Energy stimulus to see lower returns
Posted by Tony Romm on 7/08/09 • Categorized as PUBLISHED STORIES
When Congress agreed earlier this year to shell out $3.1 billion in stimulus dollars to help states reduce energy consumption, it expected a major return on its investment. Since the 1970s, every federal dollar sent to states through the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program has produced more than $7 in energy savings — a perfect opportunity for quick stimulus results.
While Congress anticipates this nearly 70-fold funding increase, up from just $44 million last fiscal year, to save governments, consumers and businesses about $22.3 billion, experts are beginning to doubt that math. They argue that the new State Energy Program money, more than $964 million of which has been sent to the states since May, is likely to generate much lower returns because of the program’s historically loose enforcement and oversight.
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Tagged as: energy, PUBLISHED STORIES, stimulus
