Recovery.gov - Track the Money

EERE Recovery Act project activities aim to accelerate existing EERE program goals, expand programmatic activities, and create new activities in transformational research and development (R&D). Many of the projects place emphasis on deployment and funding “shovel ready” projects that demonstrate the feasibility of EERE technologies to meet the Presidents energy goals. A select set of projects is outlined below.

Acceleration of Existing EERE Goals: EERE has set aggressive targets in each of its program areas to advance clean energy technologies. Recovery Act funds will provide the resources necessary to support the acceleration of many of these targets. Examples include:
• In 2007 and 2008, EERE announced the funding for four commercial-scale and eight demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plants. Funds will support accelerated validation of multiple advanced biofuel pathways to help reach DOE’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012.
• Recovery Act funds will support the acceleration of next-generation geothermal, or enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), technology development; particularly pilot and demonstration projects, and component technology R&D.
• Expansion of near-term market and manufacturing opportunities will help to support the acceleration fuel cell market transformation. It will support the immediate deployment of approximately 1,000 fuel cell systems for backup power and material handling applications (e.g., forklifts), which are key early markets for fuel cells.

Expansion of Programmatic Activities: EERE has many ongoing programs that, with the infusion of Recovery Act funds, can grow to impact more of the population and expand into new areas. Examples include:
• Through the Weatherization program, State Energy Program, and Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Programs, over $11 billion of EERE’s funds will be used to weatherize homes of low-income Americans or will go to states and local communities to implement high priority energy efficiency projects.
• The development of inexpensive and durable batteries is one of the most important components of building a fleet of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. EERE will provide $2 billion to build domestic battery manufacturing capabilities.
• $300 million of the fund, going to state and local governments and transit authorities, will bolster the Clean Cities Alternative Fuel Vehicles Program, which supports the reduction of petroleum consumption
-Transportation electrification will also receive $400 million for demonstrating and evaluating PHEVs and electric infrastructure projects.

New Transformative R&D Activities: Recovery Act funds will allow EERE to remain on the cutting edge of next-generation clean energy technologies by expanding into transformative areas of R&D. Examples include:
• Funds will be invested in high impact solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies that support the PV supply chain, and also help to transition basic science developments into applied research.
• Investments in wind energy R&D will support the construction of a large dynamometer to test the performance and reliability of wind turbine drivetrain systems.
The following program activities have either been announced or specified in the Recovery Act:
•Buildings (GPRA Unit 1.1.20.00) - $344 million
Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D (GPRA Unit 1.1.06.00) - $800 million;
• Vehicle Technologies (GPRA Unit 1.1.02.00) - $2,700 million;
• Fuel Cell Technologies (GPRA Unit 1.1.01.00) - $43 million;
• Weatherization and Intergovernmental Activities (GPRA Unit 1.4.21.00 & 1.4.22.00) - $11,600 million;
• Geothermal Technology (GPRA Unit 1.1.05.00) - $400 million;
• Wind Energy (GPRA Unit 1.1.04.00) - $108 million;
• Facilities and Infrastructure - $98 million;
• Program Management - $50 million; and
• EERE R&D Projects Under Review - $1,001 million.

EERE will receive a historic number of applications for these Recovery funds, and efforts are being made to secure the necessary number of qualified reviewers for these applications from a variety of DOE organizations. Once applications are reviewed and awards are made, EERE will provide appropriate oversight to ensure that all outcomes are consistent with and measurable against DOE’s goals under the Recovery Act, and qualified staff are available for monitoring performance. To guide this oversight, DOE has prepared Risk Mitigation Plans (RMPs) for each of its Recovery Act projects and will appoint qualified Contracting Officers, Contracting Officer Technical Representatives, and Program Managers with certification levels appropriate to the unique implementation risks of Recovery Act projects to provide oversight.

EERE will actively monitor grants, cooperative agreements and contracts to ensure that performance, cost, and schedule goals are being met and that all potential risks are mitigated in accordance with the respective RMPs. For large grant programs such as the Weatherization Assistance Programs, DOE will make technical assistance available from national labs as grantees prepare their applications and during implementation to help measure and verify results.

Representative examples of project-specific RMPs are those of the Weatherization Assistance and State Energy Programs (WAP and SEP, respectively). To mitigate the risks of not using funding in a timely manner and not using funding for projects that meet Recovery Act objectives, grant recipients will be required to submit a plan of how they will use funds within 18 months and disburse funds within 36 months after receipt of initial funds. Following EERE review, final determinations of the acceptability of plans will be made by a senior-level EERE team with advice from DOE Internal Review staff. Grants will be disbursed on a milestone basis:

• 10 percent at time of initial award.
• 40 percent when recipient’s complete plan is approved by EERE.
• 10 to 20 percent when recipients demonstrate that they have obligated funds appropriately and jobs are being created.
• 30 to 40 percent when recipients demonstrate continued progress during EERE reviews.

DOE will increase the frequency of on-site monitoring so that each state is monitored at least once each year. State recipients are expected to ensure that funds are used in an appropriate way that is consistent with the State Energy Conservation Plan approved by DOE. To assist the states with compliance, DOE will allocate up to 20 percent of WAP funds to provide training and technical assistance to state and local governments through existing programs such as Technical Assistance Project and peer-to-peer exchange.

Recovery Leadership & Operations
The DOE Recovery Office is the central point for implementation and execution of Recovery Act activities. A Recovery operations team will oversee implementation management, coordinate with external entities, and hold monthly performance and review meetings with senior departmental managers.

Recovery Funding Oversight, Performance & Risk Mitigation
In addition to DOE’s standard funds control mechanisms, Recovery Act funds are subject to additional process controls to ensure funds are not co-mingled, are tracked to enable reporting, and are spent responsibly. DOE Recovery funds are released for implementation in a staged approach. Programs develop initial project plans which include performance metrics which require management approval.

Office of Internal Review (OIR)
OIR programs ensure the Recovery Act objectives are met and DOE managers and partners are held accountable for successful execution. Programs include coordinating DOE’s “Internal Control Acknowledgment” program, conducting agency wide assessments and analyses including initial programmatic risk assessments. Further agency level information can be found here: www.energy.gov/recovery

DOE is committed to coordinating and conducting oversight of its Recovery funds to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Specifically, EERE will ensure that:

• Funds are awarded and distributed in a prompt, fair, and reasonable manner. DOE contracting officers will comply with the changes to the pre-solicitation and award notice process as mandated by FAR Case 2009-010.
• The recipients and uses of all funds are transparent to the public, and the public benefits of these funds are reported clearly, accurately, and in a timely manner. The standard terms and conditions contained in individual award agreements will provide detailed information on required reporting elements to comply with Section 1512 of the Recovery Act and OMB-specified reporting requirements. DOE will assess the ability of recipients to effectively implement and fulfill reporting requirements as part of the milestone obligation and disbursement process. DOE is standardizing reporting across all projects and will make non-proprietary information available to the public in a transparent and meaningful manner.
• Funds are used for authorized purposes and instances of fraud, waste, error, and abuse are mitigated. Project reports containing detailed information on the use of funds will be required from all awardees, including how the prime recipient is using the funds, and any sub-awards made by the prime recipient. Frequent monitoring of recipients, both announced and unannounced, will ensure that funds are used appropriately.
• Recovery Act projects avoid unnecessary delays and cost overruns. EERE will require all recipients to submit plans for the use of funds. Final determinations of acceptability of plans will be made by a senior EERE team with advice from DOE Internal Review staff. Recipients will be required to expend funds in a timely manner.
• Program goals are achieved, including specific program outcomes and improved results on broader economic indicators. DOE maintains an oversight capability through its field offices, and Federal Project Directors will be assigned to Recovery Act projects to ensure that cost, scope, and schedule baselines are achieved. Individual projects will be regularly monitored through standard reviews to ensure reporting requirements are being met and that projects are proceeding towards stated objectives. Regular management review meetings will be conducted via teleconference and site visits.

DOE leverages its existing corporate systems to track and report on Recovery Act activities and to ensure effective funds management. The DOE’s iManage Data Warehouse (IDW) is a corporate enterprise system integrating financial, budgetary, procurement, and program information to monitor project execution. Each program is tracked using a unique Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol, and each component project is identified by a unique Project Identification Code.

IDW is a central data warehouse linking common data elements from each of DOE’s corporate business systems and serving as a “knowledge bank” of information about portfolios, programs or projects including budget execution, accumulated costs, performance achieved, and critical milestones met. The IDW contains information from multiple corporate systems and will be a tool used to meet information needs for Recovery Act oversight and reporting to Recovery.gov.

The Performance Measure Manager (PMM) is DOE’s performance tracking system. PMM tracks high-level budgetary performance and is being expanded to accommodate Recovery Act performance tracking needs. Performance evaluations will be organized and reported along with results from DOE’s annual budgetary activities in the Annual Performance Report and posted on: www.energy.gov/recovery. Performance results will be uploaded into the IDW for required agency reporting.

See DOE’s Recovery Plan for additional information on DOE’s financial and performance tracking mechanisms, found here: www.energy.gov/recovery.

EERE Recovery Act federal infrastructure investments prioritize meeting and exceeding the energy efficiency and green building requirements outlined in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), and Executive Order 14324. These infrastructure investments will be made in a way that ensures long-term public benefits, optimization of economic and programmatic results, and promotion of sound labor practices.

The Recovery Act will support construction of the new Research Support Facility (RSF II) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which will redefine the U.S. standard for energy performance and design. RSF II will significantly exceed energy performance standards (e.g., American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers) for commercial buildings and is designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum status at the same cost as today’s low energy performance commercial buildings. DOE is pursuing the possibility of making RSF II a net zero energy building and will be able to share the construction approach with other agencies and the private sector so that they can all use the facility as a model for future design.

Another project supported by the Recovery Act that will optimize programmatic results and provide long-term public benefits is the expansion of the NREL Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility (IBRF), which provides industrial-scale research and development (R&D) process capability to accelerate the development of advanced cellulosic ethanol processes. Expansion of this facility is critical to the growth of the U.S. ethanol industry, and therefore will help reduce U.S. foreign oil dependence and increase energy security. The IBRF leverages NREL’s science and engineering expertise and is designed to achieve LEED Gold status and meet or exceed all applicable energy standards, ensuring long-term energy savings that will benefit U.S. taxpayers.

One more ongoing EERE program supported by the Recovery Act is the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). FEMP’s mission is to provide technical assistance to DOE and other federal agencies to implement cost-effective energy management and investment practices in their facilities. With Recovery Act funds, FEMP will be able to expand the scope and scale of its technical assistance and implement a reporting and tracking system to track progress towards efficiency and renewable energy goals and develop a greenhouse gas management and abatement program. This assistance will help the federal government take a leadership role in the utilization of clean low-carbon, energy-saving technologies. Recovery Act funds also will allow FEMP to increase its education and outreach to other federal agencies about utilization of these third-party financing tools, and expand the leverage of private capital to improve Federal infrastructure.

EERE’s infrastructure improvements will enable integration of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, which ensures long-term life cycle energy savings that demonstrate innovative and emerging green building technologies and design. By reducing the sites’ carbon footprints and avoiding significant energy-related costs, many of these infrastructure improvements will also save the U.S. taxpayer dollars on federal energy bills or allow for funds to be redirected into other high priority activities. The advancements will also encourage technology and business model innovation in the private sector.