DOE’s predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, managed the country’s nuclear weapons complex until the 1970s, when the Energy Department assumed that responsibility upon its creation.
In June 1973, President Richard Nixon urged Congress to take action on his energy legislation. Modifying his original proposal in order to place greater emphasis on policy and management, Nixon called for a Department of Energy and Natural Resources, and also asked for two additional agencies to replace the existing Atomic Energy Commission.
The Arab oil embargo of October 16, 1973, had an immediate impact on the United States. The oil crisis called attention to the need to consolidate energy policy. In reaction to the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, Congress passed laws that tried to protect consumers from gasoline shortages and high prices. The price controls of the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 were generally considered a failure, and they were later repealed.
On December 4, 1973 the Federal Energy Office was established in the Executive Office of the President with control over fuel allocation, rationing, and prices. In 1975, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 aimed at increasing oil production by giving price incentives.
On August 4, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 which created the Department of Energy. The department was activated on October 1, 1977, with the twelfth cabinet-level department brought together for the first time within one agency two programmatic traditions that had long coexisted within the federal establishment
The department promotes energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. Its national security programs serve to develop and oversee nuclear-energy resources.
In 1978, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funding for geothermal research and development was increased substantially. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) of 1978 was enacted to promote greater use of renewable energy, cogeneration and small power projects.
US Department of Energy (DOE)
