The National Energy Act of 1978 (NEA78) was a legislative response by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

to the

1973 energy crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

. It includes the following statutes: *

Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA, ) is a United States Act passed as part of the National Energy Act. It was meant to promote energy conservation (reduce demand) and promote greater use of domestic energy and renewable energy (inc ...

(PURPA) () *

Energy Tax Act The Energy Tax Act (, , enacted November 9, 1978) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Energy Act. The objective of this law was to shift from oil and gas supply toward energy conservation; thus, to promote fuel efficiency a ...

() *

National Energy Conservation Policy Act The National Energy Conservation Policy Act of 1978 (NECPA, ) is a United States statute which was enacted as part of the National Energy Act. The H.R. 5037 legislation was passed by the 95th U.S. Congressional session and enacted into law by the ...

(NECPA) () * Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act () * Natural Gas Policy Act ({{USPL, 95, 621) The legislative initiative was introduced by President

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Car ...

. The package was a major step in the legislation of the energy field, both the supply and the demand side. The package has soon been followed by

Energy Security Act The Energy Security Act was signed into law by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on June 30, 1980. Thursday, 19 January 2017 It consisted of six major acts: * U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation Act * Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act * Renewable Ene ...

, 8 acts signed by president Carter in 1980. This sequel package addressed

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

and development of

renewable energy sources Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. The NEA78 and the "security" package established a framework for

regulatory Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. For ...

and

market-based A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers are ...

initiatives, energy efficiency programs,

tax incentives A tax incentive is an aspect of a government's taxation policy designed to incentivize or encourage a particular economic activity by reducing tax payments. Tax incentives can have both positive and negative impacts on an economy. Among the posit ...

, tax disincentives, energy conservation programs and

alternative fuel Alternative fuel, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels like; ''fossil fuels'' (petroleum (oil), coal, and natural gas), as well as nuclear materi ...

programs. Most of the market-based mechanisms have been retained in some form to the present, whereas

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

items have been abandoned.Julia Richardson and Robert Nordhaus: ''The National Energy Act of 1978'', Natural Resources & Environment, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer 1995), pp. 62-68, 87-88
republished i
National Energy Act of 1978
retrieved 2015-12-14 The next major step in energy legislation in the USA was the

Energy Policy Act of 1992 The Energy Policy Act of 1992, effective October 24, 1992, (102nd Congress H.R.776.ENR, abbreviated as EPACT92) is a United States government act. It was passed by Congress and set goals, created mandates, and amended utility laws to increase cl ...

References

United States federal energy legislation 1978 in law