FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 23, 2000
President Clinton: Taking Action To Help California
With High Electricity Prices
President Clinton today directed Federal agencies to provide assistance to
low income households and small businesses in Southern California. The wholesale
price of electricity has risen steeply in parts of the country this summer,
hitting California’s low-income households and small businesses particularly
hard. California’s hot weather, its limited generation and transmission
capacity, and growing demand have combined to significantly increase the price
of electricity. Higher prices have been passed on to retail consumers, including
low-income households and small businesses, in certain parts of California where
the retail price of electricity is unregulated because of requirements established
by the state’s electricity restructuring legislation. Earlier this week,
the California Public Utilities Commission took steps to ease the burden on
these consumers by adopting a plan to stabilize their electricity bills.
PRESIDENT CLINTON TODAY ANNOUNCED SEVERAL STEPS TO HELP CALIFORNIA RESPOND
TO HIGH ELECTRICITY PRICES:
- Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson today requested that the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission expedite its national investigation of the operation
of bulk power markets so that state and Federal regulators and policymakers
can have the information they need to protect consumers in a timely fashion.
- President Clinton today directed the Department of Health and Human Services
to release $2.6 million in Low
Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) emergency funds for low-income
households in Southern California. This release doubles the funds that the
affected region in Southern California currently receives under the LIHEAP
program, helping low-income Californians who have faced substantially higher
electricity rates this summer.
- President Clinton also directed the Small Business Administration to urge
its lending partners in Southern California to use SBA credit programs, particularly
the 7(a) program, and technical assistance to help small businesses in San
Diego and Orange Counties hurt by high electricity prices. SBA’s existing
range of loan programs is flexible enough to help businesses whose costs have
increased because of high electricity bills.
PRESIDENT CLINTON ONCE AGAIN CALLED ON CONGRESS TO PASS COMPREHENSIVE ELECTRICITY
RESTRUCTURING LEGISLATION: The President urged Congress to work with the
Department of Energy and other Federal agencies to enact comprehensive electricity
restructuring legislation, which can promote greater investment in generation
and transmission facilities and enhance regional planning, reliability and the
efficiency of the interstate transmission grid, each of which is needed to ensure
the availability of affordable and environmentally responsible electricity to
power America into the 21st century.
TODAY’S ACTION BUILDS ON EFFORTS ANNOUNCED BY THE PRESIDENT EARLIER
THIS MONTH TO HELP CALIFORNIA MEET ITS ELECTRICITY NEEDS THIS SUMMER. Earlier
this month, in order to help reduce the risk of power outages as a result of
electricity shortages in California, the President directed that managers of
all Federal buildings in California take steps to reduce consumption of power
to the maximum extent practicable consistent with the health and welfare of
employees, and that Federal agencies coordinate with other state and local government
agencies to minimize the use of electricity in all government buildings in California.
President Clinton also directed earlier this month that all federal agencies
take steps to help California maximize available electricity. The Federal government
is one of the largest electricity consumers in California representing approximately
2% of all electricity use.
###
Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials
are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.
Back to Top