Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed nine demonstration projects that the Department of Energy (DOE) funded under the Clean Coal Technology Program.

GAO found that: (1) seven of the nine projects experienced coordination, equipment, or financing problems that caused delays in completing project phases, cost overruns, and proposed project modifications; (2) DOE did not know what effect the delays would have on estimated project completion dates and its share of total project costs; and (3) the other two projects, which DOE funded in late 1988 to replace withdrawn proposals, were on schedule and did not experience any cost increases.