[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1052 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1052

    To require a study on the impact of State and local performance 
  benchmarking and disclosure policies for commercial and multifamily 
buildings, to provide for competitive awards to utilities, States, and 
           units of local government, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 22, 2015

  Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require a study on the impact of State and local performance 
  benchmarking and disclosure policies for commercial and multifamily 
buildings, to provide for competitive awards to utilities, States, and 
           units of local government, 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. ENERGY INFORMATION STUDY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (referred to in this Act as the 
``Secretary'') shall complete a study, with opportunity for public 
comment--
            (1) on the impact of--
                    (A) State and local performance benchmarking and 
                disclosure policies, and any associated building 
                efficiency policies, for commercial and multifamily 
                buildings; and
                    (B) programs and systems in which utilities provide 
                aggregated information regarding whole building energy 
                consumption and usage information to owners of 
                multitenant commercial, residential, and mixed-use 
                buildings;
            (2) that identifies best practice policy approaches studied 
        under paragraph (1) that have resulted in the greatest 
        improvements in building energy efficiency; and
            (3) that considers--
                    (A) compliance rates and the benefits and costs of 
                the policies and programs on building owners, 
                utilities, tenants, and other parties;
                    (B) utility practices, programs, and systems that 
                provide aggregated energy consumption information to 
                multitenant building owners, and the impact of public 
                utility commissions and State privacy laws on those 
                practices, programs, and systems;
                    (C) exceptions to compliance in existing laws where 
                building owners are not able to gather or access whole 
                building energy information from tenants or utilities;
                    (D) the treatment of buildings with--
                            (i) multiple uses;
                            (ii) uses for which baseline information is 
                        not available; and
                            (iii) uses that require high levels of 
                        energy intensities, such as data centers, 
                        trading floors, and television studios;
                    (E) implementation practices, including disclosure 
                methods and phase-in of compliance;
                    (F) the safety and security of benchmarking tools 
                offered by government agencies, and the resiliency of 
                those tools against cyber attacks; and
                    (G) international experiences with regard to 
                building benchmarking and disclosure laws and data 
                aggregation for multitenant buildings.
    (b) Submission to Congress.--At the conclusion of the study, the 
Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the results of the 
study.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO UTILITIES.

    (a) Grants to Utilities.--Based on the results of the research for 
the portion of the study described in section 1(a)(1)(B), and with 
criteria developed following public notice and comment, the Secretary 
may make competitive awards to utilities, utility regulators, and 
utility partners to develop and implement effective and promising 
programs to provide aggregated whole building energy consumption 
information to multitenant building owners.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2016 through 2020, to remain available until expended.

SEC. 3. GRANTS TO STATES AND UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

    (a) Grants to Utilities.--Based on the results of the research for 
the portion of the study described in section 1(a)(1)(B), and with 
criteria developed following public notice and comment, the Secretary 
may make competitive awards to States and units of local government to 
develop and implement effective and promising benchmarking and 
disclosure policies, and any associated building efficiency policies, 
for commercial and multifamily buildings.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2016 through 2020, to remain available until expended.

SEC. 4. INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS.

    The Secretary shall seek input from stakeholders to maximize the 
effectiveness of the actions taken under this Act.

SEC. 5. REPORT.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
report on the progress made in complying with this Act.
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