[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5375 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5375

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the energy credit 
              for certain ocean thermal energy equipment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 10, 2019

 Ms. Gabbard (for herself and Mr. Case) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the energy credit 
              for certain ocean thermal energy equipment.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``E. Cooper Brown 
Ocean Clean Energy Act of 2019''.
    (b) Findings Related to Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion.--Congress 
finds the following with respect to ocean thermal energy conversion 
(OTEC):
            (1) OTEC is a clean energy technology that produces energy 
        by using temperature differentials between cooler deep and warm 
        surface seawaters.
            (2) OTEC technology has the potential to produce massive 
        levels of clean energy to generate electricity.
            (3) Deployment of OTEC technology will reduce greenhouse 
        gases and reliance on fossil fuels.
            (4) In tropical and subtropical remote locations, 
        electricity is expensive to generate. Power generated from OTEC 
        technology will be inexpensive when compared to the unit cost 
        of power from a traditional oil based electrical generation 
        system.
            (5) OTEC generated energy would reduce operational costs 
        for remote military bases such as Kwajalein and Diego Garcia;.
            (6) The United States became involved in OTEC research in 
        1974 with the establishment of the Natural Energy Laboratory of 
        Hawaii Authority. The laboratory is one of the world's leading 
        test facilities for OTEC technology. The United States Navy 
        supported the development of a 105 kW demonstration OTEC plant 
        at the laboratory site. This facility became operational in 
        2015 and supplies electricity to the local electricity grid.
            (7) In certain regions, onshore OTEC plants are also 
        feasible and they can be configured to support seawater or lake 
        water air conditioning (SWAC/LWAC) systems for refrigeration 
        and cooling, agriculture, and desalination systems for water 
        purification.
            (8) Economic benefits of OTEC include reduced fuel imports, 
        stable utilities pricing, reduced capital expense to power 
        companies and governments, and significant energy costs 
        savings.
            (9) Social benefits of OTEC include and an ability to 
        produce freshwater and promotion of aquaculture.
    (c) Findings Related to Seawater Air Conditioning.--Congress finds 
the following with respect to seawater air conditioning (SWAC):
            (1) SWAC is an alternate-energy system that uses the cold 
        water from the deep ocean (and in some cases a deep lake) to 
        cool buildings.
            (2) SWAC was developed as a secondary benefit in the 
        development of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) and can 
        be used in conjunction with an OTEC system or as a standalone 
        alternate energy system.
            (3) The basic process involves water that is pumped from a 
        deep cold-water source (ocean or lake) and then passed through 
        a heat exchanger. A closed-loop freshwater water distribution 
        system is pumped through a heat exchanger cooling the water and 
        the cooled water is distributed throughout a building or group 
        of buildings (i.e., a district cooling system).
            (4) The SWAC technology has been proven successful with 
        large systems at Cornell University, Toronto, Canada, and the 
        Natural Energy Authority of Hawaii (NELHA).
            (5) Environmental benefits of SWAC include being a clean, 
        renewable source of energy, decreased reliance on fossil fuels 
        for cooling, and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
            (6) Economic benefits of SWAC include stable long-term 
        energy costs and independence from market trends, reduced 
        operating costs (including lower costs in fuel, freshwater, 
        equipment, and equipment maintenance), and being a cost-
        effective and attractive energy technology investment.

SEC. 2. ENERGY CREDIT FOR CERTAIN OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY PROPERTY.

    (a) In General.--Section 48(a)(3)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended by striking ``or'' at the end of clause (vi), by 
adding ``or'' at the end of clause (vii), and by adding at the end the 
following new clause:
                            ``(viii) equipment which converts ocean 
                        thermal energy to usable energy or which uses 
                        ocean water as a thermal energy sink to cool a 
                        structure,''.
    (b) 15-Percent Credit.--Section 48(a)(2)(A) of such Code is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i)(IV);
            (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii);
            (3) by striking ``any energy property to which clause (i) 
        does not apply'' in clause (iii) (as so redesignated) and 
        inserting ``any other energy property''; and
            (4) by inserting after clause (i) the following new clause:
                            ``(ii) 15 percent in the case of any energy 
                        property described in paragraph (3)(A)(viii), 
                        and''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to periods after December 31, 2019, under rules similar to the 
rules of section 48(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as in 
effect on the day before the date of the enactment of the Revenue 
Reconciliation Act of 1990).
                                 <all>