Department of Energy Can Improve Management of the Acquisition of Major Projects

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-109 directs Federal agencies to develop guidance to manage their major system acquisitions. The Department of Energy (DOE) has spent more than 2 years developing directives in accordance with OMB Circular A-109 and recently issued the final directives for its major systems. These systems are very costly, complex projects. GAO reviewed the development and procurement of such projects to find out what problems remain.

GAO found that DOE had not adequately identified its mission areas. Major headquarters offices did not prepare mission analyses to identify and set priorities for the agency's requirements. DOE management lacked total commitment to support project management, thereby limiting the role and authority of the project manager. This was evidenced by the limited number of approved project manager charters, project plans, and project management plans. In addition, the project manager generally operates under two levels of authority; a field operations manager and the Washington headquarters manager. The review and evaluation of major system acquisitions by the DOE advisory board was limited because pertinent documentation, such as independent cost estimates, approved project plans, and project management plans, was missing.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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