EERE Funding Up 3% to $2.24B for FY 2010
DOE: $338M to Speed Geothermal Development
DOE: $155M for 41 Industrial Energy Efficiency Projects
DOE: $5.5M for Automotive X Prize Competition
Treasury Dept Allocates $2.2B in Renewable Energy Bonds
9 Federal Agencies Expedite Transmission Lines on Federal Lands
AEP, Alstrom Trap Carbon Emissions from Coal Plant
EERE Funding Up 3% to $2.24 Billion for Fiscal Year 2010
President Obama approved fiscal year (FY) 2010 appropriations for DOE on October 28, including $2.24 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The funds represent a modest 3% increase in funding for EERE, which received $2.18 billion in annual appropriations in FY 2009 (not counting special one-time appropriations under the Recovery Act).
The funding is about 3% lower than DOE requested, and Congress earmarked more than $292 million in EERE funds for congressionally directed projects, effectively lowering EERE's budget to $1.95 billion. See the full history, texts, and related documents on the appropriations act, H.R. 3183, on the Library of Congress' Thomas Web site, as well as the White House press release on the act's approval.
Among the big winners under the new budget is EERE's Building Technologies Program, which received $200 million in FY 2010 funding, a 43% increase from the $140 million received in FY 2009. The Federal Energy Management Program, a much smaller program aimed at energy use at federal facilities, is receiving $32 million, a 45% gain. Among renewable energy technologies, wind energy is funded at $80 million for FY 2010, another 45% gain. The Solar Energy Technologies Program also fared well, with a 29% increase in funding to $225 million. Other programs received more modest funding increases. The appropriations also include $63 million for facility and infrastructure upgrades at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
See pages 102-112 and 143 (PDF pages 106-116 and 147) of the final version of the appropriations bill (PDF 4.1 MB), and for comparison, see the final page of EERE's "Fiscal Year 2010 Budget-in-Brief" (PDF 504 KB).
The appropriation act also includes $125 million for R&D in smart grid, energy storage, and clean energy transmission and reliability. It also provides $43 million for the Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, an amount expected to be repaid with loan fees, and $20 million for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program.
The Act also extends the latter loan program to include manufacturing of vehicles that carry at least two adult passengers and achieve the equivalent of 75 miles per gallon. That will allow loans to go toward the manufacture of vehicles that might not otherwise qualify as light-duty vehicles, including three-wheeled vehicles. The Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program was established by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). See pages 21-22, 31, and 143 (PDF pages 25-26, 35, and 147) of the appropriations bill (PDF 4.1 MB) and pages 23-25 of the EISA (PDF 821 KB).
Congress also appropriated $40 million for the Rural Energy for America Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That's up from only $5 million in FY 2009 but less than the $68 million the USDA requested. The 2008 Farm Bill provides $60 million in mandatory funding for the program in FY 2010, bringing the total to $100 million. That's expected to support about $50 million in grants and about $350 million in loan guarantees for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects at farms, ranches, and rural small businesses. President Obama approved the USDA appropriations on October 21.
See the full history, texts, and related documents on the appropriations act, H.R. 2997, on the Thomas Web site; the White House press release on the act's approval; page 79 of the appropriations bill (PDF 317 KB); and for comparison, pages 8 and 56 of the USDA budget summary for FY 2010 (PDF 1.5 MB).
