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Obama Energy Program Modeled on 'Race to the Top'

BY: | Nation | March 19, 2013



As part of his outline for greater energy efficiency across the United States, President Barack Obama last week proposed a competitive grant program for states, in a bid to cut energy waste and incentivize energy efficiency.

The $200 million program would be intentionally modeled on Race To The Top, the administration's education reform initiative that has pumped more than $4 billion into states and school districts. Under that program, state and local officials submit applications that detail how they would achieve broad goals set by the White House, and the administration then selects winners to receive funding.

Under the president's newly proposed program, one-time funding would pay for a variety of energy initiatives, including updating utility regulations to encourage energy-saving practices like combining heat and power supplies; improving the performance of the energy grid; and making data more available and more easily shareable for consumers and across systems.

No other details -- such as when the application period would begin or when the funding would be available -- were immediately available from the White House. More information likely will become available when the president's budget is released in the coming weeks.

The initiative is part of a broader energy plan that includes $2 billion for research into alternative technologies and a pledge to double the amount of renewable energy produced in the United States, introduced by Obama in Illinois on Friday.

"After years of talking about it, we’re finally poised to take control of our energy future," the president said. "Few pieces of business are more important for us than getting our energy future right."


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Dylan Scott

Dylan Scott is a GOVERNING staff writer.

E-mail: dscott@governing.com
Twitter: @dylanlscott

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