A Department of Energy office created during the Biden administration to support low-carbon energy may not have the staff it needs to monitor funded projects, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
The Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations supports projects demonstrating advanced technologies such as hydrogen, carbon capture and advanced nuclear.
As of August, OCED said it had 250 employees and needed 101 more to be fully staffed, according to GAO. OCED told the watchdog it is understaffed partly because it established its workforce to meet “immediate needs” as a new office within DOE.
It will take “time and prioritization” for remaining jobs to be filled, said the GAO report, which was released Thursday. The office also underestimated staffing needs because award negotiations were more “complex than anticipated,” the report said.
