NATIONAL NEWS
DOE Announces
FY'11 Funding for Core Programs – SEP Formula Amount Increased
On Thursday, May 19, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the FY'11
budget, including funding for the State Energy Program (SEP) and Weatherization
Assistance Program (WAP). SEP received $50 million with $39 million of that
amount in formula funding and the balance in competitive and technical
assistance support. In FY’09 and FY’10, the state energy offices received $25
million each year in SEP formula funding, and the Recovery Act provided $3.1
billion for SEP formula grants. States use the SEP formula funding to develop
strategies to address their energy priorities. Tribal energy activities
received $7 million.
WAP received $174.3 million with $3.3 million of that amount going to
training and technical assistance. DOE funded WAP at $250 million in FY’09, and
the Recovery Act provided $5 billion. WAP funding is focused on reducing
heating bills for low-income households through cost-effective efficiency and
weatherization measures.
Overall, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) received
$1.795 billion. The solar energy and industrial technologies programs received
more than the FY'10 final appropriations and were funded at $263.5 million and
$108.2 million respectively. Industrial technologies was the only program that
received more than the FY'11 Congressional request. Most other programs came in
just under the FY'10 appropriations levels, including wind energy, which
received $80 million; geothermal technology, which received $38 million; vehicle
technologies, which received $300 million; and building technologies, which
received $210.5 million. The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) received
$30.4 million. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies were funded at $98 million.
The Biomass and biorefinery systems R&D received $182 million. View the
full breakdown of the FY'11 EERE budget.
DOE Submits FY’12 Budget Testimony to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development held a
hearing this week to discuss the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) fiscal year
(FY) 2012 budget request. Energy Secretary Steven Chu testified and
highlighted key elements of the DOE’s budget request totaling $29.5 billion, an
11.8 percent or $3.1 billion increase from FY’10 current appropriation levels.
The FY’12 request supports the President’s goals to increase America’s
competitiveness by making strategic investments in the nation’s clean energy
infrastructure, advancing research on clean energy technologies and
manufacturing, doubling the share of electricity generated from clean energy
supplies by 2035, and putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy request of $3.2 billion is
an increase of 44.4% over the FY’10 current appropriation and aims at
accelerating innovation and change in the nation’s energy economy. The
Department’s FY’12 budget request for the Office of Electricity Delivery and
Energy Reliability of $238 million is a 38% increase over the FY’10
appropriation and represents a clear and determined effort to accelerate the
transformation of a key enablers of a clean energy economy – the electricity
delivery system.
DOE’s State and
Local Government Clean Energy Summit: Sustainable Policies and Programs
On May 18-19, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hosted the first in a
series of policy-focused meetings for federal, state, and local energy
efficiency and renewable energy leaders to sustain and grow the successes
achieved during the Recovery Act period. States and local governments are
close to spending 50% of the historic investment in energy efficiency, renewable
energy, and related job creation through the State Energy Program (SEP) and
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG) and developing
related programs and policies. The Summit focused on the lessons learned to date
and critical initiatives for the remaining year and beyond. Key speakers
included Steven Chu, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy; Ron Sims, Deputy
Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Kathleen Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency.
NASEO Hosts Building Energy Codes Roundtable
On Tuesday, May 17, 2011, NASEO and the Energy Foundation hosted a "Building
Energy Codes Roundtable Workshop." Approximately 40 key stakeholders
representing federal, state, national, and regional organizations engaged in
energy codes, along with advocates for code stringency and enforcement convened
to develop actionable recommendations towards further progress in building code
adoption, compliance, and enforcement at the state and local levels. Attendees
interacted and participated in several facilitated discussions on various
issues, including: the recent International Code Council (ICC) actions and
ASHRAE activities; state trends in code adoption and implementation; consumer
awareness on the importance of energy codes; the provisions of the proposed
American Clean Energy Leadership Act that relate to more stringent building
energy codes; and lessons learned on compliance and evaluation studies and state
assessments. The Roundtable generated a number of follow-up actions,
coordination tasks and next steps for the attendees to undertake. “With a
lot of attention focused on building energy codes around the country, from the
recent success of IECC 2012 to the challenges of state code adoption and the
code compliance studies, this Roundtable provided an important opportunity to
bring together a number of states and key stakeholders to develop coordinated
strategies going forward,” said David Terry, NASEO Executive Director.
NASEO Comments
on the “Race to the Green”
“Race to the Green” comprises one part of President Obama’s Better Buildings
Initiative, which targets energy efficiency in existing commercial buildings and
was proposed in February 2011. As proposed, “Race to the Green” would be a
competitive grant program “for state and municipal governments that streamline
regulations and attract private investment for retrofit projects.”
See White House press release online. The program is still in early
development stages and NASEO has been engaged with the Council for Environmental
Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy to monitor updates and provide input.
With input from the State and Territory Energy Offices, NASEO developed a
letter
summarizing comments and recommendations. The U.S. Green Building Council
and ICLEI USA also lent their support to these recommendations.
FERC Advances Offshore
Atlantic Project
Greenwire
Federal regulators approved the incentive rate for a proposed $5 billion,
250-mile offshore transmission backbone that would connect up to 6,000 megawatts
of offshore power in the eastern United States. The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission's (FERC) approval will allow the developer of the project,
the Atlantic Wind Connection, to recover costs associated with the multi-phased,
sub-sea high-voltage direct-current transmission system. The incentive rates
include an overall return on equity of 12.59 percent. The transmission
backbone will extend from northern New Jersey to southern Virginia to connect
offshore wind farms to the onshore transmission grid. FERC also approved
incentives for Desert Southwest Power's proposed 118-mile, 500-kilovolt
transmission line to move wind power into Southern California.
Reid Statement on
Comprehensive Cyber Security Legislation
Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement on the White House
cyber security proposal:
“The Senate has been working to develop comprehensive, bipartisan legislation to
improve our nation’s cyber security and we hope to pass a bill this summer. The
security of our computer networks is woefully inadequate, and the threats
against them are growing more sophisticated each day. Cyber crime, cyber
industrial espionage and cyber attacks cost American businesses and consumers
billions of dollars per year and threaten our economy and our national security.
In Nevada, cyber security experts have specifically identified casino databases
as tempting targets for cyber attacks. It is time to create the proper
authorities and enhance the tools to protect the computer networks that are so
crucial to our daily lives.
“Cyber security proposals from the White House will be an important part of this
effort, and I look forward to working with the Committees to integrate their
work with the President’s proposals in coming weeks, and build on the
protections created by key bills passed during the last Congress. We also look
forward to continuing to work with the private sector and other key stakeholders
to ensure that our efforts enhance security, increase American competitiveness
and protect the privacy of individuals and businesses.”
A summary of the President’s cyber security proposals can be found here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/12/fact-sheet-cybersecurity-legislative-proposal.
A New Generation of Clean
Vehicles
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are taking coordinated steps to enable the
production of a new generation of clean vehicles, though reduced GHG emissions
and improved fuel efficiency from on-road vehicles and engines. These next steps
include developing
first-ever GHG regulations for heavy-duty engines and vehicles, as well as
further light-duty
vehicle GHG regulations. These steps were outlined by President Obama in a
memorandum on May 21, 2010.
EPA and NHTSA have been working together on developing a National Program of
harmonized regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel
economy of light-duty vehicles. The agencies issued a Final Rulemaking
establishing standards for 2012-2016 model year vehicles on April 1, 2010. The
agencies are now in the process of developing a rulemaking to set standards for
model years 2017-2025. The complementary EPA and NHTSA standards that make up
the first phase of the proposed Heavy-Duty National Program would apply to
combination tractors (the semi trucks that typically pull trailers), heavy-duty
pickup trucks and vans, and vocational vehicles (including buses and refuse or
utility trucks). Together, these standards would cut greenhouse gas emissions by
nearly 250 million metric tons and save about 500 million barrels of oil over
the lifetime of the vehicles sold in model years 2014-2018.
STATE NEWS
Massachusetts Completes
the Nation's First Large Wind Turbine Blade Test Facility
The Wind Technology Testing Center is the nation's first large wind blade
test facility and is capable of testing longer blades than any other facility in
the world. The center will help reduce the cost of wind energy, accelerate
technical innovation in turbine and blade design, and speed the deployment of
the next generation of wind turbine blades for both offshore and land-based wind
energy. In May 2009, Secretary Steven Chu joined with Governor Patrick in Boston
to announce $25 million in funding for the project.
NYSERDA and Partners Launch
Center to Help Improve Energy Efficiency, Reduce Harmful Emissions, Cut Costs in
Manufacturing Processes
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
(SUNY-ESF) and RadTech International recently announced the establishment of a
new research, development and industrial testing center to help make
manufacturing processes in New York State more energy efficient, environmentally
friendly and economical. NYSERDA will provide nearly $1 million in funding
for the Ultraviolet Light (UV) and Electron Beam (EB) Process Curing Systems
Technology Center in Syracuse, N.Y, which will leverage more than $1 million in
SUNY and private capital from industrial partners.
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