FL: Millions in fraud, waste rampant in federal energy stimulus, reveals state audit

[Leweman]

Of the 176 energy grant programs offered to Florida, which received a total of $219 million, only 15 were found to have been completed on schedule and with accurate reports detailing how the money was spent.

The state Department of Agriculture reports that 129 projects will be allowed to continue, but it will have stronger oversight to track how the grants are administered. Putnam ordered that 32 programs, classified as “involved in fraud,” be discontinued and terminated.

The audit also found that one company received close to $200,000 in federal funds before declaring bankruptcy

FL: Millions in fraud, waste rampant in federal energy stimulus, reveals state audit « Watchdog News

 

[Ravi]

LOL! What a lot of nonsense and how well spun.

In reality:

Jacksonville, Fl.– In July, Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS), led by Commissioner Adam Putnam, issued an audit of energy initiatives across the state, including those funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or Stimulus Act.

The audit conclusively found that: “the State of Florida has benefited from the investment of ARRA funds…state agencies, local governments, profit and non-profit organizations, indicate that the rebates and grants awarded have led to emission reductions, energy savings, energy-cost savings and job creation and retention.”

The audit confirmed that 98.6% of the $175.86 million in Stimulus funding in Florida was invested in projects that were or are currently in the process of being successfully implemented. Despite this extraordinary level of success, news networks and special interest groups put focus instead on the less than 2% of projects that were terminated.

SACE - Southern Alliance for Clean Energy - Press Update

 

[Mad Scientist]

Hmm, State audit reveals fraud but a group that lives off of subsidies says there is no fraud.

Who do I believe?

 

[Ravi]

Hmm, State audit reveals fraud but a group that lives off of subsidies says there is no fraud.

Who do I believe?

You could read the audit yourself and form your own opinion. I know it's hard, but give it a try.

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/new...-02_Final_Report-Operational_Audit_of_OOE.pdf

 

[jillian]

yes... stimulus is soooo bad that paul ryan begged for it for his district and said how many jobs it creates...

SPRINGFIELD, Va. – After initially denying he had requested stimulus funds, GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has acknowledged that his office had sought the money for his Wisconsin congressional district and took responsibility for it.

Paul Ryan now says his office requested stimulus funds - Los Angeles Times

what happened was that:

Rep. Ryan wrote letters in 2009 to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies. One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., later received $20.3 million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses improve energy efficiency, according to federal records.

In a letter to Chu in December 2009, Ryan said the stimulus money would help his state create thousands of new jobs, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That contrasted with his public statements denigrating the stimulus program as a "wasteful spending spree." It also conflicts with his larger federal budget proposal, which would slash Energy Department programs aimed at creating green jobs.

Paul Ryan Called Stimulus Wasteful, Then Sought Funds

so much for stimulus not being a 'job creator'...

 

[Leweman]

yes... stimulus is soooo bad that paul ryan begged for it for his district and said how many jobs it creates...

SPRINGFIELD, Va. – After initially denying he had requested stimulus funds, GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has acknowledged that his office had sought the money for his Wisconsin congressional district and took responsibility for it.

Paul Ryan now says his office requested stimulus funds - Los Angeles Times

what happened was that:

Rep. Ryan wrote letters in 2009 to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies. One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., later received $20.3 million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses improve energy efficiency, according to federal records.

In a letter to Chu in December 2009, Ryan said the stimulus money would help his state create thousands of new jobs, save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That contrasted with his public statements denigrating the stimulus program as a "wasteful spending spree." It also conflicts with his larger federal budget proposal, which would slash Energy Department programs aimed at creating green jobs.

Paul Ryan Called Stimulus Wasteful, Then Sought Funds

so much for stimulus not being a 'job creator'...

It didn't work. Paul Ryan is an idiot for wanting it, but he can't just let everyone else piss away his constituents money based on principle. Ill still be voting for him hes much less of an idiot than Joe Biden.

 

[Leweman]

Hmm, State audit reveals fraud but a group that lives off of subsidies says there is no fraud.

Who do I believe?

You could read the audit yourself and form your own opinion. I know it's hard, but give it a try.

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/new...-02_Final_Report-Operational_Audit_of_OOE.pdf

Yes I recommend you do that.

 

[g5000]

Both sides of this issue are being misleading, which is not surprising.

I will start with this:

Of the 176 energy grant programs offered to Florida, which received a total of $219 million, only 15 were found to have been completed on schedule and with accurate reports detailing how the money was spent.

The state Department of Agriculture reports that 129 projects will be allowed to continue, but it will have stronger oversight to track how the grants are administered. Putnam ordered that 32 programs, classified as “involved in fraud,” be discontinued and terminated.

The audit also found that one company received close to $200,000 in federal funds before declaring bankruptcy

FL: Millions in fraud, waste rampant in federal energy stimulus, reveals state audit « Watchdog News

The phrase "only 15 were found to have been completed on schedule" is very misleading. The rest of the projects did not have a schedule and are ongoing. Projects which include rebates given to people who buy an appliance with an Energy Star rating and things like that. Those continue until the money runs out.

Moving on to this:

Hmm, State audit reveals fraud but a group that lives off of subsidies says there is no fraud.

Who do I believe?

You could read the audit yourself and form your own opinion. I know it's hard, but give it a try.

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/new...-02_Final_Report-Operational_Audit_of_OOE.pdf

I am always grateful when someone provides the source material. Thank you very much.

In that report we find some not so good things. The Watchdog claims of poor monitoring are correct. See "AUDIT RESULTS" starting on page 3 of the report.

We also find that actual returns on investment are far below the returns on investment that were projected. See the charts on pages 21, 23, and 24. Much of this may be the result of the poor track record of reporting and monitoring.

The state of Florida has a serious problem monitoring how the stimulus money was spent and getting the recipients to report their results. This does not bode well for the prevention of fraud.

Also, the number of jobs created is pathetically low and also below what was projected.

Since the inception of the program in 2006, 792 jobs were created or retained, and energy savings in excess of $58 million were realized.

This report combines several government programs, only one of which was the federal stimulus. All of them combined "created or retained" just 792 jobs in the past 6 years! That is certainly nothing to brag about.

Also, they blew about a billion dollars total, and got $58 million of that back for their efforts. Does this make sense?

2006 is many years before the stimulus, so they are really reaching back to try and make the stimulus look good. They also do not distinguish between jobs created and jobs "retained", which strongly suggests job creation has been incredibly weak.


.

 

[Conservative]

Hmm, State audit reveals fraud but a group that lives off of subsidies says there is no fraud.

Who do I believe?

You could read the audit yourself and form your own opinion. I know it's hard, but give it a try.

http://www.freshfromflorida.com/new...-02_Final_Report-Operational_Audit_of_OOE.pdf

go check TM's thread where I linked to the audit and pasted the parts about fraud.