Summary: The Professional Audit Review Team (PART) reviewed the performance of the Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA) as required by statute. The report addressed major funding and staff reductions in EIA activities and evaluated EIA performance of functions that are central to its ability to effectively perform its role.
PART found that the redirection of the federal energy role during the past year has resulted in a fundamental transformation in EIA, both in structure and operation. In line with major budgetary and staffing reductions, EIA reorganized its activities to focus on basic statistics and analyses by fuel type. EIA believes that its new structure will increase its effectiveness by streamlining functions and providing better coordination among offices. However, PART found that, in assigning its staff to the new offices, EIA gave inadequate attention to determining the number and types of skills each office needed. Given the chronic difficulties that EIA has experienced in the planning area for decisionmaking, and monitoring and controlling projects, PART believes that the implementation of this process should receive high priority and the attention of top EIA management. The independence and objectivity of EIA activities are essential to provide credible energy information and analysis. Based on its review of analytical products and of the EIA Annual Report to Congress, PART found no reason to believe that these activities are being affected by energy policy influences. Nevertheless, PART believes that EIA independence and objectivity are jeopardized by the absence of a centralized processing for the recording and monitoring of requests for analytical services.
