Energy Department Fails its Own Energy Audit

Promoting energy efficiency is atop the Department of Energy’s charge for spending $38.7 billion of stimulus funds. Too bad the department has had trouble promoting energy efficiency within its own walls. The department’s inspector general recently released the results of an audit showing that the DOE has failed to run its own computer systems in an environmentally responsible manner. Apparently, some of the folks at the national labs dreaming up new ways to save energy in the future are really bad at turning off their computer monitors in the present...All told, the auditors estimated that DOE could save more than $1.5 million annually on energy bills if the staff just implemented the government’s own power-saving guidelines. And that’s just at the seven facilities surveyed, the report noted. Department-wide the savings could be greater...WSJ