Dive Brief:

• The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wants to know if federal funding for two renewables groups wound up being used to lobby for state solar subsidies, a potential violation of federal lobbying laws, Bloomberg reports. 
• Earlier this month, lawmakers sent letters to both the Interstate Renewable Energy Council and Clean Energy States Alliance requesting documents related to the groups' use of funds from the federal SunShot program. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was also sent a letter about the groups' use of federal funding.
• The Department of Energy has given IREC almost $30 million since 2010 for renewable outreach, while Clean Energy States Alliance has received more than $2 million. 

Dive Insight:

The Department of Energy's SunShot program is supposed to be a national collaborative that works to make solar energy cost-competitive by the end of the decade. Funding through the program is not supposed to be used to lobby for state subsidies—a possible violation of federal lobbying laws. But two advocacy groups awarded millions may have broken those rules, say lawmakers, and they are pressing for additional information.

In an Aug.16 letter to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, the House committee told the group "your reliance on an outside law firm has raised questions about whether your organization’s activities may have run afoul of the anti-lobbying act."

The company received $28 million through the SunShot program since 2010, and lawmakers say they are particularly interested in how those funds were used at the state legislative level. In 2013 and 2014, the group paid a law firm about $2.7 million. 

The company said it responded to the committee's request for information on Aug. 30, noting in a statement to Utility Dive that "IREC does not engage in lobbying and is confident its activities have not violated the Anti-Lobbying Act."

CESA has received $2.2 million since 2013, including more than a half million in May, the letter noted. The group's use of those funds has also drawn lawmaker interest, since "part of CESA's work involves rooftop solar projects under the SunShot initiative," sparking interest as the cost for energy from rooftop solar systems is significantly higher than utility-scale solar, according to the letter.