The Trump administration revealed this week a revamped organizational chart for the Department of Energy, one which dumps several offices focused on renewable energy while elevating fusion.
The shakeup eliminates the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, the Office of State and Community Energy Programs, and Grid Deployment Office, and the Office of Federal Energy Management programs.
On the other side of the ledger, the DOE has created a new Office of Fusion and merged geothermal and fossil fuels under the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office.
Some of these moves will likely spur legal challenges, E&E News points out, given that at least one office caught up in the reorg, the OCED, was authorized by Congress under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
“The authority of Cabinet secretaries to move around major functions and offices is very limited, especially when those offices were established and funded through congressional action. Congress has put tight handcuffs on reorganizations, and plans typically require either congressional approval or the opportunity for congressional review,” Donald Kettl, a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, told E&E News.
The creation of the Office of Fusion was likely spurred to encourage commercialization of the technology. Previously, fusion fell under the Office of Science, which is focused on research rather than commercialization.
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