Federal Funds Expected in CA

Coordination is the name of the game to ensure that California obtains a large share of the $11.3 billion of federal stimulus money earmarked for state energy programs, officials said March 13. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office created a Federal Energy Stimulus Team. Darren Bouton, deputy cabinet secretary, explained the team is expected to include representatives from the California Energy Commission, California Public Utilities Commission, Air Resources Board, California Environmental Protection Agency, and Natural Resources Agency. The Energy Commission is slated to receive $226 million for the State Energy Program, which funds energy efficiency retrofits of buildings and industrial plants, plus supports renewable energy projects. “We’re going to urge private industry to partner through local governments,” said CEC spokesperson Susanne Garfield. The federal funds are set to be used to expand renewable energy and distributed generation projects, for loans and financial incentives for energy efficiency programs, to implement building and industrial energy efficiency incentives, and for other programs. The federal money is directed at existing programs and precludes funding research projects. The federal stimulus money dwarfs all prior Energy Commission program funding, Garfield added. For example, the CEC’s annual Public Interest Education and Research, or PIER, budget is $62 million, and its alternative fuel vehicle development program is $120 million. The Department of Energy is expected to distribute a far bigger pot of about $31 billion to states through competitive grants, loans, and loan guarantees for energy and climate change programs, transportation, transmission system upgrades, renewable energy, and research into new technologies. In addition, larger California municipalities and counties are expected to receive hundreds of millions of direct grants from the DOE, said Matthew Duchesne from DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The California Public Utilities Commission is supposed to collaborate with the CEC and other state agencies and is formulating a plan to help local governments and other stakeholders compete for federal energy funds, said Jeanne Clinton, CPUC clean energy advisor. The CPUC, which coordinates investor-owned utility energy efficiency programs, conducted a workshop on March 16 for utilities on the federal stimulus program. Federal energy stimulus funds also are expected to be available for programs that are part of California’s greenhouse gas reduction plan, such as the diesel emissions reduction program, said Virgil Welch assistant to the chair of the California Air Resources Board. Bouton said the governor’s office has been flooded with questions from stakeholders and the general public about the federal stimulus funds. Over 2,000 listeners tuned into an online webinar on the subject on March 13. The Department of Energy is likewise being inundated with calls about the federal stimulus money, said Duchesne, DOE’s designated contact for Schwarzenegger and other California officials. Information is available at two state recovery websites.

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Federal Funds Expected in CA

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