Legislation for Funding Transparency at Energy Department Passes House

The Department of Energy building is seen in Washington, on July 22, 2019. (Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images)

Legislation that requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to report to Congress any changes to cost-share commitments by recipients of federal funding was approved by the U.S. House on Jan. 30.

DOE funds for energy research and development are essential for U.S. innovation, the proposal’s sponsor, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), said.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires the DOE to charge funding recipients a cost share. Research and development funds might have a 20 percent cost share, he said, whereas commercialization and demonstration grants can have 50 percent.

The measure supports the filing by the energy secretary of quarterly reports on cost-sharing attached to the department’s investments to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; and the House and Senate Committee on Appropriations.

The legislation for greater transparency surrounding recipient buy-in had previously been referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources but was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote on final passage during the 117th Congress.

Obernolte re-introduced the Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2023, co-sponsored by Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.). Reps. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) supported the legislation on the House floor.

‘Skin in the Game’

The purpose of cost-sharing, Obernolte said, is to ensure grant recipients have “skin in the game,” which boost the success of funding outcomes.

“Several months ago, the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the Science, Space, and Technology House Committee held an oversight hearing in which we investigated the occasions on which the Department of Energy had waived those cost-sharing requirements on grants it had rewarded,” Obernolte told the House floor.

“Although we found that the DOE was appropriately waiving those cost shares under those circumstances, we were surprised by the lack of transparency in that process,” he said, adding that they were “equally surprised by the difficulty with which the Subcommittee had in acquiring the information about how often the DOE was waiving those cost shares.”

Foster said he’s a “big fan” of cost-sharing accords to ensure that taxpayer dollars are efficiently spent and that there are times when cost-sharing may be waived appropriately.

Nonetheless, he continued, “in order for Congress to fulfill our oversight responsibilities, we must be able to access information on how those requirements are being implemented and when they’re being waived.”

The proposal, which was approved by voice, will be submitted to the Senate. If approved, it will be sent to President Joe Biden’s office for consideration to be signed into law.