1. Short title This Act may be cited as the 21st Century Power Grid Act . 2. Technology demonstration on the distribution system (a) In general The Secretary of Energy shall establish a financial assistance program to carry out eligible projects related to the modernization of the electric grid, including the application of technologies to improve observability, advanced controls, and prediction of system performance on the distribution system and related transmission system interdependencies. (b) Eligible projects To be eligible for financial assistance under subsection (a), a project shall— (1) be designed to— (A) improve the performance and efficiency of the future electric grid, while ensuring the continued provision of safe, secure, reliable, and affordable power; and (B) provide new options for customer-owned resources; (2) demonstrate— (A) secure integration and management of energy resources, including distributed energy generation, combined heat and power, micro-grids, energy storage, electric vehicles, energy efficiency, demand response, and intelligent loads; and (B) secure integration and interoperability of communications and information technologies; and (3) include the participation of a partnership consisting of two or more entities that— (A) may include— (i) any institution of higher education; (ii) a National Laboratory; (iii) a representative of a State or local government; (iv) a representative of an Indian tribe; or (v) a Federal power marketing administration; and (B) shall include at least one of any of— (i) an investor-owned electric utility; (ii) a publicly owned utility; (iii) a technology provider; (iv) a rural electric cooperative; (v) a regional transmission organization