On January 13, 2014, U.S. House and Senate leaders announced an appropriations agreement for federal FY'14 -The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014. Funding for the U.S. State Energy Plan is set at $50 million and funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program is $174 million.
The House and Senate still must pass this Omnibus Appropriations bill, which is expected. A short-term (3-day) Continuing Resolution is expected to pass by tomorrow, in order to allow the omnibus appropriations bill to pass by the 18th of January. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY) both released statements on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 calling it a bipartisan compromise.
Funding news for other DOE-EERE programs, includes:
-Buildings $177 million (down from $218 million in FY'13);
-Vehicles $290 million (down from $328 million in FY'13);
-Manufacturing $180 million (up from $115 million in FY'13);
-Biomass $232 million (up from $198 million in FY'13);
-Hydrogen and Fuel Cells $93 million (down from $103 million in FY'13);
-Solar $257 million (down from $288 million in FY'13);
-Wind $55 million (down from $93 million in FY'13);
-Geothermal $45 million (up from $37 million in FY'13); and
-Water at $58 million (level with FY'13).
Funding for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability is set at $147 million; $562 million for the Office of Fossil Energy; $117 million for the U.S. Energy Information Administration; and $280 million for ARPA-e.
In addition, the funding bill establishes an independent "Commission to Review the Effectiveness of the National Energy Laboratories." By February 2015, the Commission is to provide recommendations to the Secretary and the Appropriations Committees on the proper alignment of the laboratories' activities with the strategic priorities of the Department of Energy.
Finally, the bill also provides an increase in LIHEAP funding of $169 million to $3.425 billion. This essentially restores the cuts from the FY'13 sequester.