Energy Efficiency in the Recovery Act – One Year Out

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided more than $25 billion for energy efficiency programs and billions more for potential energy efficiency projects. This page tracks the deployment of this unprecedented commitment to energy efficiency in the United States. Recovery Act Summary

Core Energy Efficiency Programs

The Recovery Act funded five core energy efficiency programs, each with its own experience over the last year:

• Appliance Rebate Program
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation and Block Grant Program
• State Energy Program
• Weatherization Assistance Program
• Federal High Performance Green Buildings

Challenges and Prospects

The Recovery Act was designed as multi-year program, with the fast-acting tax and infrastructure measures in the first year and the market transforming energy programs in the following years. The April 2009 GAO Report on the Recovery Act estimated that only 1% of Recovery Act spending in FY 2009 would be on energy. Even so, the Department of Energy stood up each of its major energy programs in the first year and met several expected and unexpected challenges:

Staff Capacity: One of the most immediate challenges of the Recovery Act was the need for qualified personnel at both federal and state levels. The Recovery Act and normal FY 2009 appropriations increased the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) total budget to $18.73 billion in 2009, an 11-fold increase above FY 2008 funding levels. In the first months of stimulus implementation, DOE hired 550 new full time employees to meet these demands and established a new Recovery Act team. At the state and local level, agencies similarly reached their staff capacities and faced additional state budgetary restraints that challenged implementation.

Federal Legal Requirements: Over the past year, the Department of Energy has been working through federal requirements to make the Recovery Act programs transparent and effective. The DOE issued guidance on the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, Davis-Bacon wage rates requirements , and the Buy American provision, which, now in place, will streamline and expedite project selection and starts. For a full explanation of these federal legal requirements and their effect on stimulus implementation, see the Feburary 2010 GAO report on the Recovery Act and the Alliance summary of the report.

Prospects: In the first phase of stimulus, the Department of Energy distributed funds to states energy offices and local agencies and provided critical oversight on the plans for those funds. The next phase of stimulus will launch state and local projects and create local jobs. According to DOE staff, spring and summer of 2010 will produce the greatest numbers of stimulus-funded jobs. By October 2010, DOE expects to have obligated 100 percent of funds and to have spent roughly 35-40 percent of Recovery Act funds, with the rest to be spent by March 31, 2012.

For more information on Recovery Act Implementation, see the March 4, 2010 Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Recovery Act Implementation.

Success Stories

Energy Empowers, a Department of Energy blog, shares the personal success stories of clean energy projects in the Recovery Act. See the story on weatherization below and visit the blog for daily updates.

Recovery Act Timeline

Key dates for the five core energy efficiency programs

• February 17, 2009: President Obama signs Recovery Act (Summary)
• February 17, 2009: Recovery.gov unveiled
• March 2009: SEP and WAP initial state applications due to DOE
• March 31, 2009: GSA releases first Federal Buildings Fund Spend Plan
• April 2009: GAO report on state and local Recovery Act implementation (Report)
• May 2009: SEP and WAP state program plans due to DOE
• June 2009: EECBG applications due to DOE
  
• June - August 2009: DOE approves SEP, WAP and EECBG applications
• August 15, 2009: Appliance Rebate initial applications due to DOE
• October 10, 2009: Appliance Rebate program plans due to DOE
• September 2009: GAO releases report on high-performance federal buildings (Report)
• November 23, 2009: GSA releases revised Federal Buildings Fund Spend Plan (Full Plan)
• December 2009: DOE Releases guidance on federal requirements for Recovery Act funds (Document List)
• December 24, 2009: Appliance Rebate funds awarded to states
• February 2010: GAO releases report on federal requirements for Recovery Act funds (Report)
• September 30, 2010: All Recovery Act funds must be obligated
• March 2012: All Recovery Act funds must be spent

Alliance Recovery Act Archives