Short term curtailment of natural gas: alternative curtailment forms and employment impacts in the 1976-77 gas emergency

Journal Article · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980 · Energy Int. J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5157521

von Rabenau, B; Gorr, W L

Not knowing how much gas savings would result or where worker layoffs would occur, Ohio state agencies had little information on which to base their gas-curtailment decisions during the severely cold winter of 1976-77. Since then, the Ohio Department of Energy has developed a model that tracks and projects the gas consumption and worker layoffs under alternative curtailment and temperature conditions. Ohio State University researchers contributed to the model's development by evaluating the employment impacts of the gas shortage and curtailments enacted during that heating season. Based on a survey of the large gas customers of Columbio Gas of Ohio, Inc., the analysis contains information regarding each company's layoff of workers, loss of work hours, level of employment, seasonal gas consumption, base gas allocation, and alternative fuel capabilities. The statistics show that a 3% cutback of gas beyond the existing conversion capability results in the layoff of 1% of the production workers in a given establishment. This relationship is not linear, however; a strict proportionality would considerably overestimate the impact of gas shortage on employment.

• Research Organization: Ohio State Univ., Columbus
• OSTI ID: 5157521
• Journal Information: Energy Int. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Energy Int. J.; (United States) Vol. 5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030600* -- Natural Gas-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
292000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Supply
Demand & Forecasting
294003 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Natural Gas
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320301 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Energy Sources
ALLOCATIONS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
EMERGENCY PLANS
EMPLOYMENT
ENERGY SHORTAGES
ENERGY SOURCES
FEDERAL REGION V
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
OHIO
SHORTAGES
USA