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On February 17th, 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).  Also known as the Recovery Bill, the ARRA consisted of two separate parts:  Division A - Appropriations Provisions and Division B - Tax, Unemployment, Health, State Fiscal Relief, and Other Provisions.

The items listed below represent sections of the bill where fuel cell and accompanying hydrogen technology may receive funding.  Thanks to Bud DeFlaviis, Government Affairs Director for the US Fuel Cell Council, for pulling this together for us.

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Division A - Appropriations.

Title III - Department of Defense:

Provides $300 million for RDT&E programs managed by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Defense Wide. Fuel cells are specifically mentioned as eligible for funding under this program as noted in the report language.  Solar, wind, biofuels and bioenergy are also eligible.

Title IV - Department of Energy:

The ARRA provides the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) with $16.8 billion, of which $2.5 billion will benefit applied research, development, demonstration and deployment activities.  The legislation specifically carves out $1.2 billion for biomass and geothermal.  Proceeds from the remaining funds will be determined by the Secretary of Energy.

EERE will also receive $3.2 billion for Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants.  The program, which is already in existence, will provide $400 million for competitively awarded grants.  Historically, eligible projects include fuel cells in buildings.

The State Energy Program (SEP) will receive $3.1 billion to provide grants to states to address their energy priorities and program funding to adopt emerging renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.  As with the Conservation Block Grants, fuel cell projects have been funded through this program in the past.

The Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program managed by the Clean Cities program will receive $300 million.  The funds will be used to help acquire motor vehicles with a higher fuel economy, including hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, commercially available plug-in hybrid vehicles and the necessary infrastructure.  A total of 30 grants, based on geography, will be awarded on a competitive basis.

Transportation Electrification activities will receive $ 400 million to benefit a variety of vehicle platforms including fuel cells and fuel cell plug-in vehicles.  Priority will be given to large-scale projects including programs at airports, material handling facilities, etc.

The office of Electricity delivery and Energy Reliability  will received $4.5 billion for Smart Grid applications.  In addition to grid upgrades, Smart Grid spending could benefit a number of distributed energy applications, including fuel cells.

Office of Fossil Energy was granted $3.4 billion.  Of the total, $1 billion will be used for fossil energy research and development programs.  High-temperature Solid Oxide fuel cell work has been incorporated into this suite of programs.

The office of Science’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), will receive $400 million for RDT&E. Created under the America COMPETES Act of 2006, ARPA-E was designed to fast-track commercialization of high-risk/high-reward technologies.

Title V—Financial Services and General Government:

The General Services Administration will receive $300 million for Energy Efficient Federal Motor Vehicle Fleet Procurement.  This supports purchase of advanced, efficient and lower carbon federal vehicles.

Division B:  Tax Credits

Repeal of Limitation on Property Financed by Subsidized Energy Financing – This section changes existing rules by eliminating the reduction of grants and subsidizes on fuel cells – and other eligible technologies - to allow for maximum tax credit impact.

Modification of Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property – Modifies the dollar limitation of the Investment Tax Credit for residential fuel cells placed in service in January 2009 and limited to joint occupancy dwellings.  The new cap was increased to $3,334/kW from $1,000/kW.

Hydrogen Refueling Property – Until January 1, 2011 the tax incentive for hydrogen fueling stations will be 30% up to $200,000.  The dollar cap was previously set at $30,000.

Grants for Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits - Between 2009 and 2010, facilities with insufficient tax liability can apply for a grant instead of claiming the ITC.  Only tax-paying entities are eligible.

On February 18th, one day after the bill was signed into law, OMB issued guidance to all agencies instructing them post updates and information on ARRA funds on www.grants.gov.   More specifically, it instructed that agencies shall post funding or “synopses” within 20 days of enactment, with full announcements to follow within thirty days of passage.

To date, some of this information has begun to appear on www.grants.gov, with more announcements expected shortly.