Energy resources of Caribbean and Pacific insular areas

The Congress finds that— The Congress declares that it is the policy of the Federal Government to— The Secretary of Energy or any administrative official who may succeed him shall prepare a comprehensive energy plan with emphasis on indigenous renewable sources of energy for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau. The plan shall be prepared with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and in cooperation with the chief executive officer of each insular area by— The Secretary of Energy or any administrative official who may succeed him, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, as part of the comprehensive energy planning may demonstrate those indigenous renewable energy technologies which are determined to be most cost effective through the use of existing programs and may implement any projects or programs contained in recommendations of the plan. The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the head of government of each insular area, shall update the plans required under subsection (c) by— In carrying out this subsection, the Secretary of Energy shall identify and evaluate the strategies or projects with the greatest potential for reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels as used for the generation of electricity, including strategies and projects for— improved demand-side management through— increased use of renewable energy, including— In assessing the potential of any strategy or project under paragraphs (2) and (3), the Secretary of Energy shall consider— the estimated cost of the power or energy to be produced, including— There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. In determining the amount of financial assistance to be provided for a proposed project, the Secretary shall consider— The Secretary of the Interior may award grants under subparagraph (A) only to governments of insular areas of the United States that submit written project plans to the Secretary for projects that meet the following criteria: When making grants under this paragraph, the Secretary of the Interior shall give priority to grants for projects which are likely to— For the purposes of this subsection—