Future of power

ENERGY | CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS ELECTRICITY ISSUES

By Jay F. Marks | Business Writer | The Oklahoman

[ OCTOBER 2, 2009 - OKLAHOMA CITY, OK ] - A Tulsa-based nonprofit group will begin doing its part to solve the nation’s energy problems next week with a daylong conference featuring a variety of industry officials.

The National Energy Policy Institute is presenting “Power for the 21st Century: Reinventing America’s Energy Grid” on Wednesday at the University of Tulsa.

“These are issues that touch every single American life, but that many of us don’t know enough about. Each month we dutifully pay our bill and go on about our way,” organizer Jim Roth said. “There are issues that are critical and that are only going to get more important in the years ahead.”

Roth, a former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner, said the country’s economy is reliant on electricity, a commodity that must be affordable and reliable.

He said it is important to consider cleaner alternatives in a country that traditionally has relied on coal for 50 percent of its power.

“Those dirty habits have to make way for cleaner energy,” Roth said.

The keynote speaker will be William W. Hogan, who is research director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group.

“He’s been on the forefront for decades, talking about evolution issues associated with the electricity market,” Roth said. “We’re really lucky to get him to bring really a national and international perspective to these issues.”

The conference will include panels on electricity supply, demand, regulation and transmission. Roth said he tried to find a balance of regional and national experts who can discuss the local impact of the electricity issue.

“There’s some Oklahoma flavor to it, but also a true conversation of what the national importance of it is,” he said.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. Chairman Pete Delaney will be part of the panel on demand.

“We look forward to the opportunity to create a greater understanding and appreciation for the many issues that are shaping our nation’s energy future,” Delaney said. “These issues will have a profound effect on our country’s future, and it is vitally important that we work collaboratively as an industry to help facilitate the change necessary to achieve an energy future that is more environmentally friendly and less dependent on foreign sources to meet our growing energy needs.”

Session is a kickoff

The institute was created by the George Kaiser Family Foundation to study the economic side of America’s future energy options, comparing alternative power sources to see if they can reduce greenhouse emissions and the country’s reliance on imported oil.

“They want to do a nonpolitical, nonpartisan, true analysis in a vacuum that looks at what are the right pathways for America’s energy policy, that at the end of the day leaves us more self-reliant and with cleaner fuel,” Roth said.

He said the conference is meant to kick off the institute’s mission to bring awareness to the power issues facing the country.

“We have sufficient, and perhaps abundant, energy sources in America. The question is how do you bring them online where they exist for the sake of the load centers which might be in other places in the country,” Roth said.

“For example, Oklahoma’s wind power potential,” he said.

“We have tremendous potential, but your commodity’s not worth much if you can’t get it to market.”

Officials hope to provide a report to government leaders in about a year detailing the possible solutions, opportunities and barriers.

“It’s not just academic,” Roth said. “It’s very much geared toward developing the right policy to be implemented for decision makers.”