Activities of the Energy Information Administration

An evaluation was made of the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) by the Professional Audit Review Team (PART). In providing for the creation of EIA, Congress emphasized the need for a separate organization from DOE, capable of providing unbiased energy data and independent and objective analysis.

PART found no reason to question the independence of EIA from the energy policy function of DOE. EIA established an Office of Energy Information Validation (OEIV) and developed a program plan for OEIV which laid out the overall mission and a strategy for accomplishing preliminary tasks. However, PART found that no priorities have been assigned to the tasks and OEIV had produced only limited validation efforts. In reviewing the program plan, PART found the energy models and forecasts, in relation to the objectives set forth in the plan, to be unrealistic and overly ambitious. In addition, PART found that there was a lack of model documentation, a prerequisite for virtually all quality control activities, and that none of the EIA models were completed. As a result of the lack of documentation, the preliminary standards, procedures, and guidelines for validation scheduled for completion in 1979 fell behind schedule and were not completed. EIA has the responsibility for establishing a National Energy Information System, but limited progress has been made in developing the system.

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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