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As electricity demand varies throughout the day and year, operators of the electricity grid respond by continually increasing or decreasing the amount of electricity that they call upon power plants to generate. Some grid operators and other entities offer demand-response programs, which provide customers with financial incentives to reduce their electricity use during periods of peak demand. Consumers, including GSA and DOD--among the federal government's largest electricity users--may enroll in these programs. GAO was asked to examine GSA and DOD demand-response activities. This report examines: (1) steps these agencies have taken to facilitate their sites' participation; (2) the extent to which these agencies have participated in and benefitted from demand-response activities; and (3) challenges these agencies' sites face participating in these activities. GAO examined agency documents and data on participation and benefits, surveyed GSA regions and 20 selected DOD installations, and conducted interviews with officials. GAO recommends, among other things, that GSA and DOD consistently track and assess participation in demand-response programs, and DOD establish guidance encouraging participation and ask Congress to provide it with authority similar to GSA, allowing use of payments without further appropriation. GSA and DOD generally agreed with GAO's recommendations.

The gradual retreat of polar sea ice, combined with an expected increase in human activity -- shipping traffic, oil and gas exploration, and tourism in the Arctic region -- could eventually increase the need for a U.S. military and homeland security presence in the Arctic. As a result, the Department of Defense (DoD) must begin preparing to access, operate, and protect national interests there. House Report 111-491 directed DoD to prepare a report on Arctic Operations and the Northwest Passage, and specified five reporting elements that should be addressed. House Report 112-78 directed GAO to review DoD's report. GAO assessed the extent to which the following were accomplished: (1) DoD's Report to Congress on Arctic Operations and the Northwest Passage (Arctic Report) addressed the specified reporting elements, and (2) DoD has efforts under way to identify and prioritize the capabilities needed to meet national security objectives in the Arctic. GAO analyzed DoD's Arctic Report and related documents and interviewed DoD and U.S. Coast Guard officials. GAO recommends that DoD develop a risk-based investment strategy and timeline for developing Arctic capabilities needed in the near-term; and establish a forum with the Coast Guard to identify collaborative Arctic capability investments over the long-term. DoD and the Department of Homeland Security generally agreed with GAO's recommendations., Report to Congressional Committees.

This report formally transmits our January 2012 briefing to committees in response to section 332(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010 (section 332) and our response to House Report 111-166 regarding the Department of Defense's (DoD) energy-efficiency programs. The act and House report directed DoD to report on a specific set of energy issues and directed GAO to review DoD's report and submit to Congress a report on our findings. A summary of the eight required energy-efficiency reporting issues is included as enclosure I. Details on our findings and the basis for them are provided in enclosure II, Briefing for Congressional Committees January 2012, which consists of 19 briefing charts., Report to Congressional Committees.

Federal agencies with a budget of at least $100 million for research and development (R&D) conducted by others must participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. SBIR has four purposes: meet federal R&D needs, stimulate technological innovation, increase commercialization (e.g., sales) of innovations based on federal R&D, and encourage participation in innovation by small businesses owned by disadvantaged individuals and women. The Small Business Administration (SBA) oversees the efforts of participating agencies, which make awards to small businesses using SBIR funds. Congress directed SBA to develop a database with commercialization data for government use in evaluating the program. GAO was asked to determine the following: (1) how agencies have addressed SBIR's purposes, and (2) the extent of data available to evaluate progress in increasing commercialization. GAO analyzed program documents and interviewed officials at SBA and five agencies that accounted for about 96 percent of SBIR awards. These agencies were the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). GAO recommends that SBA work with participating agencies to do the following: (1) collect data on applications from small businesses owned by disadvantaged individuals and women, and (2) identify best practices for verification of commercialization data. SBA, DOE, and NSF generally agreed with these recommendations; the other agencies GAO reviewed neither agreed nor disagreed., Report to Congressional Requesters.

The April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU), showed that the consequences of an incident on an offshore energy facility can be significant. A key way to ensure that offshore energy facilities are meeting applicable security, safety, and production standards is through conducting periodic inspections of the facilities. The Coast Guard and the Department of the Interior (Interior) share oversight responsibility for offshore energy facilities. The Coast Guard is to conduct security inspections of such facilities, whereas based on an agreement between the two agencies, Interior is to conduct safety compliance inspections on some offshore facilities on behalf of the Coast Guard as well as its own inspections to verify production. This testimony addresses the following: (1) the extent to which the Coast Guard has conducted security inspections of offshore energy facilities, and what additional actions are needed; (2) the extent to which Interior has conducted inspections of offshore energy facilities, including those on behalf of the Coast Guard, and challenges it faces in conducting such inspections; and (3) the Coast Guard's oversight authority of MODUs. This testimony is based on GAO products issued from September 2008 through October 2011. GAO has previously recommended that the Coast Guard develop policies and procedures to monitor and track annual security inspections for offshore energy facilities and that Interior address its human capital challenges. The Coast Guard and Interior agreed., Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, House of Representatives.

The possibility of storing refined petroleum products as part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) has been contemplated since the SPR was created in 1975. The SPR, which currently holds about 700 million barrels of crude oil, was created to help insulate the U.S. economy from oil supply disruptions. However, the SPR does not contain refined products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, or jet fuel. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the SPR's capacity from 727 million barrels to 1 billion barrels, which it plans to do by 2018. With the possibility of including refined products as part of the expansion of the SPR, this testimony discusses (1) some of the arguments for and against including refined products in the SPR and (2) lessons learned from the management of the existing crude oil SPR that may be applicable to refined products., Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate.