Sep. 17--The state has been awarded some $32 million in federal stimulus funds for energy conservation and alternative energy projects and hasn't spent a dime yet. But state officials say they are making plans, and they will share what they know with the public Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Health Department auditorium.

David Farmer, dean of the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, has agreed to chair the so-called Energy Review Team that was appointed to help supervise distribution of the energy stimulus money.

Farmer replaces two co-chairmen of the review team who both left their state jobs last summer. They were Jeffrey Seemann, another URI dean, and Andrew Dzykewicz, who headed the state's Energy Office.

The agenda calls for announcing the revised membership for the review team, a new alignment for the Office of Energy Resources and the status of the state's progress in handling the energy stimulus money.

The state received $22 million in stimulus money in July. This week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it awarded Rhode Island another $9.5 million for distribution as energy block grants to communities. The state also has more than $5 million in proceeds from selling carbon credits.

Amy Kempe, spokeswoman for Governor Carcieri, said Wednesday that a number of factors have delayed distribution of the funds, including a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor on what prevailing wages should be for weatherization workers. That ruling has been made, she said, so millions of dollars in weatherization money should start being awarded in October.

So far, Kempe said, $32 million has been awarded to the state.

"Have we spent any?" she was asked.

"No."

"Are we moving the ball down the field?"

"Yes."

"Are we far behind other states?"

No, she said.

Across the country, she said, less than 1.5 percent of federal energy stimulus money has been spent.

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