Last week, Congress passed its fiscal year (FY) 2018 omnibus appropriations legislation. The $1.3 trillion package provides funding for the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. The bill is $200 billion over FY 2017 enacted levels and provides increased funding for many agencies and programs.The Energy and Water title received $43.2 billion in discretionary spending, a $5.4 billion boost over FY 2017 enacted levels. The Department of Energy (DOE) received $34.5 billion in funding, $3.77 billion over FY 2017 enacted levels. Within
DOE, several notable offices received budget increases:
• Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - $2.32 billion (+$231 million)
• Office of Electricity - $248 million (+$18 million)
• Fossil energy - $726 million (+$108 million)
• Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loans Program - $5 million (level)
• The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) - $367 million (FERC is funded through receipts from licensing and operations, so discretionary funding is offset)
• Title 17 Innovative Loan Guarantee Program – $33 million (-$4 million)
Congress now turns to its FY 2019 appropriations process. The FY 2018 process was roughly six months overdue, so FY 2019 is slightly behind schedule as appropriators have had to juggle two spending packages at the same time. Over the next several weeks and months, Congress will hold hearings and begin debating their 12 appropriations bills. APGA will continue to work with Congress to ensure natural gas research and development, grants, and other programs receive sufficient funding.
For questions on this article, please contact Doug MacGillivray of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-742 or by email at
dmacgillivray@apga.org.