Powerplant Fuel Conservation Act of 1980

Summary

Powerplants Fuel Conservation Act of 1980 - Title I: Statement of Purposes - States the purpose of this Act. Title II: Accelerated Fuels Conversions of Certain Powerplants - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to prohibit the use of petroleum or natural gas as a primary energy source in certain identified electric powerplants, without express exemption by the Secretary of Energy. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants, which shall not be considered income for Federal income tax purposes, to any eligible utility to assist it in meeting qualifying capital costs of converting such powerplants to the use of coal or another alternate fuel as a primary energy source. Specifies grant application requirements. Limits the amount of any grant to the lesser of: (1) 50 percent of the utility's qualifying capital costs; or (2) $4 per barrel of oil displaced on the utility's system by the converting facility. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for fiscal year 1982. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant to an eligible utility to pay all or a portion of the capital costs of the design and installation of advanced sulfur removal systems for existing electric powerplants. Specifies general requirements for application for such grant and general criteria for approval. Requires the Secretary to submit every such application to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for his recommendation and certification that the powerplant in question is in compliance with applicable air quality standards. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for fiscal year 1982. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to any eligible person for the purpose of paying up to 20 percent of the qualifying capital costs for the construction of coal preparation facilities for reducing the sulfur content of coal. Specifies general requirements for application for such grant and general criteria for approval. Requires submission of every such application to the Administrator for his evaluation and recommendation. Directs the Secretary to give priority in approving grants to those applications which the Administrator determines are likely to result in a significant reduction in emissions from coal combustion. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for fiscal year 1982. Prohibits recovery after December 31, 1985, of any fuel costs by any utility for petroleum or natural gas used in a powerplant by use of an automatic adjustment clause in its rate schedule, without express exemption by the Secretary. Title III: Voluntary Fuels Displacement Program - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary to provide financial assistance to any qualifying electric utility to achieve reductions in the use of petroleum and natural gas as the primary energy source in electric powerplants. Requires such assistance to be in a manner commensurate with a utility's percentage share of a total 1990 petroleum and natural gas fuel displacement target of 600,000 barrels per day, not to exceed $10,000 per barrel per day of fuel displacement. Requires any electric utility seeking financial assistance to petition the Secretary for determination of its base period usage of petroleum and natural gas. Specifies general contents of any fuel displacement plan. Conditions approval of any such plan by the Secretary upon prior approval by the Governor of the State where the powerplant involved is located. States that inclusion of all or part of a new facility in a fuel displacement plan that is approved by the Secretary shall satisfy any requirement for a determination of need for power otherwise required for the purposes of any State or local law. Provides for recapture by the United States of any financial assistance to any utility failing to achieve or maintain its 1990 fuel displacement target. Requires annual reports to the Secretary by assisted utilities. Authorizes the Secretary to provide $10,000,000 for the establishment and operation of offices of consumer services to assist consumers in their presentations before State agencies in matters directly related to the development and review of fuel displacement plans. Requires the Secretary to make an annual report to Congress on progress toward reducing consumption of petroleum and natural gas by electric utilities. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1982 to carry out the provisions of this Title. Title IV: Mandatory Study - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to require every electric utility which consumed 250,000 barrels or more of petroleum or natural gas equivalent on annual average during the calendar years 1974 through 1978 to submit to the Secretary and the appropriate State regulatory authorities a fuel displacement study containing a 15-year forecast of: (1) the estimated cost of continued use of petroleum and natural gas; and (2) the total estimated cost of converting existing powerplants to coal or other alternate fuel use, constructing new plants using coal or other alternate fuel as a primary energy source, or implementing energy conservation programs to eliminate or reduce the use of petroleum and natural gas. Requires the Secretary to submit a comprehensive report to Congress before April 1, 1982, with respect to the results of such fuel displacement studies. Title V: Other Funding Provisions - Sets fiscal year ceilings on appropriations authorized by this Act. Allocates portions of such authorizations to fiscal years 1980 and 1981. Title VI: Other Conforming Amendments - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to make conforming amendments consistent with this Act.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

3 official files

• Passed Senate amended

  summary · EN · 24 June 1980

  Open at official source

• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 16 June 1980

  Open at official source

• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 24 March 1980

  Open at official source

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.