March 25, 2002—David Garman, assistant secretary for the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), announced that the office is planning to reorganize to a “flatter” structure that focuses more on programs and less on sectors. Sectors, he said, develop and maintain processes that duplicate and conflict with corporate approaches, creating inefficiencies. Current sector offices—power, buildings, industry, transportation, and federal energy—will be replaced by eleven offices focusing on programs such as solar, geothermal, and hydrogen and infrastructure. These changes are designed to:
- Flatten organizations to make them more responsive;
- Focus on results, not process;
- Link budget with performance; and
- End overlapping functions, inefficiencies, and turf battles.
Garman expects the reorganization to take effect in May. A more detailed outline of the changes can be found on the EERE Web site.
