Federal Financial 

Interventions and Subsidies 

in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022

August 2023

www.eia.gov

U.S. Department of Energy

Washington, DC 20585
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 i

The U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on (EIA), the sta�s�cal and analy�cal agency within the 

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), prepared this report. By law, our data, analyses, and forecasts are 

independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. Government. The views in this 

report do not represent those of DOE or any other federal agencies
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 ii

Table of Contents

Overview and Key Findings........................................................................................................................... 1

Overview.................................................................................................................................................. 1

Organiza�on of this report................................................................................................................ 2

Key findings.............................................................................................................................................. 2

Subsidy and Energy Type-Specific Results..................................................................................................... 4

Subsidy types........................................................................................................................................... 4

Tax expenditures ............................................................................................................................... 4

Direct expenditures including R&D ................................................................................................... 4

Loan subsidy cost .............................................................................................................................. 5

Energy type-specific subsidies................................................................................................................. 6

Coal and refined coal......................................................................................................................... 6

Renewable energy, including biofuels............................................................................................... 7

Natural gas and petroleum liquids.................................................................................................... 9

Nuclear............................................................................................................................................ 10

Efficiency, end use, and conserva�on ............................................................................................. 11

Electricity transmission and grid network....................................................................................... 12

Renewable-related subsidy trends ........................................................................................................ 13

Appendix A. Detailed Tables ....................................................................................................................... 17

Appendix B. Analy�c Approach................................................................................................................... 49

Goals, scope, sources, and methodology .............................................................................................. 49

Goals................................................................................................................................................ 49

Scope ............................................................................................................................................... 49

Previous EIA studies and updates ................................................................................................... 49

Data sources.................................................................................................................................... 50

Budget terminology......................................................................................................................... 50

Custom classifica�on with Amazon Comprehend........................................................................... 51

Data availability, accuracy, and varia�on ............................................................................................... 52

Appendix C. Other Energy Subsidy Studies................................................................................................. 54

Select Energy Subsidy Studies................................................................................................................ 54
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 iii

Table of Figures

Figure 1. Energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22 ...................................................................... 2

Figure 2. Coal-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22.................................................. 6

Figure 3. Renewable-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22....................................... 7

Figure 4. Natural gas and petroleum liquids-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22 .. 9

Figure 5. Nuclear-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22 ..........................................10

Figure 6. Conserva�on and end use-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22.............11

Figure 7. Electricity transmission and grid-related energy-specific subsidies and support, fiscal years (FY) 

2016–22 ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

Figure 8. Renewable-related energy subsidies, FY 2016–22....................................................................... 13

Figure 9. Renewable-related es�mated tax expenditures, FY 2016–22 ..................................................... 14

Figure 10. Renewable-related direct expenditures, FY 2016–22 ................................................................ 15

Figure 11. Renewable-related research and development expenditures, FY 2016–22 ..............................15

Figure 12. Renewable electric- and non-electric-related total expenditures, FY 2016–22.........................16

Figure B1. Automated tagging and data procedures performed on USASpending.gov award assistance 

data ............................................................................................................................................................. 51

Figure B2. AI tagging procedures of federal direct and R&D expenditures................................................52
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 iv

Table of Tables

Table 1. Quan�fied total energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22................................. 3

Table 2. Quan�fied coal-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22..................... 7

Table 3. Quan�fied renewables-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22.........8

Table 4. Quan�fied natural gas and petroleum liquids-related energy-specific subsidies and support by 

type, FY 2016–22........................................................................................................................................... 9

Table 5. Quan�fied nuclear-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22 .............10

Table 6. Quan�fied conserva�on and end use-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 

2016–22 ...................................................................................................................................................... 11

Table 7. Quan�fied electricity transmission and smart grid-related energy-specific subsidies and support 

by type, FY 2016–22.................................................................................................................................... 13

Table A1. Energy subsidies and support, select indicators, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22................................17

Table A2. Es�mates of energy-specific tax expenditures, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22 ..................................18

Table A3. Quan�fied energy-specific subsidies and support by type, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22................20

Table A4. Quan�fied renewable-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, fiscal years (FY) 

2016–22 ...................................................................................................................................................... 23

Table A5. Es�mates of energy-specific tax expenditures by beneficiary, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22 ...........26

Table A6. Es�mates of energy-specific direct expenditures, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22..............................29

Table A7. Es�mates of energy-specific research and development expenditures, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

.................................................................................................................................................................... 39

Table B1. Data sources used for energy-related subsidies and supports.................................................... 50
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 1 

Overview and Key Findings

Overview

Our report on direct federal financial interven�ons and subsidies in energy markets con�nues a series of 

EIA reports1 that respond to congressional requests and the Energy Policy Act of 1992. In this update, we

introduce mul�ple, sequen�al fiscal year2 (FY) data for the first �me from FY 2016 (the last fiscal year we 

analyzed) through FY 2022. To accommodate the increase in reported data, we reformated and 

reorganized this update.

The scope of this report is limited to direct federal financial interven�ons and subsidies (that is, subsidies 

from the federal government that provide a financial benefit with an iden�fiable federal budget impact 

and that are specifically targeted at energy markets). We have excluded state and local programs—

although significant in several cases—from our repor�ng. As a result of this exclusion and other 

exclusions, this report does not encompass all subsidies that affect energy markets and should,

therefore, be viewed in context and with related informa�on from other sources. 

Consistent with our independent role and mission, this report informs discussion rather than draws

conclusions or addresses policy issues related to energy subsidies. By using comprehensive data 

acquisi�on and analysis, we es�mate how federal financial ac�ons are distributed among a defined set 

of 14 energy types3 that make up the U.S. energy system. We have made only limited observa�ons of the 

scale, trends, and rela�onships within the data and the report tables. In this report, we focus only on 

expenditures on subsidies, and we do not atempt to quan�fy the impact or evaluate the value of these 

subsidies. So, readers should exercise cau�on in drawing conclusions. Select Energy Subsidy Studies

sec�on in Appendix C notes related studies from other sources; we do not endorse other par�es’ reports 

and include them for reference only. 

Federal financial interven�ons and subsidies included in this report fall into four categories:

• Tax expenditure es�mates, which measure the effects in federal government revenue resul�ng

from preferen�al tax treatment for par�cular taxpayers

• Direct expenditures to non-federal recipients (that is, both energy producers and consumers) in

the form of a grant, loan, or other financial assistance award

• Research and development (R&D) support in the form of a grant, loan, or other financial

assistance award made to non-federal recipients.4

1 We performed our first federal energy subsidies study at Congress’s request in FY 1992, based on the requirements published

in the House Commitee on Appropria�ons’ report on our FY 1992 appropria�ons. The most obvious subsidies are the direct 

expenditures and R&D support from the federal budget. Tax expenditure subsidies are targeted tax incen�ves that producers or 

consumers of specific forms of energy receive. In this case, the government does not spend money, but it loses revenue that it 

would have otherwise received.

2 Federal government fiscal years begin on October 1 of the preceding calendar year and end on September 30.

3 We use the following energy type labels: Biofuels, Biomass, Coal, Conserva�on, End Use, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural 

Gas and Petroleum Liquids, Uncategorized, Nuclear, Other Renewables, Electricity—Smart Grid and Transmission, Refined Coal, 

Solar, and Wind.

4 Federal energy-related R&D falls into three classes: basic research, applied research into developing new technologies and new 

forms of energy supply, and research into improving exis�ng technologies. Although R&D is a subset of direct expenditures, this 

report treats it separately due to the importance of R&D for energy technology and markets.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 2

• Loan guarantees (a form of credit subsidy) that provide financial support for innova�ve clean

energy technologies that typically do not qualify for conven�onal private financing because of

their high technology risks5

Organization of this report

This overview and key findings sec�on is followed by three appendices:

• Appendix A presents detailed tables

• Appendix B presents our analy�c approach

• Appendix C provides a lis�ng of select other subsidy reports

Detailed tables are included in Appendix A and are denoted with an “A” in the numbering scheme. Table 

A1 summarizes total within-scope energy subsidies (in 2022 dollars) and selected U.S. energy system 

indicators (in physical units). Table A3 summarizes the alloca�on of federal direct financial interven�ons 

in U.S. energy markets by year and energy type, and it serves as the basis for Figures 1-7. Overall, 

Appendix A (Tables A1–A7) provide cri�cal details regarding energy subsidy expenditures.

Key findings

Several key findings stand out.

Beginning in FY 2016, tax expenditures rose rapidly and leveled off, but direct federal support 

remained steady un�l 

Congress recently enacted

temporary provisions.

Federal ac�vi�es within the 

scope of this study were 

decreasing through FY 2016, 

because the provisions and 

programs under the American 

Reinvestment and Recovery 

Act (ARRA) of 2009 expired, 

a�er which direct

expenditures remained 

rela�vely steady through FY 

2020. Budgetary and 

statutory ac�ons in response 

to the COVID-19 pandemic 

and related economic effects 

have resulted in a sharp but 

temporary rise in federal 

direct expenditures on energy 

5 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) administers four credit programs: Title XVII Innova�ve Technology Loan Guarantee 

Program (Title XVII), the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program, the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee 

Program, and the Carbon Dioxide Transporta�on Infrastructure Finance and Innova�on Program. The DOE’s Loan Programs 

Office has more informa�on about these programs. The Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA) requires federal agencies to 

es�mate the cost to the government of extending or guaranteeing credit. This cost, referred to as credit subsidy cost, equals the 

net present value of es�mated cash flows from the government minus es�mated cash flows to the government over the life of 

the loan and excluding administra�ve costs. Title XVII requires that a subsidy cost be paid—through a combina�on of

appropria�ons and payment by the borrower—prior to finalizing a loan guarantee agreement. 

Figure 1. Energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions 

and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 1 and Table A3

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct 

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee

program

23%

6%

70%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 3

in FY 2020 and FY 2021. Meanwhile, tax expenditures steadily increased from FY 2017 to FY 2020 and 

have since been slightly decreasing (Figure 1). 

The U.S. energy system has con�nued to grow, except in FY 2020, when total energy use fell by a record 

7% (Table A1). As a result, the rela�ve scale of federal financial interven�ons into U.S. energy markets 

varied during FY 2016–22 as both federal energy-directed ac�vi�es and the economy underwent historic 

vola�lity.

During FY 2016–22, most federal subsidies were for renewable energy producers (primarily biofuels, 

wind, and solar), low-income households, and energy-efficiency improvements. During FY 2016–22, 

nearly half (46%) of federal energy subsidies were associated with renewable energy, and 35% were 

associated with energy end uses. Federal support for renewable energy of all types more than doubled, 

from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. Table A4 shows a more detailed distribu�on of 

renewable energy-related federal support, which is further discussed in the Renewable-related subsidy 

trends sec�on of this Overview. Combined conserva�on and end-use subsidies increased from $9.0

billion in FY 2016 to $10.1 billion in FY 2022 (Table A3). The largest program of this combined category—

the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), administered through the U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services (HHS)—slightly decreased its funding from $4.0 billion in FY 2016 to $3.9

billion in FY 2022, with a noteworthy one-year increase to nearly $10.0 billion in FY 2021 (Table A6).

6

 

During FY 2016–22, provisions in the tax code were the largest source of federal financial support. In 

FY 2016, the Internal Revenue Code (IRC)—with its 31 wide-ranging, energy-specific tax provisions—

provided greater financial support to energy than direct expenditures, including R&D expenditures (Table 

A2 and Table A3). Total tax expenditures were 70% of the total federal financial support (Table 1). Since

FY 2016, tax expenditures have con�nued to grow, rising to over 75% of total federal support in recent 

years. In FY 2021, this support dipped slightly to 65%.

Table 1. Quan�fied total energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 5,559 10,586 1,640 - 17,785 10%

2017 5,629 10,555 1,406 - 17,589 10%

2018 5,086 18,234 1,326 - 24,646 13%

2019 4,923 19,217 1,602 - 25,742 14%

2020 5,938 24,572 1,861 - 32,370 18%

2021 10,658 23,255 1,900 - 35,813 20%

2022 5,054 22,682 1,461 166 29,363 16%

Total 42,847 129,099 11,197 166 183,309 100%

Share of total 23% 70% 6% 0% 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interven�ons and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal 

Years 2016–2022, Table A3

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 estimate rounds to zero; - estimate is zero. DOE=U.S.

Department of Energy. 

Natural gas and petroleum-related subsidies became a net cost to the federal government. Natural gas 

and petroleum-related tax expenditures increased to $2.1 billion in FY 2022 to reverse a trend from an 

6 Congress appropriated addi�onal funding for LIHEAP under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 4 

es�mated revenue inflow (versus a posi�ve tax expenditure) of $1.1 billion in FY 2016 and FY 2017; 

combined, these tax provisions had been, in aggregate, the largest energy-related, revenue-genera�ng 

tax provisions to the government in any of the fiscal years covered in this report (Table A5). 

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantees were once again issued in FY 2022.

7 The subsidy cost 

of the loans issued in FY 2022 was $166 million. Because this type of cost is assessed at the �me the loan 

is issued, we did not iden�fy any subsidy costs for FY 2016–21; for example, the loan guarantees 

associated with the Vogtle nuclear project8 were included with FY 2010 subsidy costs in our previous

report updates. Although lending authority for the Sec�on 1705 loan program expired by FY 2016, 

budget authority remains for future lending on the Sec�on 1703 loan program.

Subsidy and Energy Type-Specific Results

Federal financial interven�ons and subsidies included in this report fall into four categories, and we use 

14 energy types in categorizing the resul�ng financial impacts. This sec�on describes the subsidy types 

and presents the financial results for each energy type.

Subsidy types

Tax expenditures 

When preparing data on energy-related tax expenditures, we relied on the defini�ons of tax 

expenditures incorporated in the federal budget and the associated tax expenditures es�mated by the 

U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) (Table A2). To a lesser extent, we also use data es�mates by 

the Joint Commitee on Taxa�on (JCT). Tax expenditures, as es�mated by the Treasury or JCT, arise from 

provisions in federal tax laws including credits, deduc�ons, deferrals, preferen�al rates, and exemp�ons 

(exclusions). Treasury iden�fied items in the budget as tax expenditures different from those the JCT 

determined to be tax expenditures—that is, the two bodies some�mes do not agree. For this report, we 

took historical tax expenditure data from two primary federal sources. Treasury is the primary source of 

es�mates for tax expenditures; JCT supplements data as a secondary source when greater details are 

necessary than provided in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Analytical Perspectives. 

Note that, in this report, de minimis tax expenditures (that is, $5 million or less) are not tabulated, which 

is consistent with Treasury’s repor�ng prac�ces. 

Direct expenditures including R&D

Direct expenditures, compared with tax expenditures, involve transferring congressionally appropriated 

funds to recipients by federal agencies. The volume and diversity of federal direct expenditures make 

them very difficult to assign energy-related ac�vi�es to specific aspects of the energy system. As 

7 According to the Congressional Research Service’s report Energy and Water Development: FY2023 Appropriations (R47293, 

updated March 20, 2023), Title XVII allows DOE to provide loan guarantees for up to 80% of construc�on costs for eligible

energy projects. In general, successful applicants must pay an up-front fee, or subsidy cost, to cover poten�al losses under the

loan guarantee program. The Infla�on Reduc�on Act (IRA; Public Law 117-169) appropriated $3.6 billion for Sec�on 1703

subsidy costs. IRA also established a �me-limited (available through FY 2026), $250 billion Title 17 loan guarantee commitment

authority—Sec�on 1706—for Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Financing. IRA appropriated $5 billion to carry out the Sec�on

1706 program. DOE, “DOE Announces First Loan Guarantee for a Clean Energy Project in Nearly a Decade,” June 8, 2022, 

htps://www.energy.gov/ar�cles/doe-announces-first-loan-guarantee-clean-energy-project-nearly-decade. 

8 U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Guarantee Office, website: htps://energy.gov/lpo/vogtle, accessed May 5, 2023. On

September 29, 2017, the U.S. Department of Energy has offered condi�onal commitments for construc�on to the Vogtle

project, website: htps://energy.gov/lpo/ar�cles/vogtle-condi�onal-commitments-support-energy-infrastructure, accessed May

5, 2023. 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 5 

discussed in the Analy�c Approach sec�on, we have developed several powerful methods of obtaining 

and processing federal expenditure data, but the resul�ng es�mates in this sec�on are s�ll subject to 

scope and measurement issues. The tax expenditure figures are more o�en precise accounts of the 

annual cost of a given provision of the IRC. 

The most comprehensive picture of the direct expenditure amounts es�mated for each part of the 

energy system is displayed in Table A6. As described in the Analy�c Approach sec�on of Appendix B, the 

Catalog of Federal Direct Assistance (CFDA) is the primary source for program informa�on. The CFDA 

coding is shown with agency and program designa�ons.9

 

We treat research and development (R&D) in this report as it applies to specific parts of the U.S. energy 

system based on the research topics, program descrip�ons, and other available informa�on, including 

informa�on from the programs in some cases.

We broadly characterize R&D as either basic or applied. R&D investment more generally applies to a 

wider variety of ac�vi�es, both energy-related and non-energy-related, when the ac�vity is aimed at 

basic technological improvement.

Basic R&D ac�vi�es are not intended to support specific kinds of energy; instead, they broadly support 

technological advancements such as high-speed compu�ng or basic science such as physics. This

dis�nc�on is true of certain DOE programs, notably those of the DOE Office of Science (SC) under CFDA 

81.049, the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program. We did not include these ac�vi�es as line 

items in the direct expenditure and R&D tables for this report. 

Recently, some overlapping federal programs aimed at direct acquisi�on of renewable, sustainable, 

resilient, or other designated energy resources have grown rapidly. Driven in part by statute and 

execu�ve orders, these programs allow or require federal organiza�ons to use certain energy resource 

acquisi�on procedures, some�mes on a pooled or regional basis.

The defini�on of direct federal financial interven�ons (or subsidies) used in this report would generally 

only include federal energy purchases that add incremental cost for the federal government and are 

intended to provide market support for the purchased resource. Because federal acquisi�on programs 

pursue a variety of goals—both opera�onal and policy related—it’s difficult to determine which 

subsidies should be included. To date, we have not included federal energy acquisi�on programs in the 

report tables or summaries. 

Without determining what por�on of these ac�vi�es might be considered subsidies or market 

interven�ons, reports from federal programs cover a full range of energy management topics and 

indicate the magnitude of direct energy acquisi�on ac�vi�es:

• U.S. Department of Defense. Annual Energy Management and Resilience Report. October

2022.

• Federal Energy Management Program. Annual Report on Federal Government Energy

Management and Conservation Programs. August 23, 2022.

Loan subsidy cost 

When the government guarantees a loan, it expects the loan to be repaid. However, for any given loan 

program (for example, student loans, small business loans) some individual loans are not repaid. The 

loan only costs the government if it is in default (not repaid). Subsidy cost is the government’s way to 

9 Certain programs (for example, grants in lieu of tax credits) administered by the Treasury have no CFDA coding.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 6 

es�mate a loan’s likely cost to the government based on the size of the loan (that is, its face value), the 

interest rate, the modeled risk of default in full or in part, and other factors. That is, the subsidy cost is 

the expected value of the governmental liability to make the lender whole for guaranteed loans in 

default. Subsidy costs are computed as a percentage of the loan value and do not include administra�ve 

costs. Subsidy costs can be posi�ve (indica�ng that the government is likely to lose money on the loan) 

or nega�ve (indica�ng that the government is likely to make money on the loan). Loan subsidy cost 

es�mates have a direct budgetary impact and are factored into obliga�ons and outlays when posi�ve.

Energy type-specific subsidies

This sec�on summarizes the total federal energy subsidies associated with various categories of energyrelated beneficiaries (energy types). 

Coal and refined coal

Coal-related tax expenditures

were lower in FY 2022, at an 

es�mated value of $590 

million, than in FY 2016, at an 

es�mated $1,904 million, 

largely because the 

produc�on tax credit for 

refined coal expired (Table 

A5).

10

Direct expenditures for coalrelated programs increased

from a nega�ve $446 million 

in FY 2016 (that is, a deobliga�on of funds) to $3

million in FY 2022, and R&D 

spending decreased from

$363 million in FY 2016 to

$280 million in FY 2022 (Table 

2). Coal-related program 

obliga�ons are shown in Table 

A6 and Table A7. 

10 U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, U.S. refined coal production and consumption declines with the expiration of a tax 

credit, Today in Energy, July 20, 2022, Washington, DC, accessed May 5, 2023.

Figure 2. Coal-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY

2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions 

and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 2 and Table A3

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy. 

-$1,000

-$500

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct 

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee -3% program

16%

87%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 7 

Table 2. Quan�fied coal-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 (446) 1,904 363 - 1,821 12%

2017 (13) 2,386 248 - 2,621 17%

2018 4 2,275 299 - 2,578 17%

2019 1 2,044 356 - 2,400 16%

2020 5 2,005 338 - 2,347 15%

2021 2 2,120 500 - 2,622 17%

2022 3 590 280 - 873 6%

Total (445) 13,324 2,383 - 15,262 100%

Share of Total (3)% 87% 16% - 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interven�ons and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal 

Years 2016–2022,Table A3

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 estimate rounds to zero; - estimate is zero. DOE=U.S.

Department of Energy.

Renewable energy, including biofuels

In FY 2022, 67% of energy-related tax expenditures were for renewable fuels. At $15.3 billion, 

renewable-related tax expenditures in FY 2022 nearly tripled from $5.6 billion in FY 2016 (Table A5). As 

discussed in further detail in the Renewable-related subsidy trends sec�on, wind- and solar-powered 

renewable electricity accounted for a large share of these tax credits. Biofuels tax credits grew over this 

period but at a slower rate than either wind or solar. 

Ethanol and biodiesel both provide sizable volumes of the U.S. liquid fuels supply, accoun�ng for 6% in 

2022. Their market penetra�on has increased as the result of several policies that have resulted in 

significant income and excise 

tax expenditures. The largest

decrease in support for 

renewable energy since FY 

2010 is atributable to the 

alcohol fuel exemp�on—

referred to as the volumetric 

ethanol excise tax credit 

(VEETC)—that expired, which 

received $5.7 billion in FY 

2010 but has since decreased 

to zero. The biodiesel mixture 

credit—referred to as the 

biodiesel producer tax 

credit—increased from $3.2

billion in FY 2016 to $3.7 

billion in FY 2022 due to 

greater domes�c biomassFigure 3. Renewable-related energy-specific subsidies and support, 

FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions 

and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 3 and Table A3

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

$18,000

$20,000

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct 

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee 4% program

3%

93%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 8

based diesel produc�on and imports of these products.11

Renewable energy direct expenditures varied considerably over the FY 2016–22 period, dropping to $74

million in FY 2022 from over $1.5 billion in FY 2016. In each fiscal year, as shown in Table A6, the largest

share of renewable energy direct expenditures came from congressional modifica�ons to two tax 

expenditure programs:

• The produc�on tax credit (PTC) for electricity genera�on from eligible new renewable electricity

facili�es

• Two tax credit bond programs, Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREB) and Qualified Energy

Conserva�on Bonds (QECB), for public-sector renewable projects

Congress created direct expenditure programs related to each of these a�er the 2008 recession. At that 

�me, few companies interested in construc�ng projects that would qualify for the PTC, CREBs, or QECBs 

had sufficient tax liability to offset those programs’ tax credits.12 To maintain support for building new 

renewable energy facili�es, Congress created direct-payment programs at Treasury that en��es could 

opt for instead of the tax credits. Note that Treasury does not regard these two direct expenditure 

programs as domestic financial assistance, so they do not appear in the Catalog of Federal Domes�c 

Assistance (CFDA) hosted by GSA’s SAM.gov website.

Table 3. Quan�fied renewables-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 1,456 5,567 347 - 7,370 9%

2017 1,111 5,637 365 - 7,113 8%

2018 296 10,069 265 - 10,629 13%

2019 75 10,103 387 - 10,565 13%

2020 56 16,794 409 - 17,258 21%

2021 60 14,896 343 - 15,299 18%

2022 74 15,266 250 - 15,589 19%

Total 3,127 78,332 2,364 - 83,823 100%

Share of Total 4% 93% 3% - 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A3

Note: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 estimate rounds to zero; - estimate is zero. DOE=U.S. 

Department of Energy.

11 U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, U.S. biomass-based diesel tax credit renewed through 2022 in government spending 

bill, Today in Energy, January 28, 2020, accessed May 5, 2023. The Infla�on Reduc�on Act ([IRA] Public Law 117-169), reinstates 

and extends several energy-related tax provisions in the IRC. 

12 Many firms during and a�er the 2008–09 recession were making litle or no profit, so they owed litle or no tax. Under such 

condi�ons, a firm’s eligible PTC tax credit exceeded its total tax liability, greatly limi�ng the amount of the tax credit it could 

claim. 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 9 

Natural gas and petroleum 

liquids

Natural gas and petroleumrelated tax expenditures 

increased to $2.1 billion in FY 

2022; the same tax provisions 

provided an es�mated tax 

revenue inflow (versus a tax 

expenditure or revenue cost) 

of $2.2 billion when FY 2016 

and FY 2017 are combined. 

These tax provisions had 

been, in aggregate, the 

largest energy-related,

revenue-genera�ng tax 

provisions to the government

(Table A5). For example, in FY 

2022 the tax provision for

explora�on and development 

costs increased expenses to 

$720 million a�er being a 

revenue-genera�ng tax 

provision13 in FYs 2016 and 2017.

Table 4. Quan�fied natural gas and petroleum liquids-related energy-specific subsidies and support by 

type, FY 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 63 (1,129) 145 - (921) (10)%

2017 111 (1,107) 58 - (938) (10)%

2018 150 1,783 132 - 2,065 22%

2019 171 2,724 71 - 2,966 32%

2020 166 1,428 107 - 1,701 18%

2021 153 1,842 105 - 2,100 23%

2022 103 2,080 121 - 2,304 25%

Total 915 7,622 739 - 9,276 100%

Share of Total 10% 82% 8% - 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A3

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. DOE=U.S. 

Department of Energy.

13 As noted by Treasury: “A tax expenditure es�mate for a provision that properly is thought of as a tax subsidy or tax break 

nonetheless can take on a nega�ve value in some years, indica�ng that it raises revenue in those years. This happens because of 

�ming effects. Provisions that accelerate deduc�ons or defer the recogni�on of income have offse�ng revenue impacts over 

�me and, depending on the patern of the underlying economic ac�vity, can have a nega�ve revenue impact in a par�cular 

year.” See htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/tax-policy/tax-expenditures

Figure 4. Natural gas and petroleum liquids-related energy-specific 

subsidies and support, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions 

and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 4 and Table A3

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.

 

-$1,500

-$1,000

-$500

$0

$500

$1,000

$1,500

$2,000

$2,500

$3,000

$3,500

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct 

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee

program

10%

8%

82%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 10

Petroleum liquids and natural 

gas-related direct 

expenditures more than 

tripled from $63 million in FY 

2016 to $171 million in FY 

2019 and then declined $103 

million in FY 2022. 

Nuclear

Nuclear-related tax provisions 

increased from $192 million 

in FY 2016 to $249 million in 

FY 2017 and then decreased 

to $110 million in FY 2022

(Table A5). Most of this 

decrease stemmed from the 

tax treatment of qualified and 

nonqualified nuclear 

decommissioning trust funds. 

We relied on the es�mates 

JTC prepared rather than 

es�mates OMB prepared. A

small por�on of the advanced energy property tax credit was also directed to nuclear facili�es in FY 

2017. 

Table 5. Quan�fied nuclear-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 40 192 183 - 415 15%

2017 11 249 203 - 463 16%

2018 31 104 219 - 354 12%

2019 27 113 173 - 313 11%

2020 19 112 224 - 355 12%

2021 22 118 423 - 563 20%

2022 21 110 259 - 390 14%

Total 172 999 1,684 - 2,855 100%

Share of total 6% 35% 59% - 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interven�ons and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal 

Years 2016–2022, Table A3

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. DOE=U.S. 

Department of Energy.

Nuclear total support peaked in FY 2021 at over $500 million and then decreased in FY 2022 to under 

$400 million. DOE accounted for most of these expenditures. Unlike most kinds of federal energy 

assistance, nuclear support is significantly higher in R&D (59% share) than in direct expenditures (6% 

share). Note that some DOE R&D for general applica�on doesn’t fall into an energy-system category, as 

Figure 5. Nuclear-related energy-specific subsidies and support, FY 

2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions 

and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 5 and Table A3

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct 

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee

program

6%

59%

35%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 11

discussed in the Direct 

expenditures including 

R&D sec�on; presumably, 

the U.S. nuclear energy 

industry and others use 

some of this basic R&D.

Efficiency, end use, and 

conservation

Nine energy efficiency- and 

conserva�on-related tax 

provisions collec�vely 

increased from $3.9 billion 

in FY 2016 to $4.6 billion in 

FY 2022 (Figure 6 and Table 

A5). The tax credit for 

residen�al energy-efficient 

property and for cleanburning vehicles (largely 

electric vehicles) accounted

for $959 million and $505 

million of those increases

between FY 2016 and FY 2022, respec�vely, as other end use provisions decreased or remained 

rela�vely flat over the same period. 

Table 6. Quan�fied conserva�on and end use-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 

2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 4,446 3,858 513 - 8,817 12%

2017 4,404 3,564 511 - 8,478 12%

2018 4,598 4,049 383 - 9,031 13%

2019 4,639 4,186 541 - 9,366 13%

2020 5,692 4,188 734 - 10,615 15%

2021 10,419 4,234 459 - 15,113 21%

2022 4,845 4,595 499 166 10,104 14%

Total 39,043 28,674 3,641 166 71,523 100%

Share of Total 55% 40% 5% 0% 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Energy Interventions and Subsidies, FY 2016–22, Table A3

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 estimate rounds to zero; - estimate is zero. DOE=U.S. 

Department of Energy.

Combined, the direct and R&D support for conserva�on and efficiency increased from $5.0 billion in FY 

2016 to $5.3 billion in FY 2022 (Table A6 and Table A7). The large increase in direct expenditures a�er FY 

2020 resulted from congressional ac�ons in response to the pandemic. In FY 2022, the Low-Income 

Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Figure 6. Conserva�on and end use-related energy-specific subsidies and 

support, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and 

Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 6 and Table A3

Notes: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy. 

$0

$2,000

$4,000

$6,000

$8,000

$10,000

$12,000

$14,000

$16,000

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct 

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee

program

55%

5%

40%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 12

Services (funded at $3.9

billion) accounted for more 

than 70% of that FY 2022

total. R&D program 

expenditures that relate to 

conserva�on and efficiency in 

FY 2022 were $499 million; 

most of this support 

originated at DOE.

Electricity transmission 

and grid network 

Smart grid and transmissionrelated tax expenditures fell 

from $193 million in FY 2016 

to $40 million in FY 2022

(Table A5). This decrease 

resulted from two factors: the 

decrease in the es�mated

expenditures from

transmission property treated 

as 15-year deprecia�on property, which fell by more than half from FY 2016 to FY 2022, and the 

re�rement on December 31, 2017, of a tax provision that encouraged energy transmission infrastructure 

reinvestment and assisted those in the industry who were restructuring. These changes and energy 

producers’ decisions on the �ming of credits and expenses resulted in a nega�ve expenditure, that is, a 

posi�ve revenue inflow for the government in some fiscal years.14

DOE’s Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Research, Development, and Analysis program provided 

most of the support for transmission grid-related R&D programs. This program accounted for 43% of 

total obliga�ons in this category. The program was expanded prior to FY 2016 under now-expired ARRA 

funding.

14 As noted by Treasury: “A tax expenditure es�mate for a provision that properly is thought of as a tax subsidy or tax break 

nonetheless can take on a nega�ve value in some years, indica�ng that it raises revenue in those years. This happens because of 

�ming effects. Provisions that accelerate deduc�ons or defer the recogni�on of income have offse�ng revenue impacts over 

�me and, depending on the patern of the underlying economic ac�vity, can have a nega�ve revenue impact in a par�cular 

year.” htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/tax-policy/tax-expenditures

Figure 7. Electricity transmission and grid-related energy-specific 

subsidies and support, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and 

Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 2016–2022, Table 7 and Table A3

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy. 

-$200

-$100

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

FY

16

FY

17

FY

18

FY

19

FY

20

FY

21

FY

22

Chart Title

total

tax 

expenditures

research and 

development

direct

expenditures

DOE loan 

guarantee

program

6%

68%

26%

share

FY

million Chart 2022 dollars

share of 

FY 16–22
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 13

Table 7. Quan�fied electricity transmission and smart grid-related energy-specific subsidies and 

support by type, FY 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Fiscal year

Direct 

expenditures

Tax 

expenditures

Research and 

Development

DOE Loan 

Guarantee 

Program Total

Annual share 

of FY 2016–22

2016 1 193 89 - 283 50%

2017 5 (174) 21 - (148) (26)%

2018 8 (46) 28 - (10) (2)%

2019 11 46 75 - 131 23%

2020 0 45 49 - 94 17%

2021 2 43 71 - 116 20%

2022 8 40 53 - 102 18%

Total 36 148 387 - 570 100%

Share of Total 6% 26% 68% - 100%

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A3

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 estimate rounds to zero; - estimate is zero. DOE=U.S. 

Department of Energy.

Renewable-related subsidy trends

Total renewable subsidies increased from $7.4 billion in FY 2016 to $15.6 billion in FY 2022. Tax and 

direct expenditures combined accounted for about 97% of total renewable subsidies over that period. 

Due to decreasing direct expenditures and growing tax expenditures, tax expenditures have made up 

nearly all of the renewable subsidies in recent years (Figure 8). 

Tax expenditures for solar applica�ons have become the largest share of subsidies for renewable energy, 

not only because of rapid industry growth but also because the investment tax credit designated for 

Figure 8. Renewable-related energy subsidies, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A4

Note: DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 14

solar projects is claimed in full in the year an asset enters commercial opera�on (Figure 9). Other 

technologies, par�cularly wind, claim the produc�on tax credit (PTC), which is based on annual 

produc�on and remains available in future opera�ng years. Biofuels, once the largest recipient of the 

PTC, have grown during FY 2016–22 but not as rapidly as solar.

Nearly all direct expenditures for renewable-related energy subsidies for 2016 through 2018 were 

associated with solar energy applica�ons (Figure 10). Direct expenditures declined significantly, by 

almost 75% over two successive periods, from FY 2017 to FY 2018 and from FY 2018 to FY 2019 and 

remained compara�vely low through FY 2022. Solar-related direct expenditures decreased the most over 

the period.

Figure 9. Renewable-related es�mated tax expenditures, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A4
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 15

Renewable R&D spending was $347 million for FY 2016, increased to about $409 million for FY 2020, and 

dropped to $250 million in FY 2022 (Figure 11). Over 75% of each fiscal year’s federal renewable R&D 

funds were for electricity projects.

Expenditures for solar, wind, and other renewable electricity technologies (for example, biomass 

electricity, hydro, and geothermal) accounted for between 76% and 96% of R&D expenditures for 

renewables from FY 2016 through FY 2022. Spending for biofuels varied similarly from 4% to 24% of total 

R&D expenditures over that period. 

Figure 10. Renewable-related direct expenditures, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A4

Figure 11. Renewable-related research and development expenditures, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Years 

2016–2022, Table A4
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 16

Figure 12 shows the total subsidy amounts broken out by electric-related and non-electric renewable 

energy. This breakout mainly pertains to biomass energy, separa�ng biomass used for electric power 

from biofuels. We provide this graph for analy�c purposes; it does not exist from any other source.

Figure 12. Renewable electric- and non-electric-related total expenditures, FY 2016–22

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal 

Years 2016–2022, Table A4

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

FY 16 FY 17 FY 18 FY 19 FY 20 FY 21 FY 22

Chart Title million 2022 dollars

renewable electric

total renewables

55% 64%

62%

77%

67% 74% 76%
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 17

Appendix A. Detailed Tables

Table A1. Energy subsidies and support, select indicators, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars, unless otherwise noted

Indicators FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Total energy subsidies and support 17,785 17,589 24,646 25,742 32,370 35,813 29,363

U.S. energy consump�on (trillion Btu) 96,599 96,999 100,704 100,820 94,519 96,943 99,905

U.S. energy produc�on (trillion Btu) 84,766 86,615 93,740 100,528 97,899 96,626 102,247

U.S. coal produc�on (trillion Btu) 14,807 15,721 15,355 14,839 11,356 11,339 12,033

U.S. dry natural gas and natural gas plant liquids produc�on (trillion Btu) 32,476 32,422 36,447 40,664 41,998 42,122 44,477

U.S. crude oil produc�on (trillion Btu) 18,786 18,986 21,847 25,018 24,624 22,994 24,327

U.S. nuclear produc�on (trillion Btu) 8,352 8,328 8,557 8,410 8,336 8,125 8,065

U.S. hydroelectric produc�on (trillion Btu) 2,481 2,756 2,628 2,612 2,498 2,230 2,360

U.S. biomass produc�on (trillion Btu) 5,084 5,161 5,296 5,243 4,877 4,940 5,171

U.S. wind produc�on (trillion Btu) 2,037 2,285 2,504 2,540 2,846 3,215 3,791

U.S. solar produc�on (trillion Btu) 534 744 898 992 1,167 1,458 1,811

U.S. geothermal produc�on (trillion Btu) 209 213 208 209 196 204 212

Data source: Consump�on: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Monthly Energy Review, Table 1.3, accessed April 2023. Produc�on: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on,

Monthly Energy Review, Table 1.2, accessed April 2023. Tax expenditure es�mates: Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Analytical Perspectives, 

Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, accessed March 13, 2023. Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016–2020, 

JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2017–2021, JCX-34-18 (Washington, DC, May 

2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2018–2022, JCX-81-18, (Washington, DC, October 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on 

Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2019–2023, JCX-55-19, (Washington, DC, December 2019), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2020–2024, JCX-23-20, (Washington, DC, November 2020), Table 1; and, Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years

2022–2026, JCX-22-22, (Washington, DC, December 2022), Table 1. Federal direct expenditure and R&D expenditure subsidies: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov - the 

official open data source of federal spending informa�on, htps://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed February 8, 2023. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1603 Program: Payments for 

Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-ins�tu�ons-and-fiscal-service/1603-program-payments-forspecified-energy-property-in-lieu-of-tax-credits, accessed February 8, 2023. Loan guarantee programs credit subsidy: Computed from data from U.S. Department of Energy, Loan 

Program Office, htps://www.energy.gov/lpo/por�olio-projects, accessed May 5, 2023, and U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov—the official open data source of federal 

spending informa�on, htps://www.usaspending.gov/search.

Notes: Totals may not equal the sum of components due to independent rounding. Energy subsidies and support excludes uncategorized direct and R&D expenditures. Btu=Bri�sh 

thermal units.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 18

Table A2. Es�mates of energy-specific tax expenditures, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Tax provision

FY 

2016

FY 

2017

FY 

2018

FY 

2019

FY 

2020

FY 

2021

FY 

2022

Energy Investment Credit 1,429 2,179 3,658 4,194 6,773 6,812 7,340 

Energy Produc�on Credit 1,681 1,873 3,624 4,782 5,602 5,666 4,160 

Biodiesel Producer Tax Credita 3,182 2,462 3,923 2,408 5,680 3,867 3,660 

Credit for residen�al energy efficient property 1,741 1,685 2,186 2,238 2,645 2,774 2,700 

Tax credit and deduc�on for clean-burning vehicles 576 695 851 1,063 636 482 1,082 

Excess of percentage over cost deple�on 492 518 403 757 658 664 960 

Expensing of explora�on and development costs (540) (766) 1,116 1,051 45 (54) 780 

Credit for energy efficiency improvements to exis�ng homes 636 342 299 271 268 257 450 

Amor�za�on of certain pollu�on control facili�es 600 942 690 452 446 428 400 

Alterna�ve Fuel and Fuel Mixture Credit 708 495 817 565 614 1,093 320 

Allowance for the deduc�on of certain energy efficient commercial building property 96 35 46 11 179 225 160 

Amor�ze all geological and geophysical expenditures over two years 84 82 265 260 89 118 120 

Credit for construc�on of new energy efficient homes 252 200 138 57 357 396 120 

Nuclear decommissioning 192 247 104 113 112 118 110 

Credit for holding Clean Renewable Energy Bondsb 84 82 81 79 78 75 70 

Capital gains treatment of royal�es on coal 180 165 184 170 112 75 50 

Exclusion from income of conserva�on subsidies provided by public u�li�es 516 554 495 509 67 64 50 

Transmission property treated as 15-year property 120 47 46 45 45 43 40 

Biodiesel and small agri-biodiesel producer tax credits 36 47 23 - 33 43 30 

Qualified Energy Conserva�on Bondsb 36 35 35 34 33 32 30 

Exclusion of special benefits for disabled coal miners 36 24 23 23 22 21 20 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 12 59 - 11 11 11 10 

Excep�on from passive loss limita�on for working interests in oil and natural gas proper�es 72 24 12 11 22 21 10 

Mine Rescue Training Credit 2 12 12 11 11 11 10 

Alcohol fuel credits 12 24 12 - - 11 -

Credit for investment in clean coal facili�es 192 165 104 23 33 - -

Credit for produc�on from advanced nuclear power facili�es - - - - - - -

Deferral of gain from disposi�on of transmission property to implement FERC restructuring policy 72 (224) (92) - - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 19

Tax provision

FY 

2016

FY 

2017

FY 

2018

FY 

2019

FY 

2020

FY 

2021

FY 

2022

Natural gas distribu�on pipelines being treated as 15-year property 168 165 115 79 - - -

Par�al expensing of investments in advanced mine safety equipment 29 12 12 - - - -

Temporary 50% expensing for equipment used in the refining of liquid fuels (2,113) (1,626) (943) - - - -

Total 10,586 10,555 18,234 19,217 24,572 23,255 22,682 

Data source: Tax expenditure es�mates: Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Analytical Perspectives, Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 

2023, and 2024, accessed March 13, 2023. Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016–2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), 

Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2017–2021, JCX-34-18 (Washington, DC, May 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, 

Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2018–2022, JCX-81-18, (Washington, DC, October 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2019–2023, JCX-55-19, (Washington, DC, December 2019), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years

2020–2024, JCX-23-20, (Washington, DC, November 2020), Table 1; and, Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2022–2026, JCX-22-22, 

(Washington, DC, December 2022), Table 1. a

The Biodiesel Producer Tax Credit is the excise tax exemp�on to the biodiesel and small agri-biodiesel producer tax credits. These tax credits are both listed as footnotes in OMB’s

Analytical Perspectives tax expenditure table, which includes energy tax expenditures. bIn addi�on, the provision has an outlay effect.

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit (also 

known as the Advanced Energy Property Credit) was allocated by fuel using data from “Energy Department Announces $150 Million in Tax Credits to Invest in U.S. Clean Energy 

Manufacturing,” accessed April 12, 2023. FERC=Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 20

Table A3. Quan�fied energy-specific subsidies and support by type, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars, unless otherwise noted

Year and support type Coal

Refined 

coal

Natural gas 

and 

petroleum 

liquids Nuclear Renewables

Electricity—

smart grid 

and 

transmission Conserva�on

End 

use Total

Share of 

total 

subsidies 

and 

support

2016

Direct expenditures (446) - 63 40 1,456 1 287 4,159 5,559 31%

Tax expenditures 1,040 864 (1,129) 192 5,567 193 674 3,184 10,586 60%

Research and development 363 - 145 183 347 89 165 349 1,640 9%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program 0%

Total 957 864 (921) 415 7,370 283 1,125 7,857 17,785 100%

Share of total 5% 5% -5% 2% 41% 2% 6% 44% 100%

2017

Direct expenditures (13) - 111 11 1,111 5 314 4,089 5,629 32%

Tax expenditures 1,321 1,065 (1,107) 249 5,637 (174) 383 3,181 10,555 60%

Research and development 248 - 58 203 365 21 90 421 1,406 8%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program -

Total 1,555 1,065 (938) 463 7,113 (148) 787 7,691 17,589 100%

Share of total 9% 6% -5% 3% 40% -1% 4% 44% 100%

2018

Direct expenditures 4 - 150 31 296 8 298 4,300 5,086 21%

Tax expenditures 1,024 1,251 1,783 104 10,069 (46) 334 3,716 18,234 74%

Research and development 299 - 132 219 265 28 121 262 1,326 5%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program -

Total 1,327 1,251 2,065 354 10,629 (10) 752 8,278 24,646 100%

Share of total 5% 5% 8% 1% 43% 0% 3% 34% 100%

2019

Direct expenditures 1 - 171 27 75 11 381 4,258 4,923 19%

Tax expenditures 678 1,365 2,724 113 10,103 46 306 3,880 19,217 75%

Research and development 356 - 71 173 387 75 100 441 1,602 6%
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 21

Year and support type Coal

Refined 

coal

Natural gas 

and 

petroleum 

liquids Nuclear Renewables

Electricity—

smart grid 

and 

transmission Conserva�on

End 

use Total

Share of 

total 

subsidies 

and 

support

DOE Loan Guarantee Program -

Total 1,035 1,365 2,966 313 10,565 131 787 8,579 25,742 100%

Share of total 4% 5% 12% 1% 41% 1% 3% 33% 100%

2020

Direct expenditures 5 - 166 19 56 0 388 5,304 5,938 18%

Tax expenditures 625 1,380 1,428 112 16,794 45 302 3,886 24,572 76%

Research and development 338 - 107 224 409 49 255 479 1,861 6%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program -

Total 968 1,380 1,701 355 17,258 94 945 9,669 32,370 100%

Share of total 3% 4% 5% 1% 53% 0% 3% 30% 100%

2021

Direct expenditures 2 - 153 22 60 2 355 10,064 10,658 30%

Tax expenditures 536 1,584 1,842 118 14,896 43 290 3,944 23,255 65%

Research and development 500 - 105 423 343 71 194 265 1,900 5%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program -

Total 1,038 1,584 2,100 563 15,299 116 839 14,273 35,813 100%

Share of total 3% 4% 6% 2% 43% 0% 2% 40% 100%

2022

Direct expenditures 3 - 103 21 74 8 823 4,022 5,054 17%

Tax expenditures 590 - 2,080 110 15,266 40 481 4,114 22,682 77%

Research and development 280 - 121 259 250 53 134 365 1,461 5%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program 166 166 1%

Total 873 - 2,304 390 15,589 102 1,438 8,666 29,363 100%

Share of total 3% 0% 8% 1% 53% 0% 5% 30% 100%

2016 to 2022

Direct expenditures (445) - 915 172 3,127 36 2,846 36,196 42,847 23%

Tax expenditures 5,814 7,510 7,622 999 78,332 148 2,770 25,905 129,099 70%
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 22

Year and support type Coal

Refined 

coal

Natural gas 

and 

petroleum 

liquids Nuclear Renewables

Electricity—

smart grid 

and 

transmission Conserva�on

End 

use Total

Share of 

total 

subsidies 

and 

support

Research and development 2,383 - 739 1,684 2,364 387 1,058 2,583 11,197 6%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - 166 166 0%

Total 7,752 7,510 9,276 2,855 83,823 570 6,674 64,849 183,309 100%

Share of total 4% 4% 5% 2% 46% 0% 4% 35% 100%

Data source: Tax expenditure es�mates: Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Analytical Perspectives, Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 

2023, and 2024, accessed March 13, 2023. Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016–2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), 

Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2017–2021, JCX-34-18 (Washington, DC, May 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, 

Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2018–2022, JCX-81-18, (Washington, DC, October 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2019–2023, JCX-55-19, (Washington, DC, December 2019), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years

2020–2024, JCX-23-20, (Washington, DC, November 2020), Table 1; and, Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2022–2026, JCX-22-22, 

(Washington, DC, December 2022), Table 1. Federal direct expenditure and R&D expenditure subsidies: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov—the official open data 

source of federal spending informa�on, htps://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed February 8, 2023. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1603 Program: Payments for Specified Energy 

Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-ins�tu�ons-and-fiscal-service/1603-program-payments-for-specified-energyproperty-in-lieu-of-tax-credits, accessed February 8, 2023. Loan guarantee programs credit subsidy: Computed from data from U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Program Office, 

htps://www.energy.gov/lpo/por�olio-projects, accessed May 5, 2023, and Treasury, USASpending.gov, htps://www.usaspending.gov/search.

Notes: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. Energy-specific tax expenditures associated with the 

renewables produc�on tax credit were allocated based on Joint Commitee on Taxa�on data. Energy subsidies and support excludes “uncategorized” direct and R&D expenditures. 

DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 23

Table A4. Quan�fied renewable-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars, unless otherwise noted

Renewable electric

Year and support type Biomass Geothermal Hydropower Solar Wind Other

Subtotal 

renewable 

electric Biofuels

Total 

renewables

Share of 

total 

renewables 

subsidies

2016

Direct expenditures 33 6 9 1,352 13 13 1,425 31 1,456 20%

Tax expenditures 25 0 0 1,502 810 - 2,337 3,230 5,567 76%

Research and development 35 13 16 183 23 23 294 53 347 5%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 94 19 26 3,036 846 36 4,056 3,314 7,370 100%

Share of total renewables 1% 0% 0% 41% 11% 0% 55% 45% 100%

2017

Direct expenditures 6 0 12 1,048 14 9 1,090 22 1,111 16%

Tax expenditures 37 18 0 2,272 777 - 3,104 2,533 5,637 79%

Research and development 14 6 71 116 107 33 348 16 365 5%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 57 25 83 3,437 899 42 4,542 2,571 7,113 100%

Share of total renewables 1% 0% 1% 48% 13% 1% 64% 36% 100%

2018

Direct expenditures 3 9 11 223 13 15 275 20 296 3%

Tax expenditures 93 93 - 3,723 2,203 - 6,111 3,957 10,069 95%

Research and development 17 25 11 108 33 9 201 64 265 2%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 113 127 22 4,054 2,248 24 6,587 4,042 10,629 100%

Share of total renewables 1% 1% 0% 38% 21% 0% 62% 38% 100%

2019

Direct expenditures 0 0 14 22 18 8 62 13 75 1%

Tax expenditures 134 134 0 4,262 3,165 - 7,696 2,408 10,103 96%

Research and development 12 165 21 133 18 23 373 14 387 4%
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 24

Renewable electric

Year and support type Biomass Geothermal Hydropower Solar Wind Other

Subtotal 

renewable 

electric Biofuels

Total 

renewables

Share of 

total 

renewables 

subsidies

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 146 299 35 4,418 3,201 31 8,130 2,435 10,565 100%

Share of total renewables 7% 1% 1% 7% 36% 3% 54% 46% 100%

2020

Direct expenditures 3 0 8 12 10 7 39 16 56 0%

Tax expenditures 184 92 0 6,841 3,964 - 11,080 5,713 16,794 97%

Research and development 46 49 38 130 47 50 361 47 409 2%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 232 141 46 6,982 4,021 57 11,481 5,777 17,258 100%

Share of total renewables 4% 2% 2% 38% 41% 2% 88% 12% 100%

2021

Direct expenditures 3 0 11 17 12 7 50 10 60 0%

Tax expenditures 209 105 0 6,877 3,784 - 10,976 3,920 14,896 97%

Research and development 16 47 42 134 62 30 330 12 343 2%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 228 151 53 7,028 3,858 37 11,356 3,943 15,299 100%

Share of total renewables 1% 1% 1% 33% 19% 3% 58% 42% 100%

2022

Direct expenditures 0 0 10 27 12 14 63 11 74 0%

Tax expenditures 308 308 0 7,401 3,559 - 11,576 3,690 15,266 98%

Research and development 4 45 31 94 22 35 230 20 250 2%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - - - - - - - -

Total 312 353 41 7,522 3,592 49 11,869 3,721 15,589 100%

Share of total renewables 1% 1% 1% 33% 19% 3% 58% 42% 100%

Data source: Tax expenditure es�mates: Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government, Analytical Perspectives, Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 

2023, and 2024, accessed March 13, 2023. Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016–2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), 

Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2017–2021, JCX-34-18 (Washington, DC, May 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, 

Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2018–2022, JCX-81-18, (Washington, DC, October 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 25

Renewable electric

Year and support type Biomass Geothermal Hydropower Solar Wind Other

Subtotal 

renewable 

electric Biofuels

Total 

renewables

Share of 

total 

renewables 

subsidies

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2019–2023, JCX-55-19, (Washington, DC, December 2019), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years

2020–2024, JCX-23-20, (Washington, DC, November 2020), Table 1; and, Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2022–2026, JCX-22-22, 

(Washington, DC, December 2022), Table 1. Federal direct expenditure and R&D expenditure subsidies: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov—the official open data 

source of federal spending informa�on, htps://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed February 8, 2023. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1603 Program: Payments for Specified Energy 

Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-ins�tu�ons-and-fiscal-service/1603-program-payments-for-specified-energyproperty-in-lieu-of-tax-credits, accessed February 8, 2023. Loan guarantee programs credit subsidy: Computed from data from U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Program Office, 

htps://www.energy.gov/lpo/por�olio-projects, accessed May 5, 2023, and Treasury, USASpending.gov, htps://www.usaspending.gov/search.

Notes: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. Energy-specific tax expenditures associated with the 

renewables produc�on tax credit were allocated based on Joint Commitee on Taxa�on data. Energy subsidies and support excludes “uncategorized” direct and R&D expenditures. 

DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 26

Table A5. Es�mates of energy-specific tax expenditures by beneficiary, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars

Tax provision FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Biofuels 3,230 2,533 3,957 2,408 5,713 3,920 3,690 

Alcohol fuel credits 12 24 12 - - 11 -

Biodiesel and small agri-biodiesel producer tax credits 36 47 23 - 33 43 30 

Biodiesel Producer Tax Credita 3,182 2,462 3,923 2,408 5,680 3,867 3,660 

Biomass 25 37 93 134 184 209 308 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 

Energy Produc�on Credit 25 36 93 134 184 209 308 

Coal 1,040 1,321 1,024 678 625 536 590 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 

Amor�za�on of certain pollu�on control facili�es 600 942 690 452 446 428 400 

Capital gains treatment of royal�es on coal 180 165 184 170 112 75 50 

Credit for investment in clean coal facili�es 192 165 104 23 33 - -

Excess of percentage over cost deple�on - - - - - - 50 

Exclusion of special benefits for disabled coal miners 36 24 23 23 22 21 20 

Expensing of explora�on and development costs - - - - - - 60 

Mine Rescue Training Credit 2 12 12 11 11 11 10 

Par�al expensing of investments in advanced mine safety equipment 29 12 12 - - - -

Conserva�on 674 383 334 306 302 290 481 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 1 6 - 1 1 1 1 

Credit for energy efficiency improvements to exis�ng homes 636 342 299 271 268 257 450 

Qualified Energy Conserva�on Bonds 36 35 35 34 33 32 30 

End use 3,184 3,181 3,716 3,880 3,886 3,944 4,114 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 3 12 - 2 2 2 2 

Allowance for the deduc�on of certain energy efficient commercial building 

property 96 35 46 11 179 225 160 

Credit for construc�on of new energy efficient homes 252 200 138 57 357 396 120 

Credit for residen�al energy efficient property 1,741 1,685 2,186 2,238 2,645 2,774 2,700 

Exclusion from income of conserva�on subsidies provided by public u�li�es 516 554 495 509 67 64 50 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 27

Tax provision FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Tax credit and deduc�on for clean-burning vehicles 576 695 851 1,063 636 482 1,082 

Geothermal 0 18 93 134 92 105 308 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 

Energy Produc�on Credit - 18 93 134 92 105 308 

Hydropower 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 

Natural gas and petroleum liquids (1,129) (1,107) 1,783 2,724 1,428 1,842 2,080 

Alterna�ve Fuel and Fuel Mixture Credit 708 495 817 565 614 1,093 320 

Amor�ze all geological and geophysical expenditures over two years 84 82 265 260 89 118 120 

Excep�on from passive loss limita�on for working interests in oil and natural gas 

proper�es 72 24 12 11 22 21 10 

Excess of percentage over cost deple�on 492 518 403 757 658 664 910 

Expensing of explora�on and development costs (540) (766) 1,116 1,051 45 (54) 720 

Natural gas distribu�on pipelines being treated as 15-year property 168 165 115 79 - - -

Temporary 50% expensing for equipment used in the refining of liquid fuels (2,113) (1,626) (943) - - - -

Nuclear 192 249 104 113 112 118 110 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 0 2 - 0 0 0 0 

Credit for produc�on from advanced nuclear power facili�es - - - - - - -

Nuclear decommissioning 192 247 104 113 112 118 110 

Refined coal 864 1,065 1,251 1,365 1,380 1,584 -

Energy Produc�on Credit 864 1,065 1,251 1,365 1,380 1,584 -

Smart Grid and Transmission 193 (174) (46) 46 45 43 40 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 1 3 - 1 1 1 0 

Deferral of gain from disposi�on of transmission property to implement FERC 

restructuring policy 72 (224) (92) - - - -

Transmission property treated as 15-year property 120 47 46 45 45 43 40 

Solar 1,502 2,272 3,723 4,262 6,841 6,877 7,401 

Advanced Energy Property Credit 6 27 - 5 5 5 5 

Credit for holding Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 67 66 64 63 62 60 56 

Energy Investment Credit 1,429 2,179 3,658 4,194 6,773 6,812 7,340 

Wind 810 777 2,203 3,165 3,964 3,784 3,559 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 28

Tax provision FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Advanced Energy Property Credit 1 7 - 1 1 1 1 

Credit for holding Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 17 16 16 16 16 15 14 

Energy Produc�on Credit 792 754 2,186 3,148 3,947 3,768 3,544 

Total 10,586 10,555 18,234 19,217 24,572 23,255 22,682 

Data source: Tax expenditure es�mates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 

2023, and 2024, accessed March 13, 2023. Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016–2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), 

Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2017–2021, JCX-34-18 (Washington, DC, May 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, 

Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2018–2022, JCX-81-18, (Washington, DC, October 2018), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2019–2023, JCX-55-19, (Washington, DC, December 2019), Table 1; Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years

2020–2024, JCX-23-20, (Washington, DC, November 2020), Table 1; and, Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2022–2026, JCX-22-22, 

(Washington, DC, December 2022), Table 1. a

The Biodiesel Producer Tax Credit is the excise tax exemp�on to the biodiesel and small agri-biodiesel producer tax credits. These tax credits are both listed as footnotes to OMB’s

Analytical Perspectives tax expenditure table, which includes energy tax expenditures.

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit (also 

called the Advanced Energy Property Credit) was allocated by fuel using data from “Energy Department Announces $150 Million in Tax Credits to Invest in U.S. Clean Energy 

Manufacturing,” accessed April 12, 2023. FERC=Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 29

Table A6. Es�mates of energy-specific direct expenditures, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars, unless otherwise noted

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Biofuels 31 22 20 13 16 10 11 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 31 21 20 13 16 9 10 

Biodiesel—10.306 1 1 1 - (0) - -

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels—10.867 17 16 16 10 13 5 7 

Biomass Crop Assistance Program—10.087 7 1 - - - - -

Sun Grant Program—10.320 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 0 - 0 - - 0 1 

U.S. Department of Defense 0 1 - 0 0 1 0 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 0 1 - (0) - 1 0 

Research and Technology Development—12.910 - - - 0 0 - -

U.S. Department of Energy - (0) - - - - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 - - - - - - -

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Applica�on—81.134 - - - - - - -

Regional Biomass Energy Programs—81.079 - (0) - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior - - - - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - - - - - - -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - - - - - 0 -

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 - - - - - 0 -

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 - - - - - - -

Biomass 33 6 3 0 3 3 0 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 7 6 3 0 3 3 0 

Biomass Crop Assistance Program—10.087 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 

Repowering Assistance—10.866 - - - - - - -

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 2 1 1 0 3 3 0 

U.S. Department of Defense - - (0) - 0 - -

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - - (0) - 0 - -

U.S. Department of Energy - (0) - - - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 30

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 - (0) - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 0 0 0 - - - (0)

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 0 - 0 - - - (0)

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants—15.148 - 0 - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 26 - - - - - -

Energy Investment Grant 26 - - - - - -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - - 0 - - - -

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 - - 0 - - - -

Coal (446) (13) 4 1 5 2 3 

U.S. Department of Agriculture - - - - - - 3 

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 - - - - - - 3 

U.S. Department of Defense 2 3 4 0 3 1 -

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 2 3 3 0 2 1 -

Research and Technology Development—12.910 0 0 0 - 1 - -

U.S. Department of Energy (448) (17) - - 3 - -

Carbon Capture and Storage-FutureGen 2.0—81.130 (64) - - - - - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 - - - - - - -

Expand and Extend Clean Coal Power Ini�a�ve—81.131 (385) (16) - - 3 - -

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Applica�on—81.134 0 (0) - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 0 0 - 0 - - -

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 - - - 0 - - -

Energy Coopera�ves to Support the Na�onal Energy Resources Data System—

15.819 0 - - - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - 0 - - - - -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - - - - - 0 0 

Air Emissions and Energy Ini�a�ve—20.817 - - - - - 0 0 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - - 0 0 (0) 0 1 

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 - - 0 1 0 0 1 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 - - - (0) (1) - (0)
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 31

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - - - - - 0 -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program—77.008 - - - - - 0 -

Conserva�on 287 314 298 381 388 355 823 

U.S. Department of Agriculture - 1 0 1 0 1 0 

Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP)—10.751 - - - - - - -

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 - 1 0 1 0 1 0 

U.S. Department of Defense 2 2 4 28 12 5 6 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 2 2 4 28 5 0 0 

Research and Technology Development—12.910 - - - - 7 5 5 

U.S. Department of Energy 249 265 247 306 340 304 776 

Energy Efficiency and Conserva�on Block Grant Program (EECBG)—81.128 - - - - - - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 

Environmental Monitoring, Independent Research, Technical Analysis—81.005 - - - - - (0) -

Inven�ons and Innova�ons—81.036 - 0 - - - - -

State Energy Program—81.041 - - - - - - -

State Energy Program Special Projects—81.119 2 4 (0) 2 0 (0) (0)

State Hea�ng Oil and Propane Program—81.138 - - - - 0 0 0 

Weatheriza�on Assistance for Low-Income Persons—81.042 246 260 247 304 339 303 773 

U.S. Department of the Interior - 0 - - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - 0 - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 36 47 46 45 33 43 40 

Outlay Equivalent for Qualified Energy Conserva�on Bonds 36 47 46 45 33 43 40 

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - - (1) (0) - - -

Clean Fuels—20.519 - - (1) (0) - - -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 0 0 2 1 2 2 2 

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 - - 1 1 - - -

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 0 0 1 1 2 2 2 

End use 4,159 4,089 4,300 4,258 5,304 10,064 4,022 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 40 45 42 48 54 34 61 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 32

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communi�es—10.859 7 13 6 9 7 - 14 

Rural Energy for America Program—10.868 32 32 36 39 48 34 46 

Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP)—10.751 - - - - - - -

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 - (0) 0 0 - - 0 

U.S. Department of Defense 7 5 21 12 8 4 7 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 7 5 21 6 8 4 6 

Research and Technology Development—12.910 0 (0) - 6 1 1 1 

U.S. Department of Energy 61 49 59 69 66 65 67 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 11 4 10 5 5 7 4 

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Applica�on—81.134 - - - - - - -

Na�onal Industrial Compe��veness through Energy, Environment, and 

Economics—81.105 - - - - (1) - -

State Energy Program—81.041 47 45 49 62 62 58 62 

State Energy Program Special Projects—81.119 3 1 (0) 2 (0) (0) (0)

State Hea�ng Oil and Propane Program—81.138 - - - - 0 0 0 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Service 4,044 3,988 4,184 4,126 5,175 9,958 3,883 

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance—93.568 4,044 3,988 4,184 4,126 5,175 9,958 3,883 

U.S. Department of State - (0) - - - - -

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) Grant Programs (including Energy 

and Climate Partnership for the Americas)—19.750 - (0) - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 0 - - - - - 3 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 - - - - - - 3 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 0 - - - - - -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on 8 2 (7) - - (0) -

Air Emissions and Energy Ini�a�ve—20.817 0 - - - - - -

Capital Assistance Program for Reducing Energy Consump�on and Greenhouse Gas 

Emissions—20.523 7 2 (7) - - - -

Clean Fuels—20.519 0 - - - - (0) -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - - 1 2 1 2 1 

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 - - 1 2 1 1 0 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 - - - - - 1 1 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 33

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Geothermal 6 0 9 0 0 0 0 

U.S. Department of Defense - 0 - - - - -

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - 0 - - - - -

U.S. Department of Energy - - - - - - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 - - - - - - -

State Energy Program Special Projects—81.119 - - - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior - - - - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - - - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 6 0 9 0 0 0 0 

Energy Investment Grant 6 - 9 - - - -

Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Hydropower 9 12 11 14 8 11 10 

U.S. Department of Defense - - - 0 - 1 -

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - - - 0 - 0 -

Research and Technology Development—12.910 - - - - - 1 -

U.S. Department of the Interior 1 1 0 - - - -

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 1 1 0 - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 0 - - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 9 11 11 14 8 10 10 

Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 9 11 11 14 8 10 10 

Natural gas and petroleum liquids 63 111 150 171 166 153 103 

U.S. Department of Defense - 1 - - 0 0 0 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - 1 - - 0 0 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 0 5 2 3 0 1 0 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 - (0) - - - - -

Inven�ons and Innova�ons—81.036 0 0 - - - - -

State Hea�ng Oil and Propane Program—81.138 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 

Transport of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isola�on Pilot Plant: States and Tribal 

Concerns, Proposed Solu�ons—81.106 - 4 2 3 - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 34

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

U.S. Department of the Interior 13 17 14 14 13 12 14 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 0 (0) - - - 0 0 

Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management State and Tribal Coordina�on—15.427 13 17 13 14 13 12 14 

Louisiana State University (LSU) Coastal Marine Ins�tute (CMI)—15.422 - (0) - - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - - 1 - - - -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on 2 59 66 61 67 63 59 

Air Emissions and Energy Ini�a�ve—20.817 - - - - 0 - -

Clean Fuels—20.519 1 - - (0) - - (1)

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Program One Call Grant—20.721 1 (0) 1 1 1 1 1 

Pipeline Safety Program State Base Grant—20.700 - 60 64 60 66 62 59 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 47 29 68 93 85 76 29 

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 39 14 49 69 61 53 16 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 8 15 19 24 24 23 14 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission - - - - - - -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program—77.008 - - - - - - -

Uncategorized 667 778 869 951 1,075 890 677 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 15 9 13 13 18 8 18 

Rural Telephone Loans and Loan Guarantees—10.851 - - - - - - -

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 15 9 13 13 18 8 18 

U.S. Department of Defense 559 685 784 877 1,003 821 601 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 248 277 293 319 344 312 202 

Research and Technology Development—12.910 311 408 491 558 659 510 399 

U.S. Department of Energy 22 41 40 43 33 32 31 

Energy Efficiency and Conserva�on Block Grant Program (EECBG)—81.128 - - - - 0 - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 14 21 15 13 12 16 17 

Environmental Monitoring, Independent Research, Technical Analysis—81.005 - - - 0 2 1 1 

Epidemiology and Other Health Studies Financial Assistance Program—81.108 5 16 18 21 16 15 13 

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Applica�on—81.134 - (0) - - - - -

Inven�ons and Innova�ons—81.036 0 0 0 0 - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 35

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Nuclear Legacy Cleanup Program—81.065 2 3 5 6 1 - -

State Hea�ng Oil and Propane Program—81.138 - (0) (0) - 0 - (0)

Transport of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isola�on Pilot Plant: States and 

Tribal Concerns, Proposed Solu�ons—81.106 - 1 1 1 0 0 0 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (15) - - - - - -

Mul�family Energy Innova�on Fund—14.319 (15) - - - - - -

U.S. Department of Labor (0) (1) - - (0) - -

Program of Compe��ve Grants for Worker Training and Placement in High Growth 

and Emerging Industry Sectors—17.275 (0) (1) - - (0) - -

U.S. Department of State 15 9 17 8 12 8 13 

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) Grant Programs (including Energy 

and Climate Partnership for the Americas)—19.750 15 9 17 8 12 8 13 

U.S. Department of the Interior 9 9 13 10 6 15 6 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 4 5 5 4 5 6 6 

Energy Coopera�ves to Support the Na�onal Energy Resources Data System—

15.819 - 0 0 0 - - (0)

Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management State and Tribal Coordina�on—15.427 1 - - - - - -

Louisiana State University (LSU) Coastal Marine Ins�tute (CMI)—15.422 1 1 0 0 1 (0) 0 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 3 2 7 6 (1) 0 (0)

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants—15.148 - 1 0 - 1 9 (0)

U.S. Department of Transporta�on 55 1 0 (0) (0) 0 1 

Air Emissions and Energy Ini�a�ve—20.817 - - - - - 1 0 

Clean Fuels—20.519 1 - 0 (0) (0) - (0)

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Program One Call Grant—20.721 - 1 0 (0) 0 (0) (0)

Pipeline Safety Program State Base Grant—20.700 54 - - (0) (0) (0) 1 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 6 9 2 1 3 2 5 

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 1 7 1 1 3 2 1 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 6 2 1 - - 0 3 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 0 15 (1) (0) 1 4 2 

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Educa�on Grant Program—77.006 - 5 - (0) - - -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Minority Serving Ins�tu�ons Program 

(MSIP)—77.007 0 1 0 (0) - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 36

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program—77.008 (0) 10 (1) (0) 1 4 2 

Nuclear 40 11 31 27 19 22 21 

U.S. Department of Defense 2 2 3 1 - 0 1 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 2 2 3 1 - 0 0 

Research and Technology Development—12.910 1 - 0 - - - 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 18 6 10 8 19 6 11 

Energy Efficiency and Conserva�on Block Grant Program (EECBG)—81.128 - - - - 1 - -

Environmental Monitoring, Independent Research, Technical Analysis—81.005 - - - - 3 1 1 

Epidemiology and Other Health Studies Financial Assistance Program—81.108 9 1 - - 4 4 4 

Nuclear Legacy Cleanup Program—81.065 5 4 8 6 5 - -

State Energy Program—81.041 - - - - - - -

Transport of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isola�on Pilot Plant: States and Tribal 

Concerns, Proposed Solu�ons—81.106 4 2 2 3 6 1 6 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 19 3 18 17 (0) 16 10 

U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Educa�on Grant Program—77.006 (0) 1 - (0) - - -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Minority Serving Ins�tu�ons Program 

(MSIP)—77.007 1 0 1 1 (0) - (0)

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program—77.008 18 2 18 17 (0) 16 10 

Other renewables 13 9 15 8 7 7 14 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 3 3 2 2 2 2 10 

Rural Energy for America Program—10.868 3 2 2 2 2 2 10 

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 0 0 0 0 0 - (0)

U.S. Department of Defense - (0) (0) - 0 - -

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - (0) (0) - 0 - -

U.S. Department of Energy 0 1 0 0 (0) 1 -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 0 0 0 (0) - 1 -

State Energy Program Special Projects—81.119 - 1 (0) 0 (0) - -

U.S. Department of State - - - - - 0 -

Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) Grant Programs (including Energy 

and Climate Partnership for the Americas)—19.750 - - - - - 0 -

U.S. Department of the Interior 0 0 0 (0) 1 - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 37

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 0 0 0 - 1 - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 0 0 0 (0) - - -

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants—15.148 - 0 - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 9 5 12 6 3 4 4 

Energy Investment Grant 6 0 8 - - - -

Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 4 5 5 6 3 4 4 

Clean Fuels—20.519 - - - - - - -

Clean Fuels—20.519 - - - - - - -

Smart grid and transmission 1 5 8 11 0 2 8 

U.S. Department of Defense 1 5 8 9 1 2 6 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 1 3 7 7 - 1 6 

Research and Technology Development—12.910 - 2 0 2 1 0 -

U.S. Department of Energy (0) - 0 2 - 0 1 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 - - - - - - 1 

State Energy Program Special Projects—81.119 - - 0 2 - 0 0 

Weatheriza�on Assistance for Low-Income Persons—81.042 (0) - - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior - - - - - - 0 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - - - - - - -

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants—15.148 - - - - - - 0 

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - - - - (0) - 2 

Air Emissions and Energy Ini�a�ve—20.817 - - - - - - 2 

Pipeline Safety Program State Base Grant—20.700 - - - - (0) - -

Solar 1,352 1,048 223 22 12 17 27 

U.S. Department of Agriculture - - - - - - 0 

Wood U�liza�on Assistance—10.674 - - - - - - 0 

U.S. Department of Defense - - 1 - - 1 1 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - - 1 - - 1 1 

U.S. Department of Energy (1) 23 (0) - (1) (0) 10 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 (1) 23 (0) - (1) (0) 10 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 38

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

U.S. Department of the Interior 0 1 - - - - -

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 0 0 - - - - -

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants—15.148 - 0 - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 1,352 1,024 223 21 13 16 15 

Energy Investment Grant 1,339 1,006 206 - - - -

Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 14 18 17 21 13 16 15 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - 0 - 1 - - -

Na�onal Clean Diesel Emissions Reduc�on Program—66.039 - - - 1 - - -

State Clean Diesel Grant Program—66.040 - 0 - - - - -

Wind 13 14 13 18 10 12 12 

U.S. Department of Defense - - - 1 - - -

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering—12.630 - - - 1 - - -

U.S. Department of Energy 1 - - - - - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Informa�on Dissemina�on, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance—81.117 (0) - - - - - -

State Energy Program Special Projects—81.119 1 - - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 1 1 - 1 0 (0) 1 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies (ES)—15.423 1 1 - 1 0 (0) 1 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands—15.038 - - - - - - -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 11 13 13 16 9 12 11 

Energy Investment Grant 1 0 0 - - - -

Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds 10 13 13 16 9 12 11 

Total 6,226 6,407 5,955 5,874 7,013 11,547 5,731 

Data source: Federal direct expenditure subsidies: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov—the official open data source of federal spending informa�on, 

htps://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed February 8, 2023. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1603 Program: Payments for Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits, 

htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-ins�tu�ons-and-fiscal-service/1603-program-payments-for-specified-energy-property-in-lieu-of-tax-credits, accessed 

February 8, 2023.

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. USASpending.gov was first launched in December 2007 to fulfill provisions 

of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006. USASpending.gov receives and displays data pertaining to obliga�ons (amounts awarded for federally 

sponsored projects during a given budget period). Appropria�ons made in a given FY federal agency budget may be obligated and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 39

Table A7. Es�mates of energy-specific research and development expenditures, fiscal years (FY) 2016–22

million 2022 dollars, unless otherwise noted

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Biofuels 53 16 64 14 47 12 20 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 9 4 4 5 2 3 6 

Engineering Grants—47.041 8 4 4 4 1 2 5 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 1 - 0 1 1 0 1 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 7 (0) 5 0 0 (1) (0)

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 0 0 0 0 0 0 (0)

Biomass Research and Development Ini�a�ve Compe��ve Grants Program 

(BRDI)—10.312 6 (0) 5 - - (1) (0)

U.S. Department of Defense - 1 0 0 0 - -

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 - 1 0 0 0 - -

U.S. Department of Energy 37 12 54 9 45 11 13 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 4 16 23 7 29 0 5 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 (0) (1) 2 1 - 2 3 

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 0 (0) - 1 (1) - 0 

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 33 (3) 29 1 16 9 5 

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - - (0) - - - -

Biobased Transporta�on Research—20.761 - - (0) - - - -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - - - - 0 0 0 

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 - - - - 0 0 0 

Biomass 35 14 17 12 46 16 4 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 3 6 5 3 2 3 2 

Engineering Grants—47.041 3 3 3 2 1 2 1 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 0 3 2 1 1 1 1 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 

Biomass Research and Development Ini�a�ve Compe��ve Grants Program 

(BRDI)—10.312 2 (0) - - - (0) -

U.S. Department of Defense 0 0 0 - - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 40

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 0 0 0 - - - -

U.S. Department of Energy 29 7 12 9 42 11 2 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 8 0 0 11 4 (0) 0 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - - 1 2 - - -

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 1 0 1 0 (0) 2 2 

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 21 7 9 (4) 39 9 (0)

Coal 363 248 299 356 338 500 280 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 38 33 34 24 33 29 64 

Engineering Grants—47.041 20 18 16 17 25 19 43 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 17 16 18 8 8 10 21 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 1 1 1 2 2 5 (0)

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 1 1 1 2 2 5 (0)

Biomass Research and Development Ini�a�ve Compe��ve Grants Program 

(BRDI)—10.312 - (0) - - - - -

U.S. Department of Defense 2 2 1 1 0 1 2 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 2 2 1 1 0 1 2 

U.S. Department of Energy 319 211 262 328 301 464 213 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 7 22 8 27 28 45 55 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 3 8 4 5 3 31 3 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 - (0) - - - - -

Environmental Remedia�on and Waste Processing and Disposal—81.104 - - - - - - -

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 298 164 225 261 234 325 137 

Geologic Sequestra�on Training and Research Grant Program—81.133 - - - - - - -

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 - - - - - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 10 18 24 34 34 61 18 

University Coal Research—81.057 (0) - - - 2 2 1 

U.S. Department of the Interior 1 - - (0) - - -

Safety and Environmental Enforcement Research and Data Collec�on for Offshore 

Energy and Mineral Ac�vi�es—15.441 1 - - (0) - - -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - (0) - - - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 41

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transac�on 

Agreements—20.723 - (0) - - - - -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 

Conserva�on 165 90 121 100 255 194 134 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 5 4 3 5 5 5 4 

Engineering Grants—47.041 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 1 2 5 5 3 4 0 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 1 2 5 5 3 4 0 

U.S. Department of Defense 2 2 3 9 2 2 2 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 2 2 3 9 2 2 2 

U.S. Department of Energy 156 80 109 77 242 181 124 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 5 3 1 - 3 2 (1)

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 138 68 104 71 232 178 124 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 (0) (0) - - - - -

Environmental Monitoring/Cleanup, Cultural and Resource Management, 

Emergency Response Research, Outreach, Technical Analysis—81.214 - 0 0 0 0 1 1 

Environmental Remedia�on and Waste Processing and Disposal—81.104 - - - 0 0 0 (1)

Minority Economic Impact—81.137 - - - - 1 - 0 

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 13 9 4 5 5 0 1 

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - - - - - - -

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transac�on 

Agreements—20.723 - - - - - - -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 2 1 0 3 2 3 3 

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 2 1 0 3 2 3 3 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 0 - - - - - -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Research Financial Assistance 

Program—77.009 0 - - - - - -

End use 349 421 262 441 479 265 365 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 42

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Na�onal Science Founda�on 56 57 55 59 55 52 95 

Engineering Grants—47.041 50 46 45 50 47 38 70 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 6 11 11 9 8 14 24 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 1 1 2 0 3 3 0 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 1 1 2 0 3 3 0 

U.S. Department of Defense 8 13 6 30 19 5 9 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 8 13 6 30 19 5 9 

U.S. Department of Energy 284 349 199 351 402 205 261 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 158 129 58 181 191 87 132 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 76 41 61 115 133 84 46 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 3 2 3 2 6 - -

Energy Policy and Systems Analysis—81.250 0 0 - - (0) (0) -

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 22 16 21 6 10 22 6 

Minority Economic Impact—81.137 - - - - - - -

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 (0) - - - - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 24 161 56 47 62 12 77 

University Coal Research—81.057 (0) - - - 1 (0) -

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 1 0 0 0 - 0 0 

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 1 0 0 0 - 0 0 

Geothermal 13 6 25 165 49 47 45 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 

Engineering Grants—47.041 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 - - 1 - - 0 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 12 5 24 165 48 46 43 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 - - 1 11 (1) - 8 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - 0 - - - 16 (15)

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 1 - 2 - - - 3 

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 11 5 22 154 49 29 47 

Hydropower 16 71 11 21 38 42 31 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 43

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Na�onal Science Founda�on 4 4 2 1 1 1 3 

Engineering Grants—47.041 1 3 1 0 1 1 3 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

U.S. Department of Defense 0 0 0 - - - -

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 0 0 0 - - - -

U.S. Department of Energy 13 67 8 20 37 40 28 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 3 0 - - - 34 -

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - - - 1 - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 10 66 8 19 37 7 28 

Natural gas and petroleum liquids 145 58 132 71 107 105 121 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 13 8 11 6 9 5 14 

Engineering Grants—47.041 12 8 9 6 7 4 12 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 1 0 3 0 1 1 2 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

U.S. Department of Defense 3 3 2 1 2 0 1 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 3 3 2 1 2 0 1 

U.S. Department of Energy 126 45 115 62 86 98 99 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 28 4 6 11 13 21 29 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 2 1 5 10 6 11 13 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 - - 2 (2) - - -

Energy Policy and Systems Analysis—81.250 - - - - - - -

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 97 40 100 44 62 62 57 

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 (0) 1 (0) - - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 - 0 3 (1) 6 4 -

University Coal Research—81.057 - - (0) (0) - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 1 1 - - - 7 -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 44

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Marine Gas Hydrate Research Ac�vi�es—15.428 (0) - - - - - -

Safety and Environmental Enforcement Research and Data Collec�on for Offshore 

Energy and Mineral Ac�vi�es—15.441 1 1 - - - 7 -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on 2 0 2 1 10 (7) 7 

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transac�on 

Agreements—20.723 2 0 2 1 10 (7) 7 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency - - 1 - - - -

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 - - 1 - - - -

Uncategorized 3,617 3,713 3,736 3,582 3,944 4,138 3,313 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 2,619 2,554 2,751 2,670 2,795 2,819 2,384 

Engineering Grants—47.041 953 958 1,020 955 1,041 1,056 791 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 1,666 1,596 1,732 1,715 1,754 1,763 1,592 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 205 146 216 196 226 253 40 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 205 146 216 196 226 253 40 

Biomass Research and Development Ini�a�ve Compe��ve Grants Program 

(BRDI)—10.312 - - 1 - - - -

U.S. Department of Defense 559 498 483 439 488 560 435 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 559 498 483 439 488 560 435 

U.S. Department of Energy 183 472 226 224 381 453 386 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 - 44 6 6 11 43 16 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - - 1 - 1 - -

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 4 27 31 10 23 2 5 

Energy Policy and Systems Analysis—81.250 4 2 0 0 1 2 0 

Environmental Monitoring/Cleanup, Cultural and Resource Management, 

Emergency Response Research, Outreach, Technical Analysis—81.214 29 29 34 29 35 27 32 

Environmental Remedia�on and Waste Processing and Disposal—81.104 16 266 18 15 20 24 17 

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 9 4 34 30 39 37 11 

Minority Economic Impact—81.137 1 2 0 2 4 1 31 

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 14 15 25 53 75 215 200 

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 105 84 77 78 169 99 73 

University Coal Research—81.057 - (0) (0) (0) 4 4 -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 45

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

U.S. Department of the Interior - 0 (0) - (0) - 0 

Marine Gas Hydrate Research Ac�vi�es—15.428 - 0 (0) - (0) - -

Offshore Research Technology Center (OTRC) Texas Engineering Experiment Sta�on 

(TEES)—15.425 - - - - - - 0 

Safety and Environmental Enforcement Research and Data Collec�on for Offshore 

Energy and Mineral Ac�vi�es—15.441 - - - - - - -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on 0 (0) 10 10 11 4 0 

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transac�on 

Agreements—20.723 0 (0) 10 10 11 4 0 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 50 43 50 44 43 49 68 

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 50 43 50 44 43 49 68 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 0 0 0 (0) (0) (0) 0 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Research Financial Assistance 

Program—77.009 0 0 0 (0) (0) (0) 0 

Nuclear 183 203 219 173 224 423 259 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 18 20 20 23 23 30 40 

Engineering Grants—47.041 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 17 18 18 22 22 28 39 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 0 0 0 - 0 (0) (0)

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 0 0 0 - 0 (0) (0)

Biomass Research and Development Ini�a�ve Compe��ve Grants Program 

(BRDI)—10.312 (0) - - - - - -

U.S. Department of Defense 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 0 1 2 1 0 1 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 163 181 195 149 201 392 218 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 1 2 10 20 15 0 33 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - - - - 1 2 1 

Energy Policy and Systems Analysis—81.250 - 0 - - - - -

Environmental Monitoring/Cleanup, Cultural and Resource Management, 

Emergency Response Research, Outreach, Technical Analysis—81.214 - - - 1 3 9 4 

Environmental Remedia�on and Waste Processing and Disposal—81.104 13 8 9 1 1 2 1 

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 - - (0) - - - 3 
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 46

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 149 171 168 124 178 377 177 

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 - - 8 3 3 3 -

U.S. Department of Transporta�on - - 1 - - - -

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transac�on 

Agreements—20.723 - - 1 - - - -

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Research Financial Assistance 

Program—77.009 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 

Other renewables 23 33 9 23 50 30 35 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 13 8 1 3 5 3 8 

Engineering Grants—47.041 13 7 1 3 3 2 6 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 0 1 0 - 1 1 2 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 0 - 0 (1) 0 0 0 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 0 - 0 - 0 0 0 

Biomass Research and Development Ini�a�ve Compe��ve Grants Program 

(BRDI)—10.312 - - (0) (1) - - -

U.S. Department of Defense 0 (0) 0 0 0 - -

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 0 (0) 0 0 0 - -

U.S. Department of Energy 10 25 7 21 45 27 27 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 3 15 0 15 39 4 23 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 (0) 5 3 2 1 4 1 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 3 - - - - - (0)

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 (0) - - - - - 2 

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 - - - - - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 4 5 3 4 6 20 1 

Smart grid and transmission 89 21 28 75 49 71 53 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 19 10 16 10 13 38 19 

Engineering Grants—47.041 18 8 13 8 10 37 8 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 1 2 3 2 3 1 10 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 1 1 1 1 1 3 -

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 1 1 1 1 1 3 -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 47

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

U.S. Department of Defense 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 69 10 11 64 32 29 35 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 29 3 8 53 13 13 15 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - - - - 2 1 18 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 39 4 3 5 2 (0) (0)

Environmental Remedia�on and Waste Processing and Disposal—81.104 - - - - - 1 1 

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 - - 0 - 0 0 0 

Minority Economic Impact—81.137 - - - - - - -

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstra�on—81.121 - - - - - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 1 3 (0) 6 15 14 0 

University Coal Research—81.057 - - - - - - -

Solar 183 116 108 133 130 134 94 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 80 79 75 66 49 61 51 

Engineering Grants—47.041 21 22 13 19 19 11 9 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 59 57 62 47 31 50 42 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 0 0 0 0 0 - -

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 0 0 0 0 0 - -

U.S. Department of Defense 1 1 3 0 0 - -

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 1 1 3 0 0 - -

U.S. Department of Energy 102 36 29 67 80 72 44 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 22 3 1 6 2 1 2 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 0 2 1 - 0 0 3 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 - - - - - - -

Fossil Energy Research and Development—81.089 1 1 0 - - (0) -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 79 30 27 61 77 71 39 

U.S. Environmental Protec�on Agency 0 0 - - - - -

Surveys, Studies, Research, Inves�ga�ons, Demonstra�ons, and Special Purpose 

Ac�vi�es Rela�ng to the Clean Air Act—66.034 0 0 - - - - -
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 48

Beneficiary, department and program—CFDA number FY 2016 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022

Wind 23 107 33 18 47 62 22 

Na�onal Science Founda�on 8 10 7 5 8 7 14 

Engineering Grants—47.041 8 10 7 5 7 7 13 

Mathema�cal and Physical Sciences—47.049 - - - 0 1 0 0 

U.S. Department of Agriculture - 0 0 1 0 0 0 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research—10.001 - 0 0 1 0 0 0 

U.S. Department of Defense 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Basic Scien�fic Research—12.431 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 15 97 25 12 39 54 8 

Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy—81.135 8 1 - 6 15 1 1 

Conserva�on Research and Development—81.086 - - - - - 7 -

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis—

81.122 - - 4 - - - -

Renewable Energy Research and Development—81.087 8 96 21 7 24 47 7 

Total 5,257 5,119 5,063 5,185 5,805 6,038 4,774 

Data source: Federal R&D expenditure subsidies: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov—the official open data source of federal spending informa�on, 

htps://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed February 8, 2023.

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. 0 es�mate rounds to zero; - es�mate is zero. USASpending.gov was first launched in December 2007 to fulfill provisions 

of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006. USASpending.gov receives and displays data pertaining to obliga�ons (amounts awarded for federally 

sponsored projects during a given budget period). Appropria�ons made in each FY federal agency budget may be obligated and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 49

Appendix B. Analytic Approach

This appendix presents a brief overview of the es�ma�on terminology and procedures used in this 

report.

Goals, scope, sources, and methodology

This report compiles subsidies using federal government outlays for the U.S. Department of the Treasury

(Treasury), reported budget obliga�ons for all other federal departments, and an es�mated outlayequivalent value for tax expenditure es�mates and the subsidy cost value of DOE loan guarantees (Table 

5). All of the within-scope federal ac�vi�es are assigned to one or more of 14 energy types within the 

U.S. energy system (for example, biomass, coal, end use) in this report.

15

Goals

The primary goal of this report is to provide data that helps people understand the different types of 

federal expenditures that support specific elements of the U.S. energy system (‘energy types’). 

Consistent with this goal, our final report tables are as user-friendly as possible, despite the complexity 

of the data and the necessary analy�c procedures. As noted in the Overview sec�on, we have made only 

limited observa�ons of the scale, trends, and rela�onships within the data and the report tables.

Scope

This report is limited to a defined set of federal ac�vi�es. To meet the criteria for this report, these 

ac�vi�es must:

• Be provided by the federal government

• Provide a financial benefit with an iden�fiable federal budget impact

• Be targeted at energy markets

Identifiable federal budget impact means an outlay or tax expenditure. This scope excludes regulatory or 

legal ac�ons that can provide a financial benefit without a budget impact, for example, liability limits or 

rule exemp�ons. Regula�on involves no outlay by the government or direct loss of income to the

Treasury, but it does involve costs to some producers or consumers and benefits to others. Although we 

don’t count them as subsidies in this report, energy regula�ons significantly affect U.S. energy markets. 

The scope of this report also excludes a range of more indirect or shared ac�vi�es that provide financial 

benefits to energy market par�cipants or beneficiaries. Providing security for general infrastructure or 

implemen�ng tax provisions that apply to wide sets of equipment (that is, applicable to both energyrelated and non-energy-related uses) are examples of federal ac�vi�es that are not within this report’s 

scope. This report also excludes federal ac�vi�es performed by federal staff or contractors, which can 

include R&D and direct energy purchases, and state and local energy-directed programs.

Previous EIA studies and updates

Since 1992, we have periodically updated this report in response to specific requests. The �ming of these 

requests determined what fiscal year data we included. Prior reports and suppor�ng materials are 

available on our website at htps://www.eia.gov/analysis/requests/subsidy/.

16

15 We use 14 energy types in this report: biofuels, biomass, coal, refined coal, conserva�on, end use, geothermal, hydropower, 

natural gas and petroleum liquids, nuclear, other renewables, smart grid and transmission, solar, and wind. Amazon 

Comprehend also classified an uncategorized type as something other than an energy type.

16 U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on, Analysis and Projec�ons: Subsidy, accessed May 15, 2023.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 50

Data sources

We relied on several official governmental data sources as the ini�al report inputs. We used dis�nct data 

sources for tax expenditures, direct expenditures, and R&D expenditures, as well as amounts for subsidy 

costs of energy-related loan guarantees (Table B1).

Table B1. Data sources used for energy-related subsidies and supports

Subsidies and supports Primary data sources

Direct and research and 

development expenditures

• USASpending.gov, a website hosted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury repor�ng 

on en��es or organiza�ons receiving federal funds

• SAM.gov, a website hosted by the General Services Administra�on containing the 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)

• U.S. Department of the Treasury, 1603 Program: Payments for Specified Energy 

Property in Lieu of Tax Credits; the Treasury has responsibili�es pursuant to the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Among those 

responsibili�es are several programs, including the 1603 Program: Payments for 

Specified Energy Property in Lieu of Tax Credits.

Tax expenditure es�mates • Budget of the United States Government, Analytical Perspectives, Fiscal Years 2018–

2024

• Congressional Joint Commitee on Taxa�on, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for 

2016–22, 2017–2021, 2018–2022, 2019–2023, 2020–2024, and 2022–2026 

DOE loan guarantees • U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office, which administers Sec�ons 

1703, 1705, 1706, and Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan 

programs

• USASpending.gov, a website that also reports on credit subsidy costs

Data source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on

Budget terminology

Appropria�ons, obliga�ons, and outlays are the primary phases of the U.S. government budget control 

system. Congress enacts appropria�ons that provide federal agencies and programs the budget authority 

to make financial commitments (that is, obliga�ons) to spend funds. Obliga�ons are legally binding 

agreements to purchase items or services, which is one of the budget phases captured in 

USASpending.gov. Obliga�ons could commit an agency to spend money immediately or in the future.

Outlays are actual payments made by the federal government for services performed, and they offset or 

liquidate outstanding obliga�ons.

We use the defini�ons of tax expenditures incorporated in federal budget documents and the associated 

tax expenditures es�mated by Treasury that are itemized in various sec�ons of the Office of 

Management and Budget’s Budget of the United States Government, Analytical Perspectives. To a lesser 

extent, this report includes data es�mates by the Joint Commitee on Taxa�on (JCT). Some tax 

expenditures that benefit the energy industry may also support non-energy related ac�vi�es, such as 

accelerated deprecia�on schedules. We only included tax provisions that are narrowly targeted to the 

energy sector and are quan�fied by the other federal sources discussed here.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 51

Custom classification with Amazon Comprehend17

Classifying documents and related informa�on such as federal budgetary transac�ons is typically manual 

work which is both �me-consuming and imperfect. Machine learning (ML), a variety of ar�ficial 

intelligence (AI), has provided new and useful capabili�es for this problem. Text classifica�on and 

informa�on extrac�on using ML tools has drama�cally reduced costs and �me and also minimized error 

rates. Our updated data acquisi�on and processing structure for this report is shown in Figure B1. 

Source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on

Note: R&D=Research and Development, DOE=U.S. Department of Energy.

For this report, we developed a new machine learning model that categorizes award obliga�ons 

reported through USASpending.gov.18 This model uses transac�on descrip�ons as input and assigns the 

corresponding beneficiaries or support categories. Model inputs include two types of awards:

• Procurement awards. According to the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) data dic�onary, 

the award descrip�on is a brief, summary-level, Plain Language descrip�on of the contract, 

award, or modifica�on.

• Financial assistance awards. The award descrip�on is a Plain Language descrip�on of the federal 

award purpose; ac�vi�es to be performed; deliverables and expected outcomes; intended 

beneficiaries; and subrecipient ac�vi�es, if known and specified at the �me of award.

17 Amazon Comprehend uses natural language processing (NLP) to extract insights about the content of documents. 18 USASpending.gov is a database website owned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that iden�fies recipients of federal 

funds. It was created as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006. 

Figure B1. Automated tagging and data procedures performed on USASpending.gov award assistance 

data

 

EIA Data 

Management 

Structures 

and AI 

Tagging 

Procedures

Estimated Tax 

Expenditures

Direct and R&D 

Expenditures

DOE Loan 

Guarantees
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 52

For this report, we employed Amazon Comprehend, using ML to find insights and rela�onships in federal 

awards text descrip�ons. For direct expenditures, including R&D, we incorporated extensive changes to 

automate data processing when assigning energy-specific categories or beneficiaries. For awards data, 

automated tagging, or classifica�on, ini�ally encompassed nearly 80 million discrete federal budgetary 

award transac�ons across the seven fiscal years that were downloaded from USASpending.gov. Of these, 

the four million FY 2016 transac�ons were given further tagging, which, in turn, enabled automated prebinning and aggrega�on of transac�ons that met specific criteria to create Amazon Comprehend training 

data. The new ML model was trained with 15,000 examples (that is, around 1,000 examples per energy 

type) of awards from FY 2016, the last fiscal year that we had previously analyzed. This approach allowed 

us to determine the accuracy of the AI processing in Amazon Comprehend and con�nue training rounds 

with revised input data. Once trained, we ran the model on 118,000 energy-related transac�ons (based 

on a modified set of codes from the Catalog of Federal Direct Assistance from FY 2016) for FY 2016–22 

and categorized them into this report’s energy types. Our subject mater experts then reviewed the 

categoriza�ons.

Obliga�on data come from Treasury’s USASpending.gov, a comprehensive public database that 

summarizes all federal budget obliga�ons. In this report, similar to the FY 2016 report update, direct 

expenditures including R&D expenditures for federal agencies come from USASpending.gov, except for

noted Treasury programs offering grants in lieu of tax credits. In addi�on, DOE’s Loan Guarantee program

(that is, CFDA 81.126 - Federal Loan Guarantees for Innova�ve Energy Technologies) results in a loan 

subsidy cost included in USASpending.gov data.19

Data availability, accuracy, and variation

For measuring subsidies and support, we serve as a data aggregator from non-EIA federal data sources. 

Although those federal sources have the primary responsibility for data quality and control issues, we 

have made extensive inquiries and evalua�ons over the many years of this report series and con�nue to 

19 Loan Subsidy Cost has a direct budgetary impact and is factored into obliga�ons and outlays when it is posi�ve. Subsidy costs 

can be posi�ve (indica�ng that the government is likely to lose money on the loan) or nega�ve (indica�ng that the government 

is likely to make money on the loan). A posi�ve Loan Subsidy Cost is usually smaller than the corresponding Face Value, but in 

certain edge cases it can be over 100% of the face value if the en�re loan is writen off and the government paid fees to a bank 

to issue the loan (which are also included in the subsidy cost).

Figure B2. AI tagging procedures of federal direct and R&D expenditures

Source: U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on

Note: R&D=Research and Development.

AWS Cloud

The official open data 

source of federal 

spending information

Amazon Simple Storage 

Service (Amazon S3)

Federal spending text 

description data is stored in 

S3

Amazon Comprehend

Using Custom Classification 

API, train a model to classify 

descriptions based on 14 

energy types 

Amazon S3 output bucket

Store output of custom 

classified federal spending 

text descriptions with energy 

types

Extract text data using 

pandas , an open source

library providing easy -

to-use data structures 

and data analysis tools 

for the Python 

programming language
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 53

monitor data-related issues.

20 Tax expenditure es�mates data are, in most cases, specific and accurate

because tax provisions included in this report typically are targeted at specific energy-related ac�vi�es 

and are accounted for on a tax-year basis by Treasury. As a result, we could isolate several tax provisions 

and the corresponding energy system categories. We used es�ma�on procedures, however, for a subset 

of tax expenditure data. 

Each year Treasury es�mates tax expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year budget. These es�mates 

appear in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Budget of the United States Government, 

Analytical Perspectives. Tax expenditure figures are our es�mates for historical fiscal years.21 For 

example, we obtained tax expenditure data for FY 2022 from Analytical Perspectives for FY 2024. The 

methodology Treasury uses to es�mate tax expenditures is also subject to periodic modifica�on, and

they don’t always apply these changes to revisions of all historical tax expenditure data. At this �me, 

Treasury does not process or publish tax provision data that could be made available, such as the specific 

types of renewable energy reported when a credit is taken. For those few tax expenditures that we 

needed more detail on than available in OMB’s Analytical Perspectives, we relied on es�mates made by 

the Joint Commitee on Taxa�on (JCT).

This report presents energy tax expenditure es�mates for FY 2016 through FY 2022. Sizable changes in 

the dollar value of expenditures over �me o�en reflect changes in their use due to changes in the IRC, in 

key interpreta�ons of the IRC, or in other relevant market and policy drivers. Treasury does not revise 

any of the tax expenditure data presented in this report, however. 

The data on USASpending.gov are updated daily.22 Agencies are required to submit data files within 30 

days a�er awarding a subsidy or a�er modifying or conduc�ng a transac�on to an award, except for the 

U.S. Department of Defense, which delays its submission by 90 days to protect opera�ons. However, the 

�ming of when specific records are displayed on USASpending.gov depends on when the agency submits 

files to the data source sites and the processing �me required by that site. Pos�ngs could lag one to 

three days before the files are processed and uploaded to USASpending.gov.

If an agency reports a modifica�on or transac�on to an award from a previous fiscal year, the 

modifica�on or transac�on data are displayed in the fiscal year in which the modifica�on or transac�on 

occurred, not in the fiscal year that the original award occurred.

20 For an example of a recent external evalua�on see United States Government Accountability Office, DATA ACT: Quality of Data 

Submissions Has Improved but Further Action Is Needed to Disclose Known Data Limitations, GAO-20-75, November 2019, 

accessed April 29, 2023.

21 Tax expenditures describe revenue losses atributable to provisions of federal tax laws that allow a special exclusion, 

exemp�on, or deduc�on from gross income or that provide a special credit, a preferen�al rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability. 

These excep�ons are o�en viewed as alterna�ves to other policy instruments, such as spending or regulatory programs. For 

further details on tax expenditures, see the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy descrip�on on revenue losses 

atributable to provisions of federal tax laws, htps://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/tax-policy, accessed May 15, 2023.

22 See USASpending.gov for more details on agency submission sta�s�cs.
August 2023

U.S. Energy Informa�on Administra�on | Federal Energy Interven�ons and Subsidies 2023 54

Appendix C. Other Energy Subsidy Studies

Select Energy Subsidy Studies

Debate con�nues over the scope, role, and effec�veness of energy policy measures, and several studies 

addressing energy subsidies appear each year from various sources and use different defini�ons and 

methods; we do not endorse other par�es’ reports and includes these for reference. Some examples 

within the past five years include: 

1. Bipar�san Policy Center. “Infla�on Reduc�on Act Summary: Energy and Climate Provisions.” 

August 4, 2022.

2. Coleman, Clayton and Emma Dietz. “Fossil Fuel Subsidies: A Closer Look at Tax Breaks and 

Societal Costs.” Environmental and Energy Study Ins�tute, July 29, 2019.

3. Parry, Ian W.H., Simon Black, and Nate Vernon. “S�ll Not Ge�ng Energy Prices Right: A Global 

and Country Update of Fossil Fuel Subsidies.” Interna�onal Monetary Fund, September 24, 2021.

4. Penn Wharton Budget Model. “Update: Budgetary Cost of Climate and Energy Provisions in the 

Infla�on Reduc�on Act.” April 27, 2023.

5. Vahlsing, Candace. “OMB Analysis: The Social Benefits of the Infla�on Reduc�on Act’s 

Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduc�ons.” The White House, August 23, 2022.

Several of these reports and others in the literature seek to draw conclusions about policy issues related 

to energy subsidies.

This report focuses on developing data to provide informa�on that others can use to conduct their own 

analyses. Along with EIA, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Congressional Budget Office 

(CBO), and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) also issue occasional reports on the scope and 

nature of federal energy subsidies that mainly or exclusively focus on data. Recent CRS, CBO, and GAO 

reports include: 

1. Congressional Budget Office. “Es�mated Budgetary Effects of H.R. 5376, the Infla�on Reduc�on 

Act of 2022.” Updated August 9, 2022.

2. Sherlock, Molly F. “The Energy Credit or Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC).” In Focus 10479. 

Congressional Research Service, updated April 23, 2021.

3. Sherlock, Molly F. “The Value of Energy Tax Incen�ves for Different Types of Energy Resources: In 

Brief.” Congressional Research Service, updated May 18, 2017.

4. U.S. Government Accountability Office. “Refined Coal Produc�on Tax Credit: Coordinated Agency 

Review Could Help Ensure the Credit Achieves Its Intended Purpose.” GAO-22-104637. 

December 15, 2021.

Combined, the extensive literature on subsidies provides examples of how differing defini�ons and 

methods can yield a wide range of es�mates and interpreta�ons.