INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A federal inspection report is raising questions about a state program aimed at helping Indiana homeowners become more energy efficient.

A homeowner contacted I-Team 8 via mail and said he was having trouble getting help through the Indiana Energy Saver Program.

Indiana’s Office of Energy Development (OED) administers the program, which received $182 million in federal funding and began accepting homeowner applications in May 2025.

Applicants can receive up to $18,000 in home efficiency rebates and up to $14,000 in home appliance rebates, depending on their income level and the energy efficiency upgrades.

The Office of Inspector General with the U.S. Department of Energy released an inspection report earlier this year. The report criticized the Indiana Office of Energy Development for inadequate internal controls in administering the Home Energy Rebates program.

The report said, “There is an increased risk that grant funds could be awarded to ineligible persons, in incorrect amounts, for unallowed upgrades, or on unqualified properties.”

I-Team 8 spoke with Janet McCabe, a visiting professor at Indiana University McKinney School of Law and a former deputy administrator at the federal Environmental Protection Agency. “These programs are to support energy efficiency, which is a really important thing. If we can do things to pay less for energy, it serves many purposes. It saves us money, it saves pollution, it saves resources, and so it is good overall for public health and for society.”

McCabe said she received a lot of good recommendations from the Office of Inspector General while working at the EPA. “Their job is to make sure that government programs are being implemented in a way that does not allow waste, fraud or abuse. We do hear stories about people taking advantage of programs, and that’s not what Congress intended, and it’s not right, it’s not appropriate, and the agencies have responsibility to make sure they’re doing everything they can to prevent those kinds of things.”

The Office of Inspector General also noted that Indiana’s Office of Energy Development did not have a well-documented oversight monitoring policy for its contractor, thus increasing the risk that the contractor may not comply with the program’s objectives, laws and regulations.

As part of its recommendations, the report recommended Indiana’s Office of Energy Development create a corrective action plan demonstrating how the office will develop and document risk assessment and monitoring policy that aligns with best practices found in federal regulations.

The Office of Inspector General performed the inspection from February 2025 through September.

McCabe said, “It’s not at all unusual, especially a program that involves significant public dollars for an inspector general, to want to make sure that things are, are, are the way they should be.”

Indiana’s OED declined an on-camera interview but provided a written statement.

“The results did not find any significant issues that require action. However, we are taking the recommendation to strengthen programmatic risk assessment and monitoring in collaboration with the US Department of Energy.”

In its written response to the Office of Inspector General, Indiana OED’s Executive Director Jon Fored said they have taken extra steps to strengthen their internal best practices. “Fiscal stewardship is a responsibility that OED takes seriously and welcomes opportunities for continuous improvement.”

This program is in the early stages. The state has six more years to distribute the $182 million in federal funding.

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