Audit of VA’s Green Management Program Solar Panel Projects

Senator John Boozman and Congressman French Hill of Arkansas requested the Office of Inspector General conduct a review of an $8 million, 1.8 million megawatt work-in-progress solar panel system at the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital, Little Rock, AR. They also requested we review the planning and management of other VA solar projects. Our objective was to determine whether VA effectively planned and managed its work-in-progress solar photovoltaic projects to meet project timelines and expected project power generation goals. The Little Rock VA medical facility did not effectively plan the installation of a solar panel system. The system is not completed and is not generating solar power. The project experienced significant delays and additional contract costs due to disassembly of previously installed solar panel carport structures to accommodate a parking garage. As a result, the solar project is expected to be fully completed in January 2017, over 4 years beyond its original completion date, with unexpected costs of approximately $1.5 million. We reviewed 11 of 15 solar projects awarded from fiscal year (FY) 2010 through FY 2013 that were a work-in-progress as of May 2015. At the completion of our audit work in March 2016, only 2 of 11 solar projects were fully completed. In July 2016, VA informed us that 5 of 11 solar projects were fully completed. This occurred because of planning errors, design changes, a lengthy interconnection process, and contractor delays. As a result, VA did not increase renewable energy for those solar projects in the time frame planned and incurred additional costs through needed contract modifications. We recommended the Interim Assistant Secretary for Management implement additional controls to prevent solar panel conflicts, share best practices for executing timely interconnection agreements, implement power generation monitoring controls, and conduct lessons learned assessments. The Interim Assistant Secretary for Management concurred with the intent of two of the four recommendations and nonconcurred for the remaining two recommendations. The Interim Assistant Secretary for Management also provided additional comments, which we addressed in this report.