II
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1175
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 3, 2009
Ms. Cantwell 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 authorize the Secretary of Energy to make loans to electric utilities to carry out projects to comply with any Federal renewable electricity standard, and for other purposes.
Loans for projects to comply with Federal renewable electricity standard
Section 610 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (as added by section 2(a) of the American Renewable Electricity Production Act of 2009) is amended—
by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as subsections (l) and (m), respectively; and
by inserting after subsection (j) the following:
Loans for projects To comply with Federal renewable electricity standard
Purposes
The purposes of this subsection are—
to reduce the cost incurred by electric utilities in complying with the requirements of this section; and
to minimize the impact of the requirements on electricity rates for consumers.
Loans
The Secretary shall make loans available to electric utilities to carry out qualified projects approved by the Secretary to comply with the requirements of this section.
Qualified projects
In general
A loan may be made under this subsection for a project—
to construct a renewable energy generation facility;
to install an energy efficiency or electricity demand reduction technology; or
to carry out any other project approved by the Secretary that the Secretary determines is consistent with the purposes of this subsection.
Disapproval
The Secretary may disapprove an application for a loan for a project under this subsection if the Secretary determines that—
the revenues generated under the project are unlikely to be sufficient to cover the repayment obligations of the proposed loan; or
the project is not otherwise consistent with the purposes of this subsection.
Terms
A loan made by the Secretary to an electric utility under this subsection shall—
be for a term of not to exceed 30 years; and
bear an annual interest rate that is 50 basis points more than the Federal funds rate established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Priority
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the debt to the Federal Government under a loan made to an electric utility under this subsection shall have priority in any case in which the electric utility files for bankruptcy protection under title 11, United States Code.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this subsection.
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