A $3.2 billion program to improve the energy efficiency of local governments hasn't done much yet to stimulate improvements across Tennessee and Georgia.
A new audit found that the two Southern states spent less than $5.6 million of the states' $109.1 million allocation in the first 18 months of the federally funded program.
Tennessee and Georgia both trailed the national average in spending stimulus funds on energy efficiency, although state and local recipients of the grants said they expect the pace of work to accelerate this fall.
Nationwide, only 10 percent of the money allocated for government energy efficiency programs was spent as of August.
Energy efficiency grantsChattanooga-area governments will receive more than $6 million of federal stimulus grants to improve the energy efficiency of local buildings, traffic lights and sewer facilities. The grants last through 2013.* Chattanooga will get nearly $1.9 million in grants to conduct energy audits, fund a new office of energy and conduct building energy upgrades and LED lighting* Hamilton County is getting $616,500 for new parks lighting, traffic lights, a new green roof on the health department, energy audits and elementary school tours.* LaFayette, Ga., will get a $300,000 grant to help pay for an $800,000 aeration system for its sanitary sewer system* Gordon County, Ga., will get $300,000 for a 35-acre solar cover on a county-owned abandoned landfill* Calhoun, Ga., will get $297,846 for lighting retrofit at Calhoun high school, revolving loan for residential energy upgrades* Floyd County, Ga., will get $300,000 for energy efficiency retrofits for courthouse and community buildings* Cleveland, Tenn., will get $183,300 for heating, air conditioning and building efficiency upgrades.* Bledsoe County, Tenn., will get $100,000 for heating and air conditioning upgrades at local schools.* Ducktown, Tenn., will get $100,000 for a small-scale solar installation.* Dunlap, Tenn., will get $100,000 for lighting and retrofits at six city buildings.* East Ridge will get $99,077 for energy retrofits of five city buildings and replacements of traffic signals.* Grundy County, Tenn., will get $100,000 for lighting, heating and air conditioning upgrades at four county buildings.* Jasper, Tenn., will get $100,000 for heating and pump retrofits at City Hall and city pump stations.* McMinn County, Tenn., will get $100,000 for lighting and heating upgrades at the courthouse annex.* Meigs County, Tenn., will get $100,000 to develop a community energy plan and upgrade energy efficiency at the jail.* Pikeville, Tenn., will get $100,000 for street light replacement and biofuels development.* Polk County will get $100,000 for energy upgrades at the county courthouse.* Red Bank will get $100,000 for lighting, heating and insulation retrofits at City Hall* Sequatchie County will get $100,000 to energy improvements at local schools, the courthouse and library.* Signal Mountain will get $100,000 for heating and water heater retrofits at a historic school building.* Soddy-Daisy will get $100,000 for energy retrofits at three city buildings* Tracy City will get $100,000 for lighting, heating and insulation at five city buildings.* Whitwell, Tenn., will get $100,000 for new traffic signals and new water plant pumps.* Bradley County will get $87,530 for heating and insulation retrofits at the courthouse annex.Sources: Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Georgia Environmental Finance Authority
The Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Energy said "delays in spending were prevalent and widespread" among federal, state and local agencies.
"The slow rate of spending block grant funds has neither met initial departmental targets, nor achieved the desired stimulative effect on the nation's economy," DOE Inspector General Gregory Friedman said in his nine-page assessment of the nationwide program.
In Southeast Tennessee and Northwest Georgia, two dozen cities and counties have collectively been awarded more than $6 million in federal grants to pay for everything from LED lights on traffic signals to energy-efficient heating and cooling systems for local schools.
Hamilton County has used a portion of its $616,500 grant to install more energy-efficient lights on the Tennessee Riverwalk and begin energy audits of county buildings, but most area governments have yet to award contracts for planned projects.
The Energy Department estimated last month that only 2,265 jobs have been created nationwide, or about one job for each local government grant.
Rule, bid and contract delays
The federal stimulus package was signed into law in February 2009 and the Department of Energy and state agencies spent the first year writing rules, then soliciting and awarding grants. Such grants are now being finalized and officials expect many projects will begin this fall.
On Monday night, the City Council in LaFayette, Ga., approved contracts for part of an $800,000 upgrade of the city sewage treatment plant's aeration system, using $300,000 of stimulus grants. Work should begin this fall and be completed next spring, according to Jim Speir, director of water and sewers in LaFayette.
In Tennessee, Mark Drury of the state Department of Economic and Community Development said he expects about 50 projects to begin by the end of September. Drury said the department has spent the past year making sure it's in compliance with federal, state and local contract and bidding requirements for 146 planned energy projects across the state.
"Balancing the need to make sure state and/or federal funds are spent appropriately while moving quickly can sometimes be a challenge," he said. "But at the end of the day, it is a requirement designed to maintain the confidence of Tennessee taxpayers."
The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority has awarded 99 percent of its energy efficiency grant funds to 64 communities, local utilities and the Georgia Cities Foundation for consumer loan programs, spokeswoman Nicole Linton said.
"It takes time to develop an effective program to distribute this amount of funding, preventing fraud, waste and abuse and assuring that tax dollars are spent where needed and appropriately," she said.
The DOE audit found that Tennessee had spent only 5.4 percent and Georgia only 4.9 percent of energy-efficiency stimulus grants.
Nearly all of the those funds have been awarded to local governments for identified projects, state officials said.
But most contracts are still being finalized and contractors have yet to be paid for work completed or scheduled.
"When you're contracting out something, like a house project, you don't pay for everything up front," David Terry, executive director of the National Association of State Energy Officials, told the industry newsletter Platts Inside Energy. "You pay when the work is satisfactorily completed or when certain benchmarks are met."
Such payments under the overall stimulus package could inject up to $278 billion into the economy by the end of 2010, according to a recent study by ProPublica on how the $790 billion stimulus package has been spent. Tax cuts and stimulus money either not spent or still in progress total about one-third of the program, according to the federal government web site which is tracking the stimulus money, www.recovery.gov.
Long-term benefits
Supporters of the stimulus for local energy projects concede they expected quicker results.
"We've been a little frustrated," said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "But I'm not going to be too critical because we all want to make sure these funds are spent effectively and are handled in an open and transparent method.
"This is still a tremendous program to help realize both environmental and taxpayer savings while stimulating jobs and economic growth."
Smith said most of the local jobs should come in the next year and the energy savings and environmental gains should last for decades.
In East Ridge, the planned $99,077 energy upgrades should pay off in a little more than two years, according to city grants coordinator Trish Startup. An energy audit conducted for the city estimates East Ridge should save $30,000 in annual lighting expenses by converting traffic signals to LED lights, $9,000 in lighting expenses by upgrading the lights in all municipal buildings and $6,000 in heating and cooling costs by upgrading the furnaces and air conditioning units.
In Soddy-Daisy, City Manager Hardie Stulce said the planned $100,000 of upgrades to lighting and air conditioning at City Hall and two fire stations should save at least $5,000 a year in utility bills. Work on those projects should begin in October.
Hamilton County plans to use its money for projects ranging from installing more LED lights at parks and on traffic signals to installing a green roof on the top of the county health department building on Third Street and paying for elementary school tours on sustainable practices, according to Janet Jahn, grants coordinator for the county.
In Chattanooga, Dave Crockett with the city Office of Sustainability wants the city to use the federal money to achieve even bigger savings. His office has set a goal of cutting utility costs for the city by at least $1 million.
The federal grants will help pay for energy audits of all city facilities and help fund a new energy office at City Hall to identify ways that the city may better use water, electricity and natural gas.
"We're taking a very comprehensive view of how we use resources in the city to identify how we can work to limit all of our utility costs," Crockett said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/chattreporter.