Today's announcement that three top Department of Energy officials will soon be stepping down has added to the exodus of political appointees at DOE.

The departure of acting Undersecretary Cathy Zoi comes as a double blow because she also serves as the assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy (EERE). Also heading out the door in the coming weeks are Energy Secretary Steven Chu's chief of staff, Rod O'Connor, and agency General Counsel Scott Harris (Greenwire, Feb. 22).

In less than six months, DOE has also seen the departure of several key officials, including Undersecretary for Energy Kristina Johnson, stimulus adviser Matt Rogers, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy James Markowsky and Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Warren "Pete" Miller.

Zoi was tapped to replace Johnson in mid-September when her departure was announced.

All the turnover has led some industry insiders to question whether the departures have something to do with Republicans' having subpoena power now that they control the House.

One energy expert pointed out today that EERE is a program that received a great deal of money through the stimulus program and that Republicans clearly are not happy with how that money has been spent.

In discussing DOE's proposed 2012 budget last week, House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) said that "a lot of money has been spent to date in the department under the stimulus bill, and I think I'm not sure it has all been spent very wisely, I'm not sure it can all be accounted for."

A top DOE official cautioned against reading anything into today's departures and said that they should not be viewed as anything more than an unfortunate but inevitable part of life in Washington.

"I don't believe it's an indication of anything other than the typical rate of turnover," the official said.