Audit Report: IG-0689

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) project
officials were not always sufficiently involved in managing
projects funded by cooperative agreements with
commercial organizations. Our review of 20 project files
revealed that 12 were missing evidence that an initial
assessment of the feasibility of the technology had been
performed before the award was made, although this
assessment is specifically required by Federal regulation.
These reviews are important to the success of the project
and provide an independent and objective examination of
the technical feasibility of an award. In addition, we noted
that 14 project files contained no indication that site visits
to verify the status of the project were performed as
required after the award. As noted by the Department's
Guide to Financial Assistance, site visits help Federal
managers evaluate programmatic progress and financial
and business management aspects of the project, as well as
identify other issues that could affect the success of the
project.