The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden will lay off up to 40 staffers and faces a proposed $10 million budget cut for the coming year.
The cutbacks come a week after President Bush said in his State of the Union address that finding alternatives to oil was vital to the nation’s economic competitiveness.
The layoffs at NREL – the nation’s top renewable energy lab – are the result of moving current- year spending to projects in other states.
NREL spokesman George Douglas confirmed “between 30 and 40” layoffs as soon as Friday.
That is fewer than the 100-worker cut outlined in a December memo to employees by NREL director Dan Arvizu.
On top of that, NREL’s proposed 2007 budget of $162 million – released Monday by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman – is $10 million less than the lab’s current appropriation.
In his State of the Union speech Jan. 31, Bush said the country is “addicted to oil” and must wean itself from foreign imports.
Bush put a premium on alternative-fuel vehicles, ethanol from agricultural waste, solar power and wind technologies.
“The president said all the right things about energy in his State of the Union speech, but his actions do not match his words,” U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said in a statement.
“How do layoffs at NREL and a flat budget for next year add up to a commitment to new thinking on energy?” Udall said.
DOE spokesman Craig Stevens said the proposal directs $34.5 million to NREL for research and development of wind energy, $27.5 million for biomass, $14 million for hydrogen and $44 million for solar.
“We’re going to work hard this year to make sure we front programs that work,” Stevens said. “NREL is certainly one of the jewels of the national laboratory system, and we’re going to get back on track and move forward with these things that are important.”
U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said the budget shows Bush’s commitment to renewable energy.
The proposed cuts, however, belie Bush’s commitment to alternative energy, said Drew Nanis, a spokesman for Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo. “We’d like to see a willingness to back up those words with action.”
The DOE budget calls for increases in plug-in hybrid fuel, hydrogen fuels, fuel cells, photovoltaics and wind, said Scott Sklar, president of the Stella Group, a Washington energy consultancy.
But to help the new programs, the budget cuts out funding for concentrating solar power, geothermal power and hydropower.
“Will that come out of NREL?” Sklar said. “Yes. I would say it’s probably a wash for NREL.”
Staff writer Dave Curtin can be reached at 303-820-1276 or dcurtin@denverpost.com.
