This paper studies the performance of clustering algorithm in saving energy for wireless sensor networks.A new Cross-Layer Energy Efficient Clustering (CLEEC) algorithm and energy-efficient clustering scheme for wireless sensor networks is proposed and evaluated.The main idea is that the high initial and residual energy nodes will have more chances to be the cluster-heads than the low energy nodes.Our simulational results show that the clustering scheme provides longer lifetime and higher throughput than the existing typical clustering protocols in WSN environments.