42 U.S.C. § 13382 : US Code - Section 13382: Least-cost energy strategy

Search 42 U.S.C. § 13382 : US Code - Section 13382: Least-cost energy strategy

(a) Strategy
The first National Energy Policy Plan (in this subchapter
referred to as the "Plan") under section 7321 of this title
prepared and required to be submitted by the President to Congress
after February 1, 1993, and each subsequent such Plan, shall
include a least-cost energy strategy prepared by the Secretary. In
developing the least-cost energy strategy, the Secretary shall take
into consideration the economic, energy, social, environmental, and
competitive costs and benefits, including costs and benefits for
jobs, of his choices. Such strategy shall also take into account
the report required under section 13381 of this title and relevant
Federal, State, and local requirements. Such strategy shall be
designed to achieve to the maximum extent practicable and at least-
cost to the Nation -
(1) the energy production, utilization, and energy conservation
priorities of subsection (d) of this section;
(2) the stabilization and eventual reduction in the generation
of greenhouse gases;
(3) an increase in the efficiency of the Nation's total energy
use by 30 percent over 1988 levels by the year 2010;
(4) an increase in the percentage of energy derived from
renewable resources by 75 percent over 1988 levels by the year
2005; and
(5) a reduction in the Nation's oil consumption from the 1990
level of approximately 40 percent of total energy use to 35
percent by the year 2005.
(b) Additional contents
The least-cost energy strategy shall also include -
(1) a comprehensive inventory of available energy and energy
efficiency resources and their projected costs, taking into
account all costs of production, transportation, distribution,
and utilization of such resources, including -
(A) coal, clean coal technologies, coal seam methane, and
underground coal gasification;
(B) energy efficiency, including existing technologies for
increased efficiency in production, transportation,
distribution, and utilization of energy, and other technologies
that are anticipated to be available through further research
and development; and
(C) other energy resources, such as renewable energy, solar
energy, nuclear fission, fusion, geothermal, biomass, fuel
cells, hydropower, and natural gas;
(2) a proposed two-year program for ensuring adequate supplies
of the energy and energy efficiency resources and technologies
described in paragraph (1), and an identification of
administrative actions that can be undertaken within existing
Federal authority to ensure their adequate supply;
(3) estimates of life-cycle costs for existing energy
production facilities;
(4) basecase forecasts of short-term and long-term national
energy needs under low and high case assumptions of economic
growth; and
(5) an identification of all applicable Federal authorities
needed to achieve the purposes of this section, and of any
inadequacies in those authorities.
(c) Secretarial consideration
In developing the least-cost energy strategy, the Secretary shall
give full consideration to -
(1) the relative costs of each energy and energy efficiency
resource based upon a comparison of all direct and quantifiable
net costs for the resource over its available life, including the
cost of production, transportation, distribution, utilization,
waste management, environmental compliance, and, in the case of
imported energy resources, maintaining access to foreign sources
of supply; and
(2) the economic, energy, social, environmental, and
competitive consequences resulting from the establishment of any
particular order of Federal priority as determined under
subsection (d) of this section.
(d) Priorities
The least-cost energy strategy shall identify Federal priorities,
including policies that -
(1) implement standards for more efficient use of fossil fuels;
(2) increase the energy efficiency of existing technologies;
(3) encourage technologies, including clean coal technologies,
that generate lower levels of greenhouse gases;
(4) promote the use of renewable energy resources, including
solar, geothermal, sustainable biomass, hydropower, and wind
power;
(5) affect the development and consumption of energy and energy
efficiency resources and electricity through tax policy;
(6) encourage investment in energy efficient equipment and
technologies; and
(7) encourage the development of energy technologies, such as
advanced nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, that produce energy
without greenhouse gases as a byproduct, and encourage the
deployment of nuclear electric generating capacity.
(e) Assumptions
The Secretary shall include in the least-cost energy strategy an
identification of all of the assumptions used in developing the
strategy and priorities thereunder, and the reasons for such
assumptions.
(f) Preference
When comparing an energy efficiency resource to an energy
resource, a higher priority shall be assigned to the energy
efficiency resource whenever all direct and quantifiable net costs
for the resource over its available life are equal to the estimated
cost of the energy resource.
(g) Public review and comment
The Secretary shall provide for a period of public review and
comment of the least-cost energy strategy, for a period of at least
30 days, to be completed at least 60 days before the issuance of
such strategy. The Secretary shall also provide for public review
and comment before the issuance of any update to the least-cost
energy strategy required under this section.