The Dept. of Energy expects to meet the stimulus act's Sept. 30 deadline for obligating all  $32.7  billion that the measure--the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-- provided to it for contract and grant awards, a top DOE official says.

Speaking at a Platts Energy Podium briefing in Washington on Sept. 23, Matt Rogers, senior advisor to Secretary Steven Chu for recovery act implementation,  said, "We are on track to have all of those funds obligated." Platts, like ENR, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Here's a link to a Podcast of the briefing, courtesy of Platts.

Construction programs in  DOE's stimulus portfolio include environmental cleanup at former nuclear weapons sites, energy-efficiency improvements in buildings and home weatherization.

The Sept. 30 deadline marks "an important shift of chapters," Rogers said.  "We're finishing the chapter of selecting and getting started a portfolio of great projects. And now we have more than 7,000 individual recipients out in the field, each of whom we now have to make sure delivers the impact that they promised--on time, on budget."
 
DOE has until Sept. 30, 2011, to obligate $2.5 billion in stimulus act loan guarantees for biofuels, electric transmission and renewable-energy projects.

DOE's total ARRA outlays--funds actually paid out--are $7.2 billion, according to the department's web site. Rogers said the department had "outlayed" about $1 billion in August and will hit about the same level in September. Beyond that, he said, DOE's stimulus act outlays will be about $1 billion per month for the next 18 months.

Rogers, a former partner with consulting firm McKinsey & Co. in its San Francisco office, said he will leave DOE after the current federal fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 and return to the West Coast and a position in the private sector.  He says he doesn't have a new job lined up yet but has "a few things in the fire."