OIG: ARRA May Not Fund Prior Program Rebates

Washington, June 18 – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds should not be used to fund pending rebates for work completed prior to the enactment of the law. The Department of Energy’s inspector general recently found that Florida had used about $8.3 million to inappropriately fund a backlog of solar energy program rebates.

The federal government in 2009 allocated to the Florida Energy Office $116 million in Recovery Act State Energy Program grant funds, of which $13.2 had been spent as of March 2010. The funds were designed to be used to preserve and create jobs, save energy, increase renewable energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.