Tomorrow morning, it is ask the editor time in Phoenix, as I head out to speak to a conference of folks engaged in training managers and leaders of energy companies.

Here are the questions they would like addressed.

1.       Martin, you spend a considerable amount of time interviewing and talking to many of the top executives of our country’s largest power generating companies – are there any common concerns or frustrations that they voice, or does it vary from company to company?

2.       Martin, in your research of the American Energy Industry, have you come across any large Corporations or Markets that would be threatened by an Energy Policy that proposes Energy independence from outside nations?

3.       With the advent of all this domestic natural gas becoming available through new drilling techniques, and the numerous uncertainties still associated with building nuclear power plants, what do you foresee as the future of nuclear power in the USA?

4.       Martin, put you on the spot here – are there really any major differences between what a newly elected Republican or Democratic administration would do in regards to a national energy policy?

5.       Martin, what percentage of our electric power do you believe is a reasonable number that this country can generate from “renewables” by the year 2020?

6.       Martin, assuming that battery technology improves to the point where electric vehicles can compete with internal combustion engine vehicles without government subsidies, and sales take-off; do you believe our electric infrastructure, as is, could meet this new demand for electric power?

7.       If you were King, would you proactively make changes to our national energy policies, or would you simply let the financial markets shape our path forward?

8.       Your thoughts on the future of coal fired power plants as part of our nation’s energy mix going forward.

9.       Who are the major lobbyists in DC influencing our energy policy today 

I have many thoughts I would like to share with them.

What about you? Do you have some insights you would like to put before them?

Reading the future of the energy sector is far from easy. And the consequence of reading the future is large. It could make the difference between vast profits – or losses, good policies - or...
[Read More]

Have you ever wondered what the handful of executives charged with securing the finances of some of the most capital intensive companies on the planet worry about? Utilities are in a very expen...
[Read More]

I need to head out to Oregon this summer and sit down with the good folks of SolarWorld. They are the leaders of the effort to bring the full weight of the U.S. government down on their Chinese...
[Read More]

Information – it is hugely important to the future of energy in our lives. Some call the emerging discipline of making use of it “analytics.”  But that description seems over...
[Read More]

Arun Majumdar thinks the energy frontier poses the greatest of challenges and opportunities for America today. And he proved it, in a passionate, sometimes electrifying speech before his organi...
[Read More]

One of the most disruptive issues now before utilities is whether solar power has staying power, and whether it is ready for prime time. Disruption – in a variety of guises - will be fron...
[Read More]

Think of the black phone that ruled for decades. Then, think of what happened when deregulation ushered in a telecom revolution that has shaken the roots of our economy and society. Many feel t...
[Read More]

The federal government has - after decades - green-lighted a nuclear project. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved two Southern Company reactors at its Vogtle plant. These are the...
[Read More]