Between the Poles

Department of Energy ARRA Stimulus Smart Grid Grant Awards

A list of the DoE $3.4 billion grant awards is available.  The awards are matched so that the total value of the projects is $8.1 billion according to DoE.  Apparently only about a quarter of the 400 applicants under this program won funds. The DOE said the process was very competitive.

Canadian Stimulus Report Card

Prime Minister Stephen Harper tabled a report that said that 90 per cent of the funding for the 2009 stimulus has been committed and that of the 7,500+ projects that are on the drawing board across the country, 4,000 have actually begun.  At the beginning of the year the government's budget provided a $40 billion stimulus to be spent over two years.  The government believed that the stimulus would create or protect 265,000 jobs by the end of 2010.

The stimulus included almost $12 billion in new infrastructure stimulus funding for roads, bridges, broadband internet access, electronic health records, laboratories and border crossings and $7.8 billion to build quality housing, stimulate construction and enhance energy efficiency.

Canada's Economic Action Plan (Jan 27)

                                                           2009 2010 Total

                                                                 (millions of C$—cash basis)

Help Canadians and Stimulate Spending 5,880 6,945 12,825

Stimulate Housing Construction                  5,365 2,395    7,760

Housing leverage                                     725    750    1,475

Immediate Build Infrastructure                  6,224 5,605 11,829

Infrastructure leverage                                  4,532 4,365    8,897

Support Businesses and Communities          5,272 2,255    7,527

Sectoral leverage                                  1,300            1,300

Total federal stimulus                                 22,742 17,200 39,942

Total stimulus (with leverage)                 29,298 22,316 51,613

    As a share of GDP                                                    (%)  

Total federal stimulus                                      1.5       1.1        2.5

Total stimulus (with leverage)                      1.9       1.4        3.2

First Economic Impact of the ARRA Report Released by Council of Economic Advisors

The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) has released The Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the first quarterly report by the CEA to Congress on the effects of the Recovery Act on the economy and employment.

By the end of August, $151.4 billion of the total $787 billion ARRA has been paid out or has gone out in the form of tax reductions. 

It is estimated that the ARRA added 2.3 percentage points to real GDP growth in the second quarter and is likely to add more to growth in the third quarter.

This analysis indicates that the ARRA and other policy actions caused employment in August to be slightly more than 1 million jobs higher than it otherwise would have been especially in manufacturing, construction, retail trade, and temporary employment services. 

Worldwide, it was found that countries that adopted larger fiscal stimulus packages outperformed expectations relative to those adopting smaller packages.

ComEd Applies for $175 million from ARRA for Smart Grid Pilot

ComEd (part of Exelon) has submitted a petition to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to approve the utility's application for federal stimulus grants that would fund half of a $350 million Smart Grid

pilot. ComEd has applied to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand its proposed AMI pilot and double the number of customers receiving new Smart Meters to about 320,000 customers in Chicago and other communities. The funding would also be used to expand investment in other advanced automation technology to make the transmission and distribution systems "smarter" and more reliable.

If approved, the benefits from the ComEd application would include the deployment of smart meters together with advanced pricing and billing options, some customers would receive in-home displays, programmable devices that would allow them to control their air conditioners remotely and Web application options to help manage energy usage and costs, dynamic Voltage Reduction technologies to reduce line losses, and intelligent substation technologies to improve safety and optimize operations while improving reliability and performance.

G-20 Finance Ministers Plan to Maintain Stimulus

G-20 finance ministers meeting in London have committed to maintaining the economic stimulus packages put in place in response to the global economic recession. Finance ministers considered whether nations could begin to repeal some of the emergency economic measures but agreed to continue the "financial support measures and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies... until recovery is secured."

The total amount of stimulus in the G-20 amounts to about $692 billion for 2009.  The U.S. stimulus package for 2009 is 1.9 percent of its 2008 GDP and the corresponding numbers for China and Japan are 2.1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. In 2010 the U.S. stimulus package amounts to 2.9 percent of 2008 GDP, China’s 2.3 percent, and Germany’s 2.0 percent.  (Table Prasad and Sorkin)

NTIA and RUS Receive 2,200 Applications Totaling $28 Billion for Stimulus Broadband Grants

The ARRA includes $7.2 billion for broadband infrastructure development. Of this $4.7 billion has been allocated to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for projects that will build out broadband infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas and to promote broadband education, awareness, training and support.  The other $2.5 billion has been allocated to the Department of Agriculture for loans to companies building out broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

The federal agencies have announced that to date they've received roughly 2,200 applications totalling approximately $28 billion.

Recovery.gov Reports $84.6 Billion of ARRA Stimulus Funding Paid Out

The US Federal Government's web site devoted to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus reports that as of Aug 21, over US$208 billion has been allocated and US$84.6 billion has been paid out.

Each federal agency is maintaining a similar report for the stimulus funding allocated to it.  I've attached the progress report for the Department of Energy that shows that almost US$10 billion has been allocated, and so far almost half a billion has been paid out.

AIA Architectural Billings Index Indicates ARRA Stimulus Funds Are Reaching More Architects

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) publishes a monthly assessment of the state of the economy in the architectural industry.  For July they found that stimulus funds are reaching more architects now than earlier this year. 15% of their respondents reported that they have received actual billable work from the stimulus plan. In addition almost a quarter (24 %) received inquiries for future projects from stimulus funds. This is significantly higher than in May, when the comparable proportions were 11% and 22%, respectively.

Stimulus in Canada: $16.5 billion for Infrastructure over Two Years

The government of Canada has released a quarterly update on stimulus spending.  The government says that that 80 per cent of the spending has been allocated, and that this is occuring at a faster rate than any other G7 country. The government says that the total spend over two years will be C$62 billion.  The spending breakdown includes $20.5 billion for infrastructure and technology programs.

- $6.2 billion in tax credits and tax cuts

- $6.3 billion in new spending for unemployed Canadians

- $16.5 billion for new infrastructure programs

- $4 billion on research and development and so-called "knowledge" infrastructure

- $13.7 billion for the auto bailout and other sectoral support

- $15 billion in combined spending stimulus by provinces and territories

Recovery.gov Department of Energy Detailed Recovery Plan

As I blogged in the middle of May Recovery.gov is reporting on a weekly basis the stimulus funds that are available and the amount actually paid out.  The amount of funding available continues to rise at a steady pace, but getting it out the door is having its ups and downs.

Since I last blogged about this, detailed reports from all federal agencies have been released.

The Department of Energy's Detailed Plan is interesting reading.

"The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) began a new era at DOE. Our commitment charter is clear: move the funds out quickly to projects with enduring value, ensure unprecedented transparency and accountability, and make a meaningful down-payment on the nation’s energy and environmental future.

"The bill provides DOE with the funding and responsibilities to help lift our country out of an economic recession through strategic investments in technologies that increase energy efficiency, expand renewable generation, improve electric transmission, reduce our dependence on oil, accelerate transformational sciences, reduce our legacy footprint, and lower greenhouse gas emissions—investments that will create and protect jobs that will energize our economy.

"The Recovery Act investments will be strategic and focused:

- Promote Energy Efficiency

- Deploy Renewable Power

- Modernize the Grid

- Reduce Oil Consumption

- Restore America’s Scientific Leadership

- Reduce Legacy Environmental Footprint

- Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

"These goals will be refined and further detailed as specific projects are approved and proposals accepted. 

"To achieve these goals, the Department has outlined three broad phases for most of the Recovery Act projects: 

1. Project Planning, Announcements, and Solicitations (Feb. 17 – May 15, 2009), 
2. Proposal Evaluation, Procurement, Contracting, and Obligation (May 16 – Sept. 7, 2009) , 
3. Implementation, Project Monitoring and Impact Evaluation (Sept. 8, 2009 – Sept. 30, 2010). "

So it looks like DoE is in the evaluation phase and will begin implementation a few months from now in September.