Skip to main content

Lapse in Appropriations

Please note that a lapse in appropriations has caused GAO to shut down its operations. Therefore, GAO will not be able to publish reports or otherwise update this website until GAO resumes operations. In addition, the vast majority of GAO personnel are not permitted to work. Consequently, calls or emails to agency personnel may not be returned until GAO resumes operations. For details on how the bid protest process will be handled during the shutdown, please see the legal decisions page. For information related to the GAO Personnel Appeals Board (PAB), please see the PAB webpage.

Proposed Sale of the Great Plains Coal Gasification Project

T-RCED-88-34 Published: Apr 13, 1988. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 1988.
Jump To:

Highlights

GAO discussed the Department of Energy's (DOE) proposed sale of the Great Plains Coal Gasification Project, focusing on the: (1) financial return should the federal government maintain ownership of the project; (2) estimated price that would equal the project's retention value; and (3) effect on the federal budget. GAO found that: (1) potential net revenues from continued federal ownership could total about $1.5 billion; (2) for the government to be as well off financially from selling the project as it would be from retaining ownership, it would have to sell the project for an estimated $1 billion; (3) sale of the project would reduce the federal deficit in the year of the sale; and (4) a low sale price would tend to increase the federal deficit over the long term because future cash and tax revenues would be less than the revenues to be realized from continued ownership.

Full Report

Full Report (16 pages)

Media Inquiries

Sarah Kaczmarek
Managing Director
Office of Public Affairs
media@gao.gov

Public Inquiries

Contact Us

Topics

Energy
Alternative energy sourcesCoalCost effectiveness analysisFederal facilitiesFinancial managementFossil fuelsFuel researchFuel salesGas pipeline operationsSynthetic fuelsCoal gasification