Inspection Report: DOE-OIG-26-07

January 14, 2026

Additional Actions Would Strengthen Georgia’s Internal Controls for Implementing the Home Energy Rebates Programs

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allocated $8.8 billion to the Department of Energy for issuing grants to states, U.S. territories, and Indian Tribes for distribution to the public in the form of home energy rebates. The Department’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs is responsible for the oversight and guidance of $218.8 million in grants awarded to Georgia. The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA) administers Georgia’s Home Energy Rebates programs.

We initiated this inspection to assess GEFA’s internal controls to administer the Home Energy Rebates programs under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

We determined that not all GEFA’s controls were adequate to administer the Home Energy Rebates programs under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Specifically, GEFA did not have a written policy for monitoring and assessing contractor and implementer performance for its oversight of two Home Energy Rebates programs. It is crucial that GEFA have a monitoring policy that includes clear objectives, methodologies, and responsibilities for assessing contractor performance. To its credit, and in response to our inquiry, GEFA developed a monitoring policy to address our finding.

A formal monitoring policy will help GEFA identify, assess, and respond to program risks and remediate deficiencies to ensure proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

To address the issue identified in this report, we made one recommendation that, if fully executed, should help ensure that GEFA’s internal controls are adequate to implement the Home Energy Rebates programs.