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.

1.

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— (1)by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as subsections (l) and (m), respectively; and (2)by inserting after subsection (j) the following: (k)

Loans for projects To comply with Federal renewable electricity standard

(1)

Purposes

The purposes of this subsection are— (A)to reduce the cost incurred by electric utilities in complying with the requirements of this section; and (B)to minimize the impact of the requirements on electricity rates for consumers. (2)

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. (3)

Qualified projects

(A)

In general

A loan may be made under this subsection for a project— (i)to construct a renewable energy generation facility; (ii)to install an energy efficiency or electricity demand reduction technology; or (iii)to carry out any other project approved by the Secretary that the Secretary determines is consistent with the purposes of this subsection. (B)

Disapproval

The Secretary may disapprove an application for a loan for a project under this subsection if the Secretary determines that— (i)the revenues generated under the project are unlikely to be sufficient to cover the repayment obligations of the proposed loan; or (ii)the project is not otherwise consistent with the purposes of this subsection. (4)

Terms

A loan made by the Secretary to an electric utility under this subsection shall— (A)be for a term of not to exceed 30 years; and (B)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. (5)

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. (6)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this subsection. .