DOE Leadership and Management Structure (2020 Presidential transition)
| Book 1 - Corporate overview
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| Entire 2020 Transition book As of October 2020 |
The Department of Energy’s leadership and management structure is designed to address the evolving science, energy, security, and environmental challenges facing the Nation. The enterprise is comprised of the Office of the Secretary, including the Deputy Secretary, which provides leadership and strategic direction to achieve the Department’s missions, and three Under Secretaries, which manage the core functions that carry out DOE missions. For information about the current leadership team, visit: https://www.energy.gov/leadership.
DOE has approximately 13,000 Federal employees and over 95,000 National Laboratory staff and contractor employees at DOE’s nuclear security plants and environmental clean-up sites at 85 field locations throughout the United States. To coordinate the vast array of mission areas for which DOE has responsibility, the Department also uses boards, councils, and committees to address issues that cut across organizational lines.
The organizational chart depicts the Department’s structure, and descriptions of each DOE organization are included in the Organization Overviews.
Office of the Secretary
The Department of Energy Organization Act, as amended, establishes the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretaries as the principal officers of the Department.
The Secretary
The Secretary (S1) leads the Department of Energy across all of its missions and serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet and fourteenth in the line of Presidential succession. In accordance with the April 4, 2017, National Security Presidential Memorandum, the Secretary serves as a permanent member of both the National Security Council, which advises the President on the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security, and the Homeland Security Council, which advises the President on homeland security issues. In addition to attending regular meetings of each Council, which are chaired by the President, the Secretary participates in Principals Committee meetings, led by the National Security Advisor. As a key member of the President’s national security team, the Secretary also represents the United States at international forums on energy policy, energy security, and national security matters, and engages in bilateral and multilateral negotiations with heads of foreign governments.
Deputy Secretary
The Deputy Secretary (S2) serves as the chief advisor to the Secretary and is a permanent member of the National Security Council’s Deputies Committee, an interagency forum chaired by the Deputy National Security Advisor, which addresses policy issues affecting national security interests.
The Deputy Secretary also is the Department’s Chief Operating Officer. In that role, the Deputy Secretary leads major DOE initiatives in several priority areas, including cyber security, project management, and emergency preparedness and response. The Deputy Secretary also chairs a number of corporate councils, including, but not limited to, the Energy Systems Acquisition Advisory Board (ESAAB), which provides the Deputy Secretary with recommendations on DOE’s major construction projects (over $750 million); and the Cyber Council, which is the principal forum for coordinating cyber-related activities across DOE.
Several organizations report directly to the Secretary, including, for example, the Office of the General Counsel (GC); the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs (CI); and the Office of Public Affairs (PA). Other organizations are unique to DOE and play a vital role in supporting the Secretary’s and Deputy Secretary’s efforts to achieve the Department’s strategic policy goals. They are also instrumental in ensuring an enterprise-wide approach, resulting in greater consistency across the DOE complex. These organizations include:
- Office of Strategic Planning and Policy (SP) was created to streamline the formulation, development, and advancement of Departmental and Secretarial energy policy. SP shapes long- term strategic planning and policy consistent with the Secretary’s vision for DOE. SP also leads cross-program working groups to address long- standing challenges in such areas as critical minerals and collaborates with other agencies to leverage DOE expertise in advancing national priorities such as expanding space exploration. In addition, the National Laboratory Operations Board (LOB) reports to SP in order to coordinate DOE strategic planning and policy development efforts with the National Laboratories, as needed.
- Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CF) ensures the Department’s priorities are reflected in the annual budget, which the CFO has primary responsibility for developing. The budget is a key strategic tool for planning and shaping initiatives in support of the Department’s major mission areas, including those that cut across organizational lines, such as cyber security, energy storage, and artificial intelligence.
- Office of International Affairs (IA) advances United States objectives in energy security and represents the Department in intergovernmental forums and bilateral and multilateral proceedings that address the development and implementation of energy and economic strategies. IA advises the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and other DOE leadership on strategic implementation of United States’ energy policy. IA works closely with the State Department and the National Security Council in pursuit of Administration objectives.
- Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (IN) identifies and mitigates threats to DOE personnel, facilities, technology, and information; and also provides scientifically sound technical analysis on intelligence challenges. IN is an integral part of DOE’s national security mission and is well-integrated into the Intelligence Community (IC), allowing the IC to rely on DOE’s vast technical expertise.
- Office of Enterprise Assessments (EA) provides objective assessments on behalf of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary in the areas of nuclear and industrial safety; cyber and physical security; and other critical functions as directed by the Secretary and Deputy Secretary. The results of EA’s assessments provide valuable insights that are used to strengthen DOE operations, especially those involving security and worker safety.
- Advanced Research Project Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) invests in high-risk, high-impact technologies until the technologies attract investment for continued development from the private sector. ARPA-E focuses exclusively on early-stage technologies that could fundamentally change the way Americans receive, use, and store energy.
- Energy Information Administration (EIA) is a statistical and analytical agency within the Department that collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. EIA is the Nation’s premier source of energy information and, by law, its data, analyses, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the United States government. EIA prepares informative energy analyses, monthly short-term forecasts of energy market trends and long- term United States and international energy outlooks. Its Annual Energy Outlook provides vital information that is used by both United States government policymakers and energy industry leaders.
In addition, several other offices that perform mission support functions report directly to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary. This alignment strengthens lines of authority for these functions and promotes a coordinated approach to business operations across DOE. These offices include the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (HC); Office of Management (MA); Office of the Chief Information Officer (IM); Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (SB); Office of Hearings and Appeals (HG); and the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (ED).
The Under Secretaries
The Department of Energy’s three Under Secretaries lead the Department’s critical mission areas and advise the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on policy matters to advance the Department’s strategic priorities and address complex challenges facing the Department. The Under Secretary organizations are integral to ensuring that DOE line management has the resources and support needed to achieve their mission objectives. For example, the Under Secretary organizations coordinate the development of budget proposals with line management and advocate for those proposals. They also represent line organizations on various policy and operations councils, including the LOB and Cyber Council. In addition, the Under Secretaries provide oversight to ensure effective program execution.
Under Secretary of Energy
The Under Secretary of Energy (S3) serves as the principal Under Secretary and the Department’s principal advisor on energy policy, energy security, and applied technology research and development. To position the Nation to become more energy independent and develop energy policies and programs that lower costs and maximize the use of resources, the Under Secretary of Energy is focused on applied technologies that pertain to the operation and reliability of our Nation’s energy infrastructure. The Under Secretary of Energy has management responsibility for DOE’s three applied research laboratories as well as DOE’s four Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs). In addition, the Under Secretary of Energy is responsible for policy and oversight of safety, security, and project management across the DOE complex.
The Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), which was established in 2018, reports to the Under Secretary of Energy. CESER was formed to better position the Department to protect the energy infrastructure from emerging threats, especially cyber threats, and natural disasters. In addition, the Arctic Energy Office, which was recently established, reports to the Under Secretary of Energy to coordinate Arctic-related DOE initiatives in the areas of energy, science and national security.
Other organizations reporting to the Under Secretary include the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE); Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy (FE); Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy (NE); Assistant Secretary for Electricity (OE), which has responsibility for the four PMAs; Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE); Associate Under Secretary for Environment, Health, Safety and Security (AU); Loan Programs Office (LP); and Office of Project Management (PM).
Under Secretary for Science
The Under Secretary for Science (S4) serves as the Department’s principal advisor on fundamental energy research, energy technologies, and science. The Under Secretary drives this mission through programs, including nuclear and high energy particle physics; basic energy; science; advanced computing; fusion; and biological and environmental research. In executing the Department’s scientific mission, the Under Secretary for Science manages ten of the Department’s National Laboratories.
In addition, the Under Secretary for Science manages the vast environmental remediation and legacy management missions of the Department, addressing the U.S. legacy of nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research, including management of a DOE National Laboratory dedicated to research and development in support of the Department’s environmental remediation mission. The Under Secretary for Science also leads the Department’s expanding role in technology commercialization, especially for DOE’s National Laboratories.
In 2019, the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office (AI), which reports to the Under Secretary for Science, was established to coordinate DOE’s vast artificial intelligence research portfolio. Other offices reporting to the Under Secretary for Science include the Office of Science (SC); Office of Technology Transitions (TT); Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM); and Office of Legacy Management (LM).
Under Secretary for Nuclear Security
The Under Secretary for Nuclear Security (S5) also serves as the NNSA Administrator (NA-1). The Administrator’s responsibilities in leading the NNSA are outlined in the NNSA Act, most recently updated in February 2020. These responsibilities are operationally represented by NNSA’s three core missions: maintaining the safety, security and effectiveness of the nuclear deterrent; preventing, countering and responding to proliferation and terrorism threats; and providing operational support for naval nuclear propulsion.
NNSA continues to make great strides in executing its missions in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting major milestones on-time and within budget. Efforts are now underway to institutionalize the many lessons learned from operating during the pandemic to ensure NNSA’s ability to operate with minimal disruption in future emergency situations.
As NNSA’s mission scope continues to grow to meet national security requirements, NNSA’s workforce has adopted an enterprise-wide approach, instilling a culture of safety, efficiency, and effectiveness across all core mission areas.
Within NNSA, and with the Secretary’s support, the Agency has implemented numerous improvements in management and governance which are producing tangible results. This has been recognized in the recent findings of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Public Administration under their congressionally- mandated independent study assessing the governance and management of the Nuclear Security Enterprise.
In addition to the Federal workforce, the Administrator is responsible for the oversight of three National Laboratories, two laboratories managed by Naval Reactors, several production sites, and the Nevada Nuclear Security Site.
Independent Organization
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent regulatory commission within the Department that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines. These functions are not carried out by delegation from the Secretary; instead, these authorities are vested in the Commission itself. By statute, employees of FERC are not responsible or subject to the supervision or direction of any employee of any other part of the Department, including the Secretary. However, the Secretary may delegate functions to the Commission.