The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Sustainability Performance Office (SPO) oversees departmental compliance with federal sustainability laws and requirements and reports on DOE’s progress. Sustainability requirements by sustainability goals can be found in the Federal Energy Management Program’s Federal Laws and Requirements Search tool. Sustainability related information for reporting agency level progress is collected in the DOE Sustainability Dashboard.

Sustainability Performance Plans

Each year, Department of Energy prepares a sustainability plan. The plan provides a uniform framework for agencies to assess progress to date and plan for attainment toward federally mandated sustainability goals and requirements. The annual plan is submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and released publicly at https://www.sustainability.gov/doe.html.

The fiscal year (FY) 2022 plan marks the thirteenth issuance of the annual plan. The latest plan highlights DOE’s performance against key sustainability goals, including reductions to emissions, energy and water intensity, and fleet petroleum. While this progress is notable, the plan serves to ensure DOE maintains these gains while making strides to improve sustainability performance in all goal areas.

Historic Sustainability Plans available here

Climate Adaptation & Resilience Plan

In 2021, Executive Order 14008 asked each agency to prepare a climate action plan to respond to the climate crisis. DOE issued the Climate Adaptation & Resilience Plan (CARP) and Climate Adaptation Policy Statement to affirm its commitment to lead by example in federal efforts and manage the short and long-term effects of climate change on its mission, policies, programs, and operations. This forward-looking plan identifies and prioritizes the Department’s adaptation and resilience efforts to ensure DOE continues to meet its mission despite climate change impacts. The actions described in this plan apply to all DOE programs and facilities and will be updated as needed.

The Department’s approach described in this plan consists of several adaptation strategies such as reducing energy demand, increasing energy efficiency and grid modernization efforts, as well as enhancing and deploying microgrids, distributed energy resources, and storage. In addition, DOE sites and offices will conduct climate vulnerability assessments and develop resilience plans no later than one year from issuance of the CARP and update these documents at least every four years. SPO has issued an updated site-level Vulnerability Assessment & Resilience Plan Guidance for the Department.

The 2022 CARP Progress report is available here.

OMB Scorecard

OMB publishes annual federal scorecards that demonstrate agency sustainability performance. DOE’s FY 2022 scorecard serves as a benchmark to see where the Department has been successful in achieving its sustainability goals, reducing emissions, minimizing operating costs, and identifying opportunities for improvement.

The federal government must lead by example; thus, agencies set and strive to meet aggressive targets for saving energy and water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing waste. Based on benchmarks in the scorecard, DOE will update its annual Sustainability Plan to continue building on accomplishments and find additional ways to meet and exceed its sustainability goals.

Historic OMB Scorecards available here.  

Contact Us

For additional information about planning and reporting, contact SPO.