“The $787 billion economic stimulus package provides some $65 billion in grants and tax credits for an array of energy projects,” writes Darrell Delamaide in the July/August issue of Energy Biz magazine.
Delamaide describes some of the stimulus-funded energy projects important to utilities, and how those projects will be funded. $8.7 billion has been allocated for energy efficiency improvements at federal facilities, and $4.5 billion has been allocated for smart grid projects.
According to the Edison Electrical Institute, the $20 million cap on stimulus-funded energy projects is too small to deliver the necessary investment to the national electrical infrastructure. However, utilities are piecing funding together from sources other than the Dept. of Energy. EEI has produced a summary of the parts of the stimulus related to energy and has formed several working groups to coordinate input in major grant areas.