Audit: Energy Department could save energy

‘Setback controls’ lacking, broken or unused at 35 of 55 large facilities

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The U.S. Department of Energy is wasting enough electricity to power more than 9,800 homes a year by failing to turn down the heat or air conditioning when its workers leave for the day, auditors said Thursday.

“In spite of its energy conservation leadership role, we found that the department and its facility contractors did not place adequate emphasis on reducing energy consumption” by adjusting their after-hours thermostats, Inspector General Gregory Friedman wrote.

The auditors found temperature “setback controls” lacking, broken or unused in 35 of 55 large buildings at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee; the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state.

MSNBC