as solar water heating.
``(4) The Secretary may issue guidelines and criteria for
grants awarded under this subsection. State energy offices
receiving grants under this section shall maintain such
records and evidence of compliance as the Secretary may
require.
``(5) In allocating funds under this program, the Secretary
shall give preference--
``(A) to States in regions which have a disproportionately
small share of economically sustainable renewable energy
generation capacity; and
``(B) to State programs to stimulate or enhance innovative
renewable energy technologies.
``(e) Rules.--The Secretary shall issue rules implementing
this section not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this section.
``(f) Exemptions.--This section shall not apply in any
calendar year to an electric utility--
``(1) that sold less than 4,000,000 megawatt-hours of
electric energy to electric consumers during the preceding
calendar year; or
``(2) in Hawaii.
``(g) Inflation Adjustment.--Not later than December 31 of
each year beginning in 2008, the Secretary shall adjust for
inflation the price of a renewable energy credit under
subsection (b)(2)(B) and the amount of the civil penalty per
kilowatt-hour under subsection (c)(2).
``(h) State Programs.--Nothing in this section shall
diminish any authority of a State or political subdivision
thereof to adopt or enforce any law or regulation respecting
renewable energy, but, except as provided in subsection
(c)(3), no such law or regulation shall relieve any person of
any requirement otherwise applicable under this section. The
Secretary, in consultation with States having such renewable
energy programs, shall, to the maximum extent practicable,
facilitate coordination between the Federal program and State
programs.
``(i) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
``(1) Base amount of electricity.--The term `base amount of
electricity' means the total amount of electricity sold by an
electric utility to electric consumers in a calendar year,
excluding--
``(A) electricity generated by a hydroelectric facility
(including a pumped storage facility but excluding
incremental hydropower); and
``(B) electricity generated through the incineration of
municipal solid waste.
``(2) Distributed generation facility.--The term
`distributed generation facility' means a facility at a
customer site.
``(3) Existing renewable energy.--The term `existing
renewable energy' means, except as provided in paragraph
(7)(B), electric energy generated at a facility (including a
distributed generation facility) placed in service prior to
the date of enactment of this section from solar, wind, or
geothermal energy; ocean energy; biomass (as defined in
section 203(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005); or landfill
gas.
``(4) Geothermal energy.--The term `geothermal energy'
means energy derived from a geothermal deposit (within the
meaning of section 613(e)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986).
``(5) Incremental geothermal production.--
``(A) In general.--The term `incremental geothermal
production' means for any year the excess of--
``(i) the total kilowatt hours of electricity produced from
a facility (including a distributed generation facility)
using geothermal energy, over
``(ii) the average annual kilowatt hours produced at such
facility for 5 of the previous 7 calendar years before the
date of enactment of this section after eliminating the
highest and the lowest kilowatt hour production years in such
7-year period.
``(B) Special rule.--A facility described in subparagraph
(A) which was placed in service at least 7 years before the
date of enactment of this section shall commencing with the
year in which such date of enactment occurs, reduce the
amount calculated under subparagraph (A)(ii) each year, on a
cumulative basis, by the average percentage decrease in the
annual kilowatt hour production for the 7-year period
described in subparagraph (A)(ii) with such cumulative sum
not to exceed 30 percent.
``(6) Incremental hydropower.--The term `incremental
hydropower' means additional energy generated as a result of
efficiency improvements or capacity additions made on or
after the date of enactment of this section or the effective
date of an existing applicable State renewable portfolio
standard program at a hydroelectric facility that was placed
in service before that date. The term does not include
additional energy generated as a result of operational
changes not directly associated with efficiency improvements
or capacity additions. Efficiency improvements and capacity
additions shall be measured on the basis of the same water
flow information used to determine a historic average annual

[[Page S6770]]

generation baseline for the hydroelectric facility and
certified by the Secretary or the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
``(7) New renewable energy.--The term `new renewable
energy' means--
``(A) electric energy generated at a facility (including a
distributed generation facility) placed in service on or
after January 1, 2003, from--
``(i) solar, wind, or geothermal energy or ocean energy;
``(ii) biomass (as defined in section 203(a) of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005);
``(iii) landfill gas; or
``(iv) incremental hydropower; and
``(B) for electric energy generated at a facility
(including a distributed generation facility) placed in
service prior to the date of enactment of this section--
``(i) the additional energy above the average generation in
the 3 years preceding the date of enactment of this section
at the facility from--

``(I) solar or wind energy or ocean energy;
``(II) biomass (as defined in section 203(a) of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005);
``(III) landfill gas; or
``(IV) incremental hydropower.

``(ii) the incremental geothermal production.
``(8) Ocean energy.--The term `ocean energy' includes
current, wave, tidal, and thermal energy.
``(j) Sunset.--This section expires on December 31,
2030.''.
______