Relevance of GAO Report, "Improvements Needed in DOE's Efforts To Develop a Financial Reporting System"

A GAO report issued on July 31, 1978, identified shortcomings in efforts by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to meet its obligations under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and recommended corrective actions. Questions were raised about the relevance of this report to the EIA Financial Reporting System (FRS). The principal concern expressed in the report, that EIA has not adequately defined its data needs nor planned its intended use, is directly relevant to FRS. Subsection 205(h) of the act outlines four broad types of analyses that FRS is to facilitate, but these analyses are not related to specific policy objectives. Before the reporting system is implemented, certain questions should be answered relating to policy issues, information needs, specifics of data collection, and accounting practices. Recommendations in the July report relating to a reporting form for small producers and obligations to collect data from all producers do not apply to subsection 205(h).