American Renewable Energy Act

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 111th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

D MarkeySponsor

40 cosponsors · 35 D, 5 R

1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

American Renewable Energy Act – Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to implement and enforce a renewable electricity trading program, including requirements governing the issuance, tracking, and retirement of federal renewable electricity credits.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Feb 4, 2009

Requires each retail electric supplier to submit to the Secretary, annually, a quantity of federal renewable electricity credits equal to the supplier's base amount (electricity sold) for the calendar year multiplied by a specified annual percentage for 2012 though 2039. Authorizes suppliers to satisfy such requirement by submitting, in lieu of each credit, a payment equal to the lesser of: (1) 200% of the average market value of a credit for the previous compliance year; or (2) five cents, adjusted each year after 2009 based on the Gross Domestic Product Implicit Price Deflator. Requires such payments to be deposited in a Renewable Electricity Deployment Fund, from which payments shall be made to suppliers that have submitted credits in compliance with their obligations for the preceding year.

Requires the Secretary to issue to each generator of renewable electricity one federal renewable electricity credit for each kilowatt hour of renewable electricity generated. Provides for the issuance of credits: (1) to suppliers for renewable electricity generated with the support of payments from a supplier pursuant to a state renewable electricity program; (2) to distributed generation facilities; (3) for qualifying hydropower; and (4) to generators that produce electricity using both a renewable energy resource and a non renewable resource.

Provides for: (1) the trading and banking of credits; (2) Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) oversight of the market for such credits; and (3) civil penalties for noncompliance.

Requires the Secretary to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to submit periodic comprehensive evaluations of the federal renewable electricity trading program.

Terminates this Act on December 31, 2040.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: American Renewable Energy Act

Latest action (Feb 9, 2009): Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

Policy area: Energy · Origin: House · Introduced: Feb 4, 2009

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.