Notice of funding availability for the Rural Energy for America Program

This NOFA announces the acceptance of applications under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) for Fiscal Year 2012 for financial assistance as follows: grants, guaranteed loans, and combined grants and guaranteed loans for the development and construction of renewable energy systems and for energy efficiency improvement projects; grants for conducting energy audits; grants for conducting renewable energy development assistance; and grants for conducting renewable energy system feasibility studies. The Notice also announces the availability of $25.4 million of Fiscal Year 2012 budget authority to fund these REAP activities, which will support at least $12.5 million in grant program level and up to approximately $48.5 million in guaranteed loan program level.

USA: Renewable energy is a job creator

U.S. energy policy is in free fall as partisan politics undermine bipartisan support for renewable energy. While we struggle with a weak economy, excessive unemployment and high fuel costs, Washington remains gridlocked in its efforts to create a brighter, more secure energy future.

Last month’s House funding debate epitomizes this stalemate. While approving some disaster relief for Americans buffeted by natural disasters, House members voted to offset disaster relief funding with deep cuts to DOE clean-energy programs, a shortsighted move that could damage our economic recovery.

Climate and energy a focus of broader budget debate

Tea party fervor drove the House spending bill through a week of debate that finished with its pre-dawn passage on Saturday. But now that the bill moves to the Democratic-led Senate, it looms as a warm-up to more intense partisan bargaining to come.

I don't think that Senate will pass these cuts. We will have to negotiate," Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who chairs the House Budget Committee, said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."