American Energy Opportunity Act of 2019

American Energy Opportunity Act of 2019

This bill establishes a process for expediting and standardizing the permitting process for certain distributed energy systems. The bill defines such systems as equipment or materials installed in, on, or near a building to support onsite or local energy use, such as solar energy, batteries, and charging systems for electrical vehicles.

Specifically, the Department of Energy (DOE) must establish or designate a Distributed Energy Opportunity Board to carry out a voluntary program to (1) expedite the process for local permitting and inspection of qualifying distributed energy systems, and (2) facilitate the certification of distributed energy system installers.

In addition, DOE must recognize and certify communities as Distributed Energy Opportunity Communities if they adopt and implement a permit-to-build protocol that is established by the board. DOE may award grants to encourage communities to adopt the protocol and standardized inspection processes established by the board.