GSA's Energy Conservation Efforts

GAO discussed the General Services Administration's (GSA) efforts to meet the Federal Energy Management Improvement Act's requirement that all federal agencies reduce by 1995 their energy usage by 10 percent from 1985 levels. GAO noted that: (1) in response to the legislation, GSA began taking a more proactive approach to energy conservation and, in 1990, developed a comprehensive energy reduction plan; (2) the GSA plan includes funding specific projects to reduce energy consumption, educating tenant agencies, and pursuing other energy saving opportunities to help finance energy conservation investments that reduce the energy demand; (3) GSA is in the process of developing the necessary data to accurately make energy consumption forecasts, assess its progress, and identify additional actions and initiatives that will be required to meet the requirements; (4) in spite of GSA initiatives, it still faces formidable challenges in meeting the requirements, since it has already completed many of the most obvious and cost-effective energy-saving measures, and building and tenant agency operations' energy demands have increased; and (5) funding and budgetary limitations impeded GSA from making the needed energy-saving investments to meet the requirements.