Reducing energy demand with conservation standards

More climate extremes and changing hydroclimatic baseline conditions will result in a higher risk of power supply interruptions, especially where power systems rely on aging and inefficient assets. For instance, decreasing water availability reduce generation capacity at thermal power plants, impact oil and gas production, particularly in times of drought, decrease available hydropower generation capacity and impede the transport of crude oil, petroleum products, and coal in rivers resulting in increased costs. The U.S. Department of Energy adopted energy and water conservation standards for consumer products and commercial and industrial equipment between 1987 and 2015. It resulted in cumulative savings of 45.5 quads through 2015, an amount equal to 46 percent of total annual U.S. energy use.