------------------------------ OMB APPROVAL ------------------------------ OMB Number Expires: Estimated average burden hours per response ....... 0.5 ------------------------------ U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 4 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 [_] Check box if no longer subject of Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b). ________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* Schneider Lawrence I. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Last) (First) (Middle) c/o U.S. Energy Systems, Inc. 515 N. Flagler Drive, Suite 702 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Street) West Palm Beach Florida 33401 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (City) (State) (Zip) ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol U.S. Energy Systems, Inc. (USEY) ________________________________________________________________________________ 3. IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary) ________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Statement for Month/Year July 2000 ________________________________________________________________________________ 5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year) ================================================================================ 6. Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer (Check all applicable) [X] Director [X] 10% Owner [X] Officer (give title below) [_] Other (specify below) Chief Executive Officer ________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line) [X] Form filed by one Reporting Person [_] Form filed by more than one Reporting Person ________________________________________________________________________________ ================================================================================ Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned ================================================================================

* If the Form is filed by more than one Reporting Person, see Instruction 4(b)(v). Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. (Print or Type Responses) FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================

Explanation of Responses: (1) The option was granted on August 26, 1998 and was to expire on or about August 26, 2000. The option was exercised by the payment of $8,611.10 in cash and the $7,741,378.90 balance of the purchase price was paid in the form of a one year limited recourse promissory note (the "Note") made by Energy Systems Investors LLC ("ESI"), of which the Reporting Person is a manager, in favor of the Issuer. The obligations evidenced by the Note are secured by a pledge of the 861,110 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Series A Stock"). At the end of July 2000, the Reporting Person owned an aggregate of 1,083,332 shares of Series A Stock of which 222,222 shares were owned by Lawrence I. Schneider directly and 861,110 shares were owned by ESI. The 222,222 shares of Series A Stock had previously been transferred by ESI to Lawrence I. Schneider (individually) in accordance with Rule 16a-13. Each share of Series A Stock is currently convertible into four shares of the Issuer's Common Stock. /s/ Lawrence I. Schneider August 9, 2000 --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- Lawrence I. Schneider Date ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.

U S ENERGY SYSTEMS INC 4