Audit Report on "Management Controls over the Department of Energy's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - Louisiana State Energy Program"

The Department of Energy's (Department) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) provides grants to states, territories and the District of Columbia (states) to support their energy priorities through the State Energy Program (SEP). Federal funding is based on a grant formula that considers the population and energy consumption in each state, and amounted to $25 million for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) expanded the SEP by authorizing an additional $3.1 billion to states using the existing grant formula. EERE made grant awards to states after reviewing plans that summarize the activities states will undertake to achieve SEP Recovery Act objectives, including preserving and creating jobs; saving energy; increasing renewable energy sources; and, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. EERE program guidance emphasizes that states are responsible for administering SEP within each state, and requires each state to implement internal controls over the use of Recovery Act funds. The State of Louisiana received $71.6 million in SEP Recovery Act funds; a 164-fold increase over its FY 2009 SEP grant of $437,000. As part of the Office of Inspector General's strategy for reviewing the Department's implementation of the Recovery Act, we initiated this review to determine whether the Louisiana State Energy Office had internal controls in place to efficiently and effectively administer Recovery Act funds provided for its SEP program. Louisiana developed a strategy for SEP Recovery Act funding that focused on improving energy efficiency in state buildings, housing and small businesses; increasing Energy Star appliance rebates; and, expanding the use of alternative fuels and renewable energy. Due to a statewide hiring freeze, Louisiana outsourced management of the majority of its projects ($63.3 million) to one general contractor. Louisiana plans to internally manage one project, Education and Outreach ($2.6 million). The remaining funds are allocated to program specific management expenses, including the contractor's fee, a monitoring contract, and Louisiana's payroll expenses ($5.7 million). Louisiana formally approved the general contractor in February 2010. State officials plan to initiate a separate consulting contract for monitoring, verifying and auditing expenditures, energy savings and other metrics as required by EERE for Recovery Act funding