American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

1. How much funding did the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?
   
2. I have read that the Recovery Act provided $11 billion for transmission activities and modernizing the electric grid. If OE received $4.5 billion, who received the remaining funding?
   
3. How will OE allocate the $4.5 billion it will administer?
   
4. How will the funds be distributed?
   
5. How will I know of any funding opportunities and how can I apply for grants?
   
6. How will spending be tracked and will the public have access to this information?
   
7. If I receive Recovery Act funds from DOE, what reporting am I required to do to tell the public how I used those funds and how many jobs were created as a result?
   
8. When will the first funding opportunity notices be released?
   
9. When does OE expect to begin disbursing the Recovery Act funds?
   
10. Who are the likely recipients of the funds? Will consumers be eligible to receive funds under any of your initiatives?
    
11. What is the “Smart Grid”? Why is it important and what will it accomplish?
    
12. What is the difference between “Smart Grid” and “Smart Meter”?
    
13. Where can I get more information and ask questions regarding the Department of Energy's recovery act activities?

1. How much funding did the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) receive under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?
   The Recovery Act allocated $4.5 billion to the Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) activities. These funds are an investment in a nationwide effort to modernize the electric grid, enhance security of energy infrastructure, and ensure reliable electricity delivery to meet growing demand.
   
   
2. I have read that the Recovery Act provided $11 billion for transmission activities and modernizing the electric grid. If OE received $4.5 billion, who received the remaining funding?
   The remainder of the funding provided by the Recovery Act for transmission activities is associated with the Power Marketing Administrations, self-contained entities within the Department Of Energy that market hydroelectric power to consumers. Specifically, Bonneville Power Authority in the Pacific Northwest received $3.25 billion in borrowing authority as did Western Area Power Administration. For more information, please see their websites http://www.bpa.gov/corporate and http://www.wapa.gov.
   
   
3. How will OE allocate the $4.5 billion it will administer?
   The Department is undergoing Administration review of its allocation of the funds to ensure the initiatives will most effectively meet the objectives of the Recovery Act. We anticipate that the majority of the funding will support smart grid programs authorized by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-140) (EISA). These include the Smart Grid technology demonstration projects authorized in section 1304 and the federal matching fund for Smart Grid investments in section 1306. Federal grants can provide up to 50 percent of the cost under these programs. The Recovery Act also directed funds to specific activities: - $100 million for Workforce Training - $80 million to conduct a resource assessment and an analysis of future demand and transmission requirements - $10 million for the development of interoperability standards that are critical to effective and consistent application of smart grid technologies Additional details on specific funding proposals and opportunities will be posted on the Department’s website at http://www.energy.gov/recovery and at http://www.oe.energy.gov/ as they become available.
   
   
4. How will the funds be distributed?
   The Department will use a competitive process to distribute funds for virtually all the initiatives. For example, the Smart Grid Investment funds will be awarded through a competitive grant process.
   
   
5. How will I know of any funding opportunities and how can I apply for grants?
   When a funding opportunity related to the Recovery Act is released, that information will be posted on the Department’s website at http://www.energy.gov/recovery/index.htm You can also check the Office Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability website at http://www.oe.energy.gov/ for opportunities specific to OE activities. These websites will have links to the full announcements which provide specific information and procedures for applying. The Funding Opportunity Announcements are available for viewing at Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov/) and at the DOE’s Industry Interactive Procurement Systems (IIPS) or “e-center” (https://e-center.doe.gov/). When the Funding Opportunity Announcement is released, applications are submitted through Grants.gov.
   
   
6. How will spending be tracked and will the public have access to this information?
   The Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy spending and progress will be posted regularly on http://www.energy.gov/recovery and at http://www.recovery.gov/, where you can monitor the efforts of other federal agencies as well.
   
   
7. If I receive Recovery Act funds from DOE, what reporting am I required to do to tell the public how I used those funds and how many jobs were created as a result?
   DOE has established a Resource Page for Recipient Reporting that can be found here. Go>.  The page provides guidance, webinars, instructions for complying with the recipient reporting requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including reporting number of jobs created.  Recipients are required to report quarterly, with the report due October 10, 2009.
   
   
8. When will the first funding opportunity notices be released?
   Information on funding opportunities will be available shortly after the Administration has completed its review of each initiative.
   
   
9. When does OE expect to begin disbursing the Recovery Act funds?
   The Department is moving to expedite the distribution of the funds so that the dollars can go where they are most needed and create jobs. That being said, a competitive process takes more time than a formula or block grant, since proposals must be solicited and evaluated before awards can be made. We hope to make the first awards in the 4th quarter of this calendar year, with the rest going out in fiscal year 2010.
   
   
10. Who are the likely recipients of the funds?
    Will consumers be eligible to receive funds under any of your initiatives? The largest share of funds will support the Smart Grid Investment Program. While there are no specific limitations to the type of recipients, based on the criteria for a qualifying investment in smart grid functions, we anticipate many of the successful applicants will be utilities. Some manufacturers could also apply: for example an appliance manufacturer might apply for a grant to redesign and retool his product line to incorporate smart grid capability. For other initiatives, funds could go to state and local governments. Universities, national labs, utilities or technology companies, perhaps in partnership, are likely to pursue some of the opportunities. While the funds will not go directly to the consumer, the consumer will benefit from the improvements to the grid, and from the job growth associated with the initiatives.
    
    
11. What is the “Smart Grid”? Why is it important and what will it accomplish?
    The Smart Grid is an automated, widely distributed delivery network modernized with the newest technologies that enable real time monitoring of energy usage and automated adaptation of energy flow to save energy and, ultimately, cost. It encompasses technologies that allow for the seamless integration of many new innovations, and the monitoring and control of them to more efficiently produce and distribute energy. Currently, the electric grid works like a one-way street, with energy being sent from its point of generation through the grid to the point of usage. There is no “return road”, no feedback from the user about power needed, and no way to return any unused power to the grid for usage by others. Much like the addition of computer technology to the automobile, Smart Grid technologies provide enhanced data granularity through constant feedback from the system, allowing operators to gain a complete picture of grid status and increase both stability and efficiency. Enhanced data will not only let operators analyze the roots of any problems and increase stability but, through computer control and energy management, will also monitor energy usage in real time allow consumers to better control their use of energy and reduce costs. The Smart Grid will have the ability to recognize if more power is being sent than is being used, and allow for redirection of the excess back into the Grid for use elsewhere. The integration of renewable resources like wind and solar power, energy storage, and distributed energy technologies into the Smart Grid will provide more reliable power as well as decrease greenhouse gas emissions to improve the environment.
    
    
12. What is the difference between “Smart Grid” and “Smart Meter”?
    Metering is just one of hundreds of possible applications that constitute the Smart Grid – a modernized electricity delivery infrastructure that is cleaner and more efficient, reliable, resilient and responsive. A traditional electrical meter simply measures the total consumption of electricity in your home, but does not provide information about the time of day the energy was consumed. Smart meters provide an economical way of measuring and providing this information to the consumer as a means of monitoring usage during peak vs. off hours and, as a result, managing energy efficiency and expenses. Deploying Smart Meters in homes and buildings across the country will make the energy grid cleaner, more efficient and more reliable. Smart Meters are only one piece of technology that enables the functioning of the Smart Grid. Combine the enhanced information gathered by these meters with Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) technologies, which sample voltage and current as many as 30 times per second, and the power system begins to become more transparent. The addition of next-generation grid visualization technology, which integrates real time sensor data, weather information and geographical information, allows operators to explore grid status on a national level and then switch to as low as street level when needed. The Smart Grid encompasses the technology that allows for the seamless integration of these as well as numerous renewable energy generation technologies, and the innovations that allow is to interface with and intelligently control them.
    
    
13. Where can I get more information and ask questions regarding the Department of Energy's recovery act activities?
    DOE has established a Clearinghouse for Recovery information.  The Clearinghouse will provide initial consultations, and also make referrals when appropriate to other information sources (websites, documents, DOE staff, etc).
    
    Webpage:  https://recoveryclearinghouse.energy.gov/
    Email:       RecoveryClearinghouse@hq.doe.gov
    Toll-free:   1-888-DOE-RCVY (1-888-363-7289)

To learn more about the Smart Grid and Smart Grid technology such as the Smart Meter, visit these online resources:

Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Smart Grid Resources

The Smart Grid: An Introduction