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| President Clinton: Taking Action To Ensure The Federal Government Does |
| Its Part To Help California Meet Its Electricity Needs |
| August 3, 2000 |
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President Clinton today directed all federal agencies to do their part to
help California meet its electricity needs this summer. The President
emphasized that as one of the largest consumers of electricity in
California (representing approximately 2% of total electricity use), the
Federal Government should take steps to reduce electricity consumption and
increase electricity availability. Increased demand for electricity during
the summer has made it challenging for California electric utilities to
meet the demand of their customers. According to estimates by the
Department of Energy, implementation of the measures announced today would
result in approximately a 5% reduction in electricity use by federal
facilities in California, helping reduce the risk of an electricity
shortage.
PRESIDENT CLINTON TODAY DIRECTED FEDERAL AGENCIES TO TAKE ACTION TO HELP
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA REDUCE ELECTRICITY DEMAND:
? Managers of all Federal buildings in California should take steps to
reduce consumption of power to the maximum extent practicable consistent
with the health and welfare of employees; and,
? Federal agencies should coordinate with state and local government
agencies to minimize the use of electricity in all government buildings in
California.
IN ADDITION, PRESIDENT CLINTON TODAY DIRECTED FEDERAL AGENCIES TO TAKE
STEPS TO HELP CALIFORNIA MAXIMIZE AVAILABLE ELECTRICITY: While most of the
electricity in the Western United States is generated and marketed by
privately and publicly owned utilities, the Federal government also
generates and markets electricity in the region. For the duration of the
current power shortage, President Clinton is directing that:
? Federal agencies that generate electricity take all possible measures to
maximize the amount of electricity that can be delivered to California;
? The Federal Power Marketing Administrations take all steps necessary to
maximize the availability of electricity in California; and,
? Federal agencies work with the state of California to develop procedures
governing the use of backup power generation in power shortage emergencies.
PRESIDENT CLINTON ALSO TODAY ASKED FEDERAL AGENCIES TO CONTINUE TO WORK
OVER THE LONG TERM TO PROMOTE ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The President also today
directed federal agencies to continue to work toward the goals of Executive
Order 13123, Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management,
to help reduce federal consumption of electricity. In addition, he urged
federal agencies to continue working with Congress on comprehensive
electricity restructuring legislation, which can promote greater investment
in generation and transmission facilities, and enhance the efficiency of
the interstate transmission grid; and on other initiatives to ensure the
availability of affordable and environmentally responsible energy to meet
America?s energy needs in the 21st century.
TODAY?S ACTION BUILDS ON ONGOING EFFORTS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY TO
PLAN FOR REDUCED USE OF ELECTRICITY IN FEDERAL FACILITIES: The Department
of Energy, and the General Services Administration, have worked closely
with federal agencies to develop plans to improve energy efficiency for
individual Federal facilities in support of local electricity reduction
efforts. Key components of this effort include specific identification of
short- and long-term electricity load reduction measures in a facility,
monitoring of total facility demand, strengthened coordination with local
utilities, and enhanced communications with employees about benefits of and
best practices for increased energy efficiency.
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