On March 28, 2022, the White House released President Biden’s FY’23 Federal Budget Request to Congress. The request includes increases for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Commerce, and other key agencies across the government.
Overall, the Administration’s request includes $48.2 billion for DOE, a 15% increase above the level appropriated by Congress for FY’22. Under the newly established Office of State and Community Energy Programs within DOE’s Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure, the proposed FY’23 Budget includes a request of $70 million for the U.S. State Energy Program, $7 million more than the recent FY’22 appropriation. The Administration’s budget request for DOE also includes $502 million for the Weatherization Assistance Program, $192 million more than Congress appropriated in FY’22, and $105 million for Build Back Better Challenge Grants. As an additional detail, DOE’s Budget Appendix notes that “WAP will launch a Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program Advantage (LIHEAP Advantage) pilot to retrofit and decarbonize LIHEAP beneficiary homes with efficient electric appliances and systems.”
Other requests for key DOE offices include:
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Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: $4.02 billion (excludes programs such as SEP, WAP, FEMP that were transferred to the new Undersecretary for Infrastructure Office (up from $3.2 billion appropriated by Congress in FY’22)
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Office of Electricity: $297 million (up from $277 million appropriated by Congress in FY’22)
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Office of Grid Deployment: $90 million (new office and functions including programs transferred from the Office of Electricity)
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Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response: $301 million (up from $185 million appropriated by Congress in FY’22)
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Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management: $893million (up from $825 million appropriated by Congress in FY’22)
More information is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/. The program-level budget justifications and details are not yet available. If you have any questions, please contact me at dterry@naseo.org.