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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that public relations firm, Milici Valenti Ng Pack, had been paid to promote the Big Wind project. However, the funds are being spent on promoting the state’s overall clean energy agenda, according to the state energy office, not just Big Wind. The total amount of the contract is $500,000, of which $320,000 had been paid to the agency as of the end of last year, according to federal records.

The state has spent about $30 million in stimulus funds provided by the White House in the past three years.

UPDATED Much of it has gone to bolstering the state energy office, to fund energy efficiency programs and to give electric vehicle rebates. Up to $500,000 is being spent on marketing to promote the state’s clean energy agenda.

The state energy office is on track to finish spending a total of $37 million in stimulus money by the end of the year. The original deadline for using all of the cash was the end of April, but that deadline has been extended.

Civil Beat reported previously on the slow pace of its allocation. And other states have struggled to expend similar grant money. But so far, about $29 million out of $37 million has been spent in Hawaii, and the rest has already been earmarked for projects this year.

“Frankly, we’ve done a pretty good job of managing that,” said Mark Glick, who leads the state energy office. He said it had been a top priority of the department.

One place it won’t be going is the so-called clean economy bank. Some had hoped that the state would take the balance of unspent stimulus funds and use it as seed money for a state run bank that would provide low-interest loans to clean energy companies. , which would create the bank, passed its final Senate committee on Wednesday and will now go to a floor vote.

But Glick said there was never any possibility that any of those funds could be used for the bank as pending allocations have already been approved by the federal government. He said that anyone who believes otherwise is “a bit uninformed.”

A review of government records tracking the money shows that much of it went to beef up staff and resources at the state energy office, which in the past has been viewed as a government backwater operated by a small staff.

Other priorities have included energy efficiency programs and advancing the relentlessly controversial Big Wind project.

The main purpose of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion federal stimulus program was to create jobs when the economy began to tank in 2007 under former President George Bush. But it’s unclear to what extent this small portion of it did that. Most of the allocations by the state energy office were made as sub-awards, and recipients of this grant money were not required to report job numbers.

According to federal data, 17.5 jobs were created from about $14 million in federal funding that was used directly by the state energy office and another seven jobs were created from about $10 million in funding that went to energy efficiency measures. But there is no information as to how many jobs may have been created, or will be created this year, by the rest of the $13 million in funding.

Jeff Matsu, who worked on a green jobs report for the state, which was funded through stimulus money, said that the federal reporting requirements, or lack thereof, made it difficult to assess.

While the purpose of the recovery act was to stimulate the economy, the funding given out to state energy offices across the country focused specifically on increasing energy efficiency and reducing reliance on imported energy sources.

The majority of the money, $26 million, went directly to the state energy office. It was used in part to nearly double the number of people working in the office, to about 35 people, according to Ted Peck, the former state energy administrator who was in charge of allocating much of the money before he left his position at the end of 2010.

“Really, when I look back at what happened, we really transformed the energy office,” he told Civil Beat. “Before, the energy office was really a sleepy corner that did studies.”

About $6 million went to pay for the new positions for three years. There were for travel and office equipment, though Glick said that the the energy office still had discretion over exactly how the funds would be spent.

The state energy office also passed on a large amount to energy efficiency programs, $6.2 million of which was filtered through the Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance. An additional $10 million went to issuing consumer rebates for energy efficiency appliances.

The energy office also provided at least $1.7 million in electric vehicle rebates, and gave money to private companies including Aeroenvironment, Better Place and Plug In America to build charging stations.

UPDATED Advertising firm, Milici Valenti Ng Pack, received about $320,000 for advertising and public relations, according to government records. While Peck said they were hired to promote the Big Wind project, the majority of the funds went to promoting the overall Clean Energy Initiative, according to state energy officials.

“There was reluctance at first in spending the money on that kind of outreach,” said Peck. “But we did it becuase it was clear that outreach and getting the people in the state of Hawaii onboard was going to be a critical component.”

The energy office also paid AECOM Technical $2 million to conduct environmental studies of undesea cables for the Big Wind project. And Navigant Consulting received a $280,000 for consulting services for the project.

Here’s where your money went. Data is taken from the federal government’s Recovery.org . For sub-awards, recipients did not have to report the purpose of the funds. Not all of the funding for the projects listed has been allocated yet.