Response to Energy Emergencies in California & Contingency Planning

One of the California Energy Commission's legislative mandates is preparing for and dealing with energy emergencies. The Commission, under the Chairman and at the direction of the Governor, is the primary state agency to direct the state's response to natural and man-made energy emergencies. In the past two decades, the Commission has responded to energy disruptions as the result of fire, earthquake, civil unrest, and supply disturbances.

The principal contingency planning programs include the Energy Emergency Response Plan, Petroleum Fuels Set-Aside Program, Local Government Program, Economic Assistance Program, and Demand Reduction Program.

• Energy Emergency Response Plan. The California Energy Emergency Response Plan is the state's strategy for responding to an energy emergency. The Plan contains an overview of the management and communication structure the Energy Commission staff use when responding to energy emergencies.
• Petroleum Fuels Set-Aside Program. The purpose of California's petroleum fuels set-aside program is to assist emergency and essential service personnel who are unable to acquire sufficient volumes of fuel at any price during an emergency.
• Local Government Program. The purpose of this project is to help local governments deal effectively with an energy supply disruption.
• Demand Reduction. An important part of responding to any energy emergency is reducing demand. The Energy Commission may recommend appropriate measures to mitigate the impacts of reduced energy supplies.

Members of the news media please contact:

For more information on energy emergency planning, please contact:

Elena Kirsanova-Giyenko
California Energy Commission
1516 Ninth Street, MS-23
Sacramento, CA 95814-5512
Phone: 916-654-4401
E-mail: ykirsano@energy.state.ca.us

Written Materials From the California Energy Commission

• Latest Energy Shortage Contingency Plan (October 2006, publication #CEC-600-2006-014-F)
• Local Government Emergency Planning Handbook - Publication # 600-04-003.
  (Acrobat PDF file, 22 pages, 79 kilobytes)
• Petroleum Fuels Set Aside Program Applicant Handbook - Request for Emergency Fuels Allocation, published October 2007. CEC Publication # CEC-600-2007-010. Date online: October 26, 2007 (Acrobat PDF file, 11 pages, 173 kilobytes)

Other Energy Emergency-Related Reports

• Search publications database for emergency-related reports.