42 USC 13317 - Renewable energy production incentive

View all text of Subchapter V [§ 13311 - § 13317]

§ 13317. Renewable energy production incentive

(a) Incentive payments

(1) For electric energy generated and sold by a qualified renewable energy facility during the incentive period, the Secretary shall make, subject to the availability of appropriations, incentive payments to the owner or operator of such facility.

(2) The amount of such payment made to any such owner or operator shall be as determined under subsection (e).

(3) Payments under this section may only be made upon receipt by the Secretary of an incentive payment application which establishes that the applicant is eligible to receive such payment.

(4)

(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if there are insufficient appropriations to make full payments for electric production from all qualified renewable energy facilities for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall assign—

(i) 60 percent of appropriated funds for the fiscal year to facilities that use solar, wind, marine energy (as defined in section 17211 of this title), geothermal, or closed-loop (dedicated energy crops) biomass technologies to generate electricity; and

(ii) 40 percent of appropriated funds for the fiscal year to other projects.

(B) After submitting to Congress an explanation of the reasons for the alteration, the Secretary may alter the percentage requirements of subparagraph (A).

(b) Qualified renewable energy facilityFor purposes of this section, a qualified renewable energy facility is a facility which is owned by a not-for-profit electric cooperative, a public utility described in section 115 of title 26, a State, Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, or a political subdivision thereof, an Indian tribal government or subdivision thereof, or a Native Corporation (as defined in section 1602 of title 43), and which generates electric energy for sale in, or affecting, interstate commerce using solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, livestock methane, marine energy (as defined in section 17211 of this title), or geothermal energy, except that—

(1) the burning of municipal solid waste shall not be treated as using biomass energy; and

(2) geothermal energy shall not include energy produced from a dry steam geothermal reservoir which has—

(A) no mobile liquid in its natural state;

(B) steam quality of 95 percent water; and

(d) Payment period

(e) Amount of payment

(1) In general

(2) Adjustments

(f) Sunset

(g) Authorization of appropriations

(Pub. L. 102–486, title XII, § 1212, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2969; Pub. L. 109–58, title II, § 202, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 651; Pub. L. 116–260, div. Z, title III, § 3006(c), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2513.)