HR-8 : Still Just a Bill

North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2015

This bill amends the Natural Gas Act to revise procedures for consideration by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of applications for federal authorization of the exportation or importation of natural gas, including a deadline for a final decision on a federal authorization within 90 days after FERC issues its final environmental document.

The Federal Power Act (FPA) is amended to require FERC, in resolving environmental and grid reliability conflicts, to ensure that any emergency order which may result in conflict with federal, state, or local environmental law or regulations:

• requires electric energy generation, delivery, interchange, or transmission only during hours necessary to meet the emergency;
• is consistent with environmental law or regulation; and
• minimizes adverse environmental impacts.

The Department of Energy (DOE) shall:

• adopt procedures, among other things, to improve communication and coordination between DOE's energy response team, federal partners, and the oil and natural gas industry regarding enhanced emergency preparedness for natural disasters; and
• order emergency measures to protect the reliability of either the bulk-power system or the defense critical electric infrastructure in the event of an imminent grid security emergency.

DOE shall submit to Congress a plan to establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve for the storage of spare large power transformers in numbers sufficient to temporarily replace critically damaged large power transformers. DOE may also establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve in accordance with the Plan.

DOE shall establish a voluntary Cyber Sense program to identify and promote cyber-secure products intended for use in the bulk-power system.

The bill amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require each electric utility to:

• develop a plan to use resiliency-related technologies and other approaches designed to improve the resilience of electric infrastructure, mitigate power outages, continue delivery of vital services, and maintain the flow of power to critical facilities;
• develop and implement a plan for deploying advanced energy analytics technologies; and
• adopt or modify policies to ensure that such electric utility incorporates reliable generation into its integrated resource plan.

DOE shall implement a comprehensive education and training program for underrepresented groups to increase the number of skilled workers in energy and manufacturing-related jobs.

DOE must report to Congress on: (1) recommended U.S. energy security valuation methods; and (2) a recommended framework and implementation strategy for a North American energy security plan to improve planning and coordination with Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean and Central American partners.

DOE shall convene at least two energy security forums to promote the collective energy security of the United States, its allies, and its trading partners.

DOE must conduct a long-range strategic review of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and transmit to Congress an implementation schedule specifying near-term and long-term roles of the SPR relative to U.S energy security and economic goals and objectives.

The bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to require federal agency coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, DOE, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop an implementation strategy for federal maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies.

DOE shall:

• involve information technology industry and other key stakeholders in the voluntary national information program for energy efficient data centers,
• maintain a data center energy practitioner program that leads to certification of energy practitioners qualified to evaluate energy usage and efficiency opportunities in federal data centers,
• establish an open data initiative for federal data center energy usage,
• participate in efforts to harmonize global specifications and metrics for data center energy and water efficiency, and
• report to Congress on the impact of thermal insulation on energy and water use systems for potable hot and chilled water in federal buildings.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended to treat certain thermal energy projects as renewable energy with respect to the federal electric energy purchase requirement.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) is amended to require:

• FERC to initiate a rulemaking to consider making prominent a special note on the Energy Guide label for any product that includes Smart Grid capability,
• DOE and EPA to rely upon testing conducted by recognized voluntary verification programs to verify compliance with energy conservation standards and Energy Star specifications, and
• DOE to publish a final rule on whether the standards for non-weatherized natural gas furnaces and mobile home gas furnaces should be amended.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is amended to require institution of higher education-based industrial research and assessment centers to: (1) assess sustainable manufacturing goals and information technology advancements for supply chain analysis, logistics, system monitoring, and industrial and manufacturing processes; and (2) engage in outreach activities to inform small- and medium-sized manufacturers of available information, technologies, and services.

The National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) is amended with respect to the use of energy and water efficiency measures in federal buildings.

DOE shall report to the President and Congress on the status of: (1) each agency's energy savings performance contracts, (2) utility energy service contracts, (3) the investment value of such contracts, (4) the guaranteed energy savings for the previous year as compared to the actual energy savings for the previous year, (5) the plan for entering into such contracts in the coming year, and (6) an explanation why any previously submitted plans for such contracts were not implemented.

Under NECPA, furthermore, a federal agency, in entering energy savings performance contracts, may not limit the recognition of operation and maintenance savings associated with implementation of energy and water conservation measures, but it may sell or transfer energy savings and apply the proceeds to fund such a contract.

The EPCA is amended to direct DOE to establish a clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding available federal programs and financing mechanisms that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, distributed generation, and energy retrofitting projects for schools.

The FPA is further amended to to rename the FERC Office of Public Participation as the Office of Compliance Assistance and Public Participation.

The Government Accountability Office shall study whether and how current market rules, practices, and structures of each regional transmission entity produce rates that are just and reasonable by performing certain activities.