DOE scraps plan to end pension reimbursements

WASHINGTON--The Department of Energy will not put in place a plan to stop reimbursing contractors for defined benefit pension plan costs, a DOE spokeswoman said Friday.

In April 2006, the DOE--due to cost concerns--said it would reimburse contractors only for costs associated with defined contribution plans, as long as the costs of those plans didn't exceed certain benchmarks. The policy would have affected only new employees.

Following that change, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to an appropriations bill that barred the agency from implementing its new reimbursement policy. As a result, the DOE suspended the policy, pending a review of the issue.

After extensive consultation with various stakeholders, the DOE said it will not implement the pension reimbursement policy, the spokeswoman said.