Energy Policy and Conservation Act

Definition

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) is a United States Act passed in December 1975 aimed at establishing a comprehensive approach to meet energy demands while conserving resources. It includes measures such as setting fuel economy standards for cars and creating a strategic petroleum reserve.

Analogy

Think of the EPCA as your school's rules on using computers. There are guidelines about how often you can use them, what they should be used for, and there's even a backup plan if something goes wrong (like saving work on cloud storage). Similarly, the EPCA sets rules for energy use and has plans for emergencies.

Related terms

Strategic Petroleum Reserve: A federal government project that stores extra supply of petroleum to counter any significant disruption in oil supplies.

Fuel Economy Standards: Regulations requiring manufacturers to produce vehicles that meet certain miles-per-gallon standards.

Energy Conservation: The effort made to reduce the consumption of energy by using less of an energy service or using energy more efficiently.