Office of Energy and Mineral Resources seeks federal funding for home energy rebates and proposes new ‘Speed Council’ to streamline permitting

BOISE — The governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources (OEMR) briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on expanding federal grant programs, a state request to administer the federal Home Energy Rebates program, and a governor-backed proposal to create a cross-agency Speed Council to expedite permitting for large infrastructure projects.

Kellen McGurkin, a Legislative Services Office analyst, outlined OEMR’s growth in federal appropriations over recent years tied to round-based competitive grants that fund grid resilience and energy projects. McGurkin said the office received a one-time $15 million general fund transfer in FY2022 as a state match for the electric grid resilience grant program (referred to in the presentation as POREG) and has carried reappropriations forward related to that program.

Home Energy Rebates request

Administrator Richard Stover and analysts explained the state’s request under the Inflation Reduction Act program. The federal Home Energy Rebates program allocates roughly $80.8 million to Idaho for rebates that help households upgrade appliances and home systems to improve energy efficiency. OEMR requested an ongoing federal appropriation of $24.5 million for FY2026 to administer the state program. McGurkin and Stover said the $24.5 million request would be composed of about $20 million for rebates (trustee and benefit payments), $4 million for administrative costs (chiefly to procure a third-party implementer to run software and eligibility checks), and about $502,000 to fund four limited-service full-time positions to administer the program through its duration. Stover noted federal guidance permits up to 20% of funds to be used for administration; the agency said it intends to bid for a third-party implementer to administer the portal and eligibility verification.

Questions from committee members focused on administrative overhead and program design. Senator Cook and others asked whether the planned administrative share — shown in the request as roughly 16% of the $24.5 million total — exceeded typical caps used in other programs; McGurkin replied federal rules allow up to 20% for administrative costs and that OEMR planned to procure the implementer by competitive bid.

Speed Council and other system functions

The governor’s Speed Council initiative, included in the governor’s recommendation, was described by McGurkin and Administrator Stover as a cross-agency effort to streamline permitting for large-scale, critical infrastructure and energy investments. The recommendation includes $311,000 ongoing from the general fund, including personnel costs to staff the initiative (about $164,000) and one-time funds (about $170,000) for a public project-tracking dashboard. Stover said the council would focus on transparency, accountability and permitting reform and would develop a public dashboard to track project timelines.

Other program details

- Renewable Energy Resources Fund: McGurkin noted OEMR receives some revenue from federal leases and royalties and has historically drawn on cash balances; legislation (Senate Bill 1020) was mentioned as a potential change that could expand the fund’s revenue sources.

- POREG and matching funds: The analyst described the $15 million transfer in FY2022 as Idaho’s state-match portion for a federal energy resiliency grant program that OEMR now administers; some of those funds have been reappropriated for subsequent fiscal years.

Questions and contingency planning

Committee members asked about program wind-down if federal funds are rescinded or reduced. Stover said contracts would be drafted to accommodate rescission or rescinding of federal obligations and that obligated funds would be paid out consistent with federal requirements; he said the office has contingency and exit plans and that the requested personnel for the home energy rebates are limited-service positions matching the federal grant period.

Ending

No formal vote occurred. The committee heard the requests and posed questions about administration caps, procurement of a third-party implementer, and the scope of the proposed Speed Council; OEMR said it would pursue competitive procurement and that program contracts would account for potential federal rescission or wind-down.