US Department of Energy Solid State Lighting Division, Secretary Chu, Jim Broderick, Under Secretary, John Augustine, Carolyn Wallace, Carrie Patrick, Richard Adams, Aaron Ptak US Department of Energy Broke In to My Computer: A Case of Open Government Washington, District of Columbia
On 12-15-2012, employees and/or contractors of the US Department Energy, Solid State Lighting Division, broke into my computer and stole two funding proposals. I contacted web support staff, who admitted there was a problem before the deadline, and further advised me that I should submit a proposal that wasn't altered after the deadline. In essence, they made a demand that could not be accomplished by anyone. This is a 28 page document that took weeks to prepare. What this means is that I suffered for someone else's problems. I received no consideration.
Subsequent attempt at submitting the document to John Augustine's Unsolicited Proposals department resulted in a bait-and-switch. Method two was freezing applicant responses out until after deadlines had passed, forcing them to become disqualified because DOE staff made them miss a deadline because they did not respond when they said they would. Example evidence: I attempted to submit a Notice of Intent on 03-14-2012, which was due on 03-29-2012, but the DOE website (https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/ ) errored out. I took snapshots and emailed it to the under secretary, and also called Caroline Wallace in the Under Secretary's Office, to confirm that the documents were received. But instead of getting help with my problem, I received a condescending threat from web support staff, advising that they wouldn't upload the documents. I never received consideration for any of the work or effort that I did.
I am not the only entity who experienced corruption problems at the US Department of Energy. A quick internet search reveals a long list of complaints, alleging allegations similar to mine (http://corruptiondoe.weebly.com/). I have spoken with people on both side of the country, and they advise me that the agency has been like this for a few years.
Being denied access to funding opportunities is not the only lock out that I experienced. I was also denied access to equipment at both NREL, and Sandia National Labs. Dr. Tsao at Sandia indicates he only does work for Lumileds. Both facilities have an ombudsman and a commercialization officer, but neither would respond to multiple requests for assistance. I also contacted the Inspector General at the US Department of Energy, and they too refused to return my phone calls.