WASHINGTON, DC — President Bush recently signed an energy conservation order which will affect federal workers in power-strapped California. The order, which comes after criticism for Bush’s recent budget cuts in energy efficiency programs, instructs federal facilities in California to cut power use “to the maximum extent consistent with the effective discharge of public responsibilities.”

For military facilities, which use 1% of the state’s energy load, this means cutting peak-hour usage by one-tenth. All federal offices have 30 days to report to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Spencer Abraham on their conservation plans.

Publication date: 05/14/2001