Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Aug 6, 2009
Thermal Energy Efficiency Act of 2009 - Establishes in the Treasury a Thermal Energy Efficiency Fund. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) allocate to the Fund 2% of the quantity of emission allowances established for any of calendar years 2012-2050 under any program for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions that is established by federal law; (2) auction all of the emission allowances allocated to the Fund for a calendar year; and (3) deposit all proceeds of such auctions into the Fund.
Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE), for each calendar year during which such a program is in effect, to use amounts in the Fund to make competitive grants to eligible entities (including state and local governments, commercial or industrial entities, and federal agencies) to carry out qualifying district energy, combined heat and power, or recoverable waste energy projects.
Establishes as a goal of the United States to meet 20% or more of total U.S. electrical power capacity through combined heat and power by calendar year 2030.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.1621 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.1621 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.1621 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.1621 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.