Direct Federal Financial 

Interventions and Subsidies in 

Energy in Fiscal Year 2016

April 2018

Independent Statistics & Analysis

www.eia.gov

U.S. Department of Energy

Washington, DC 20585
U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies i

This report was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and 

analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA’s data, analyses, and forecasts are 

independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the United States Government. The views 

in this report therefore should not be construed as representing those of the U.S. Department of Energy 

or other federal agencies.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies ii

Contacts

This report, Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Year 2016, was 

prepared under the general guidance of Ian Mead, Assistant Administrator for Energy Analysis; Jim

Turnure at 202/586-1762 (email, james.turnure@eia.gov), Director, Office of Energy Consumption and 

Efficiency Analysis; and Shirley Neff, Senior Advisor, EIA.

Technical information concerning the content of the report also may be obtained from Mark Schipper at 

202/586-1136 (email, mark.schipper@eia.gov) and technical information on the subsidies and support 

to the electric power industry may be obtained from Chris Namovicz at 202/586-7120 (email, 

chris.namovicz@eia.gov).

Contributing authors, by fuel or technology subsidy and support issue areas, are as follows

• Richard Bowers and Fred Mayes–renewables (electricity) subsidies and support

• Steven Hanson–renewables (non-electricity) subsidies and support

• Fred Mayes and Mark Schipper–electricity transmission subsidies and support

• Bonnie West–coal and coal-related subsidies and support

• Chris Namovicz–loans and loan guarantees

• Aloulou Faouzi–natural gas and petroleum subsidies and support

• Mark Schipper–energy efficiency and conservation subsidies and support

• Michael Scott–nuclear subsidies and support

Other EIA contributors to the report include: Stefanie Palumbo, Michelle Bowman, and Manussawee 

Sukunta.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies iii

Preface

This report—an update based on Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 data—continues a series of U.S. Energy 

Information Administration (EIA) reports on federal direct financial interventions and subsidies into 

energy markets. Using a set of data sources and analytic procedures, EIA assigns within-scope U.S. tax 

and direct expenditures to a set of discrete energy system categories.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies iv

Contents

Contacts........................................................................................................................................................ ii

Preface ......................................................................................................................................................... iii

Tables............................................................................................................................................................ v

Figures......................................................................................................................................................... vii

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

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

Subsidy types.....................................................................................................................................1

Key findings..............................................................................................................................................3

Textbox: Renewable-related subsidy trends...........................................................................................6

Limitations of this Report............................................................................................................................13

Analytic Approach.......................................................................................................................................14

Data availability, accuracy, and variation........................................................................................16

Other energy subsidy studies..........................................................................................................17

Tax Expenditures.........................................................................................................................................19

Examples of energy-specific tax expenditures ......................................................................................21

Direct Expenditures, Including R&D............................................................................................................30

Textbox: Federal direct purchasing of designated energy products.....................................................31

Examples of energy-specific direct expenditure and R&D programs....................................................35

Textbox: Research and development for general application...............................................................49
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies v

Tables

Table 1. Total energy subsidies and support and selected energy indicators, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 

2016 ..............................................................................................................................................................2

Table 2. Measures of electricity net generation and growth (FY 2000 versus FY 2016) ..............................5

Table 3. Quantified energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ..........9

Table 4. Quantified renewable-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2010, FY 2013, 

and FY 2016.................................................................................................................................................11

Table 5. Estimates of energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016...........................19

Table 6. Estimates of coal-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ......22

Table 7. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

....................................................................................................................................................................24

Table 8. Estimates of natural gas- and petroleum-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 

2013, and FY 2016.......................................................................................................................................25

Table 9. Estimates of nuclear-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016.26

Table 10. Estimates of conservation, efficiency, and end-use energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, 

FY 2013, and FY 2016..................................................................................................................................27

Table 11. Estimates of electricity transmission-related energy-specific tax expenditure, FY 2010, FY 2013, 

and FY 2016.................................................................................................................................................28

Table 12. Estimates of direct expenditures in energy, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 .............................32

Table 13. Estimates of research and development expenditures in energy, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

....................................................................................................................................................................34

Table 14. Estimates of coal-related energy-specific direct expenditures by department and program, FY 

2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016........................................................................................................................36

Table 15. Estimates of coal-related energy-specific research and development expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ........................................................................36

Table 16. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific direct expenditures by department and 

program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016....................................................................................................37

Table 17. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific research and development expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ........................................................................39

Table 18. Estimates of natural gas- and petroleum-related energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ........................................................................42

Table 19. Estimates of natural gas- and petroleum-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 .............................................43

Table 20. Estimates of nuclear transformation-related energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ........................................................................44

Table 21. Estimates of nuclear transformation-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 .............................................44

Table 22. Estimates of conservation, efficiency, and end-use energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ........................................................................46

Table 23. Estimates of conservation, efficiency, and end-use energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 .............................................47
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies vi

Table 24. Estimates of electricity transmission-related energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ........................................................................48

Table 25. Estimates of electricity transmission-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 .............................................48
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies vii

Figures

Figure 1. U.S. Department of Energy budget authority and outlays (FY 1980-FY 2016) ..............................4

Figure 2. Renewable-related energy subsidies.............................................................................................6

Figure 3. Renewable-related estimated tax expenditures............................................................................7

Figure 4. Renewable-related direct expenditures........................................................................................7

Figure 5. Renewable-related research and development expenditures......................................................8

Figure 6. Data sources used for energy-related subsidies..........................................................................14

Figure 7. Relationship of data sources to EIA data processing...................................................................15

Figure 8. Direct expenditures by select programs, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 ...................................30
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 1

Overview and Key Findings

Overview

This report—an update based on Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 data and earlier EIA reports on direct federal

financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets—continues a series of U.S. Energy Information 

Administration (EIA) reports1 that began in response to congressional requests. More recently, the 

Secretary of Energy requested updated information as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 

Grid Resiliency Study.

2

The scope of this EIA report is limited to direct federal financial interventions and subsidies, i.e.,

subsidies provided by the federal government, subsidies that provide a financial benefit with an 

identifiable federal budget impact, and subsidies that are specifically targeted at energy technologies 

and markets. State and local programs—although significant in a number of cases—have been excluded

from EIA’s reporting. As a result, this report does not encompass all subsidies that affect energy markets

and should therefore be viewed in context and in conjunction with related information from other 

sources (see discussion of Other energy subsidy studies in the Analytic Approach section).

Consistent with EIA’s independent role and mission, this report focuses on providing information to 

inform discussion rather than drawing conclusions or discussing policy issues related to energy 

subsidies. By using a comprehensive data acquisition and analysis process, EIA estimates how federal

financial actions are distributed among a defined set of categories comprising the U.S. energy system.

3

EIA has made only limited observations of the scale, trends, and relationships within the data and the 

report tables.

Table 1 summarizes total within-scope energy subsidies and selected U.S. energy system indicators.

Subsidy types

Federal financial interventions and subsidies included in this report fall into four categories:

• Tax expenditure: the amount of tax benefits or preferences received by taxpayers and forgone 

by the federal government

• Direct expenditures to recipients (i.e., both producers and consumers): the amount of grants, 

loans, or other financial assistance awards made directly to recipients

• Research and development (R&D) support: the amount of grants, loans, or other financial 

assistance awards made for R&D

 1 The first EIA study was undertaken at the request of Congress in Fiscal Year (FY) 1992, pursuant to language appearing in the

House Appropriations Committee’s Report on the U.S. Energy Information Administration FY 1992 appropriations.

2 U.S. Department of Energy, Staff Report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and Reliability, Washington, DC, August 2017.

3 EIA has requested further detailed data from the Internal Revenue Service as it pertains to the distribution of energy-related 

tax benefits.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 2

• DOE loan guarantees: financial support authorized to be provided by DOE for innovative clean 

energy technologies that are typically unable to obtain conventional private financing because 

of their high technology risks.

4

Table 1. Total energy subsidies and support and selected energy indicators, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 

2016

trillion British thermal units or as specified

Indicators FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Total Energy Subsidies and Support (million 2016 dollars) 37,992 29,335 14,983

U.S. Energy Consumption 96,850 98,655 96,788

U.S. Energy Production 73,695 81,151 84,833

U.S. Natural Gas (dry and liquids) 24,105 28,220 32,652

U.S. Crude Oil 11,512 15,370 18,797

U.S. Coal 21,657 20,223 14,807

U.S. Nuclear 8,318 8,099 8,352

U.S. Biomass 4,358 4,680 4,963

U.S. Hydroelectric 2,588 2,582 2,482

U.S. Wind 863 1,557 2,038

U.S. Solar 88 205 533

U.S. Geothermal 207 215 209

Note: Totals may not equal the sum of components due to independent rounding.

Sources: Consumption: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, February 2018, Table 1.3. Production: EIA, Monthly Energy Review, 

February 2018, Table 1.2. Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of 

the U.S. Government, FY 2012, 2015, and 2018. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal

Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, and Joint Committee on 

Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 

1. Federal direct expenditure and R&D expenditure subsidies: DOE: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial 

Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; FY 2010 and FY 2013: U.S. General Services Administration, 

USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips, https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed October 22, 2014; FY 

2016: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov, https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed November 16, 2017. 

Loan guarantee programs credit subsidy: Computed from data from U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Program Office, 

https://www.energy.gov/lpo/portfolio/portfolio-projects, accessed January 20, 2015 and EIA, Direct Federal Financial 

Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Year 2010, July 2011, Table 29.

 4 Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorizes the U.S. Department of Energy to support innovative 

clean energy technologies that are typically unable to obtain conventional private financing due to high technology risks. In

addition, the technologies must avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. The 

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program was established in Section 136 of the Energy 

Independence and Security Act of 2007 to support the production of fuel-efficient, advanced technology vehicles and qualifying 

components in the United States. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 amended Loan Guarantee Program’s 

authorizing legislation, creating Section 1705.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 3

Key findings

Table 3 and Table 4 summarize the allocation of federal direct financial interventions in U.S. energy 

markets by subsidy type. Several key findings stand out.

The scope and complexity of federal financial and award activities are very large and spread over a 

wide range of sources, recipients, and time frames. Despite a recent trend of decreasing federal 

activity, hundreds of distinct energy-related federal financial programs continue to pursue a wide range 

of goals using various methods. The time frames of these programs and activities can be very different, 

as in the case of tax provisions that allow taxpayers to decide which year to take a credit or to pay a 

deferred charge. Isolating the impacts of these programs, as well as characterizing the net impact of the 

whole set of actions on the U.S. energy system, is challenging. 

Most current federal subsidies support developing renewable energy supplies (primarily biofuels, 

wind, and solar) and reducing energy consumption through energy efficiency. In FY 2016, nearly half 

(45%) of federal energy subsidies were associated with renewable energy, and 42% were associated

with energy end uses. Table 4 shows a more detailed distribution of renewable energy-related federal 

support. The amount and distribution of renewable energy subsidies over time (see text box on 

renewable-related subsidy trends) have depended on congressional authorizations and the market 

competitiveness of renewable electricity technologies. Among renewable technologies, biofuels 

received the only incremental increase in FY 2016 subsidy support, driven by greater domestic biomassbased diesel production and foreign imports of these products that resulted in an approximately $1 

billion increase in tax credits from FY 2013 levels.

Energy end-use and conservation subsidies decreased from $7.7 billion in FY 2013 to $7.2 billion in FY 

2016 (Table 3). The largest program in this combined category–the Low Income Home Energy Assistance 

Program (LIHEAP) operated through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)–

maintained its funding levels at $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion in FY 2013 and FY 2016, respectively. The 

decrease in total subsidies and support for energy-related conservation and end-use programs between 

FY 2013 and FY 2016 was led by declines in direct expenditures, which decreased from $4.2 billion to 

$3.6 billion, respectively. Of the $438 million decline in total federal support of conservation and enduse programs between FY 2013 and FY 2016, direct expenditures decreased $597 million. The tax credit 

for energy efficiency improvements to existing homes (26 U.S.C. 25C) accounted for $106 million of the 

decrease, and conversely, many tax expenditures (e.g., the credit for residential energy efficient 

property, 26 U.S.C. 25D) increased during the same period. 

Since FY 2010, the scale of federal support has decreased as temporary measures expired, even as the 

U.S. energy system continues to grow. Federal activities within the scope of this study have been 

decreasing, in large part because of the expiration of provisions and programs authorized by the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA or the Recovery Act) of 2009 (Figure 1). The Recovery 

Act provided energy funding that greatly increased DOE’s previous energy program budgets but also 

required the rapid obligation of funds that would cover outlays over several years. The U.S. energy 

system, as a whole, continues to grow, with production activities growing more rapidly than energy 

consumption. As a result, the relative scale of federal activity within the overall context of the energy 

system has continued to decline since FY 2010. 
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 4

Figure 1. U.S. Department of Energy budget authority and outlays (FY 1980-FY 2016)

billion nominal dollars

Source: Office of Management and Budget, Historical Tables, Tables 4.1 and 5.2, accessed February 23, 2018.

In FY 2016, tax code provisions were the largest source of direct federal financial interventions and 

subsidies in energy markets, following a period of higher federal direct expenditures resulting from 

ARRA programs and funding. The federal tax code—with 36 wide-ranging, energy-specific tax provisions 

(Table 5)—provided greater financial support to energy in FY 2016 than direct expenditures and R&D 

support. This reversal from FY 2013 is best captured by the temporary ARRA Section 1603-grant 

program to allow an investment tax credit (ITC)

5 in lieu of the renewable energy production tax credit 

(PTC).

6 In FY 2013, this ITC grant program pushed the direct expenditure category above estimated tax 

expenditures in absolute dollar terms.

7

 In FY 2016, the ITC grant program had largely ended, and tax 

expenditures (in total) regained their dominance, with tax provisions representing 59% of the total 

(Table 3). 

No new DOE loan guarantees were issued in either FY 2013 or FY 2016. The subsidy cost of the loans 

issued in FY 2010 totaled $1.7 billion. Because this cost is assessed at the time the loan is issued, there 

was no related subsidy cost for FY 2013 or FY 2016. The loan guarantees associated with the Vogtle 

nuclear project8 are included with FY 2010 subsidy costs. However, there were still outstanding debts in 

FY 2016 for loans issued in prior years. Although lending authority for the Section 1705 loan program 

had expired by 2013, budget authority remains for future lending on the Section 1703 loan program.

 5 This report will reference only renewable electricity investment (i.e., energy investment credit) as the ITC.

6 This report will reference only renewable electricity production (i.e., energy production credit) as the PTC.

7 This categorical shift can be viewed as an accounting issue, with the subsidy still ultimately stemming from the tax code.

8 DOE, Loan Guarantee Office, website: https://energy.gov/lpo/vogtle, accessed February 20, 2018. On September 29, 2017, the 

U.S. Department of Energy offered conditional commitments for construction to the Vogtle project, website: 

https://energy.gov/lpo/articles/vogtle-conditional-commitments-support-energy-infrastructure, accessed February 27, 2018.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2016

 budget authority

 budget outlays
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 5

Electricity projects accounted for 25% of FY 2016 total R&D expenditures. This share is similar to the 

share in FY 2010 and FY 2013. Except for biofuels, virtually all non-fossil energy subsidies (renewable 

fuel and nuclear) were for electricity projects. In addition, most coal subsidies were electricity-related, 

even though they were often not denoted as such, because about 85% of coal consumption is used to 

generate electricity. The share of natural gas subsidies for electricity generation is more difficult to 

determine.

Table 2. Measures of electricity net generation and growth (FY 2000 versus FY 2016)

Beneficiary

2000 Net 

Generation 

(billion 

kilowatthours)

2016 Net 

Generation 

(billion 

kilowatthours)

Share of 

2000 

Generation 

(percent)

Share of 

2016 

Generation 

(percent)

Annual 

Growth 

from 2000 

to 2016 

(percent)

Coal 1,931 1,208 51.4 29.6 (2.9)

Natural Gas and Petroleum Liquids 684 1,431 18.2 35.1 4.7

Nuclear 765 799 20.4 19.6 0.3

Other 13 21 0.3 0.5 3.1

Renewables 365 618 9.7 15.2 3.3

Biomass 59 63 1.6 1.5 0.4

Geothermal 15 16 0.4 0.4 0.5

Hydroelectric 286 268 7.6 6.6 (0.4)

Solar 1 51 0.0 1.2 31.8

Wind 5 220 0.1 5.4 26.3

Total 3,759 4,077 100.0 100.0 0.5

Notes: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. A table value in brackets () denotes a 

negative value. Zero denotes rounding to zero value. Other includes net generation from hydroelectric pumped storage, 

other gases, batteries, chemicals, hydrogen, pitch, purchased steam, sulfur, and miscellaneous technologies. Biomass

includes net generation from wood and waste. Solar includes distributed (small-scale) generation and utility-scale 

generation.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, February 2018, Table 10.6 (solar) and Table 7.2a 

(all other).
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 6

Textbox: Renewable-related subsidy trends

Renewable energy (including biofuels) comprised between 42% and 52% of total energy subsidies for 

each of the three fiscal years analyzed (Table 5). Total renewable-related subsidies were about $15.5

billion for both FY 2010 and FY 2013, then dropped to $6.7 billion in FY 2016 (Figure 2). Tax and direct 

expenditures combined accounted for about 93% of total renewable-related subsidies for each of the 

years analyzed. In FY 2016, tax expenditures alone accounted for 80% of total renewable energy 

subsidies. Direct expenditures decreased 90% from FY 2013 to FY 2016, largely as a result of the 

expiration of the Section 1603 grant program. 

Figure 2. Renewable-related energy subsidies

million 2016 dollars

Source: Table 4.

Renewable tax expenditures declined $367 million between FY 2013 and FY 2016, due almost entirely 

to lower outlays for the PTC for electricity plants (Figure 3). In previous years, the Section 1603 grant 

program was designed to achieve the same goals as the PTC (during years when investors had little tax 

liability) and represented a large portion of renewable energy subsidies. Changes in biofuel tax 

expenditures from FY 2010 to FY 2016 reflect the 2011 expiration of the alcohol fuel excise tax 

exemption followed by increasing expenditures associated with the biodiesel mixture credit (referred 

to as the biodiesel production tax credit in Table 5).

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

DOE Loan Guarantee Program

Research and Development

Direct Expenditures

Tax Expenditures
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 7

Figure 3. Renewable-related estimated tax expenditures

million 2016 dollars

Source: Table 4.

Nearly all direct expenditures since FY 2010 for renewable-related energy have supported renewable 

electricity plant construction. Renewable-related direct expenditures were $5.7 billion and $8.7 

billion in FY 2010 and FY 2013, respectively, which consisted mostly of payments in lieu of tax credits 

to construct wind plants (Figure 4). Solar and wind projects, when combined, received at least 82% of 

direct expenditures in each of the years analyzed.

Figure 4. Renewable-related direct expenditures

million 2016 dollars

Source: Table 4.

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

other renewables

wind

solar

biofuels

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

other renewables

wind

solar

biofuels
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 8

Most direct expenditures between FY 2010 and FY 2016 were Section 1603 grants designed as 

alternatives to previous tax expenditure subsidies. The number of tax equity investors willing to 

make new investments after the 2008–09 recession decreased substantially, as few investors had tax 

liabilities to make the tax credits meaningful. To be eligible for the Section 1603 grant program, a 

project had to meet statutory requirements for starting construction and entering service. This 

provision resulted in substantial grant payouts continuing into FY 2010 and FY 2013. By FY 2016, 

however, grants had been paid to most eligible plants. The wide swings in investor demand for tax 

credits, coupled with direct expenditure program expiration dates, account for the large changes 

over the years analyzed.

Renewable energy research and development spending was about $850 million for FY 2010 and FY 

2013, then dropped to $456 million for FY 2016 (Figure 5). Of the total renewable R&D subsides, 

electricity projects accounted for more than 80% of each year’s subsidies, despite the large FY 2016 

decrease in renewable-related R&D spending.

Figure 5. Renewable-related research and development expenditures

million 2016 dollars

Source: Table 4.

Solar received the largest share of estimated renewable energy R&D funds for each of the years 

analyzed, ranging from 37% in FY 2010 to 58% in FY 2013. R&D spending dropped in FY 2016 for most 

renewable energy categories, with the exception of biofuels, which grew from $62 million in FY 2013 

to $90 million in FY 2016.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1,000

FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

wind

biofuels

other renewables

solar
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 9

Table 3. Quantified energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars, unless otherwise specified

Year and Support Type Coal

Refined 

Coal

Natural 

Gas and 

Petroleum 

Liquids Nuclear Renewables

Electricity -

Smart Grid 

and 

Transmission Conservation End Use Total

Share of 

Total 

Subsidies 

and 

Support

2010

Direct Expenditures 48 - 83 69 5,732 4 3,226 6,264 15,427 41%

Tax Expenditures 506 187 2,883 999 8,913 63 3,511 1,055 18,119 48%

Research and Development 320 - 10 177 844 566 704 97 2,718 7%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - - - 292 296 22 4 1,113 1,728 5%

Total 875 187 2,976 1,537 15,785 655 7,446 8,530 37,992 100%

Share of Total 2% 0% 8% 4% 42% 2% 20% 22% 100%

2013

Direct Expenditures 77 - 388 38 8,716 9 872 3,349 13,450 46%

Tax Expenditures 801 10 2,345 1,155 5,683 219 657 2,081 12,951 44%

Research and Development 216 - 64 197 864 887 517 189 2,934 10%

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

Total 1,094 10 2,796 1,390 15,264 1,115 2,046 5,619 29,335 100%

Share of Total 4% 0% 10% 5% 52% 4% 7% 19% 100%

2016

Direct Expenditures 19 - 111 40 909 11 234 3,391 4,716 31%

Tax Expenditures 906 - (940) 160 5,316 160 560 2,653 8,816 59%

Research and Development 337 - 56 164 456 49 189 200 1,451 10%

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

Total 1,262 - (773) 365 6,682 220 983 6,244 14,983 100%

Share of Total 8% - (5%) 2% 45% 1% 7% 42% 100%

Notes: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol denotes a zero value. Energy-specific tax 

expenditures associated with renewables were allocated based on preliminary generation data. No hydropower generation was assumed to be eligible for production tax 

credits (PTC). It was assumed all investment tax credits were claimed by solar power plants. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and open-loop biomass generation estimates used 

to calculate PTCs were halved to represent the value of their PTC credit, relative to geothermal and wind. Generation estimates for 2016 were used to calculate credits 

associated with the PTC for wind plants that came online in 2006 and later.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 10

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint 

Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), Table 1. Federal direct expenditure and R&D expenditure subsidies: DOE: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of 

the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; FYs 2010 and 2013: U.S. General Services Administration, USASpending.gov - Government 

spending at your fingertips, http://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed October 22, 2014; FY 2016: U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov, 

http://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed November 16, 2017. Loan guarantee programs credit subsidy: Computed from data from U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Program 

Office, https://www.energy.gov/lpo/portfolio/portfolio-projects, accessed January 20, 2015 and EIA, Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Fiscal Year 2010, 

Table 29.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 11

Table 4. Quantified renewable-related energy-specific subsidies and support by type, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars, unless otherwise specified

Renewable Electric

Year and Support Type Biomass Geothermal Hydroelectric Solar Wind Other

Subtotal 

Renewable 

Electric Biofuels

Total 

Renewables

Share of 

Total 

Renewables 

Subsidies

2010

Direct Expenditures 185 67 63 481 4,241 330 5,369 363 5,732 36%

Tax Expenditures 575 1 19 132 1,297 - 2,023 6,890 8,913 56%

Research and Development 277 1 13 313 74 79 757 86 844 5%

DOE Loan Guarantee Program - 13 - 190 94 - 297 - 296 2%

Total 1,037 83 95 1,116 5,705 410 8,446 7,340 15,785 100%

Share of Total Renewables 7% 1% 1% 7% 36% 3% 54% 46% 100%

2013

Direct Expenditures 346 325 205 3,094 4,454 218 8,642 75 8,716 57%

Tax Expenditures 48 32 18 2,164 1,682 - 3,944 1,740 5,683 37%

Research and Development 178 1 10 499 51 63 802 62 864 6%

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

Total 572 358 233 5,756 6,187 280 13,387 1,878 15,264 100%

Share of Total Renewables 4% 2% 2% 38% 41% 2% 88% 12% 100%

2016

Direct Expenditures 18 41 2 771 4 41 877 33 909 14%

Tax Expenditures 34 34 34 1,251 1,239 34 2,626 2,690 5,316 80%

Research and Development 27 10 2 209 24 95 367 90 456 7%

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

Total 79 86 38 2,231 1,266 169 3,869 2,813 6,682 100%

Share of Total Renewables 1% 1% 1% 33% 19% 3% 58% 42% 100%

Notes: Totals may not equal sum of components due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol denotes a zero value. Energy-specific tax 

expenditures associated with renewables were allocated based on preliminary generation data. No hydropower generation was assumed to be eligible for production tax 

credits (PTC). It was assumed all investment tax credits were claimed by solar power plants. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and open-loop biomass generation estimates used 
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 12

to calculate PTCs were halved to represent the value of their PTC credit, relative to geothermal and wind. Generation estimates for 2016 were used to calculate credits 

associated with the PTC captured wind plants that came online in 2006 and later.

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint 

Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), Table 1, and, computed from data from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Form EIA-923,"Annual 

Electric Utility Data". Federal direct expenditure and R&D expenditure subsidies: U.S. General Services Administration, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your 

fingertips, http://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed October 22, 2014 and U.S. Department of the Treasury, USASpending.gov, accessed November 16, 2017. Loan guarantee 

programs credit subsidy: Computed from data from U.S. Department of Energy, Loan Program Office, http://energy.gov/lpo/loan-programs-office, accessed January 20, 2015 

and EIA, Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Fiscal Years 2010, July 2011, Table 29.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 13

Limitations of this Report

Both the scope and the measurement of direct federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy 

markets are subject to limitations. This section addresses limitations in scope first, followed by 

limitations in measurement.

This report is limited in scope to a defined set of federal activities. These activities must meet a certain 

set of criteria for inclusion. They must 

• be provided by the federal government 

• provide a financial benefit with an identifiable federal budget impact 

• be specifically targeted at energy markets

This scope does not include a wide range of more indirect or shared governmental activities that can 

provide financial benefits to energy market participants. For example, providing security to general 

infrastructure or tax provisions that apply to wide sets of equipment (i.e., applicable to both energyrelated and non-energy-related) are types of federal activities that are not considered within this 

report’s scope. The definition used in this report also excludes activities performed by federal staff or 

contractors, which can include energy technology development and direct energy purchases. Examples 

of such activities are noted in later sections.

Measurement limitations are an important consideration in the assessment of federal financial 

activities. Even a seemingly simple notion like the mismatch of fiscal, calendar, and tax years can result 

in the need to calculate, estimate, or interpolate figures, or to make different interpretations of an 

annualized benefit. Some fiscal year appropriations are not committed in a given fiscal year, and some 

obligated funds may not reach the intended recipients in the same fiscal year, leading to variability in 

the apparent pattern of federal activities over time. EIA provides a series of single-year estimates, not a 

continuous annual series, making specific events and broader trends more difficult to distinguish (as it is 

possible for any particular year’s figures to be affected by unique factors). Finally, the estimation 

methods used by EIA are revised as new data and improved methods become available. While efforts 

are made to maintain consistency, improved estimation techniques take precedence over complete 

consistency with past editions of this report. EIA’s treatment of measurement issues is discussed further 

in the Analytic Approach section.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 14

Analytic Approach

This report compiles direct federal financial interventions and subsidies in energy markets using federal

government outlays (for DOE and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the Treasury)), reported budget 

obligations (for all other federal departments), the estimated outlay equivalent value of tax expenditure 

estimates, and the subsidy value of DOE loan guarantees (Figure 6). The report then sorts or assigns all 

of the within-scope federal activities into one or more energy-specific categories within the U.S. energy 

system (biomass, coal, end use, etc.).

Goals. The primary goal of this report is to help people understand energy market interventions, 

specifically federal tax and direct expenditures that support various parts of the U.S. energy system. 

Consistent with this goal, EIA’s final report tables are as simple as possible, despite the complexity of the 

data and the necessary analytic procedures. As noted in the Overview section, EIA has limited its

observations of the scale, trends, and relationships within the data and the report tables. 

Previous EIA studies. Since 1992, EIA has periodically updated this report. Prior reports and supporting 

materials are available from the EIA website.9

Data sources. EIA relies on several official governmental data sources as initial report inputs. Distinct 

data sources are used for tax expenditures, direct expenditures, and research and development 

expenditures, as well as amounts for DOE-related financial spending activities (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Data sources used for energy-related subsidies

 9 U.S. Energy Information Administration, Analysis and Projections: Subsidy, accessed February 16, 2018.

Primary data sources

Direct and R&D 

Expenditures based on

• USASpending.gov, a database 

of entities or organizations 

receiving federal funds

• DOE's Office of the Chief 

Financial Officer, base financial 

spending (i.e., outlays) data

• FY outlay details from DOE's 

program offices

• The Catalog of Federal 

Domestic Assistance (CFDA)

Tax Expenditure 

Estimates based on

• Analytical Perspectives, Budget 

of the U.S. Government, FYs 

2012, 2015, and 2018

• Congressional Joint Committee 

on Taxation, Estimates of Federal 

Tax Expenditures for 2010-2014, 

Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 

2012-2017, JCS-1-13; Estimates 

of Federal Tax Expenditures 

2016-2020, JCX-3-17

DOE Loan Guarantees 

based on

• DOE's Loan Programs Office , 

which administers Sections 1703, 

1705, and Advanced Technology 

Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) 

loan programs
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 15

Budget terminology. Appropriations, obligations, and outlays are the primary phases of the U.S.

government budget control system. Congress enacts appropriations that provide federal agencies and 

programs budget authority to make financial commitments (i.e., obligations) to spend funds. Obligations 

are legally binding agreements to purchase items or services, which is the budget phase captured in 

USASpending.gov. Outlays are actual payments made by the federal government for services performed, 

and they offset or liquidate outstanding obligations.

Figure 7. Relationship of data sources to EIA data processing

EIA uses the definitions of tax expenditures incorporated in federal budget documents and the 

associated tax expenditures estimated by the Treasury that are itemized in various sections of the

Budget of the U.S. Government, Analytical Perspectives. To a lesser extent, this report includes data 

estimates by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. Some tax expenditures that benefit the 

energy industry may also support non-energy related activities, such as the use of accelerated

depreciation schedules; these provisions are not included. EIA included only tax provisions that are 

narrowly targeted to the energy sector and were quantified by the other federal sources discussed here.

For direct expenditures, including research and development, EIA developed automated data processing 

when assigning energy-specific beneficiaries. For FY 2016 data, automated tagging or classification of 

nearly three million federal budgetary transactions were custom-designed, which in turn provided 

automated pre-binning and aggregation of more than 20,000 transactions meeting specified criteria for 

subsequent review by EIA’s subject-matter experts.10

Obligation data come from a comprehensive public database summarizing all federal budget obligations; 

this transaction data is made available through USASpending.gov. In this report, as in the FY 2013 report 

 10 USASpendng.gov is a database website owned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury that identifies entities or organizations 

receiving federal funds. It was created as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006.

EIA Data 

Management 

Structures and 

Automated 

Tagging 

Procedures

Direct and R&D 

Expenditure Data

DOE Loan Guarantee 

Data

Estimated Tax 

Expenditure Data
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 16

update, direct expenditures and R&D expenditures for federal agencies other than DOE, Treasury, and 

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that administers LIHEAP come from 

USASpending.gov. These data represented about 10% (or $624 million) of the $6.2 billion estimated as 

the combined direct and R&D expenditures in energy subsidies in FY 2016. This smaller subset of 

subsidies underwent more extensive automated data processing, whereas the remaining 90% (or $5.6

billion) of the total was estimated directly from program office data sources listed in Figure 6. 

Subsidy type exclusions. The definition of energy subsidy for this EIA report excludes federal staff and 

contractor actions. Some federal programs—such as National Laboratories—rely more extensively on 

contractor and staff work than others. As an example of a program with a large reliance on contracted

work, the bulk of federal support to the nuclear energy industry is through direct federal program 

funding and not through grants and assistance awards. Funding is primarily through two organizations:

the DOE and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The FY 2016 enacted appropriations for nuclear 

energy programs within DOE was $986 million.

11 Based on DOE’s FY 2016 budget within the President’s 

FY 2018 budget request, most nuclear energy-specific spending would support nuclear energy 

technology research and development programs, including fuel cycle, nuclear energy enabling 

technologies, small modular reactor licensing support, and management and operations at Idaho

National Laboratory. These activities are not considered energy subsidies for purposes of this report.

DOE’s direct expenditures and R&D expenditures are based on actual outlays, as provided by the Office 

of the Chief Financial Officer at DOE (Figure 6). Treasury’s direct expenditures are similarly based on 

outlays, as obtained from the Office of Management and Budget’s Analytical Perspectives report. As 

noted in earlier sections, appropriations, obligations, and outlays are the primary phases of the U.S.

government budget control system.

Under steady-state conditions, where outlays follow obligations in a regular pattern and there are no 

sharp discontinuities in the former or the latter, obligation and outlay measures closely correspond. 

However, enactment of the Recovery Act of 2009, which included energy funding that dwarfed DOE’s 

previous energy program budgets and required the rapid obligation of funds to cover outlays over 

several years, makes it more appropriate to report DOE programs based on outlays, using information 

obtained from DOE’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (Figure 1). This treatment is consistent with 

EIA’s FY 2013 subsidy report update.

Data availability, accuracy, and variation

For measuring subsidies and support, EIA serves as a data aggregator from non-EIA federal data sources

and depends on those federal sources for data quality and control issues. Tax expenditure estimates 

data are in most cases specific and accurate, as tax provisions included in this report typically are 

targeted to specific energy-related activities and are accounted for on a tax-year basis by Treasury. As a 

result, EIA staff could isolate numerous tax provisions and the corresponding energy system categories. 

Estimation procedures, however, were needed for a subset of tax expenditure data because particular 

tax provision data that could be made available, such as the specific types of renewable energy reported 

when a credit is taken, are not processed or published at this time. Improvements in the reporting on 

 11 U.S. Department of Energy, FY 2018 Department of Energy's Budget Request to Congress, Nuclear Energy: Volume 3, page 

531, accessed March 21, 2018.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 17

these provisions would be beneficial. Such data are provided by taxpayers to the IRS when credits are 

claimed. 

Each year Treasury estimates tax expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year budget. These appear in 

OMB’s Analytical Perspectives: Budget of the U.S. Government report. Tax expenditure figures are 

estimates for historical FYs and forecasts for non-historical FYs. Prior-year tax expenditure estimates

may be substantially revised. However, a particular year’s revision will not necessarily affect all past 

estimates. The methodology Treasury uses to estimate tax expenditures is also subject to periodic 

modification, and these changes are not always applied to revisions of all historical tax expenditure data. 

This report presents energy tax expenditure estimates for FYs 2010, 2013, and 2016. Sizable changes in 

the dollar value of particular expenditures over time often reflect changes in their utilization due to 

changes in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), in key interpretations of the IRC, or in other relevant market 

and policy drivers. The historical data also reveal when particular energy programs were implemented 

and terminated, illustrating the magnitude of various tax policies affecting energy production and 

consumption over time. Although there are gaps in the data for some years, generalized trends in tax 

expenditures are still apparent. Some of the tax expenditure data presented in this report will be revised 

in the future, and some of the historical data presented here have not been fully revised. 

Agencies are required to submit data files to USAspending.gov within 30 days after making an award or 

after making a modification or transaction to an award, except for the U.S. Department of Defense,

which delays its submission by 90 days to protect operations. However, the timing of when specific 

records are displayed on USAspending.gov depends on when the agency submits files to the data source 

sites and the processing time required by that site. There could be a lag of one to three days before the 

files are processed and uploaded to USAspending.gov.

If an agency reports a modification or transaction to an award made in a previous fiscal year, the 

modification/transaction data are displayed in the fiscal year in which the modification/transaction was 

made, not in the fiscal year that the original award was made. EIA takes all fiscal year data as supplied 

regardless of these modifications.

Other energy subsidy studies

Debate continues over the scope, role, and effectiveness of energy policy measures, and several studies 

addressing energy subsidies appear each year from various sources and use different definitions and 

methods. Some examples within the past five years include: (1) Coady, Parry, Sears and Shang (2017), 

How Large Are Global Fossil Fuel Subsidies? in World Development; (2) National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (2016), Impacts of the Federal Tax Credit Extensions on Renewable Deployment and Power 

Sector Emissions; (3) Department of the Treasury, Progress Report on Fossil Fuels Subsidies to G20; and 

(4) Institute for Energy Research (2013), Estimating the State-Level Impact of Federal Wind Energy 

Subsidies. Several of these reports and others in the literature seek to draw conclusions about policy 

issues related to energy subsidies.

This EIA report focuses on developing data to provide information that can be used by others 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 
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 18

scope and nature of federal energy subsidies that mainly or exclusively focus on data. Recent CRS, CBO, 

and GAO reports include: (1) CRS (2017), The Value of Energy Tax Incentives for Different Types of Energy 

Resources: In Brief12; (2) CRS (2015), Energy Tax Incentives: Measuring Value Across Different Types of 

Energy Resources13; (3) CBO (2017), Federal Support for Developing, Producing, and Using Fuels and 

Energy Technologies; (4) GAO (2013), Energy: Federal Support for Renewable and Advanced Energy 

Technologies; and (5) GAO (2014), Energy Policy: Information on Federal and Other Factors Influencing 

U.S. Energy Production and Consumption from 2000 through 2013.

Taken together, the extensive literature on subsidies provides examples of how differing definitions and 

methods can yield a wide range of estimates and interpretations.

 12 CRS Report R44852, The Value of Energy Tax Incentives for Different Types of Energy Resources: In Brief, May 18, 2017, by 

Molly F. Sherlock.

13 CRS Report R41953, Energy Tax Incentives: Measuring Value Across Different Types of Energy Resources, March 19, 2015, by 

Molly F. Sherlock and Jeffrey M. Stupak.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 19

Tax Expenditures

In FY 2016, EIA estimates that U.S. federal energy-related tax expenditures were $8.8 billion, or 59% of 

the total subsidies and support identified in this report. This total is substantially lower than the $13.0

billion, or 44% share, in FY 2013. This decrease reflects, in large part, shifts in subsidies for renewable 

energy production over this period, including the installation of renewable energy production 

equipment on residential property. In addition, changes to tax expenditure estimates for oil- and natural 

gas-related activities for FY 2016 result in aggregate revenue inflows to Treasury, rather than subsidies 

to those industries (see Table ). 

Of the FY 2016 total tax expenditures ($8.8 billion) that subsidize or otherwise support activities of 

energy producers or consumers, $5.3 billion (60%) was for tax provisions that support renewable energy 

sources. End-use technologies represent the next largest source at $3.2 billion (36%), with coal being the 

next largest at $906 million (10%).

In preparing detailed data on energy-related tax expenditures (Table 5), EIA relied on the definitions of 

tax expenditures incorporated in the federal budget and the associated tax expenditures estimated by 

Treasury. To a lesser extent, this section includes data estimates by the congressional Joint Committee 

on Taxation (JCT). Tax expenditures arise from provisions in federal tax laws including credits, 

deductions, deferrals, preferential rates, and exemptions (exclusions). Items in the budget identified as 

tax expenditures by Treasury on occasion differ from those determined to be tax expenditures by the 

JCT. Historical tax expenditure data used in this report are taken from a number of government sources. 

For FY 2016, Treasury is the primary provider of estimates for tax expenditures, supplemented by data 

provided by the JCT.

Table 5. Estimates of energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision

FY 

2010

FY 

2013

FY 

2016

Biodiesel Producer Tax Credita (26 U.S.C. 6426) 539 1,667 2,650

Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property (26 U.S.C. 25D) 242 1,000 1,450

Energy Production Credit (26 U.S.C. 45) 1,695 1,740 1,400

Energy Investment Credit (26 U.S.C. 48) 143 2,032 1,190

Alternative Fuel and Fuel Mixture Credit (26 U.S.C. 6426 and 6427e) 197 365 590

Tax Credit and Deduction for Clean-Burning Vehicles (26 U.S.C. 30, 30B, 30C, and 30D) 275 281 480

Exclusion from Income of Conservation Subsidies Provided by Public Utilities (26 U.S.C. 136) 242 354 430

Excess of Percentage over Cost Depletion (26 U.S.C. 611-613A and 291) 1,079 552 410

Amortization of Certain Pollution Control Facilities (26 U.S.C. 169) 110 417 500

Credit for Energy Efficiency Improvements to Existing Homes (26 U.S.C. 25C) 3,511 636 530

Credit for Construction of New Energy Efficient Homes (26 U.S.C. 45L) 22 156 210

Credit for Investment in Clean Coal Facilities (26 U.S.C. 48A, 48B) 264 188 160

Nuclear Decommissioning (26 U.S.C. 468A) 991 1,146 160

Capital Gains Treatment of Royalties on Coal (26 U.S.C. 631(c)) 55 94 150

Natural Gas Distribution Pipelines being Treated as 15-Year Property (26 U.S.C. 168(e)(C)(iv)) 132 104 140
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 20

Table 5. Estimates of energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 (cont.)

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision

FY 

2010

FY 

2013

FY 

2016

Transmission Property Treated as Fifteen-Year Property (26 U.S.C. 168(e)) 110 208 100

Allowance for the Deduction of Certain Energy Efficient Commercial Building Property(26 

U.S.C. 179D) 66 73 80

Credit for Holding Clean Renewable Energy Bondsb (26 U.S.C. 54A and 54C) 77 73 70

Amortize All Geological and Geophysical Expenditures over 2 Years (26 U.S.C. 167(h)) 165 104 70

Exception from Passive Loss Limitation for Working Interests in Oil and Gas Properties (26 

U.S.C. 469) 33 21 60

Deferral of Gain from Disposition of Transmission Property to Implement FERC Restructuring 

Policy (26 U.S.C. 451(i)) (55) - 60

Qualified Energy Conservation Bondsc (26 U.S.C. 54D) - 21 30

Partial Expensing for Advanced Mine Safety Equipment (26 U.S.C. 179E) 3 28 24

Biodiesel and Small Agri-Biodiesel Producer Tax Credits (26 U.S.C. 6426) 22 21 30

Exclusion of Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners (26 U.S.C. 104, 30 U.S.C. 922) 43 31 30

Alcohol Fuel Credits (26 U.S.C. 6426) 77 42 10

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit (26 U.S.C. 48C) 198 219 10

Expensing of Exploration and Development Costs (26 U.S.C. 263(c) and 291) 440 573 (450)

Temporary 50-Percent Expensing for Equipment used in the Refining of Liquid Fuels(26 U.S.C.

179C) 837 625 (1,760)

Alternative Fuel Production Credit (26 U.S.C. 45K) 187 10 -

Alcohol Fuel Exemptiona (26 U.S.C. 6426) 6,252 10 -

Credit for Production from Advanced Nuclear Power Facilities (26 U.S.C. 45J(a)) - - -

Credit for Energy Efficient Appliances (26 U.S.C. 45M) 165 156 -

Mine Rescue Training Credit (26 U.S.C. 45N) - 1 2

Expensing of Capital Goods with Respect to Complying with EPA Sulfur Regulations (26 U.S.C.

179B) - - -

5-Year Net Operating Loss Carryover for Electric Transmission Equipment (26 U.S.C. 172) - - -

Total 18,119 12,951 8,816

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. The advanced energy manufacturing facility investment tax credit or sometimes called advanced 

energy property credit was allocated by fuel and technology using data appearing in: https://energy.gov/articles/energydepartment-announces-150-million-tax-credits-invest-us-clean-energy-manufacturing (Phase II of Section 48C) and IRC 

Section 48C Certifications at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/irc-section-48c-certifications, accessed March 20, 2018. 

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, 

Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010). aThe alcohol fuel exemption (VEETC) is essentially the excise tax exemption equivalent to the alcohol fuel credits. The 

biodiesel producer tax credit is the excise tax exemption to the biodiesel and small agri-biodiesel producer tax credits. These 

are both listed as footnotes to OMB, Analytical Perspectives, tables which includes energy tax expenditures. bIn addition, the provision has an outlay effect of $10 million, $40 million, and $30 million in FY 2010, 2013, and 

2016, respectively. c

In addition, the provision has an outlay effect of $30 million, $50 million, $40 million in FY 2010, 2013, and 2016, 

respectively.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 21

In many cases, the level of energy production or investment determines the potential value of the tax 

expenditure for qualified taxpayers. However, the value of the tax expenditure received by eligible 

taxpayers may not equal the potential value of the expenditure based upon production or investment. 

One factor that mitigates against the eligible taxpayer receiving the full value of the tax expenditure is 

the alternative minimum tax (AMT), a separately calculated tax that eliminates many deductions and 

credits for which many tax expenditures are not exempt. Another mitigating factor is that the tax 

expenditure, in many cases, may not be received in the year in which the investment or production took 

place, but may, by law, be carried back or forward a number of tax years. Finally, most of the energyrelated tax credits discussed in this report are not refundable; that is, the credit may not be claimed in 

excess of a taxpayer’s tax liability (i.e., the credit cannot cause their tax burden to go negative). 

Therefore, a taxpayer with insufficient gross tax burden may be unable to fully claim a credit.

Treasury does not provide estimates of de minimis tax expenditures, i.e., $5 million or less. Therefore, 

the impact of such tax expenditures is not reported in either OMB budget documents or tabulations in 

this report.

Examples of energy-specific tax expenditures

The following examples illustrate the kinds of specific tax provisions associated with various categories 

of energy-related beneficiaries.

Coal. Table shows coal-related U.S. tax expenditures with an estimated value of $906 million in FY 2016, 

down from an estimated $811 million in FY 2013. 

• Amortization of Pollution Control Equipment (26 U.S.C. 169). EPAct 2005, Section 1309 

modified Section 169 of the IRC, which permitted a 60-month amortization of qualifying 

pollution control facilities used in connection with plants placed in service before January 1, 

1976. For plants placed in service after 1975, the EPAct 2005 modification provides that a 

taxpayer can recover the cost of any certified pollution control facility (but not a water 

pollution-control facility) over a period of 84 months for one placed in service after April 11, 

2005, and used in connection with an electric generation plant or other property that is 

primarily coal-fired. The pre-existing 60-month amortization period remains in effect for any 

newly constructed certified air pollution control facility added at a plant in operation prior to 

January 1, 1976. The JCT estimated the value of this expenditure to be $417 million for FY 2013 

and $500 million for FY 2016.

• Credit for Investment in Clean Coal Facilities (26 U.S.C. 48A and 48B). This credit has an 

estimated value of $188 million in FY 2013 and $160 million in FY 2016. Section 1307 of the 

EPAct 2005 provided for a 20% credit to advanced coal projects using integrated gasification 

combined-cycle (IGCC) technology and a 15% credit to other advanced coal technologies. This 

legislation allocated $800 million tax credits towards electricity-related IGCC projects and $500 

million towards other advanced coal technologies. An additional $350 million was applied to 
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 22

coal gasification technologies for industrial use with an allowable tax credit of 20%. The Energy 

Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 (Public Law 111-343) authorized an additional $1.5 

billion in tax credits for advanced coal and gasification projects, and it increased the investment 

tax credit for qualifying advanced coal and gasification projects to 30%. 

Table 6. Estimates of coal-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Amortization of Certain Pollution Control Facilities 110 417 500

Credit for Investment in Clean Coal Facilities 264 188 160

Capital Gains Treatment of Royalties on Coal 55 94 150

Energy Production Credit 30 42 40

Exclusion of Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners 43 31 30

Partial Expensing for Advanced Mine Safety Equipment 3 28 24

Mine Rescue Training Credit - 1 2

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit 1 1 0

Subtotal Coal Tax Expenditures 506 801 906

Alternative Fuel Production Credit (Synthetic coal, coke and coke oven gas, and 

Steel Industry fuel) 187 10 -

Total 693 811 906

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. The advanced energy manufacturing facility investment tax credit or sometimes called advanced 

energy property credit was allocated by fuel using data appearing in: https://energy.gov/articles/energy-departmentannounces-150-million-tax-credits-invest-us-clean-energy-manufacturing (Phase II of Section 48C) and IRC Section 48C 

Certifications at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/irc-section-48c-certifications, accessed March 20, 2018.

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, and Joint Committee on 

Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), 

Table 1.

Renewable energy including biofuels. In FY 2013, 44% of energy-related U.S. tax expenditures were for

renewable fuels. At $5.7 billion, renewable-related tax expenditures in FY 2013 were down 36% from 

$8.9 billion in FY 2010 (see Table ). Ethanol and biodiesel both provide sizable volumes of the U.S. liquid 

fuels supply, and their market penetration has increased as the result of several policies that have 

resulted in significant income and excise tax expenditures. The excise tax policies had large fiscal 

impacts for the biodiesel industry. The biggest change for renewable energy since FY 2010 was 

attributed to the expiration of the alcohol fuel tax exemption, which received $6.3 billion in FY 2010 but 

has since decreased to zero. The biodiesel mixture credit increased from $1.7 billion in FY 2013 to $2.7 

billion in FY 2016 as a result of greater domestic biomass-based diesel production and foreign imports of 

these products. Examples of renewable-related tax provisions include
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 23

• Biodiesel Mixture Credit (26 U.S.C. 6426). A tax credit was created by the American Jobs 

Creation Act of 2004 and later amended and extended various times. The biodiesel mixture 

credit–often referred to as the biodiesel blenders tax credit–had expired in previous years but 

Congress restored the credits retroactively. Qualified taxpayers may claim the biodiesel mixture 

credit, at $1.00 per gallon, when the applicable amount of biodiesel or renewable diesel is 

blended with petroleum diesel for sale or use in a trade or business. The credit is applied against 

the federal sales tax for diesel fuel imposed by 26 U.S.C. Section 4081. Biodiesel and renewable 

diesel blending activity was supported by EPA’s Renewable Fuels Standard, which mandates the 

incorporation of biofuels into the nation’s fuel supply, with biomass-based diesel final volume 

requirements in 2015 and 2016 of 1.73 and 1.90 billion gallons, respectively. Largely because of 

the renewable fuel standard (RFS), the fiscal impact increased from $1.7 billion in FY 2013 to 

$2.7 billion in FY 2016. The biodiesel mixture tax credit expired at the end of 2016 but was 

retroactively applied to 2017 as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.

• Production Tax Credit (26 U.S.C. 45) The PTC is frequently referred to as the Section 45 credit 

for its applicable provision in the IRC. 14,15 It provides an inflation-adjusted tax credit worth 2.4

cents per kilowatthour (kWh) in 2016 to qualifying electricity production from wind energy 

facilities. It also provides a half-value credit of 1.2 cents per kWh for qualifying electricity 

production from closed-loop biomass, geothermal, solar, open-loop biomass, incremental 

hydroelectric, marine, tidal, and certain other waste energy facilities not claiming the 

Investment Tax Credit. The production tax credit for renewable resources is reported to have 

totaled $1.4 billion in FY 2016 versus $1.7 billion in FY 2013. Wind power was the primary 

beneficiary of this credit in FY 2016, which includes facilities built from 2006 through 2016. With 

enactment of ARRA, wind energy also became eligible for the investment tax credit (ITC). 

Because of the ability to exclusively claim one of these three subsidies during the FY 2010 and FY 

2016 timeframe and because of the different temporal impacts of these provisions, it is not 

possible to accurately determine how much wind (or other similarly affected renewables) 

claimed the PTC or ITC for either year. EIA has generally assumed that wind energy projects will 

prefer the PTC over the ITC, and so assumed that those projects not taking the Section 1603 

grant received the PTC instead.

• The Energy Investment Tax Credit (26 U.S.C. 48). The ITC, also referred to as the Section 48 

credit, is the sole federal tax credit currently available to commercial solar facilities. It is also 

available as an alternative to the PTC discussed above. Originally established in the 1970s at a 

 14 In the FY 2007 version of this report, the PTC was reported aggregated with the ITC as the “New Technology Credit”, to be 

consistent with OMB reporting. However, current reporting separates these two business credits. EIA’s FY 2010, FY 2013, and 

current report presents the PTC and ITC separately.

15 Note that Section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code now contains several provisions that are accounted for elsewhere in this 

report. This report will reference only the renewable electricity production as the PTC.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 24

value of 10%, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 05) temporarily increased the ITC value to 

30% of capital costs and modified the expiration date for projects entering service by the end of

2019 and then ramped down to a value of 10% of capital cost for projects entering service by 

the end of 2022 and continued at the 10% level in perpetuity. The ITC is also known as a

business credit and does not apply to projects owned by individuals. The credit for residential 

energy efficient property, also worth 30% of investment costs, was subsequently established for 

individual (residential) owners of solar and other end-use equipment. This latter credit reverted

to zero at the end of 2016. ARRA expanded the scope of the ITC to include most renewable 

electricity technologies. However, EIA estimates that most of the more than $2.0 billion FY 2013 

ITC tax expenditures went to solar and other end-use equipment and that other eligible 

renewables claimed either the PTC or the Section 1603 grant. This represents a 14-fold increase 

in expenditures for the ITC between FY 2010 and FY 2013.

Table 7. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 

2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Biodiesel Producer Tax Credita 539 1,667 2,650

Energy Production Credit 1,665 1,699 1,360

Energy Investment Credit 143 2,032 1,190

Credit for Holding Clean Renewable Energy Bondsb 77 73 70

Biodiesel and Small Agri-Biodiesel Producer Tax Credits 22 21 30

Alcohol Fuel Credits 77 42 10

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit 138 139 6

Alternative Fuel Production Creditc - - -

Alcohol Fuel Exemptiona 6,252 10 -

Total 8,913 5,683 5,316

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. The credit for business installation of qualified fuel cells and microturbine power plants is part of the 

energy investment tax credit (Section 48 of the internal revenue code). The advanced energy manufacturing facility 

investment tax credit or sometimes called advanced energy property credit was allocated by fuel using data appearing in: 

https://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-150-million-tax-credits-invest-us-clean-energy-manufacturing

(Phase II of Section 48C) and IRC Section 48C Certifications at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/irc-section-48c-certifications, 

accessed March 20, 2018.

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2018, 2015 and 2012. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, and Joint Committee on 

Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), 

Table 1.

aThe alcohol fuel exemption (VEETC) is essentially the excise tax exemption equivalent to the alcohol fuel credits. The 

biodiesel producer tax credit is the excise tax exemption to the biodiesel and small agri-biodiesel producer tax credits. These 

are both listed as footnotes in OMB’s Analytical Perspectives tax expenditure tables, which includes energy tax expenditures. bIn addition, the provision has an outlay effect of $10 million, $40 million, and $30 million in FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016,

respectively.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 25

cThe alternative fuel production credit in FY 2010 and FY 2013 went primarily to coal.

Natural gas and petroleum. Natural gas and petroleum-related U.S. tax expenditures decreased from 

$2.3 billion in FY 2013 to an estimated revenue inflow (versus a positive tax expenditure) of $940 million 

in FY 2016 thus in aggregate becoming a set of revenue-generating tax provisions to the government in 

that fiscal year (Table ).

• The Temporary 50-Percent Expensing of Equipment Used in the Refining of Liquid Fuels (26 

U.S.C. 179C) Established under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 1323, this provision is 

available for qualified refinery property used for processing liquid fuel from crude oil or qualified 

fuels and allows for an accelerated recovery of the cost of certain refinery investment under 

Section 179C of the IRC by allowing a partial expensing of the cost. It is estimated to have 

reached $625 million in FY 2013 to become a generating revenue item for the federal

government with an estimated revenue of $1.8 billion in FY 2016. 

• The Expensing of Exploration and Development Costs (26 U.S.C. 263(c) and 291) This provision 

allows energy producers, principally oil and natural gas producers, to expense exploration and 

development (E&D) expenditures (to include certain intangible drilling and development costs) 

rather than capitalize and depreciate them over time. The FY 2013 tax expenditure is estimated 

at $573 million. In FY 2016, this sector generated an estimated $450 million in revenues to the 

federal government.

Table 8. Estimates of natural gas- and petroleum-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 

2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Alternative Fuel and Fuel Mixture Credit 197 365 590

Excess of Percentage over Cost Depletion 1,079 552 410

Natural Gas Distribution Pipelines being Treated as 15-Year Property 132 104 140

Amortize All Geological and Geophysical Expenditures over 2 Years 165 104 70

Exception from Passive Loss Limitation for Working Interests in Oil and Gas 

Properties 33 21 60

Expensing of Exploration and Development Costs 440 573 (450)

Temporary 50-Percent Expensing for Equipment used in the Refining of Liquid Fuels 837 625 (1,760)

Expensing of Capital Goods with Respect to Complying with EPA Sulfur Regulations - - -

Total 2,883 2,345 (940)

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. A portion of the tax expenditures, but indeterminate amount, of the Excess of Percentage over Cost 

Depletion and the Expensing of exploration and Development Costs goes to coal. 

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 26

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, 

Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010)

Nuclear. The estimated expenditures for nuclear-related tax provisions fell from $1.2 billion in FY 2013 

to $160 million in FY 2016 (Table). Nearly all of this decrease stems from the tax treatment of qualified 

and nonqualified nuclear decommissioning trust funds. Because these particular revisions to the Internal 

Revenue Code were not itemized by OMB for FY 2010 and FY 2013, EIA relied on the estimates of the 

value of these tax expenditures prepared by the JCT. A small portion of the advanced energy property 

tax credit was also directed to nuclear facilities. An example of these provisions is below:

• The Modification to Special Rules for Nuclear Decommissioning Costs (26 U.S.C. 468A). Section 

1310 of EPAct2005 changed the IRS rules for qualified nuclear decommissioning trust funds by 

repealing the cost of service requirement for contributions to a qualified decommissioning trust 

fund created under IRC Section 468A. This change permitted full present value funding of a 

qualified nuclear decommissioning fund and the transfer of pre-1984 decommissioning funds 

held in nonqualified trusts. The provision also required that nuclear plant owners obtain a new 

schedule of ruling amounts from the IRS upon renewal of a plant’s operating license by the NRC. 

In FY 2016, EIA estimates the value of this tax expenditure was $160 million versus $1.2 billion in 

FY 2013. Modification of section 468A of the IRC was done to eliminate an impediment to 

nuclear plant sales arising from the structural change in the electric utility industry.

Table 9. Estimates of nuclear-related energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Nuclear Decommissioning 991 1,146 160

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit 9 9 0

Credit for Production from Advanced Nuclear Power Facilities - - -

Total 999 1,155 160

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. The advanced energy manufacturing facility investment tax credit or sometimes called advanced 

energy property credit was allocated by fuel using data appearing in: https://energy.gov/articles/energy-departmentannounces-150-million-tax-credits-invest-us-clean-energy-manufacturing (Phase II of Section 48C) and IRC Section 48C 

Certifications at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/irc-section-48c-certifications, accessed March 20, 2018.

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, and Joint Committee on 

Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), 

Table 1.

Efficiency and conservation. The nine energy efficiency- and conservation-related tax provisions have 

collectively increased from $2.7 billion in FY 2013 to $3.2 billion in FY 2016, with the tax credit for 
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 27

residential energy efficient property accounting for an expenditure increase of $0.5 billion (Table ).

Examples of these provisions include

• Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property (26 U.S.C. 25D). EIA estimates that this credit 

had a value of $1.5 billion in FY 2016 and $1.0 billion in FY 2013. Section 1335 of EPAct2005 

established a 30% personal tax credit, not to exceed $2,000, for the purchase of solar electric 

and solar water heating property. A 30% tax credit up to $500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity 

is also available for fuel cells. The fuel cell provision of EPAct2005 was due to expire at the end 

of 2007. It was extended through the end of calendar year 2008 by Section 206 of the Tax Relief 

and Health Care Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-432). Section 106 of EIEA2007 removed the cap on 

the tax credit for purchase of residential solar photovoltaic installations and extended the credit 

to December 31, 2016. Section 104 of EIEA extended the credit to include small wind properties 

(under 100 kilowatts) through December 31, 2016; and, Section 105 extended the tax credit to 

include geothermal heat pumps through December 31, 2016. Finally, Section 1122 of ARRA 

removed some of the previous maximum amounts and allowed a credit equal to 30% of the cost 

of qualified property.

• Credit for Energy Efficiency Improvements to Existing Homes (26 U.S.C 25C). This credit was 

established in EPAct2005, Section 1333, and it is estimated at a value of $530 million in FY 2016,

down from an estimated $636 million in FY 2013 with most of this decrease traceable to the 

higher credit amounts made available due to ARRA. This credit applies to windows, furnaces, 

boilers, furnace fans, and building envelope components, such as exterior doors and any metal 

roof that has appropriate pigmented coatings.

Table 10. Estimates of conservation, efficiency, and end-use energy-specific tax expenditures, FY 2010, 

FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Credit for Residential Energy Efficient Property 242 1,000 1,450

Credit for Energy Efficiency Improvements to Existing Homes 3,511 636 530

Tax Credit and Deduction for Clean-Burning Vehicles 275 281 480

Exclusion from Income of Conservation Subsidies Provided by Public Utilities 242 354 430

Credit for Construction of New Energy Efficient Homes 22 156 210

Allowance for the Deduction of Certain Energy Efficient Commercial Building 

Property 66 73 80

Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds - 21 30

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit 43 59 3

Credit for Energy Efficient Appliances 165 156 -

Total 4,567 2,737 3,213

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. The advanced energy manufacturing facility investment tax credit or sometimes called advanced 

energy property credit was allocated by fuel using data appearing in: https://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 28

announces-150-million-tax-credits-invest-us-clean-energy-manufacturing (Phase II of Section 48C) and IRC Section 48C 

Certifications at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/irc-section-48c-certifications, accessed March 20, 2018.

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2012, 2015 and 2018. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, and Joint Committee on 

Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), 

Table 1.

Electricity transmission and grid network. Transmission-related tax expenditures fell from $219 million 

in FY 2013 to $160 million in FY 2016 (Table ). This decrease is largely a result of the decrease in

estimated expenditures from transmission property treated as 15-year property, which fell by more 

than half from FY 2013 to FY 2016. Examples of these provisions include

• The Transmission Property Treated as 15-year Property (26 U.S.C. 168(e)). This permanent 

provision was set forth in Section 1308 of EPAct2005 and modified Section 168 of the IRC by 

shortening the recovery period for specified assets from 20 to 15 years. To be eligible, an asset 

must be used in the transmission of electricity following sale of the property or related land 

improvements. Specifically, this applies to Section 1245 property, (i.e., personal property and 

real property subject to depreciation or amortization) used in the transmission of electricity that 

is energized at 69 kilovolts or more. The provision applies to transmission facilities placed in 

service by the taxpayer after April 11, 2005, but excludes any transmission facilities for which 

the taxpayer or related party had entered into a binding construction contract for or initiated 

self-construction on or before April 11, 2005. This tax provision is permanent, under current 

statutes.16 For FY 2016, the estimated value of accelerating the standard recovery period by five 

years is $100 million, down from $208 million in FY 2013.

Table 11. Estimates of electricity transmission-related energy-specific tax expenditure, FY 2010, FY 

2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Tax Provision FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Transmission Property Treated as Fifteen-Year Property 110 208 100

Deferral of Gain from Disposition of Transmission Property to Implement FERC 

Restructuring Policy (55) - 60

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Facility Investment Tax Credit 8 11 0

5-Year Net Operating Loss Carryover for Electric Transmission Equipment - - -

Total 63 219 160

Note: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol denotes 

a zero value. The advanced energy manufacturing facility investment tax credit or sometimes called advanced energy 

property credit was allocated by fuel using data appearing in: https://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-

 16 Joint Committee on Taxation, Report to the House Committee on Ways and Means on Present Law and Suggestions for 

Reform, Tax Reform Working Groups submissions, JCS-3-13, May 6, 2013.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 29

150-million-tax-credits-invest-us-clean-energy-manufacturing (Phase II of Section 48C) and IRC Section 48C Certifications at 

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/irc-section-48c-certifications, accessed March 20, 2018.

Sources: Tax expenditure estimates: Office of Management and Budget, Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the U.S. 

Government, Fiscal Years 2018, 2015 and 2012. Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal 

Years 2016-2020, JCX-3-17 (Washington, DC, January 2017), Table 1, Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax 

Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2012-2017, JCS-1-13 (Washington, DC, February 2013), Table 1, and Joint Committee on 

Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2010-2014, JCS-3-10 (Washington, DC, December 2010), 

Table 1.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 30

Direct Expenditures, Including R&D

Direct expenditures, in contrast to tax expenditures, involve the transfer of congressionally appropriated 

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

expenditures makes it very difficult to assign energy-related activities to specific aspects of the energy 

system. As discussed in the Analytic Approach section, EIA has developed several powerful methods of 

obtaining and processing federal expenditure data; the resulting estimates in this section are 

nonetheless subject to scope and measurement issues. 

This section follows the outline of the previous section, but adds information on agency-specific 

activities to the energy-specific discussions.

Table 12 shows the most comprehensive picture of the direct expenditure amounts estimated for each 

part of the energy system. As described in the Analytic Approach section, the Catalog of Federal Direct 

Assistance (CFDA) is the primary source for program information as well as CFDA coding for both agency 

and program designations. 

Renewable energy facility construction (the Energy Investment Grant) and low-income energy assistance 

(LIHEAP, energy efficiency block grants, and weatherization) have dominated direct expenditures for 

energy over the three FY periods displayed in this report. Direct expenditures in these two areas 

accounted for nearly 67% of the FY 2010 total, with their percentage rising to 89% in FY 2016 (see Figure 

8). Of more than 35 direct expenditure programs in Table 12, 7 programs accounted for between 92% 

and 95% of the total direct expenditures over the three FY time periods of interest in this report.

Figure 8. Direct expenditures by select programs, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Source: Table 12.

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Biomass Crops Assistance Program - 10.087

Green Jobs Innovation Fund Grants - 17.275

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block 

Grants Program - 81.128

State Energy Programs - 81.041

Weatherization Assistance for Low-Income 

Persons - 81.042

Energy Investment Grants (Section 1603 

grants)

Low Income Home Energy Assistance 

Program - 93.568
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 31

Tables in this section summarize the energy-specific categories with respect to the total set of direct 

expenditures in Table 12 and also sort by the 15 energy-specific categories.

Textbox: Federal direct purchasing of designated energy products

A set of overlapping federal programs aimed at direct acquisition of renewable, sustainable, resilient, or 

other designated energy resources has seen rapid growth in recent years. Driven in part by statute and 

Executive Orders, these programs allow or require federal organizations to use certain energy resource 

acquisition procedures, sometimes on a pooled or regional basis.

The definition of direct federal financial interventions (or subsidies) used in this report would generally 

only include federal energy purchases that add incremental cost and are intended to provide market 

support for the purchased resource. Because federal acquisition programs pursue a wide variety of 

goals—both operational and policy-related—such a determination is often difficult to make. To date, EIA 

has not included federal energy acquisition programs in the report tables or summaries. 

Without determining what portion of these activities might be considered subsidies or market 

interventions, data from federal programs, both Defense and non-Defense, indicate the magnitude of 

direct energy acquisition activities in FY 2016.

Defense. The Department of Defense FY 2016 Operational Energy Annual Report includes accounting for 

more than $46 billion in Defense-related energy purchasing in FY 2016. Of this, slightly more than $1.8 

billion is considered to be Operational Energy Initiatives that encompass a wide variety of activities. 

Research and development, field testing, pilot deployments, energy-reducing measures, and purchases 

of specific fuels (typically renewable energy sources) are all included. 

Non-Defense. The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the General Services 

Administration (GSA) are responsible for most non-defense federal energy acquisition activities. Much of 

this activity is related to the March 2015 Executive Order on federal facility sustainability planning, 

which is summarized in a DOE progress report.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 32

Table 12. Estimates of direct expenditures in energy, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 364 139 97 

Rural Energy for America Program - 10.868 55 45 35 

Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership - 10.117 - - 15 

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels - 10.867 21 49 14 

Biomass Crop Assistance Program - 10.087 269 9 10 

Denali Commission Program - 90.100 - 16 8 

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities - 10.859 8 14 6 

Sun Grant Program - 10.320 2 2 5 

Wood Utilization Assistance - 10.674 5 3 3 

Biodiesel (Biodiesel Fuel Education Program) - 10.306 1 (0) 1 

Biorefinery Assistance - 10.865 - - -

State Bulk Fuel Revolving Fund Grants - 10.857 1 - -

Forest Biomass for Energy - 10.686 - - -

Repowering Assistance - 10.866 2 - -

Community Wood Energy Program - 10.685 - - -

U.S. Department of Energy 3,577 1,421 304 

Weatherization Assistance for Low-Income Persons - 81.042 1,818 313 182 

State Energy Program - 81.041 784 212 46 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance - 81.117 42 47 31 

Epidemiology and Other Health Studies Financial Assistance Program - 81.108 1 13 14 

Expand and Extend Clean Coal Power Initiative - 81.131 46 52 11 

State Energy Program Special Projects - 81.119 9 11 7 

Nuclear Waste Disposal Siting - 81.065 9 5 6 

Transport of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: States and 

Tribal Concerns, Proposed Solutions - 81.106 40 5 4 

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Application - 81.134 62 298 3 

Carbon Capture and Storage-FutureGen 2.0 - 81.130 - 24 1 

State Heating Oil and Propane Program - 81.138 - 0 0 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology Deployment, 

Demonstration and Commercialization - 81.129 3 1 -

National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and 

Economics - 81.105 0 - -

Geologic Sequestration Site Characterization - 81.132 - - -

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG) - 81.128 549 436 -

Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (EEARP) - 81.127 214 (0) -

Office of Scientific and Technical Information - 81.064 - - -

Regional Biomass Energy Programs - 81.079 1 1 -

Inventions and Innovations - 81.036 0 2 -

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 5,614 3,247 3,368 

Low Income Home Energy Assistance - 93.568 5,614 3,247 3,368 
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 33

Table 12. Estimates of direct expenditures in energy, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 (cont.)

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 259 - (2)

Assisted Housing Stability and Energy and Green Retrofit Investments Program -

14.318 259 - -

Multifamily Energy Innovation Fund - 14.319 - - (2)

U.S. Department of Labor 499 (2) (0)

Green Jobs Innovation Fund Grants - 17.275 499 (2) (0)

U.S. Department of State - - -

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

and Climate Partnership for the Americas) - 19.750 - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 12 9 28 

Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management State and Tribal Coordination - 15.427 - - 12 

Science and Technology Projects Related to Coal Mining and Reclamation -

15.255 - (0) 7 

BOEM Environmental Studies Program - 15.423 0 4 5 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands - 15.038 10 3 3 

Louisiana State University (LSU) Coastal Marine Institute CMI - 15.422 1 1 1 

Energy Cooperatives to Support the National Coal Resources Data System 

(NCRDS) - 15.819 0 0 0 

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants - 15.148 - - -

U.S. Department of Transportation 272 88 42 

Pipeline Safety Program State Base Grant - 20.700 43 46 40 

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Program One Call Grant - 20.721 1 1 1 

Air Emissions and Energy Initiative - 20.817 - 1 0 

Railroad Research and Development - 20.313 - - -

Capital Assistance Program for Reducing Energy Consumption and Greenhouse 

Gas Emissions - 20.523 216 15 -

Clean Fuels - 20.519 12 24 -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 4,678 8,514 820 

Energy Investment Grant; Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds; 

Outlay Equivalent for Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds 4,678 8,514 820 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 134 18 45 

National Clean Diesel Emissions Reduction Program - 66.039 101 14 33 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program - 66.040 32 5 12 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 19 16 16 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program -

77.008 12 15 15 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Minority Serving Institutions Program 

(MISP) - 77.007 2 1 1 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Education Grant Program - 77.006 6 - (0)

Total 15,427 13,450 4,716 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. Energy investment grants are commonly referred to as Section 1603 grants 

administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 34

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov, website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, 

accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services 

Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2014) 

https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed December 1, 2017.

Table 13. Estimates of research and development expenditures in energy, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 

2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 34 4 11 

Biomass Research and Development Initiative Competitive Grants Program 

(BRDI) - 10.312 32 (2) 7 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research - 10.001 2 6 5 

U.S. Department of Defense 22 5 52 

Basic Scientific Research - 12.431 7 4 46 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering - 12.630 6 1 7 

Research and Technology Development - 12.910 8 0 0 

U.S. Department of Energy 2,244 2,284 1,051 

Fossil Energy Research and Development - 81.089 321 218 377 

Renewable Energy Research and Development - 81.087 610 501 184 

Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program -

81.135 29 149 184 

Conservation Research and Development - 81.086 587 454 151 

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstration - 81.121 174 133 137 

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis -

81.122 518 824 15 

University Coal Research - 81.057 2 2 2 

Geologic Sequestration Training and Research Grant Program - 81.133 3 4 -

U.S. Department of the Interior 1 0 2 

Safety and Environmental Enforcement Research and Data Collection for 

Offshore Energy and Mineral Activities - 15.441 - - 2 

Offshore Research Technology Center (OTRC) Texas Engineering Experiment 

Station (TEES) - 15.425 - - -

Marine Gas Hydrate Research Activities - 15.428 1 0 (0)

U.S. Department of Transportation 6 16 2 

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transaction 

Agreements - 20.723 6 16 2 

Biobased Transportation Research - 20.761 0 - -

Hydrogen Storage Research and Development - 20.764 - - -

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 3 3 2 

Surveys, Studies, Research, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Special Purpose 

Activities Relating to the Clean Air Act - 66.034 3 3 2 
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Table 13. Estimates of research and development expenditures in energy, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 

2016 (cont.)

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

National Science Foundation 407 621 328 

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 268 475 243 

Engineering Grants - 47.041 138 146 86 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2 0 2 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Research Financial Assistance 

Program - 77.009 2 0 2 

Total 2,718 2,934 1,451 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Examples of energy-specific direct expenditure and R&D programs

Coal. Direct expenditures for coal-related programs decreased from $77 million in FY 2013 to $19 million 

in FY 2016, while R&D spending rose from $216 million in FY 2013 to $337 million in FY 2016. Table and 

Table show detailed coal-related program outlays. Examples of coal-related federal activities include

• Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). DOE’s Fossil Energy Research and Development 

program portfolio includes CCS technology research. Coal-centered CCS focuses on postcombustion capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) from existing plants and industrial sources. 

Sequestration research aims to provide reliable and safe permanent storage of CO2 gas to 

mitigate carbon emission for fossil fuel sources. In 2016, DOE’s R&D expenditures also 

supported the FutureGen 2.0 project, an oxy-fuel retrofit of a recently idled 65-year-old facility 

in Illinois. FutureGen 2.0 was a DOE CCS demonstration project, combining all three aspects of 

CCS technology: capturing and separating CO2 from other gases, compressing and transporting 

CO2 to the sequestration site, and injecting CO2 in geologic formations for permanent storage.

• University Coal Research (UCR). UCR supports hands-on research experience to future 

generations of scientists and engineers. Since the program’s inception in 1980, more than $100 

million has been provided and more than 1,700 students have acquired experience in 

understanding the science and technology of coal. UCR projects include a number of diverse 

coal-based studies. In FY 2016, UCR supported projects researching high-tech sensors and 
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controls, water management and flue gas desulfurization, and the use of high-performance 

materials in steam turbines.

Table 14. Estimates of coal-related energy-specific direct expenditures by department and program, 

FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S Department of Energy 46 77 12 

Expand and Extend Clean Coal Power Initiative - 81.131 46 52 11 

Carbon Capture and Storage-FutureGen 2.0 - 81.130 - 24 1 

U.S. Department of the Interior 2 1 7 

Science and Technology Projects Related to Coal Mining and Reclamation -

15.255 - (0) 7 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands - 15.038 1 0 0 

Energy Cooperatives to Support the National Coal Resources Data System 

(NCRDS) - 15.819 0 0 0 

Total 48 77 19 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Table 15. Estimates of coal-related energy-specific research and development expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Energy 320 211 335 

Fossil Energy Research and Development - 81.089 318 207 333 

University Coal Research - 81.057 2 2 2 

Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program -

81.135 1 2 -

National Science Foundation - 5 2 

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 - 5 2 

Total 320 216 337 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 37

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Renewable energy including biofuels. Renewable energy direct expenditures have varied considerably, 

dropping to $909 million in FY 2016 from $8.7 billion in FY 2013. In each fiscal year, however, the 

overwhelming share of renewable energy direct expenditures came from an ARRA modification of two 

tax expenditure provisions previously discussed:

• The PTC, where the support amount is based on electricity generation from eligible new 

renewable electricity facilities

• Two tax credit bonds, the clean renewable energy bond (CREB) and the qualified energy 

conservation bond (QECB) for public-sector renewable projects

Table 16. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific direct expenditures by department and 

program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 322 95 82 

Rural Energy for America Program - 10.868 19 25 32 

Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership - 10.117 - - 15 

Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels - 10.867 21 49 14 

Biomass Crop Assistance Program - 10.087 269 9 10 

Sun Grant Program - 10.320 2 2 5 

Wood Utilization Assistance - 10.674 5 3 3 

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities - 10.859 4 5 2 

Biodiesel (Biodiesel Fuel Education Program) - 10.306 1 (0) 1 

Repowering Assistance - 10.866 2 - -

Denali Commission Program - 90.100 - 1 -

Forest Biomass for Energy - 10.686 - - -

Biorefinery Assistance - 10.865 - - -

Community Wood Energy Program - 10.685 - - -

U.S. Department of Energy 288 98 4 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance - 81.117 23 25 2 

State Energy Program - 81.041 262 71 1 

Regional Biomass Energy Programs - 81.079 1 1 -

Office of Scientific and Technical Information - 81.064 - - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology Deployment, 

Demonstration and Commercialization - 81.129 2 0 -

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Application - 81.134 1 - -

Inventions and Innovations - 81.036 0 1 -
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Table 16. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific direct expenditures by department and 

program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 (cont.)

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Labor 437 (2) (0)

Green Jobs Innovation Fund Grants - 17.275 437 (2) (0)

U.S. Department of the Interior 3 2 3 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands - 15.038 3 1 3 

BOEM Environmental Studies Program - 15.423 - 0 1 

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants - 15.148 - - -

U.S. Department of Transportation 4 10 0 

Air Emissions and Energy Initiative - 20.817 - 1 0 

Clean Fuels - 20.519 4 8 -

U.S. Department of the Treasury 4,678 8,514 820 

Energy Investment Grant; Outlay Equivalent for Clean Renewable Energy Bonds; 

Outlay Equivalent for Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds 4,678 8,514 820 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - - 0 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program - 66.040 - - 0 

Total 5,732 8,716 909 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov, website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, 

accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services 

Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2014) 

https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed December 1, 2017.

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

time, few companies interested in constructing projects that would qualify for the PTC, CREBs, or QECBs 

had sufficient tax liability to offset those programs’ tax credits.17 To maintain support for building new 

renewable energy facilities, Congress created direct payment programs that entities could opt for in lieu 

of the tax credits. It is important to note that Treasury does not regard these two direct expenditure 

programs as domestic financial assistance, so they do not appear in the CFDA. Each program is discussed 

below:

• Energy investment grants (Section 1603 of Public Law 111-5) Congress created Energy 

Investment Grants as an alternative support program to the PTC. The program was created as a 

part of ARRA, which authorized Treasury to provide grants up to 30% of PTC-eligible facility

 17 Many firms during and after the 2008-09 recession were making little or no profit, so they owed little or no tax. Under such 

conditions, a firm’s eligible PTC tax credit exceeded its total tax liability, greatly limiting the amount of the tax credit it could 

claim. 
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construction costs.

18 Taking a grant instead of the PTC eliminates dependence on tax liability 

considerations. Because the grants are largely tied to PTC-eligible facilities, direct expenditures 

for Section 1603 grants have declined sharply between FY 2013 and FY 2016 as the PTC or 1603 

grant deadline expired for some types of renewable energy-producing facilities. Energy 

investment grants fell sharply from previous years. No additional projects are expected to 

receive the Section 1603 grants.

• Payments in lieu of tax credits for CREBs and QECBs (Public Law 111-147). In March 2010,

Congress enacted Public Law 111-147 (Section 301), permitting new CREB and QECB issuers (in 

the public sector) to make an irrevocable election to receive a direct payment—a refundable tax 

credit—from Treasury. The amount is equivalent to, and in lieu of, the amount of the nonrefundable tax credit that would otherwise be provided to the bondholder.19 New CREBs are 

those issued after March 18, 2010, the enactment date of the law. In April 2010, the Internal 

Revenue Service issued Notice 2010-35 that provides guidance on the direct payment option.20

As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act being signed into law on December 22, 2017, new CREBs 

have been eliminated effective January 1, 2018.

Table 17. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific research and development expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 34 4 8 

Biomass Research and Development Initiative Competitive Grants Program 

(BRDI) - 10.312 32 (2) 7 

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research - 10.001 2 6 1 

U.S. Department of Defense 22 5 2 

Basic Scientific Research - 12.431 7 4 2 

Research and Technology Development - 12.910 8 0 0 

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering - 12.630 6 1 -

U.S. Department of Energy 551 488 233 

Renewable Energy Research and Development - 81.087 542 445 166 

Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program -

81.135 9 43 60 

Fossil Energy Research and Development - 81.089 - - 6 

Department of Transportation 0 - -

Biobased Transportation Research - 20.761 0 - -

 18 In addition to PTC-eligible facilities, certain energy efficiency investments (e.g., LED lighting) are also eligible for the grants. 

19 For more details, see the Database for State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE). DSIRE also includes 

information on federal and state renewable energy incentive programs.

20 Public Law 111-147 also created direct expenditure provisions for other Tax Credit Bonds.
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Table 17. Estimates of renewable-related energy-specific research and development expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 (cont.)

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 0 0 -

Surveys, Studies, Research, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Special Purpose 

Activities Relating to the Clean Air Act - 66.034 0 0 -

National Science Foundation 237 367 214 

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 156 276 169 

Engineering Grants - 47.041 81 90 45 

Total 844 864 456 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Renewable energy R&D. More than 90% of federal renewable energy R&D support came from DOE and 

the National Science Foundation (NSF) in all fiscal years. 

Federal spending on renewable energy R&D dropped by nearly 50% between FY 2013 and FY 2016. A 

$255 million reduction in DOE's principal renewable energy R&D program, although spending increased 

on early-stage research by DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The principal NSF program funding renewable energy R&D in FY 2016 was the physical sciences. 

Physical science grants tend to address research at earlier stages than engineering grants (see Textbox: 

Research and development for general application at the end of this section). More than 70% of physical 

science grants went to solar energy research with virtually all of the remainder for other renewable 

energy (e.g., fuel cells). Engineering grants, which totaled slightly more than one-fifth of physical science 

grants, also principally funded solar energy research (56%). 

Major federal R&D programs for renewable energy are discussed below:

• Renewable Energy Research and Development (81.087). This R&D program is DOE’s largest 

renewable-related R&D program (note that DOE’s Office of Science programs are being treated 

as non-specific, as discussed in Textbox: Research and development for general application at 

the end of this section) and administers grants in the areas of solar, biomass, hydrogen fuel cells 
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and infrastructure, wind and hydropower, and geothermal.21 Projects in fuel areas except for 

biomass are exclusively related to electricity generation. Biomass projects also include biofuels 

research and related fuel-vehicle research. The largest category of award recipients in FY 2016 

was colleges and universities, which received more than one-third of all awards. Solar and wind 

have received most of the grant money for electricity projects over the years with solar 

receiving the largest share in FY 2016.

• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, Training and 

Technical Analysis/Assistance (81.117). This program is the longest-running direct assistance 

energy program, established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-438). As 

its name suggests, this program funds both energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. 

Within renewable energy, the program has a broad focus, including all forms of renewable 

energy use and production. Specifically, it provides financial assistance for information 

dissemination, outreach, training, and related technical analysis designed to encourage 

increased use of renewable and alternative energy and accelerate the adoption of new 

technologies to increase the use of renewable and alternative energy through the competitive 

solicitation of applications. More than half of FY 2016 awards supported Industrial Assessment 

Centers (IACs), whose primary goal is to train the next generation of energy engineers. IACs also 

offer feasibility studies to qualified plants to significantly improve their energy efficiency and 

promote renewable energy. This program also supports the Database for State Incentives on 

Renewable Energy (DSIRE),22 a website containing comprehensive information about incentives 

for renewable energy.

• National Science Foundation (47.041 and 47.049). NSF implements two research programs that

include sizable grant awards for energy research. Engineering grants provide engineering 

knowledge, education, and knowledge transfer to the broader population. However, only a 

fraction of engineering energy-related awards are oriented to specific fuel areas covered in this 

report. The most common renewable fuel studied in FY 2016 engineering grants was solar 

energy. Renewable projects range from basic engineering theory to studying engineering 

improvements for commercial projects and processes. The other major NSF energy project 

covers mathematics and physical sciences. 

Petroleum and natural gas. Table shows petroleum and natural gas-related federal direct expenditures 

while Table shows associated R&D outlays. Petroleum and natural gas-related direct expenditures, 

including R&D, would have been fairly stable except for the $298 million entry in FY 2013 for the 

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage program from the Department of Energy. In FY 2016, the National 

 21 Hydropower includes conventional hydropower as well as ocean energy (e.g., wave, tidal, etc.).

22 DSIRE also includes information about Federal renewable energy incentives.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 42

Clean Diesel Emissions Reduction Program increased to $33 million from $14 million in FY 2013. Other 

elements in this area, in aggregate, saw funding decrease slightly from FY 2013 ($140 million) to FY 2016 

($134 million). One example of an oil and natural gas-related direct expenditure program is

• The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Environmental Studies Program (ESP). The 

mission of the ESP is to enable the Department of the Interior (DOI) to perform its 

environmental stewardship duties by producing scientific research aimed at safer ocean-based 

energy production. The ESP is a strategic planning program and plans annual activities through a 

Study Development Plan. The National Academy of Sciences Committee on Offshore Science and 

Assessment (COSA) advises ESP on the scientific and technical aspects of the proposed study 

efforts. According to BOEM, the ESP budget is balanced annually and tracked to its ultimate use. 

When a study is complete, BOEM measures success and accountability with an OMB tool – the 

Environmental Studies Program Assessment Tool. 

Table 18. Estimates of natural gas- and petroleum-related energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 1 11 6 

Denali Commission Program - 90.100 - 11 6 

State Bulk Fuel Revolving Fund Grants - 10.857 1 - -

U.S. Department of Energy - 298 3 

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Application - 81.134 - 298 3 

State Heating Oil and Propane Program - 81.138 - 0 0 

Geologic Sequestration Site Characterization - 81.132 - - -

Inventions and Innovations - 81.036 - - -

U.S. Department of the Interior 2 5 17 

Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management State and Tribal Coordination - 15.427 - - 12 

BOEM Environmental Studies Program - 15.423 0 4 4 

Louisiana State University (LSU) Coastal Marine Institute CMI - 15.422 1 1 1 

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands - 15.038 - - 0 

U.S. Department of Transportation 48 55 42 

Pipeline Safety Program State Base Grant - 20.700 43 46 40 

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Program One Call Grant - 20.721 1 1 1 

Clean Fuels - 20.519 4 8 -

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 32 18 44 

National Clean Diesel Emissions Reduction Program - 66.039 - 14 33 

State Clean Diesel Grant Program - 66.040 32 5 12 

Total 83 388 111 
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Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Table 19. Estimates of natural gas- and petroleum-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Defense - - 1 

Basic Scientific Research - 12.431 - - 1 

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

U.S. Department of Energy 3 22 42 

Fossil Energy Research and Development - 81.089 3 11 38 

Conservation Research and Development - 81.086 - - 5 

Geologic Sequestration Training and Research Grant Program - 81.133 - 4 -

Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program -

81.135 0 8 -

U.S. Department of the Interior 1 0 2 

Safety and Environmental Enforcement Research and Data Collection for 

Offshore Energy and Mineral Activities - 15.441 - - 2 

Offshore Research Technology Center (OTRC) Texas Engineering Experiment 

Station (TEES) - 15.425 - - -

Marine Gas Hydrate Research Activities - 15.428 1 0 (0)

U.S. Department of Transportation 6 16 2 

PHMSA Pipeline Safety Research and Development Other Transaction 

Agreements - 20.723 6 16 2 

National Science Foundation - 25 8 

Engineering Grants - 47.041 - - 6 

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 - 25 2 

Total 10 64 56 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 44

Nuclear. Nuclear direct expenditures, inclusive of R&D, have decreased from $235 million in FY 2013 to 

$204 million in FY 2016. These activities are dominated by DOE program efforts. Unlike most kinds of 

federal energy assistance, nuclear support is higher in R&D than in direct expenditures. Note that some 

DOE R&D is not categorized by energy system category, as discussed in the Textbox: Research and 

development for general application at the end of this section; some of this basic R&D is also 

presumably used by the nuclear energy industry, as well as by others.

Table 20. Estimates of nuclear transformation-related energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Energy 50 23 25 

Epidemiology and Other Health Studies Financial Assistance Program - 81.108 1 13 14 

Nuclear Waste Disposal Siting - 81.065 9 5 6 

Transport of Transuranic Wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: States and 

Tribal Concerns, Proposed Solutions - 81.106 40 5 4 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 19 16 16 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program -

77.008 12 15 15 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Minority Serving Institutions Program 

(MISP) - 77.007 2 1 1 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Education Grant Program - 77.006 6 - (0)

Total 69 38 40 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Table 21. Estimates of nuclear transformation-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Energy 174 133 137 

Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstration - 81.121 174 133 137 

National Science Foundation 1 64 25 

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 1 64 25 

Engineering Grants - 47.041 0 0 1 
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U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 45

Table 21. Estimates of nuclear transformation-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016 (cont.)

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2 0 2 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Research Financial Assistance 

Program - 77.009 2 0 2 

Total 177 197 164 

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Energy efficiency, conservation and end use. Taken together, support for end use-related activities

decreased from $4.9 billion in FY 2013 to $4.0 billion in FY 2016 (see Table 22 for direct expenditures 

and Table 23 for R&D). The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program administered by the HHS, 

funded at $3.4 billion, accounted for almost 85% of the FY 2016 total. R&D program expenditures in 

these areas totaled $389 million, with most of this support originating at DOE. 

• The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). HHS administers the LIHEAP 

program, largely through state energy offices. This program provides direct payments and 

technical assistance to individual consumers, households, and multi-family building owners and 

tenants. Although a portion of LIHEAP support is used directly for energy consumption and 

could be considered a subsidy for consumption, the program is designed to free-up low-income 

consumer funds for other critical needs (rather than simply increasing energy services) and to 

provide information and assistance for energy conservation, weatherization, and other 

efficiency-enhancing measures. LIHEAP funding levels were $3.2 billion in FY 2013 and $3.4 

billion in FY 2016.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 46

Table 22. Estimates of conservation, efficiency, and end-use energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 36 25 6

Denali Commission Program - 90.100 - 4 3

Rural Energy for America Program - 10.868 36 19 2

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities - 10.859 0 1 0

Sun Grant Program - 10.320 0 0 -

U.S. Department of Energy 3,193 925 254

Weatherization Assistance for Low-Income Persons - 81.042 1,818 313 182

State Energy Program - 81.041 522 141 44

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance - 81.117 19 22 21

State Energy Program Special Projects - 81.119 9 11 7

National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment, and 

Economics - 81.105 0 - -

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Technology Deployment, 

Demonstration and Commercialization - 81.129 1 0 -

Office of Scientific and Technical Information - 81.064 - - -

Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program (EEARP) - 81.127 214 (0) -

Inventions and Innovations - 81.036 0 1 -

Geologic Sequestration Site Characterization - 81.132 - - -

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG) - 81.128 549 436 -

Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Application - 81.134 61 - -

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 5,614 3,247 3,368

Low Income Home Energy Assistance - 93.568 5,614 3,247 3,368

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 259 - (2)

Assisted Housing Stability and Energy and Green Retrofit Investments Program -

14.318 259 - -

Multifamily Energy Innovation Fund - 14.319 - - (2)

U.S. Department of Labor 62 (0) (0)

Green Jobs Innovation Fund Grants - 17.275 62 (0) (0)

U.S. Department of the Interior 6 2 0

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands - 15.038 6 2 0

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants - 15.148 - - -

U.S. Department of Transportation 220 23 -

Clean Fuels - 20.519 4 8 -

Capital Assistance Program for Reducing Energy Consumption and Greenhouse 

Gas Emissions - 20.523 216 15 -

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 101 - -

National Clean Diesel Emissions Reduction Program - 66.039 101 - -

Total 9,491 4,222 3,625
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 47

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Table 23. Estimates of conservation, efficiency, and end-use energy-specific research and 

development expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture - - 3

Agricultural Research Basic and Applied Research - 10.001 - - 3

U.S. Department of Defense - - 49

Basic Scientific Research - 12.431 - - 43

Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering - 12.630 - - 6

U.S. Department of Energy 643 569 280

Conservation Research and Development - 81.086 587 454 147

Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program -

81.135 18 87 116

Renewable Energy Research and Development - 81.087 34 28 18

Geologic Sequestration Training and Research Grant Program - 81.133 3 - -

U.S. Department of Transportation - - -

Hydrogen Storage Research and Development - 20.764 - - -

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 3 2 2

Surveys, Studies, Research, Investigations, Demonstrations, and Special Purpose 

Activities Relating to the Clean Air Act - 66.034 3 2 2

National Science Foundation 156 135 54

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 103 84 35

Engineering Grants - 47.041 53 51 18

Total 801 706 389

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 48

Electricity transmission and grid network. Support for transmission grid-related programs was 

dominated by the DOE’s Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Research, Development and Analysis 

program. This program accounted for 92% of total expenditures in this category. The program was 

expanded under ARRA and fell from $824 million in FY 2013 to $15 million in FY 2016 as ARRA funding 

authorities expired.

Table 24. Estimates of electricity transmission-related energy-specific direct expenditures by 

department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Agriculture 4 9 4

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities - 10.859 4 9 4

U.S. Department of Energy - - 8

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, 

Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance - 81.117 - - 8

U.S. Department of the Interior - - 0

Minerals and Mining on Indian Lands - 15.038 - - 0

Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grants - 15.148 - - -

Total 4 9 11

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Table 25. Estimates of electricity transmission-related energy-specific research and development 

expenditures by department and program, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016

million 2016 dollars

Department and Program - CFDA Number FY 2010 FY 2013 FY 2016

U.S. Department of Defense - - 0

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

U.S. Department of Energy 553 862 24

Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis -

81.122 518 824 15

Advanced Research and Projects Agency - Energy Financial Assistance Program -

81.135 1 10 8

Renewable Energy Research and Development - 81.087 34 28 -

National Science Foundation 13 25 25

Engineering Grants - 47.041 4 4 15

Mathematical and Physical Sciences - 47.049 8 21 9

Total 566 887 49
April 2018

U.S. Energy Information Administration | Financial Interventions and Subsidies 49

Notes: Totals may not equal sum due to independent rounding. Zero denotes rounding to zero value and a “-“symbol 

denotes a zero value. Appropriations made in either FY 2010, FY 2013, or FY 2016 federal agency budgets may be obligated 

and fund programs in subsequent fiscal years. DOE and totals exclude DOE’s Office of Science, Office of Science Financial 

Assistance Program.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Base Financial Data, FY 2010, FY 2013, and FY 2016; 

Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service, USASpending.gov - Government spending at your fingertips; 

website: https://www.usaspending.gov/, accessed December 1, 2014 (FY 2010 and FY 2013) and accessed November 16, 

2017 (FY 2016); and, U.S. General Services Administration, 2014 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, 

October 2014) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2014.pdf, accessed December 1, 2014 and 2017 Catalog of Federal

Domestic Assistance, (Washington, DC, October 2017) https://www.cfda.gov/downloads/CFDA_2017.pdf, accessed 

December 1, 2017.

Textbox: Research and development for general application

Research and development (R&D) in this report is treated as applying to specific parts of the U.S. energy 

system based on the research topics, program descriptions, and other available information, including 

information from the programs themselves in some cases.

R&D is broadly characterized as either basic or applied, or sometimes as upstream or downstream R&D 

investment, with upstream referring to basic research. R&D investment is more generally applicable to a 

wider variety of activities, both energy-related and non-energy-related, when the activity is aimed at 

basic or upstream technological improvement.

Basic R&D activities are not intended to support specific kinds of energy; instead they support advances 

in broadly applicable technologies such as high-speed computing or basic science such as physics. This 

concept is true of certain Department of Energy programs, notably those of the DOE’s Office of Science

(SC) under CFDA 81.049, the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program. EIA did not include these 

activities as line items in the direct expenditure and R&D expenditure tables for this report. With total

FY 2016 outlays reported at $1.2 billion, the specific DOE financial programs and FY 2016 outlays in this 

category include the following:

● Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research at $39 million

● Office of Basic Energy Sciences at $303 million

● Office of Biological & Environmental Research at $130 million

● Office of Fusion Energy Sciences at $168 million

● Office of High-Energy Physics at $117 million

● Office of Nuclear Physics at $181 million

● various small business research and technology transfer DOE programs at $214 million