Federal Policy and the Stimulus Package

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February 2009 1, has focused unprecedented attention on green jobs in the United States.  It set aside $500 million for green-jobs training, and billions more for green projects that might create those jobs. The actual amount is hard to calculate because some of the funding is available both to green and nongreen projects, and because there are so many different ideas about which projects can be considered green. The total ranges from $50 billion 2 to more than $110 billion 3, depending on which interest group or news organization is counting.

The green stimulus package funding was directed through several different federal agencies, including the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. The number of green jobs it will create is unclear. Other federal policy initiatives will also have an impact on green job creation.

Watch Videos of Experts Discussing the Green Economy

Stimulus Overview 

HSBC Global Research calculated that 16 percent of the U.S. stimulus dollars were slated for green spending, compared to 0 percent in Poland, 14 percent in the European Union, 34 percent in China and 69 percent in South Korea4.

Because funds are designated for building projects, accelerating research and growing manufacturing, it's hard to say how much goes directly to creating green jobs instead of materials or other items. The number of jobs being created is widely disputed 5. The advocacy coalition Environment America projects 1.5 million green jobs from the package.
 
One of the biggest difficulties in counting the jobs that have been "created or saved" is a lack of clear standards to determine or verify whether a job was saved. It's difficult to know, or to prove, that a job was saved, and this vagueness could lead to misused accounting6.
 
So-called "indirect" jobs also are hard to tally with any accuracy, yet they may well make up a large part of the stimulus' impact.  This is further complicated by the trend of many conventional jobs becoming more environmentally friendly.

The stimulus provides contracts, grants, rebates and loan guarantees for renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy transmission and greener vehicles, as well as for green job training. 7,8 Most of these require some private matching funding.

The stimulus money to spur green activities is spread among multiple agencies, with much of it going to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. The departments of Transportation, Treasury and Defense also received significant funding.

Environmental Protection Agency 

The Environmental Protection Agency received an allocation of $7.22 billion from the stimulus package 9. As of October 2009, more than 99 percent of the funds had been "obligated," or awarded, but only 3.7 percent, or $264 million, had been distributed 10.  All together, the EPA part of the Recovery Act slates:

$6 billion for clean water projects – including water quality, wastewater infrastructure, drinking-water infrastructure, water and energy efficiency and so-called "environmentally innovative" projects – administered through the EPA's Clean Water State Revolving Fund11 and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund 12

• $600 million to clean up Superfund sites, or sites contaminated with hazardous waste13
• $300 million in grants and loans for diesel-emission-reduction projects by regional, state and local government agencies, tribal agencies and nonprofits14
• $200 million to clean petroleum leaks from underground storage tanks 15
• $100 million to clean up brownfield, or former industrial and commercial sites16
• $20 million for oversight and review by the EPA inspector general.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy oversees $36.7 billion of Recovery Act funds, some of which is slated for clean energy17. The exact amount directed to clean energy hinges on differing definitions of "clean." As of October 2009, the department had awarded $17.74 billion and had spent $1.09 billion. The stimulus sets aside:

• $16.8 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy, administered through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy18, including $2 billion for advanced battery systems and components (to help support electric vehicles)19
• $6 billion to clean up Cold War nuclear sites through the Office of Environmental Management20
• $4.5 billion for smart grid and efficient electrical-transmission technologies through the Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability21
• $3.4 billion for carbon capture and storage technology through the Office of Fossil Energy22
• $1.6 billion for scientific research through the Office of Science23
• $400 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy24.

Other Programs

Some of the many other allocations potentially related to green jobs include25:

• $18.9 billion for environmentally friendly transportation, including public transit, through the Department of Transportation. 26 (Some estimates differ. Much of the department's $48.1 billion budget is going toward infrastructure like highways and bridges.)
• The Department of Transportation in September also awarded $100 million in grants for "cutting-edge" environmental technologies 27.
• $4.51 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to retrofit public and Native American housing to make it more energy efficient
• $830 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• $650 million for road, bridge and trail maintenance, watershed restoration and ecosystem enhancements through the U.S. Forest Service
• $280 million for habitat restoration, construction, repair, and maintenance of public lands governed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• $290 million for watershed infrastructure improvements through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Spending Speed

Compared with the usual slow pace of government grants and loans, the speed with which the agencies hope to spend the money presents a unique challenge. The DOE awarded $16.7 billion by September 2009, ahead of its goal for that month of $16.3 billion.

In February 2009, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he wanted the DOE to spend at least 70 percent of the stimulus funding by the end of 201028. For comparison purposes, consider that the same department took more than two years to issue a non-stimulus package loan guarantee of $535 million to thin-film solar startup Solyndra in March 200929.

Industry Impact

Industry insiders such as Jesse Berst, managing director of research firm Global Smart Energy, said the package has put cleantech companies in "a feeding frenzy,"30. Others, such as Doug Faulkner, president of strategic consulting firm Chrysalis Energy Partners, are calling Washington "the new Wall Street" for green energy as a result31.

An infusion of new consultants and lobbyists are helping companies sort through the new opportunities, prepare applications and get attention from government agencies. "The first industry that has been stimulated by the Recovery Act has been the consulting industry," said Justin McCaulley, a vice president at consulting company LNE Group32.

Applying for government funding is different from raising venture capital because the government has other goals aside from financial returns. That has resulted in companies emphasizing the jobs they are creating or saving or locating projects at the sites of shuttered factories in Michigan in an attempt to win government support33.

Companies have little time to apply for contracts, grants and loans once the solicitations are issued – often approximately a month, which in most cases is too little time to come up with a project from scratch. Because of that, some companies have been taking steps to prepare for the solicitations in advance, based on guesses about what might give their projects an edge34. For example, companies have formed project partnerships and have attempted to create some industry standards so that proposed projects could work with others35.

The paperwork is also far from trivial. Steve McBee, chief executive of consulting firm McBee Strategic, said his company submitted three three-ring-binders full of contracts for each of his clients' federal loan-guarantee applications. And even if companies win an award, it can take months to actually get the money36.

Because thousands of companies are applying for hundreds of opportunities, much of that time will probably go to waste37. But some of the projects are likely to go forward even if they don't get government funding38

With much of the green-jobs-related money allocated, if not spent, the industry already is starting to wonder about the impact of the end of the stimulus39. It may not be over quite as soon as expected, however, as several new bills could extend or expand the spending40.

Shrinking Loan Guarantees

The Recovery Act designated $6 billion for loan guarantees for renewable energy, electric transmission and advanced biofuel technologies41 . With that capital, the DOE was expected to be able to underwrite more than $60 billion in loans, which are required to begin construction by Sept. 30, 201142. Delays have frustrated industry advocates who say that so far, these loan guarantees have actually slowed project activity as executives wait to move on projects before proceeding 43,44.

Guarantees from an earlier set of applications, due in 2006, began trickling out in 2009. Solar startup Solyndra counted itself as the first recipient, having finalized its guarantee in September 2009 after raising $198 million in private equity to match its $535 million guarantee. Electric-vehicle startups Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive, solar startup SoloPower and flywheel maker Beacon Power are among the companies to announce "conditional" loan guarantees.  Conditional guarantees require them to meet certain goals, which can include technical milestones or fund raising from other sources, before the loan guarantee is finalized.

More guarantees are expected to come out soon, as the DOE has been reviewing applications submitted during two solicitations in 2008. In October 2009, the department also released a set of standards, called the Financial Institutional Partnership Program, to accelerate loan guarantees for "conventional renewable energy generation projects," including standard wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydropower projects. While the previous solicitations targeted new and innovative technologies, the new set of standards opens the loan guarantee program to technologies already proven in the marketplace45.

The loan guarantee program suffered an unexpected setback in July 2009, when the $1 billion Cash for Clunkers program, which offered rebates to help drivers upgrade to more fuel-efficient vehicles, ended up being far more popular than expected46. Congress reallocated $2 billion from the DOE loan-guarantee program to Cash for Clunkers47 , then closed the program when the money ran out in August 48.

Renewable-energy advocates were unhappy with the transfer. Some have pointed out that the loan guarantee program is structured to attract additional project spending, meaning that it delivers more economic activity per dollar than Cash for Clunkers49,50. IDC Energy Insights concluded that every dollar of loan guarantee spending could result in $28 of project activity51.  
 

Tax Credits and Expiring Cash Grants

After numerous failed attempts to extend the renewable-energy tax credits that had been set to expire at the end of 200852,53,54 , Congress approved them as part of the bailout package, properly known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, just two months before the deadline. The bailout extended the production tax credit, or PTC, for one year and the investment tax credit, or ITC, for eight years55 . The PTC provides a tax break of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity produced from wind, solar, geothermal, ocean or "closed loop" biomass power, and 1 cent per kilowatt-hour for hydropower, landfill gas and municipal solar waste technologies, for the first 10 years of a project's operation56 . The ITC provides a tax break of 30 percent of the cost of solar, fuel cell and small wind projects, or 10 percent for geothermal, microturbines and combined heat and power57.

But the financial markets entered a downturn in 2008 and companies found themselves unable to take advantage of the tax credits because they weren't making enough money – and paying enough in taxes – to see any savings. Previously, companies were able to partner with tax-equity investors, who would help finance the projects in exchange for the tax credits, but the number of tax-equity investors fell in the recession, making it far more difficult to score these deals58.

The stimulus aimed to fix the situation by allowing companies to exchange the tax credits for cash grants, so that they could bypass the need to find tax-equity investors to use the credits 59,60,61,62. Of course, companies still had to come up with the rest of the money for the project, but the grants were intended to cut some of the cost 63. A few complications – including a provision that disqualifies projects backed by four types of investors and confusion about when a project qualifies as having begun construction – have kept some projects from being eligible for the grants64.

The cash grants were approved for two years, for projects that begin construction in 2009 and 201065, because they were meant as short-term fixes to help spark renewable-energy activity while tax equity wasn't available. The Treasury Department issued the application guidelines – and started accepting applications – in August, after most of what was supposed to be the program's first year had already passed66. Companies have warned that the tax-equity markets are unlikely to recover before the grants expire, potentially halting projects if the grants aren't renewed67. Lobbyists hope to get cash-grant extensions included in a larger package of tax-credit extensions or in a second job-creation bill 68,69.

The Recovery Act extended the PTC, so that wind power projects are now eligible through 2012, while the PTC for hydropower, geothermal power, municipal solid waste, bioenergy, wave and tidal energy expires at the end of 2013 70,71. The bill also expanded the breaks to utilities scrambling to meet state renewable goals72, and removed a cap on credits for residential projects 73,74.

In addition to the ITC and PTC, the stimulus set up a new tax credit to defray 30 percent of clean-energy equipment manufacturing projects75,76. The DOE and Treasury in August 2009 began accepting applications for the manufacturers tax credit, setting September and October deadlines, and then stopped accepting applications. Finalists will be allowed to submit final applications to the Internal Revenue Service by December, and the IRS will make decisions by Jan. 10, 2010 77.

Other Federal Initiatives

In June 2009, the House and Senate passed two different clean-energy bills. The House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also called ACES or the Waxman-Markey bill 78. (An amendment specifying additional details was introduced in July79.) The Senate passed the American Clean Energy Leadership Act, or ACELA80,81. So far, the two chambers haven't been able to reconcile the different bills.

One key difference is that the House bill calls for a carbon cap-and-trade program, which limits carbon emissions and sets up a system to enable companies to buy and sell carbon allowances, while Senate does not82. The bills also set different standards requiring utilities to get a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. The House calls for a federal renewable-electricity standard of 6 percent in 2010 growing to 20 percent in 2020, with up to a quarter coming from energy efficiency instead of renewable energy83. The Senate requires 3 percent in 2011 and 15 percent by 2021, and also includes energy efficiency 84. Because of the inclusion of energy efficiency, these standards are lower than many state standards85 .

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy estimates that ACES could reduce energy consumption by about 8.8 quads, avoid 539 million metric tons of carbon emissions and save consumers about $62 billion in 2030, while ACELA could reduce energy consumption by about 4.3 quads, avoid 65 million metric tons of carbon emissions and save consumers about $36 billion in the same year86.

In October 2009, Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California also introduced a new Senate climate-change bill, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, which includes a cap-and-trade program and aims to reduce carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 20 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by 205087,88. The bill passed through the environment and public works committee in November, but Republicans boycotted the vote89. The bill will likely need to be reconciled with other bills, including ACELA, before being considered by the full Senate90.

Enacting any of these bills could lead to more green jobs. A national renewable energy standard, for instance, would require more renewable energy in the states that currently have no renewable portfolio standard, thereby spurring new energy efficiency and clean energy projects. If the law includes a carbon cap-and-trade program, it could also boost the carbon-trading market -- resulting in new businesses to help buy and sell allowances -- as well as the carbon offsetting market for projects and technologies to reduce companies' net carbon emissions. If the price for these allowances rises high enough, they could also render some green activities and technologies more economically viable by effectively raising the price of conventional energy and giving companies a chance to make money by selling, instead of using, their allotted allowances. The legislators who introduced all three bills say their bill will create "millions" of these jobs 91 92 93

External Links

• Recovery.gov (U.S. Government)
• Stimulus Spending Progress (ProPublica)
• EPA Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• EPA Programs that Implement the Recovery Act (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• Recovery and Reinvestment (U.S. Department of Energy)
• DOT Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (U.S. Department of Transportation) 
• U.S. Department of Treasury – Renewable Energy Grants (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency)
• FEDERAL Incentives/Policies for Renewables & Efficiency (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency)
• Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency's federal page (Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency)

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