Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB34 Compare Versions

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11 II
22 118THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION S. 34
55 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide loans
66 to manufacturers of energy grid products and components.
77 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
88 JANUARY24 (legislative day, JANUARY3), 2023
99 Mr. R
1010 UBIOintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
1111 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
1212 A BILL
1313 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program
1414 to provide loans to manufacturers of energy grid prod-
1515 ucts and components.
1616 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1717 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
1818 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
1919 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Facilitating the Re-4
2020 shoring of Energy Grid Component Manufacturing Act of 5
2121 2023’’. 6
2222 SEC. 2. ENERGY GRID PRODUCT AND COMPONENT MANU-7
2323 FACTURING IN THE UNITED STATES. 8
2424 (a) D
2525 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 9
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2929 (1) COMPONENT.—The term ‘‘component’’ 1
3030 means any part or element of an energy grid prod-2
3131 uct. 3
3232 (2) E
3333 LIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 4
3434 project’’ means a project to reequip, expand, or es-5
3535 tablish (including through new construction) a man-6
3636 ufacturing facility in the United States to produce 7
3737 energy grid products or components. 8
3838 (3) E
3939 NERGY GRID PRODUCT .—The term ‘‘en-9
4040 ergy grid product’’ means— 10
4141 (A) a bulk-power system (as defined in sec-11
4242 tion 215(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 12
4343 U.S.C. 824o(a))); 13
4444 (B) a large power transformer; 14
4545 (C) a switchgear or breaker; 15
4646 (D) a converter; 16
4747 (E) a direct current filter; 17
4848 (F) an alternating current switch or 18
4949 switchyard; 19
5050 (G) an insulated-gate bipolar transistor; 20
5151 (H) a capacitor; 21
5252 (I) an inductor; 22
5353 (J) an arrestor; 23
5454 (K) a resistor; 24
5555 (L) a distribution transformer; 25
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5959 (M) grain-oriented electrical steel; 1
6060 (N) continuously transposed conduction 2
6161 (CTC) copper wire; 3
6262 (O) silicon steel; 4
6363 (P) any insulating material; and 5
6464 (Q) any other electrical equipment com-6
6565 monly used for the transmission or distribution 7
6666 of electric energy by public electric utilities. 8
6767 (4) S
6868 ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9
6969 the Secretary of Energy. 10
7070 (b) L
7171 OANPROGRAM.— 11
7272 (1) E
7373 STABLISHMENT.— 12
7474 (A) I
7575 N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 13
7676 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 14
7777 and subject to the availability of appropriated 15
7878 funds, the Secretary shall establish and carry 16
7979 out a program to provide a total of not more 17
8080 than $8,000,000,000 in loans to eligible individ-18
8181 uals and entities (as determined by the Sec-19
8282 retary) for the costs of activities relating to eli-20
8383 gible projects. 21
8484 (B) F
8585 INANCING METHOD.— 22
8686 (i) I
8787 N GENERAL.—Except as provided 23
8888 in clause (ii), a loan under this subsection 24
8989 shall be provided through the Federal Fi-25
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9393 nancing Bank, with the full faith and cred-1
9494 it of the United States Government on the 2
9595 principal and interest. 3
9696 (ii) C
9797 OOPERATION WITH OTHER INSTI -4
9898 TUTIONS.—A loan under this subsection 5
9999 may be provided in cooperation with 1 or 6
100100 more banks or other financial institutions 7
101101 through agreements to participate on an 8
102102 immediate or deferred (guaranteed) basis. 9
103103 (C) C
104104 REDIT SUBSIDY.—The full credit sub-10
105105 sidy for each loan provided under this sub-11
106106 section shall be paid by the Secretary using ap-12
107107 propriated funds. 13
108108 (2) A
109109 PPLICATION.—An individual or entity de-14
110110 siring a loan under this subsection shall submit to 15
111111 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 16
112112 manner, and containing such information as the Sec-17
113113 retary may require, including a written assurance 18
114114 that— 19
115115 (A) all laborers and mechanics employed 20
116116 by contractors or subcontractors during any 21
117117 construction, alteration, or repair that is fi-22
118118 nanced, in whole or in part, by a loan provided 23
119119 under this subsection shall be paid wages at 24
120120 rates not less than those prevailing on projects 25
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124124 of a character similar in the locality, as deter-1
125125 mined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance 2
126126 with sections 3141 through 3144, 3146, and 3
127127 3147 of title 40, United States Code; and 4
128128 (B) the Secretary of Labor shall, with re-5
129129 spect to the labor standards described in this 6
130130 paragraph, have the authority and functions set 7
131131 forth in Reorganization Plan Numbered 14 of 8
132132 1950 (5 U.S.C. App.) and section 3145 of title 9
133133 40, United States Code. 10
134134 (3) S
135135 ELECTION OF LOAN RECIPIENTS AND ELI -11
136136 GIBLE PROJECTS.— 12
137137 (A) I
138138 N GENERAL.—The Secretary may 13
139139 provide a loan under this subsection if the Sec-14
140140 retary determines that— 15
141141 (i) the loan recipient— 16
142142 (I) has a reasonable prospect of 17
143143 repaying the principal and interest on 18
144144 the loan; 19
145145 (II) will provide sufficient infor-20
146146 mation to the Secretary for the Sec-21
147147 retary to ensure that the loan pro-22
148148 ceeds are expended efficiently and ef-23
149149 fectively; and 24
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153153 (III) has met such other criteria 1
154154 as may be established and published 2
155155 by the Secretary; and 3
156156 (ii) the amount of the loan (when 4
157157 combined with amounts available to the 5
158158 loan recipient from other sources) will be 6
159159 sufficient to carry out the eligible project 7
160160 for which the loan is provided. 8
161161 (B) R
162162 EASONABLE PROSPECT OF REPAY -9
163163 MENT.—The Secretary shall base a determina-10
164164 tion of whether there is a reasonable prospect 11
165165 of repayment of the principal and interest on a 12
166166 loan under subparagraph (A)(i)(I) on a com-13
167167 prehensive evaluation of whether the loan re-14
168168 cipient has a reasonable prospect of repaying 15
169169 the principal and interest, including, as applica-16
170170 ble, an evaluation of— 17
171171 (i) the strength of the contractual 18
172172 terms of the applicable eligible project (if 19
173173 commercially reasonably available); 20
174174 (ii) the forecast of noncontractual 21
175175 cash flows supported by market projections 22
176176 from reputable sources, as determined by 23
177177 the Secretary; 24
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181181 (iii) cash sweeps and other structure 1
182182 enhancements; 2
183183 (iv) the projected financial strength of 3
184184 the loan recipient— 4
185185 (I) at the time of loan close; and 5
186186 (II) throughout the loan term 6
187187 after the applicable eligible project is 7
188188 completed; 8
189189 (v) the financial strength of the inves-9
190190 tors and strategic partners of the loan re-10
191191 cipient, if applicable; and 11
192192 (vi) other financial metrics and anal-12
193193 yses that are relied on by the private lend-13
194194 ing community and nationally recognized 14
195195 credit rating agencies, as determined to be 15
196196 appropriate by the Secretary. 16
197197 (4) R
198198 ATES, TERMS, AND REPAYMENT OF 17
199199 LOANS.—A loan provided under this subsection— 18
200200 (A) shall have an interest rate that, as of 19
201201 the date on which the loan is provided, is equal 20
202202 to the cost of funds to the Department of the 21
203203 Treasury for obligations of comparable matu-22
204204 rity; 23
205205 (B) shall have a term equal to the lesser 24
206206 of— 25
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210210 (i) the projected life, in years, of the 1
211211 eligible project to be carried out using pro-2
212212 ceeds from the loan, as determined by the 3
213213 Secretary; and 4
214214 (ii) 20 years; 5
215215 (C) may be subject to a deferral in repay-6
216216 ment for not more than 5 years after the date 7
217217 on which the eligible project carried out using 8
218218 proceeds from the loan first begins operations, 9
219219 as determined by the Secretary; 10
220220 (D) shall be made by the Federal Financ-11
221221 ing Bank; and 12
222222 (E) shall be subject to the condition that 13
223223 the loan is not subordinate to other financing. 14
224224 (5) C
225225 ONFLICTS OF INTEREST .—For each loan 15
226226 provided under this subsection, the Secretary shall 16
227227 certify that political influence did not affect the pro-17
228228 vision of the loan, including— 18
229229 (A) selection of the eligible project for 19
230230 which the loan was provided; and 20
231231 (B) selection of the loan recipient. 21
232232 (6) A
233233 DMINISTRATIVE FEE.—The Secretary may 22
234234 charge a fee for the administrative and closing costs 23
235235 of a loan provided under this subsection, subject to 24
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239239 the condition that the fee does not exceed the lesser 1
240240 of— 2
241241 (A) $100,000; and 3
242242 (B) 10 basis points of the principal 4
243243 amount of the loan. 5
244244 (c) I
245245 MPROVEMENT.—Not later than 90 days after the 6
246246 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promul-7
247247 gate an interim final rule establishing regulations that the 8
248248 Secretary determines to be necessary to administer this 9
249249 section and any loans provided by the Secretary under 10
250250 subsection (b). 11
251251 (d) P
252252 RIORITY.— 12
253253 (1) I
254254 N GENERAL.—In providing loans under 13
255255 this section to manufacturers (including component 14
256256 suppliers) that have existing facilities, the Secretary 15
257257 shall give priority to manufacturers that are seeking 16
258258 to expand manufacturing output through— 17
259259 (A) the establishment of 1 or more new fa-18
260260 cilities; or 19
261261 (B) the reopening of 1 or more facilities. 20
262262 (2) I
263263 DLE FACILITIES.—A facility described in 21
264264 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) may be 22
265265 sitting idle as of the date on which the applicable 23
266266 loan is provided under this section. 24
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270270 (e) SETASIDE FORSMALLENERGYGRIDPRODUCT 1
271271 M
272272 ANUFACTURERS AND COMPONENTSUPPLIERS.— 2
273273 (1) D
274274 EFINITION OF COVERED FIRM .—In this 3
275275 subsection, the term ‘‘covered firm’’ means a firm 4
276276 that— 5
277277 (A) employs fewer than 500 individuals; 6
278278 and 7
279279 (B) manufactures energy grid products or 8
280280 components. 9
281281 (2) S
282282 ET ASIDE.—Of the amounts used to pro-10
283283 vide loans each fiscal year under subsection (b), the 11
284284 Secretary shall use not less than 5 percent to pro-12
285285 vide loans to— 13
286286 (A) covered firms; or 14
287287 (B) consortia led by covered firms. 15
288288 (f) A
289289 PPOINTMENT AND PAY OFPERSONNEL.— 16
290290 (1) I
291291 N GENERAL.—The Secretary may use di-17
292292 rect hiring authority pursuant to section 3304(a)(3) 18
293293 of title 5, United States Code, to appoint such pro-19
294294 fessional and administrative personnel as the Sec-20
295295 retary determines to be necessary to carry out this 21
296296 section and any functions of the Secretary under 22
297297 this section. 23
298298 (2) R
299299 ATE OF PAY.—The rate of pay for a per-24
300300 son appointed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not 25
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304304 exceed the maximum rate payable for GS–15 of the 1
305305 General Schedule under chapter 53 of title 5, United 2
306306 States Code. 3
307307 (3) C
308308 ONSULTANTS.—The Secretary may retain, 4
309309 pursuant to section 1901 of title 41, United States 5
310310 Code, such consultants as the Secretary determines 6
311311 to be necessary to carry out this section and any 7
312312 functions of the Secretary under this section. 8
313313 (g) O
314314 UTREACH.—In carrying out this section, the 9
315315 Secretary shall— 10
316316 (1) provide assistance with the completion of 11
317317 applications for loans under this section; and 12
318318 (2) conduct outreach, including through con-13
319319 ferences and online programs, to disseminate infor-14
320320 mation about loans under this section to potential 15
321321 applicants. 16
322322 (h) R
323323 EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 17
324324 of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 18
325325 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 19
326326 status of projects supported by a loan under this section, 20
327327 including— 21
328328 (1) a list of projects for which a loan was pro-22
329329 vided under this section, including, with respect to 23
330330 each project— 24
331331 (A) the loan amount; and 25
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335335 (B) the construction status of the project; 1
336336 (2) the status of the loan repayment for each 2
337337 project, including future repayment projections; 3
338338 (3) data regarding the number of direct and in-4
339339 direct jobs retained, restored, or created by financed 5
340340 projects; 6
341341 (4) a projection of the number of new projects 7
342342 for which the Secretary expects to provide a loan 8
343343 under this section during the 2-year period begin-9
344344 ning on the date of the report, including the pro-10
345345 jected aggregate loan amount over that 2-year pe-11
346346 riod; 12
347347 (5) an evaluation of ongoing compliance with 13
348348 the assurances and commitments (and the accuracy 14
349349 of any predictions) made by applicants pursuant to 15
350350 paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b); 16
351351 (6) the total number of applications received by 17
352352 the Secretary each year; and 18
353353 (7) any other metrics that the Secretary deter-19
354354 mines to be appropriate. 20
355355 (i) F
356356 UNDING.— 21
357357 (1) R
358358 ESCISSION.—Of the unobligated balance of 22
359359 amounts made available by section 129 of division A 23
360360 of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, 24
361361 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public 25
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365365 Law 110–329; 122 Stat. 3578), $2,400,000,000 are 1
366366 rescinded. 2
367367 (2) D
368368 IRECT APPROPRIATION.—If sufficient un-3
369369 obligated amounts made available by section 129 of 4
370370 division A of the Consolidated Security, Disaster As-5
371371 sistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 6
372372 (Public Law 110–329; 122 Stat. 3578), are available 7
373373 on the date of enactment of this Act to execute the 8
374374 entire rescission described in paragraph (1), on the 9
375375 day after the execution of the entire rescission, there 10
376376 is appropriated to the Secretary, out of amounts in 11
377377 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 12
378378 $2,400,000,000 to carry out this section, to remain 13
379379 available until expended. 14
380380 Æ
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