I just finished reading the first quarterly report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as the stimulus plan, and it points to some positive things.
According to the report, more than $88 billion has been made available for programs and projects so far, and 150,000 jobs have been created or saved.
Looking ahead, it says “An additional 600,000 jobs are expected to be created or saved” during the next 100 days and “billions of dollars in contracts and grants are expected to be awarded in the coming months.”
From the $787 billion stimulus package, $43 billion has been set aside for energy-related projects, including energy efficiency, smart grid, and tax incentives for renewable energy.
Since almost 90% of the stimulus is still unspent, there’s lots of money still to come, but do you know of energy projects already announced in your area? If so, are you pursuing the work?
If not, do you plan on bidding for projects in your area when they do get announced?
And the big question: How are you keeping track of project announcements?
The internet? Word of mouth? Still figuring that one out?
If you’re not yet a stimulus pro, check back here as we continue to talk about recent developments and helpful resources. And if you’ve already had success with learning about or being awarded stimulus projects, we’d love to hear about your experiences.
May 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
NECA must lobby to make the 30% solar tax credit applicable to businesses, not just individuals. Distributed solar power has all kinds of advantages over centralized solar farms. However, with the current cost structure, it won’t happen without significant incentives. As the incentives increase volume, costs will decrease, and the incentives could be gradually eliminated. So this is NOT a permanent government hand-out. It IS required to get off of our dependence on fossil fuels.