Page 1 GAO-25-106748 Clean Energy
In December 2021, the Department of Energy (DOE) established a new office—
the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED)—to manage a historic
amount of appropriated funding for clean energy demonstration projects. Such
clean energy projects in areas including carbon capture, hydrogen, and
advanced nuclear are intended to help lower the investment risk of new
technologies and allow for additional large-scale private investment and the
commercialization of such technologies.
The DOE Office of Inspector General and GAO have previously reported on risks
related to DOE’s management of demonstration projects including related to the
agency’s selection of projects and to human capital issues such as insufficient
federal staffing and heavy workloads for project oversight officials.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes a provision for us to
review this new office (Pub. L. No. 117-58, § 41201(f)(2), 135 Stat. 429, 1131
(2021)). Specifically, this report examines OCED’s establishment and its program
development and proposal review process for issuing awards for projects.
• As of October 2024, OCED issued at least one funding opportunity
announcement calling for project proposals for all of its eight portfolio areas.
OCED has also selected some projects for negotiation and finalized some
awards in most of its portfolios. In doing so, OCED has been responsive to
some of our relevant prior recommendations such as by providing time to
negotiate final award agreements.
• OCED’s activities generally follow six leading practices that our prior work
has shown can be effective in enhancing and sustaining federal agency
coordination, such as bridging organizational cultures, including relevant
participants, and leveraging resources and information. OCED’s activities
partially aligned with the two remaining practices—defining common
outcomes and ensuring accountability.
• To provide greater assurance that its activities are aligned with meeting its
goals, we recommend that OCED define goals for all OCED activities, collect
performance information to measure progress toward goals, and use that
information to assess results and make decisions.
• With 250 employees as of August 2024, OCED identified that it needs to fill
101 positions to be fully staffed. To provide greater assurance that OCED will
have an adequate and capable workforce to meet its mission and goals, we
recommend that OCED monitor and evaluate progress toward human capital
goals and develop a strategic workforce plan.
U.S. Government Accountability Office
: New DOE Office Should Take
Steps to Improve Performance Management
and Workforce Planning
-25-106748
Report to Congressional Committees
ovember 14, 2024
