Information on Budget Reductions in Energy Information Administration Programs

GAO provided information on budget reductions in Energy Information Administration (EIA) programs, addressing the question of their effects on six EIA programs. To adjust for a 38-percent budget reduction since fiscal year (FY) 1981, EIA consolidated or eliminated a number of its activities and programs. Nevertheless, EIA has been able to spend more moneys than appropriated in FY 1983 and 1984 because it built up a large balance of carryover funds from previous years. In FY 1984, EIA expects expenditures to be about $6 million more than appropriated. GAO noted that two of the six programs it reviewed were unaffected by the reductions, while reduced reliability and collection of data impacted the remaining programs.