Do you have the energy?

Friday the House voted on the Energy, Water Approp bill. Lots o' stuff in it. The good folks at the AAU provides us this summary.

The House Friday approved its version of the FY10 Energy and Water appropriations bill (H.R. 3183) by a vote of 320 to 97. The measure provides $26.9 billion overall for the Department of Energy (DOE), or about $500 million less than the Senate committee-approved bill (S. 1436) and $1.5 billion less than the Administration’s FY10 request of $28.4 billion.

The White House Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on H.R. 3183 thanks House leaders for fully funding the DOE Office of Science but urges restoration of its full request for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy—a $68 million difference. The SAP expresses strong support for the Innovation Hubs and the RE-ENERGYSE program, both of which received funding in the House bill considerably below the request. (Additional details below.)

DOE Office of Science. The House bill would fund the DOE Office of Science at $4.94 billion, just over the Administration’s request, and $186 million over the FY09 level. The Senate measure would provide $4.90 billion. (The Office of Science also received $1.6 billion in Recovery Act funds, to be spent over FY09 and FY10.) The House bill includes about $38 million in congressionally directed projects; the Senate bill includes about $41 million.

The House bill provides $1.675 billion for Basic Energy Sciences (BES), about $10 million below the request, and $409 million for the Advanced Scientific Computing program, the same as the request. Nuclear physics would receive $536 million, or about $16 million below the request; High Energy Physics would be allocated $819 million, the same as the request; Biological and Environmental Research would receive $597 million, about $7 million below the request; and Fusion Energy Sciences would be funded at $441 million, or $20 million above the request.

The Senate committee-passed bill funds Basic Energy Sciences at $1.65 billion, which is $25 million less than the House level and about $35 million below the request. Advanced Scientific Computing would receive $399 million, which is $10 million below the House level and the request. Nuclear Physics would receive $540 million, or $4 million above the House level and $12 million below the request; High Energy Physics would receive $813 million, $6 million below both the House level and the Administration request; Biological and Environmental Research would receive $604 million, the same as the Administration request and $7 million above the House level; and Fusion Energy Sciences would be funded at $416 million, $5 million below the request and $25 million below the House level.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The House bill would provide $2.25 billion, which is $68 million below the request, about $2 million above Senate funding, and $321 million above the FY09 level.

Innovation Hubs. The Department has requested $280 million to initiate eight Energy Innovation Hubs. The House bill provides just $35 million for the centers within the Office of Science Basic Energy Science program, citing redundancy of the program with other DOE initiatives and a lack of implementation details. The Senate bill supports three hubs: Fuels from Sunlight (within the Office of Science), Energy Efficient Building Systems (within in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy), and Modeling and Simulation (within Nuclear Energy). The committee report says that the Fuels from Sunlight and Energy Efficient Building Systems hubs should each receive $22 million, but only if the Department of Energy is able to free up the funding by supporting with Recovery Act funds an infrastructure/roads project associated with the planned expansion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It is unclear from the committee report how much funding is being provided for the Modeling and Simulation hub.

RE-ENERGYSE. DOE has requested $115 million in FY10 for a new clean energy education initiative called, REgaining our ENERGY Science and Engineering Edge (RE-ENERGYSE). The House Committee report notes that the panel supports the desired results of the proposed RE-ENERGYSE program but believes the Administration’s justification for it lacks sufficient details. The Committee also expresses concern that the program might duplicate existing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs at DOE and other federal agencies. The Committee bill does not fund the program, but it provides $7.5 million for DOE to conduct a study to better define future energy education and workforce needs and to understand gaps in existing federal STEM education efforts that should be filled appropriately by DOE. The Senate bill provides no funding for RE-ENERGYSE.

As proposed by the Administration, the RE-ENERGYSE program would provide $80 million for higher education programs, including support for new experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students as well as three-year fellowships for doctoral students and one-year postdoctoral opportunities in energy-related fields. The program also would grant competitive awards to universities to develop and offer a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Energy Studies, focused on clean energy.

The remaining $35 million in the program would support technical training and K-12 education. This includes support for community colleges to train technicians and faculty in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, and for activities aimed at engaging K-12 students and their teachers in such activities as reducing energy use at their schools and moving toward a zero-carbon footprint.

Neither bill would provide FY10 funding for the new Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), for which the Administration requested $10 million. The new agency received $400 million in Recovery Act funds and $15 million in FY09.