American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Appropriations for Clean Energy

Country / jurisdiction: United States · Year: 2009 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law on 17 February 2009, is a supplemental spending bill that contains over USD 80 billion to support clean energy research, development, and deployment. Of this amount, over USD 50 billion is provided in direct appropriations. This funding supports new and current government programmes. Examples include: -Approximately USD 1.6 billion in funding for research managed by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, of which USD 277 million is for Energy Frontier Research Centers that will pursue cost-effective alternative energy technologies; -USD 4.5 billion for a Smart Grid programme (authorised by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007); -USD 6 billion for the Innovative Technologies Loan Guarantee Program (initially authorized by Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act 2005 and funded with USD 2 billion) to accelerate the deployment of a range of commercial clean energy technologies; -Up to USD 6.5 billion in loans under management of the Bonneville Power Administration and Western Area Power Administration to accelerate the expansion of transmission lines that will facilitate renewable energy deployment; -USD 2.7 billion for the DOE Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program to issue grants to U.S. states, territories, local governments, and Indian tribes (this program was authorized without funding in Title V, Subtitle E of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007): -USD 3.1 billion for the DOE State Energy Program; -USD 5 billion is available to state energy offices to support weatherization of low-income homes; -USD 2.5 billion for discretionary clean energy RD&D managed by the DOE, including USD 800 million for next generation biofuels, USD 400 million for geothermal technologies, and support for several research projects such a recently awarded USD 45 million grant for a Large Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing facility at a University in South Carolina; -USD 400 million for state and local grant programs supporting advanced vehicles; -USD 2 billion in grants available to support advanced battery manufacturing for facilities located in the US; -USD 300 million in additional funding for DOEs Clean Cities Program; -USD 500 million for a grant programme supporting clean energy workforce training managed by the Department of Labor; -USD 100 million to support more workforce training that is managed by the DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability; -Over USD 110 million for the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory for advancing wind energy technologies, building new energy efficient facilities, and upgrading to the lab's Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility; and -Well over USD 3 billion in grants from the Department of Treasury (described in complementary entry 4444) to support renewable energy project development. Much of this funding will be awarded through competitive solicitations. Independent merit review committees, composed of relevant technology and policy experts, will select projects for funding.

Official source: http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/default.aspx