Department of Energy Relaunches Energy.Gov

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced recently the next step of its comprehensive website reform, making Energy.gov a cutting-edge, interactive information platform and saving taxpayers more than $10 million annually.Through a complete overhaul of its front-end and back-end design, Energy.gov modernizes how consumers and businesses access the information and resources they need to save money and energy while improving Departmental staff's ability to interact with the public and each other."Our goal is to make Energy.gov easier to use, more transparent and more participatory," said Secretary Chu. "This next phase is part of our ongoing commitment to empower consumers and businesses with the information, tools and services they need to save money, create jobs and find opportunities in the new energy economy."At the forefront of these changes, the new website makes it easier for visitors to get localized information specific to their cities, counties and states on tax credits, rebates, energy saving tips and grant opportunities.The new platform utilizes the latest technologies in information visualization, bringing updated and interactive charts and maps to Energy.gov and making energy information more relevant to individuals. DOE is also now able to offer more open data sets for individuals to use and apply to other online applications.The Energy.gov reform initiative is part of the Obama Administration's Campaign to Cut Waste, a dedicated effort across the federal government to streamline operations, end unnecessary spending and save taxpayers money. In this latest phase, eleven DOE program offices moved their websites' content to the new platform. Over the next year, DOE will continue to improve the site by moving more program websites and features to the centralized platform.The new Energy.gov was built using Drupal, an open source content management system and has transitioned to cloud-hosted infrastructure. These back-end changes provide scalable and flexible architecture that supports innovative, efficient online engagement while saving money and lowering the costs of future improvements. Learn more about the new Energy Department website at http://www.energy.gov/.