More FY 2011 Funding for Energy Efficiency Means More Jobs, More $$ Savings for American Consumers, Businesses, Says Alliance

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Alliance to Save Energy today commended President Obama for recognizing in his proposed FY 2011 budget the importance of well-funded federal energy efficiency programs in moving the nation towards economic health.  

"The Administration's FY 2011 budget request evidences that President Obama remains steadfast in his march to quickly and widely deploy energy efficiency, even as he has proposed to scale back or end many other programs across the federal government to address mounting deficits," said Alliance President Kateri Callahan. "We are encouraged that the president and his team recognize that significant and sustained federal funding for energy efficiency is particularly important in today's economy, because such investments have a proven track record of strong returns for the nation in the form of new jobs, increased private sector investment and lower monthly energy costs for consumers and businesses alike."

The budget request includes a $31 million boost -- to $231 million -- to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Building Technologies Program, which supports building energy codes, equipment standards, energy efficient commercial buildings and a variety of research and development programs.  In addition, increases are requested for the important work underway through the DOE Industrial Technologies Program, which helps U.S. manufacturers reduce energy costs and maintain global competitiveness; the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), which oversees implementation of a presidential executive order mandating energy savings in federal facilities; and DOE's portion of the ENERGY STAR Program.

"We applaud the modest increases requested for these key programs in an overall DOE energy efficiency budget that is essentially flat – which is a testament to how essential these programs are, even at a time of federal budget constraint," Callahan said, adding:  "We are disappointed, however, that the proposed increase to the EPA ENERGY STAR program – an essential tool for helping to drive energy efficient products, services and buildings into the marketplace – received a far too modest increase of only about 5 percent, to $55.4 million."  

The Alliance to Save Energy will urge the Congress to appropriate significantly more funding to the EPA ENERGY STAR program than has been requested, and, as well, will advocate to ensure that Congress provides at least the levels of funding recommended by the administration, if not more for the DOE energy efficiency-related programs.

Within the overall $2.35 billion DOE budget request for energy efficiency programs in FY 2011 (about $1.5 million above this year's funding), the president requested the following amounts for these key programs:

• Building Technologies – $231 million, $31 million over FY10;
• Industrial Technologies – $100 million, $4 million over FY10;
• FEMP – $42 million, $10 million over FY10;
• Vehicle Technologies – $325 million, $14 million over FY10.

The Alliance to Save Energy is a coalition of prominent business, government, environmental, and consumer leaders who promote the efficient and clean use of energy worldwide to benefit consumers, the environment, economy, and national security. 

SOURCE Alliance to Save Energy