Layoffs in store at NREL

Up to 100 scientists may go as Congress slashes budget

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden plans to lay off as many as 100 scientists and researchers, or 11 percent of its total staff, beginning early next month as it faces drastic cuts in its budget.

The fiscal 2006 cuts, estimated at more than $20 million, or 10 percent of its $200 million budget in fiscal 2005, are the result of Congress earmarking or diverting a big chunk of federal funds toward other projects.

In fiscal 2006, Congress cut the Department of Energy's budget for all renewable energy programs by more than 35 percent. As a result, DOE, which funds NREL as well as other national labs, has cut the total amount it will give the lab in Golden. NREL does research in wind, biomass, solar and hydrogen technologies.

"We are going to face a very difficult year at NREL," said Bob Noun, NREL's deputy associate director. "This is a real paradox.

"At a time in which renewable energy enjoys significant bipartisan support in Congress, that very support has spawned all of these projects around the country that have diverted funds from NREL's research programs."

And in a bipartisan move, Colorado's congressional delegation, including Democrats Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Mark Udall and Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez, have criticized the cuts and are pressing the DOE to find ways to minimize the impact on NREL.

"We are hearing there could possibly be as many as 100 people laid off," said Beauprez press secretary Jordan Stoick.

"Congressman Beauprez is very concerned about the potential impact on NREL and has contacted officials at DOE to remind them of the importance of NREL not only to the local economy but also to our country's energy needs, especially at a time when we need to do everything we can to help develop alternative sources of energy," Stoick said.

NREL's staff reduction, to begin early next year, would be the third largest in its 28-year history.

The largest reduction was in 1981, when NREL laid off nearly half its staff, or 500, under the Reagan administration.

The second largest was under the Clinton administration in 1996, when the lab laid off 225 employees.

NREL currently has 930 employees and 170 contractors.

"Clearly, laying off 100 employees will affect the morale and affect the product, which in NREL's case is research and development and outreach," Udall said. "Cutting more than 10 percent of the staff out of the blue, especially at a place as lean as NREL, will have a detrimental effect on our goal of becoming energy independent."

Udall said he and Beauprez were not in the conference room when various members of Congress added the fund appropriations to the final bill in the House, thereby crowding out funding for the NREL programs.

Udall said he and Beauprez are calling DOE officials and looking at other sources of funds to cover NREL's budget shortfall.

In an e-mail statement, Salazar said: "(Monday's) news of budget cuts at NREL is disturbing, and I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees to restore and bolster NREL's funding."

The DOE is working with NREL management on the budget issue.

Noun said that the lab, which gets almost all of its funding from just one DOE program - Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy - is discussing funding from other programs with the DOE. But that won't be determined until early 2006.

"We at the DOE are actively engaged in balancing Congress' priorities with ongoing research activities at NREL," said DOE spokesman Mike Waldron. "It is likely, however, some positions will be affected. But at this point we are in the process of evaluating the impact of congressionally directed projects both on jobs and research areas."

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2976