Grassley slams stimulus energy program following Energy Department report

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is alleging a new Energy Department report critical of DOE-backed home weatherization in Illinois reveals broad problems with the national home efficiency program that received $5 billion in the economic stimulus law.

Grassley, in a letter Tuesday to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, seizes on a new inspector general report that faulted the state of Illinois’ and Cook County’s implementation of a three-year, $242 million Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) grant.

“It is vital that the Stimulus dollars DOE is spending on state WAPs are used as effectively and efficiently as possible. However, this does not appear to be the case. A new audit report from the DOE Office of Inspector General (OIG) is yet another indication of the irresponsible nature in which taxpayer dollars are being spent under the stimulus-funded weatherization program,” Grassley writes.

The report by DOE’s internal watchdog released this week takes aim at the state and the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County (CEDA).

“The State of Illinois and CEDA's Weatherization Program experienced substandard performance in the areas of workmanship, initial home assessments, and contractors billing for labor costs not incurred an materials that were not installed. CEDA also had not always ensured that contractors' material costs were reasonable, a practice that could ultimately reduce the number of homes of low income families that can be weatherized with available Recovery Act monies,” the inspector general found.