Eyeing up to $1 billion in federal stimulus package funding, California claimed Tuesday to be the first state to submit its application for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) State Energy Program (SEP) funding. The California Energy Commission (CEC) successfully completed the state’s SEP filing, which promises massive energy savings and more than 2,000 new jobs, according to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approval is expected sometime between July and August, Schwarzenegger said.

Responsible already for administering $226 million in authorized ARRA funding, the CEC in the meantime will move forward with various stakeholder groups to develop the program guidelines. Earlier this year Schwarzenegger created the California Recovery Task Force to track the ARRA funding coming into the state, along with working collaboratively with the Obama administration and state/local government, nonprofit and private-sector entities.

“To date, California has been allocated more than $1 billion from the energy and climate change-related ARRA funding, including the Block Grant funding allocation, the SEP and the weatherization assistance program administered by the California state department for community services and development,” said Schwarzenegger.

The governor’s office said the state’s SEP application focuses on “creating/retaining jobs, achieving lasting and measurable energy benefits following the state’s energy and environmental mandates and policy goals of increasing energy efficiency, renewable energy and bioenergy, as well as reducing greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions.” Schwarzenegger’s aides made it clear that California’s program is attempting to leverage additional federal, state, local and private-sector funding.

As the Obama administration is emphasizing, Schwarzenegger’s state administration is saying any programs funded must essentially be accountable and create a “minimal” administrative burden at a time when the larger global economic downturn has slashed the state’s resources, along with creating a record-setting budget deficit that has split the state’s elected leaders and constituents.

“We are meeting and exceeding federal deadlines every day — and Californians can rest assured that the state is doing everything in its power to put ARRA funding to work to create jobs,” said Schewarzenegger, who noted that the bulk ($195.8 million) of the SEP funding being sought is earmarked for combining grants, contracts and loans to fund activities that concentrate on clean energy systems and energy efficiency measures and upgrades for residential and nonresidential structures.

Weatherization and building upgrades to make them save energy and use it much more efficiently will be a key part of the program. The CEC estimates that retrofitting the state’s aged and inefficient residential and nonresidential structures could save the state’s consumers 2.7 billion Btus annually and create more than 2,100 jobs.

©Copyright 2009Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.