NEW ORLEANS — Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, revealed an aggressive new agenda for energy efficiency at the Consortium for Energy Efficiency Industry Partners Meeting here.

Presenting the keynote address to CEE members and industry representatives, Zoi described the Obama Administration's commitment to scale up energy efficiency as the best approach to energy security and economic growth.

In a separate announcement, DOE said that it would award state and local governments up to $454 million to create building energy-retrofit models that could be replicated nationally.

The “Retrofit Ramp-Up” program, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will support large-scale models that could spearhead energy-efficiency opportunities in neighborhoods, towns and states. The agency plans to award up to $390 million to states, U.S. territories, counties, cities and American Indian tribes for neighborhood-scale building energy retrofits. An additional $64 million will be for cities, counties and state-recognized tribes that were not eligible to receive the formula grants announced earlier this year.

Also at the CEE Industry Partners meeting, Zoi and Maria Vargas, Energy Star communications and brand manager at the EPA, announced an expanded EPA/DOE partnership on energy efficiency. Energy Star will be managed as a single program. DOE will take primary responsibility for product and service research and testing, while EPA will manage the Energy Star brand and outreach to the public.