Description:
H.R. 762 would designate the Department of Energy as the lead agency to coordinate and disseminate information on existing federal programs that aim to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and retrofit projects in schools. Using information about the cost of similar efforts, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 762 would cost $2 million over the 2020-2024 period. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. Those costs would stem from coordinating and collaborating among federal agencies, providing technical assistance to states, and creating an online resource for schools. CBO estimates that the department would need three new employees to carry out these duties, at an annual cost of about $500,000. On September 13, 2019, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for S. 253, the Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act of 2019, as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on July 16, 2019. The two pieces of legislation are similar, and CBO’s estimate of their budgetary effects are the same.
