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Question 6

Please provide the committee with a legal opinion as to the eligibility of DOE officers to continue serving in an Acting capacity in positions requiring Senate confirmation.

Answer

Robert Lipshultz, Counsel to the President, has asked the Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, to look into the legal questions raised with respect to certain officers' serving in an Acting capacity. Until the Office of Legal Counsel has completed its review, it would not be appropriate for the Department of Energy to comment further.

Question 7

Project 79-4-a of the proposed budget for in-house energy management consists of $25 million in proposed expenditures. However, only $2.655 million is identified with specific projects. Please itemize for the committee the uses for which the additional request of just over $22 million will be put.

Answer

No projects have been specifically identified for funding from the $25 million line item as yet. The listed projects, at an estimated cost of $2.655 million, are included in the project data sheet as illustrative of the projects being considered. A final list of projects for FY 79 will not be established until mid summer following receipt, evaluation, and ranking of projects submitted by the field. The Department wishes to take advantage of the many energy surveys which are under way and fund the best projects emerging from these surveys.

As the projects thus far funded have resulted from a relatively few
energy surveys, and since there are a large number of surveys underway
which should identify many cost effective energy saving projects, the
Department feels that it is very desirable to allow consideration and
evaluation of candidate projects right up to the time of allotment of
funds so as to get the best return on investment for the government.
As indicated in the project data sheet, we expect to fund projects
with an average payback of three years.

When the selection of projects is made, we will furnish the committee

a list of the projects, with their cost, and energy and economic savings.

[Whereupon, at 11:25 a.m., the hearing was recessed, to reconvene

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FISCAL YEAR 1979

AUTHORIZATION

(Energy Conservation)

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1978

U.S. SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY CONSERVATION AND REGULATION,
OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES,

Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:40 a.m. in room 3110, Dirksen Office Building, Hon. Henry M. Jackson, chairman, presiding.

Present: Senators Jackson, Hansen, and Bartlett.

Also present: Benjamin S. Cooper, professional staff member; James T. Bruce, counsel; and Charles Trabandt, deputy minority counsel.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. Senator Johnston regrets that he cannot preside this morning and without objec tion I will have his statement placed in the record.

[The prepared statement of Senator Johnston follows:]

STATEMENT OF HON. J. BENNETT JOHNSTON, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF

LOUISIANA

Today the Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Regulation is holding a hearing on the fiscal year 1979 authorizations for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and for the Energy Information Administration.

Both of these entities are located within the Department of Energy. Each, however, is granted a special measure of autonomy by the Department of Energy Organization Act. In particular, the Congress in that Act required that the budgetary needs of FERC and EIA as they themselves assess these needs be available to Congress. Thus we are able to compare Chairman Curtis' budget proposal with that of the Office of Management and Budget. A similar comparison of proposed budgets for energy information and analysis is also possible. The OMB reduced the Commission's original request of $50.8 million to $43.7 million; the original EIA request of $96.6 million was cut to $87.5 million by the Secretary of Energy and further reduced to $63.4 million by the OMB. I hope that today's testimony will

Identify and discuss the activities and programs which will be curtailed as a result of these cuts;

Bring the Subcommittee fully up to date on revisions in budget estimates since the President's request was formulated; and

Provide information which clarifies personnel assignments and costs and planned expenditures for contract support in each program area.

The CHAIRMAN. Taking up this morning the authorization for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, our witnesses are Charles Curtis, Chairman, and Lincoln Moses, Administrator, Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy. Mr. Curtis.

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STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES B. CURTIS, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, ACCOMPANIED BY MATTHEW HOLDEN, GEORGIANA SHELDON, DON SMITH, GEORGE HALL, AND WILLIAM MCDONALD

Mr. CURTIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would like to introduce to the committee the members of the Commission who accompany me here today.

On my far left and your far right is Commissioner Matthew Holden. Seated next to him, Commissioner Georgiana Sheldon. And on my immediate left, Don Smith, the Vice Chairman of the Commission. And on my far right and your far left, Commissioner George Hall. Also with me at the table is William McDonald, who is the Executive Director of the agency.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to have this opportunity to appear before you once again to discuss the budgetary needs of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for fiscal year 1979.

When I last appeared before this subcommittee on March 3, the members were seeking background information for use by the subcom nittee's staff in preparing for the hearings now underway. At that time, I described the major functions and responsibilities of the Commission, and the ways in which we hope to utilize the resources of people and appropriated funds which were requested for fiscal year 1979 within the overall Department of Energy budget submission to Congress.

On March 3, I submitted detailed answers to several specific questions you had asked prior to that hearing, Mr. Chairman. I believe those answers are relevant to the issues we are discussing today. If the statement and supplementary information supplied to the subcommittee then could be entered into the record of this morning, I might be able to briefly summarize my statement today and also be confident that the committee has before it a more comprehensive analysis of our budgetary needs.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Curtis, and the material sub

STATEMENT OF

CHARLES B. CURTIS, CHAIRMAN

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY CONSERVATION AND REGULATION

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

UNITED STATES SENATE

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1978

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