President Clinton: Taking Action To Help California With High Electricity 
Prices

August 23, 2000

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.