Nellie Varlack

Despite facing recession-fueled budget cutbacks like the rest of government, the V.I. Energy Office has millions of dollars still available to help residents get solar hot water heaters, energy efficient appliances and more, officials said during budget hearings Friday.

Just one program, Sun Power Loan, has helped 464 families purchase solar hot water heaters through a 50 percent rebate and low-interest, one-percent loans, testified Nellie Varlack, director of Business and Administration for the Governor’s Office. There are another 200 loans to give out by the end of this year, said Energy Office Grants Manager Aminah Saleem.

A 40-year-old weatherization program got a big influx of cash from the 2009 federal stimulus, and 338 more homes are to be weatherized with the remaining $847,000 in funding before March 31, 2012, Saleem said.

Sen. Louis Hill asked Saleem to elaborate on the weatherization program.

"It helps residents who really can't afford to put in energy efficiency measures," Saleem said. The office will purchase and replace inefficient light bulbs, refrigerators and other power hungry appliances, provide water heater timers, power strips to turn off DVD players and such all at once; water-saving shower and sink faucets, among other measures.

There are still rebates and incentives to purchase home-based alternative power production, like solar panels or windmills; incentives to purchase fuel efficient and hybrid electric vehicles and more, Energy Office Director Karl Knight said.

The Energy Office was before the Senate Finance Committee to testify regarding its portion of the budget of the Office of the Governor. The Energy Office and V.I. Bureau of Economic Research operate through the Office of the Governor.

Varlack asked the Finance Committee to approve a budget of $10.8 million for the central operations of the Office of the Governor, the Bureau of Economic Research and the V.I. Energy Office—6 percent lower than the 2011 appropriation. Of the total funding, $8.9 million, more than 82 percent, will come from the general fund, a decrease of more than half a million dollars from 2011 levels. Another 10 percent of the budget will come from stimulus funds; just over 4 percent from the Stripper Well Fund, (a federal fund for energy programs using revenues from a 1989 settlement with oil companies) almost two percent from other federal funds, and 1.4 percent from the Tourism Revolving Fund.

Personnel salaries for 122 positions account for $4.7 million or 52.2 percent and benefits for another $1.6 million or 18 percent.

The Bureau of Economic Research is slated to receive $639,000 or 7.2 percent of the Governor's Office budget, and the V.I. Energy Office is to get $313,000 or 3.5 percent. The Energy Office also expects nearly $1 million in federal funds for a total of $2.1 million.

Government House representatives also touted what they regard as its achievements, including proposing legislation to adopt a package of austerity measures aimed at reducing 2011 and 2012 shortfalls; projects to improve the territory’s Medicaid program; establishing the Health Reform Implementation Task Force to ensure compliance with all provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and other actions.

“This will be a year of tough choices and of sacrifice and we are consistently challenged by the governor to do more with less and to develop new and innovative ways to continue to deliver services while reducing the cost of government. The Office of the Governor’s proposal represents our collective effort to do just that,” Varlack said in her testimony.