The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) seeks stakeholder input on factors to consider in relation to defining “an area where there is inadequate electric service”. WPTO proposes to define “an area in which there is inadequate electric service” as follows:
“An area in which there is inadequate electric service means a geographic area that lacks access to an interconnected electrical grid or where a customer may not reasonably access electrical energy services; is subject to frequent electric outages, based on common reliability metrics; or where the cost of electricity is significantly above the typical residential electricity cost.”
The above definition will be applied in accordance with the definition of a qualified hydroelectric facility set in Section 242 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. § 15881 (“Section 242”), as amended by Section 3005(a) of the Energy Act of 2020.