Calendar Year 2020

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act), the Department of
Energy's Geothermal Technologies Program received $400 million to promote the exploration
and development of new geothermal fields and innovative research into advanced geothermal
technologies. This funding represents an almost ten-fold increase over the $44 million originally
appropriated to the Geothermal Technologies Program for 2009. As of January 2011, the
Department had awarded $368 million in financial assistance agreements for 135 geothermal
technologies projects, with about $68 million having been expended.
Recovery Act funding supports geothermal projects undertaken by private industry, academic
institutions, tribal entities, local governments, and the Department's National Laboratories. The
projects, covering activities in 39 states, represent a significant expansion of the U.S. geothermal
industry and are intended to create or save thousands of jobs in drilling, exploration,
construction, and operation of geothermal power facilities and manufacturing of ground source
heat pump equipment.
We initiated this audit to determine whether the Department had effectively managed the
geothermal awards funded under the Recovery Act.

Testimony on the work of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning the Department of Energy's (Department) implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). The intent of the Recovery Act was to quickly stimulate the economy and create jobs while fostering an unprecedented level of accountability and transparency. The Recovery Act also provided the Department with a platform to transform its mission, particularly in the areas of scientific discovery, alternative energy sources and technological innovation.

National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec), has managed and operated the Nevada
National Security Site since July 1, 2006, for the National Nuclear Security
Administration's (NNSA) Nevada Site Office. NSTec is a joint venture between
Northrop Grumman Corporation (Northrop Grumman), AECOM, CH2M Hill, and
Nuclear Fuel Services. The contract requires NSTec to establish and maintain an
independent internal audit function and to develop an Internal Audit Implementation
Design that describes the audit organization, lines of reporting, oversight responsibilities,
and auditing standards to be followed.

In February 2009, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (Recovery Act) into law. The Department of Energy's (Department) Office of
Science received approximately $1.6 billion through the Recovery Act which it used to
invest in science projects including approximately $97 million for major construction,
laboratory infrastructure, and research efforts at the SLAC National Accelerator
Laboratory (SLAC) located in Menlo Park, California. These funds were allocated to
eight projects to improve mission readiness and science capability. SLAC is managed
and operated by Stanford University. The SLAC Site Office is responsible for overseeing
SLAC, including its management of these projects.

The goal of the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program (Program), as defined in the
Energy Policy Act of 2005, is to provide Federal support, in the form of loan guarantees, to spur
commercial investments in clean energy projects that use innovative technologies. The
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 amended the Energy Policy Act and
temporarily expanded the Program by providing loan guarantees for renewable energy systems,
electric transmission systems and leading edge biofuels projects. The Department estimates that
the Program, one of the largest of its kind in U.S. history, can guarantee up to $71 billion in
loans.