S. Rept. 113-37 - Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness, 2013-06-03

Date03 June 2013
Type of DocumentHouse Report
IssuerCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources
29–010
Calendar No. 70
113
TH
C
ONGRESS
R
EPORT
" !
SENATE
1st Session 113–37
ENERGY SAVINGS AND INDUSTRIAL COMPETITIVENESS
J
UNE
3, 2013.—Ordered to be printed
Mr. W
YDEN
, from the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 761]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was
referred the bill (S. 761) to promote energy savings in residential
and commercial buildings and industry, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amend-
ments and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
The amendments are as follows:
1. On page 2, before line 1, strike the items relating to title V
and insert the following:
TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 501. Offset.
Sec. 502. Budgetary effects.
Sec. 503. Advance appropriations required.
2. On page 23, lines 3 and 4, strike ‘‘this section’’ and insert ‘‘sec-
tion 304’’.
3. Beginning on page 25, strike line 4 and all that follows
through page 29, line 22, and insert the following:
SEC. 201. PRIVATE COMMERCIAL BUILDING EFFICIENCY FI-
NANCING.
(a) I
N
G
ENERAL
.—The Secretary shall establish a pro-
gram to be known as the ‘‘Commercial Building Energy Ef-
ficiency Financing Initiative’’ under which the Secretary
shall provide grants to States (as defined in section 3 of
the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6202))
to establish or expand programs to promote the financing
of energy efficiency retrofit projects for private sector and
commercial buildings.
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2
(b) A
PPLICATIONS
.—A State may apply to the Secretary
for a grant under subsection (a) to establish or expand a
program described in subsection (a), including—
(1) a commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy
(PACE) financing program;
(2) a credit enhancement structure that is designed
to mitigate the effects of default, including a loan
guarantee program, loan loss reserve program, collat-
eral or subordinated capital program, or other pro-
gram;
(3) a revolving loan fund;
(4) a program to promote the use of energy savings
performance contracts or utility energy service con-
tracts, or both;
(5) a utility on-bill financing or repayment program;
(6) utility energy efficiency programs for all seg-
ments of the utility industry;
(7) an interest buy-down program;
(8) a secondary market financing program;
(9) a leasing structure that recognizes energy costs
and addresses split-incentives;
(10) an educational program involving commercial
lenders, energy service companies, commercial build-
ing owners, and other stakeholders established—
(A) to provide information to the community re-
garding program and project options and out-
comes; and
(B) to build consensus on approaches to greater
energy efficiency investments; and
(11) any other activity that will significantly in-
crease the total investment in, and energy savings
from, building retrofit projects and programs.
(c) A
DMINISTRATION
.—
(1) I
N GENERAL
.—A State receiving a grant under
subsection (a) shall give a higher priority to programs
and projects that—
(A) leverage private and non-Federal sources of
funding; and
(B) aim explicitly to expand the use of energy ef-
ficiency project financing using private sources of
funding, including philanthropic and other institu-
tional investment.
(2) O
THER ACTIONS
.—A State receiving a grant
under this section is encouraged—
(A) to consider establishing such other appro-
priate policies, incentives, or actions that will ad-
vance the purposes of this section; and
(B) to coordinate the activities described in sub-
sections (a) and (d).
(d) L
ARGE
C
OMMERCIAL
B
UILDING
E
FFICIENCY
F
INANC
-
ING
I
NITIATIVES
.—
(1) I
N GENERAL
.—As part of this section, the Sec-
retary shall conduct large commercial building effi-
ciency financing initiatives to encourage States to pro-
mote the financing of energy efficiency retrofit projects
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for larger private sector commercial, multifamily, and
mixed use buildings.
(2) A
PPLICATIONS
.—A State or a group of States may
apply to the Secretary for a grant under this sub-
section to establish or expand programs to promote
the purposes described in paragraph (1) through—
(A) the facilitation of energy performance con-
tracts in commercial, multifamily, and mixed use
buildings by providing guarantees that cover
owner default risk, but do not cover technology
and other risks that are borne by the contractor;
(B) actions by States to work together and with
real estate owners, financiers, and other stake-
holders to ensure multistate consistency, including
common underwriting standards;
(C) minimum loan-to-value ratios;
(D) minimum debt-to-income coverage ratios;
(E) a green leasing program;
(F) a commercial Property Assessed Clean En-
ergy (PACE) financing program; and
(G) any other activity that will significantly in-
crease the total investment in, and energy savings
from, building retrofit projects and programs.
(3) L
EVERAGING PRIVATE SECTOR FINANCING
.—A
State receiving a grant under this subsection shall
focus on leveraging private sources of funds and work-
ing with real estate lenders, financiers, and building
owners to assist in expanding the reach of the pro-
gram established under this subsection.
(4) M
ULTISTATE FACILITATION
.—The Secretary shall
consult with States and relevant stakeholders with ap-
plicable expertise to establish a process to identify eli-
gible lenders, financiers, and building owners with
real estate asset portfolios across multiple States that
may be eligible for the efficiency financing initiatives
conducted under this subsection.
(e) E
VALUATION OF
P
ROGRAMS
.—The Secretary shall
evaluate applications from States under this section on the
basis of—
(1) the likelihood that a proposed program or activ-
ity will—
(A) be established or expanded;
(B) increase the total investment and energy
savings of the retrofit projects to be supported;
and
(C) increase the total investment and energy
savings in a State or region in which investments
and energy savings have the greatest potential for
growth as compared to other States or regions;
(2) in the case of large commercial building effi-
ciency financing initiatives conducted under subsection
(d), evidence of multistate cooperation and coordina-
tion with real estate lenders, financiers, and owners;
and
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