July 21, 2008

It is a national scandal how America deals with energy research. Certainly not like a leader of the energy world.

You do not have to spend much time with Dan Arvizu, the director of the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado before he starts simulating the ups and downs of a rollercoaster with his hands to convey levels of federal support for energy research since the 1970s.

A recent example is DOE's retreat on the FutureGen research effort meant to come up with the technologies that would convert our massive coal inventory into a source of pristine energy. DOE said it was shocked -- shocked -- by cost-overruns and had no choice but to cut the program.

July 14, 2008

Congress is playing games. But in doing so it has dropped the ball. The U.S. Senate has failed to advance the production tax credit given to wind power -- all at a time when the nation is trying to wean itself from fossil fuels.

The renewable sector is still in its infancy. But its growth and reduction in costs over the last two decades have shown that it can gain a foothold in the marketplace. To become more firmly rooted, however, government has to stay involved. And in the mid-term, that means promoting policies to give green energy a leg up such as the 2-cent per kilowatt hour (kWh) tax credit provided to wind developers.

June 18, 2008

The liberalization of Europe's electric and gas markets is taking a rough ride. But a critical compromise to win the backing from France and Germany has emerged, allowing those utilities to keep their distribution units within the corporate confines.

A more competitive and efficient utility system would subsequently help consumers of all sizes. While such reform does have the potential to give all such energy customers better options, history has shown that the process must be carefully watched and reviewed to ensure that it is open, honest and fair.

May 28, 2008

Brenda Boultwood, the chief risk officer at Constellation Energy, had watched closely the Federal Reserve as it bailed out Bear Stearns by approving a $30 billion credit line to JPMorgan Chase. Prior to its collapse, Boultwood and the credit team at Constellation Energy, based in Baltimore, Md., had gotten reliable information that Bear Stearns was facing liquidity issues and it had therefore restricted its trades.

"We're looking more broadly at who could be next," says Boultwood. "Despite assurances from the head of the Federal Reserve Board that financial firms won't fail, Constellation must conduct due diligence and monitor its exposure to each financial service trader."