How Bell pinches power: Both design and good fortune play a role in conserving electricity, gasoline, and building fuels for the Bell System

Five million barrels of oil, enough energy to meet all the needs of 80000 families for a year, are the savings from two years of intensified energy conservation by the Bell System. Comprised of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, 23 operating telephone companies, Western Electric, and Bell Laboratories, this organization handles nearly five million calls a day, over a network linking 143 million telephones in the U.S. With its 28000 buildings, its 180000 motor vehicles (the world's largest private fleet), and its nearly one million employees, the Bell System also consumes large amounts of energy. Just an example: In 1973 Bell vehicles covered nearly 2.6 billion kilometers, devouring 600 million liters of gasoline. Nevertheless, the system is not an energy-intensive industry. In fact, in 1973, the Bell System contributed 2 percent to the U.S. gross national product while consuming only one tenth of 1 percent of the nation's energy.