But perhaps most significant is that the 2008 Farm Bill allows the USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to provide loans for energy-saving efforts, including energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The budget for the RUS Electric Programs includes $4.1 billion in loans, although it's unclear how much of those loans may go to clean energy projects versus traditional transmission and distribution projects.
The USDA also notes that funding for several of its business programs, including the Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program and Value-Added Producer Grants, will be available for clean energy projects. In addition, the Homeownership Loan and Loan Guarantee programs will provide financing for more energy efficient homes. See pages 16 and 60-61 of the USDA Budget Summary document.
DOE, EPA Join States to Speed Progress on U.S. Energy Efficiency
DOE and the U.S. EPA announced the creation of the State Energy Efficiency (SEE) Action Network to help states achieve maximum cost-effective energy efficiency improvements in homes, offices, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities by 2020.
Led by DOE and the EPA, the SEE Action Network will provide targeted technical assistance to states to reach national energy goals. The network will drive energy efficiency by using a broad set of goals from the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency - a public-private initiative started in 2005 among utilities, utility regulators, and other partner organizations. Its goals range from establishing state-of-the art billing systems regarding consumer energy use to developing strong energy efficiency policies at the state level.
The initiative's National Action Plan Vision for 2025: A Framework for Change, last updated in 2008, outlines strategies to cut the growth in U.S. energy demand in half, achieving $500 billion in net energy savings and substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. The SEE Action Network aims to achieve those goals five years early. To kick off the new network, the SEE Action Executive Group will meet in early March. See the DOE press release and the Web sites for the SEE Action Network and the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency.
DOT Awards $8 Billion for High-Speed Rail
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) is awarding $8 billion in ARRA funds to 31 states across the country to develop the nation's first high-speed rail service that will allow passengers to travel quickly between major cities. The awards are a down payment on developing or laying the groundwork for 13 new high-speed rail corridors.
Most of the funds will go toward developing large-scale, high-speed rail programs. For example, Florida is receiving up to $1.25 billion to develop a new rail corridor between Tampa and Orlando, with trains running up to 168 miles per hour, while California is receiving up to $2.25 billion for its planned project to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco and points in between with trains running up to 220 miles per hour. DOT is also proposing an additional $1 billion for high-speed rail in the FY 2011 budget, as part of a five-year plan to add $1 billion annually to the initiative. See the
White House press release, the White House summary of awards (
PDF 15 KB), and the
DOT press release on the FY 2011 budget.
