Office of Energy seeks $24.5M federal for home energy rebates and proposes a Speed Council for permitting reform

The Governor's Office of Energy and Mineral Resources told the legislature it is ramping up federally funded energy programs and proposed a new state "Speed Council" to coordinate permitting, transparency and project timelines for large infrastructure investments.

LSO analyst Kellen McGurkin said the federal Home Energy Rebates program (HER) created by the Inflation Reduction Act provides $80,800,000 for Idaho to issue rebates for appliance upgrades and home efficiency projects. The Office requested a FY2026 ongoing federal appropriation of $24,500,000 to administer part of the program: $20,000,000 for rebates (trustee and benefit payments), $4,000,000 for contracting a third-party implementer and software, and $502,000 for four limited-service FTP to run the program through its duration.

"When you're looking at how the feds allocate this funding, they allow 20% in administrative costs," McGurkin told the committee in response to questions about the apparent administrative share of the request. He said the office would competitively bid implementation services and seek the best value for program delivery.

Administrator Richard Stover described the governor's Speed Council proposal, included in the governor's recommendation, to coordinate state agencies on permitting and to create a public dashboard tracking project timelines. The governor's recommendation included $311,000 ongoing from the general fund for the council, including funding for a management assistant, partial funding for the administrator's salary related to council duties, operating support and an initial one-time $170,000 for dashboard development.

Stover told members the office has engaged with stakeholders and federal partners and argued the Speed Council would improve transparency, accountability and predictability for large projects while also helping local communities to engage earlier in project planning. He said Idaho faces substantial energy demand growth and the state must reduce permitting barriers and coordinate across agencies to attract necessary generation and infrastructure.

On program mechanics: McGurkin said OEMR has received large federal grant rounds (POREG) in recent years and those awards account for most growth in the agency's appropriation. McGurkin noted a prior $15,000,000 one-time state match transfer in FY2022 that was reappropriated to support federal grid-resilience grants. He also said the agency's FY2025 federal appropriation base increased markedly because of anticipated and awarded federal funds.

Committee members asked about the HER administration cap (20%), whether the state can unwind programs if federal guidance or funding changes, and whether program rules would require energy-code changes. Stover said the contracts would be written to allow wind-downs if funds are rescinded and noted that the office will not use state funds to backfill federal money. He said program eligibility designs will require demonstrable energy and cost savings and will not attempt to impose energy codes beyond state law.

Stover and McGurkin said the office plans to hire the requested limited-service positions for the grant period only; if federal funds end, the limited-service positions would be removed.