A bill to modify the efficiency standards for grid-enabled water heaters.
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to provide additional energy conservation standards applicable to grid-enabled water heaters (those intended for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program).
Requires annual reports from: (1) manufacturers of such water heaters regarding the quantity of the products shipped each year, and (2) utilities and other demand response and thermal storage program operators regarding the quantity of products activated for their programs.
Requires the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to publish analyses of data collected from such reports and to establish procedures to prevent product diversion if sales of the products exceed by at least 15% the quantity activated for use in the demand response and thermal storage programs annually.
Maintains the standards and publication procedures established by this Act until the Secretary determines that such water heaters do not require a separate efficiency requirement.
Requires the Secretary to consider the impact of EPCA electric water heater standards on thermal storage and demand response programs, including on energy savings, electric bills, electric reliability, integration of renewable resources, and the environment.
Makes unlawful, with respect to grid-enabled water heaters not used as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program, the knowing and repeated distribution of activation keys, enabling of full operation of the products, or removing or making illegible their labels.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on November 20, 2013. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 20, 2013: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
John Hoeven (R-ND) introduced it on November 20, 2013, and 15 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 7 Democrats, 8 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on November 20, 2013, 4677 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4677 days ago, on November 20, 2013.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers