RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION INCENTIVES.

SEC. 808. RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION INCENTIVES. (a) Definition.— For purposes of this section, “renewable energy” means energy from photovoltaic, solar thermal, wind, geothermal, and biomass energy production technologies. (b) Rate Incentives Study.— Within 18 months after enactment, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in consultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, shall complete a study which calculates the net environmental benefits of renewable energy, compared to nonrenewable energy, and assigns numerical values to them. The study shall include, but not be limited to, environmental impacts on air, water, land use, water use, human health, and waste disposal. (c) Model Regulations.— In conjunction with the study in subsection (b), the Commission shall propose one or more models for incorporating the net environmental benefits into the regulatory treatment of renewable energy in order to provide economic compensation for those benefits. (d) Report.— The Commission shall transmit the study and the model regulations to Congress, along with any recommendations on the best ways to reward renewable energy technologies for their environmental benefits, in a report no later them 24 months after enactment.