Earth observations are key to optimizing production, use, and distribution. Effective El Niño forecasts are major assets to hydroelectric power production and competing water uses. Natural gas and heating oil producers can cut losses when warmer weather is anticipated. Optimal use of wind turbines requires solar radiation measurements. Yet, in contrast to weather forecasts, longer-term climate forecasts are not often used. Increasingly, not having this information will be costly. Even during the 1990s, the estimated value of 48-hour hurricane forecasts for energy producers averaged about $8 million annually. With a simulated 50-percent improvement in 48-hour accuracy, the value rose by over $15 million per year.