Wednesday, October 13, 2010

News on the Energy Front

I attended last week's 7th annual Women in Power forum to learn more about the energy sector and pending legislation affecting renewable energy. The forum was hosted by Patton Boggs, a large DC Headquartered lawfirm specializing in public policy,  The all-women event was attended by several senior-level executives in the power industry as well as influencial policy makers from FERC and the US senate. All-in-all, the women were very impressive in both their knowledge and commitment to service-excellence. While they came from various segments of the energy industry-traditional energy, wind, solar and policy-and diverse educational disciplines-science, law, business, engineering- many agreed on the top issues affecting their businesses.

The top concerns expressed at the meeting included:

1) Security-predominately cyber-security and it's real threat of having someone shut down their transmission networks.
2) Policy-National Policy will dictate funding/investment that will help pay for new technology, renewables and transmission upgrades.
3) Predictability-with with smart-grid technology and renewable energy evolving, and carbon emission reductions and energy policy pending,  the leaders are operating with a considerable amount of uncertainty. A national policy which stimultates funding will help off-set this uncertainty by allowing for investment in new technologies and fostering longer-term planning.
4) Affordable, Safe Storage for Renewable Energy-Wind energy is volitile, with high peaks that tax transmission networks and low valleys that are costly. Solar produces energy during the day, but not during rainy days or at night when residential consumers have peak demand. To address these needs, energy companies want affordable, safe storage solutions that can contain the energy produced during peak operation.

In reflecting upon the day, I realized the energy industry is at a cross-road. Traditional utilities are incorporating renewable energy into their "mix" of energy sources, but are concerned by their inconsistant production and costs. They need a national transmission grid that allows them to load and off-load energy based on regionalized (renewable) energy production. They also need a clear vision of our country's energy policy to allow for longer-term planning to help balance investment costs with service reliability.

Best,

Paula

To find out more about Women in Power please visit Patton Boggs site:

http://www.pattonboggs.com/womeninpower10/

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