Energy Department stimulus funds not being spent as fast as promised, report says

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

A major goal of the Obama administration’s economic stimulus program — to create jobs by funding eco-friendly construction projects — hasn’t been met and is running up against economic realities and regulatory hurdles, according to a new watchdog report.

As of March, states receiving funds from a $2.5 billion Energy Department grant program established as part of the 2009 economic stimulus still had not spent as much as $879 million, or one-third of the money, according to a report released Tuesday by the department’s inspector general.

Though Congress gave the Energy Department three years to distribute the block grants, the department vowed to do so within 18 months in hopes of spurring projects in economically depressed areas to retrofit old buildings, help cities buy environmentally friendly traffic lights and find other ways to reduce energy consumption.

The department distributed all of the money within a year and a half, but the fact that recipients still have not spent it calls into question their ability “to effectively use all of the grant funds,” the report said.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/energy-department-stimulus-funds-not-being-spent-as-fast-as-promised-report-says/2011/09/07/gIQAZnoJAK_story.html