Q: How long have you been with your company and what is your role? Tell me a little bit about your program?
A: I have been with the company since 2000…I am the manager of the renewable power program…trying to get customers to voluntarily sign up for renewable power, which currently consists of about 60,000 business and 78,000 consumer customers. We are #1 in singed up customer base and #2 in renewable power kilowatt usage in the nation.
Our renewable program consists of primarily wind power and some biomass energy. We are also looking at offering solar power in the near future.
Q: What climate change issues are you seeing today?
A: Pretty much all investor owned and thermal generating power utilities are looking at cap and trade programs. The global climate change has created a need to pursue more efficient uses of energy and decrease carbon emissions.
People have perceptions that there is a strong correlation in economic development and energy consumption.
- We need to take a look at economic development while using less energy, more renewable energy and using the energy more efficiently.
Q: What are the impacts of global climate change to the energy/utility industry?
A: The utilities are looking at revamping their business model and preparing for changes in technology and energy consumption. There are some limitations in the utility industry as utilities are highly regulated and consumers have come to expect cheap energy without considering environmental implications. Utilities are not incented to think outside the box and take risks, so the road is going to be tough. But there needs to be a separation between the thinking that economic development is directly related to energy consumption.
Rates will probably go up, and utilities are looking at alternatives to bring energy cheaply to the consumer. We are looking at all areas of energy consumption, and factors affecting global climate change.
Utilities are not rewarded to take risks.
Climate change is requiring evolving business models that utilities are going to have a hard time adopting too because regulation (not a proponent of de-regulation however) punishes risk taking and rewards utilities for doing the same thing (offering low cost energy in a reliable manner), which makes the industry slow to adopt.
Global warming and climate change are some of the bad effects due to the lack of movement from the utilities and consumers driving cheap energy. There needs to be focus on more efficient energy use. Renewable energy is not the answer in and of itself. When there is a hot August day and everyone is using their AC’s, there is not any wind…so folks are not using renewable energy. There needs to be greater emphasis on using less energy and using it more efficiently.
Consumers are looking and asking for change…increased awareness there is a problem but that is leveraged against what consumers (nationwide) are driving. The Northwest is pretty progressive in awareness and consumption, but efficient energy needs to be the focus.
There is a lack of ownership on climate change of consumers…poor comprehension on the magnitude of the problem…people point to utilities and government to solve the problem. There needs to be greater accountability to owning problem.
Q: What trends and consumer impacts are you seeing in response these issues?
People in PNW are high to act and respond and be educated on global warming issues. People have real concerns about doing the right thing. However, from a national perspective a weakening economy and people’s concern about pricing makes it difficult for trends to quickly and progressively use more expensive renewable energy.
Q: What are the most relevant trends when thinking about the next 20 yrs?
A: Climate change is going to play out in a non-linear fashion. That makes it difficult if not impossible to predict…and unexpected consequences that are going to dramatically affect people’s perception of climate change and global warming.
This will create increasing public awareness and education. It may take a catastrophic event to get folks attention.
Transportation is a critical issue when thinking about the next 20 years. If you think about the semiconductor industry and the improvements that have been made in the technology (Moore’s law which says that technology capability will double every two years). Compare this to the automobile industry…there are still cars operating at the same gas mileage that the original model T’s were at. There needs to be improvements in the transportation industry and efficient use of fuel while seeking alternative fuels…such as alternative fuels, electrical and solar.
Q: What is the best solution to mitigate and reduce the impact of climate change?
A: Clear (government) leadership willing to step out on the edge and demand economic growth with less use of energy…we know how to do this…we need to do this with every way we use energy. Strong leader, strong focus.
Q: What is the one activity that would most significant impact on climate change?
A: Transportation in Oregon in now the biggest greenhouse gas emitter. Everybody is involved in that. One practice to have biggest impact is to reduce usage of gas emissions by reducing travel and carbon emission.
We are starting to see conversion to electricity as a fuel (all electric fuel).
We need to create fundamental behavior change by consumers in reducing vehicle miles.
There are a lot of opportunities in this sector and it touches everybody, but it takes everyone’s involvement.
