S. 2058 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2058 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 27, 2014Mr. Begich introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To establish a loan guarantee program for natural gas distribution grids to be installed in areas with extremely high energy costs. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Fuel Grid Distribution Loan Pilot Program Act. 2. Fuel distribution utility pilot loan program (a) Authorization of pilot loan program Section 232(c) of the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6942(c)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ; and and inserting a period; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (3) The biofuels and natural gas distribution utility pilot loan program authorized by section 2 of the Fuel Grid Distribution Loan Pilot Program Act. . (b) Establishment of pilot loan program (1) Definition of local government In this subsection, the term local government means— (A) a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, school district, special district, intrastate district, council of governments (regardless of whether the council of governments is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under State law), regional or interstate government entity, or agency or instrumentality of a local government; (B) an Indian tribe or authorized tribal organization or, in Alaska, a Native village or Alaska Regional Native Corporation; and (C) a rural community, unincorporated town or village, or other public entity. (2) Establishment The Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service shall establish a biofuels and natural gas distribution utility pilot loan program to add cooperatives and municipally or privately owned biofuels or natural gas distribution utilities to the list of utilities eligible to receive loans from the Rural Utilities Service. (3) Eligibility In making loans authorized under paragraph (1), the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service shall grant loans only to utilities serving an area under the jurisdiction of a local government that has— (A) a population of not more than 50,000 people; and (B) energy prices higher than 200 percent of the national average for energy prices, as determined by the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration using the most recent data available. (4) Funding The Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service shall carry out the loan pilot program using existing funds of the Rural Utilities Service. (5) Duration The loan pilot program shall be authorized for a period of 5 years, beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. (6) Report At the conclusion of the loan pilot program, the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service shall complete a report examining— (A) the economic benefits of providing low cost loans; and (B) any upward price pressure on biofuels or natural gas prices in the United States resulting from the loan pilot program.