By Lillian Kafka,
Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger
Published: April 18, 2008
Experts on energy production and delivery met in Manassas on Thursday night to talk about what comes next in the local energy market.
The Prince William Committee of 100 gathered the panel, comprised of electricity providers, an energy economist and other industry specialists.
The moderator, Sen. Chap Peterson, D-Fairfax, wanted them to name the most important aspects of energy conservation.
Another person asked why customers couldn’t buy geothermal power or that harvested from sunlight.
And what about electricity generated by the motion of waves in the ocean?
Jeffrey Brown, local energy economist and panelist, said the industry needs to approach the looming “economic tsunami” of energy prices with a focus on conservation.
“We’ll need a balanced approach that will require coordination of a number of different fuel types with businesses and consumers on the residential level,” he said. “The cheapest watt is the one you don’t use.”
As the state cap on electricity rates expires this year, some panelists approached the issue of rising electricity rates with caution.
Matt Groff, energy coordinator for Prince William County’s public works department voiced a strong prediction.
“Your rates are going to increase significantly,” he said. Groff is also a board member of the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association.
William Murray, director of public policy for Dominion Resources, said any rate change must be approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
“Here’s an interesting exercise,” he said. “Walk around your house and look at all of the things that are plugged in that didn’t exist 10 or 15 years ago.”
The panelists focused much discussion on residential electricity conservation.
“You have the power. Use it wisely.” is a message on Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative ads from a recent campaign to teach customers to use less power, said Mike Curtis, spokesman for NOVEC and energy panelist.
He recalled the oil embargo of the 1970s and wondered why Americans didn’t learn from such recent history.
“As soon as times got better and the oil embargo went away, we happily returned to our wasteful ways,” he said.
But things are changing again, he said.
“Now we have a greater sense of urgency that we’re all in something together,” he said.
Part of that something is a need to educate power customers, he and Groff stressed.
“There’s a lot of untapped potential in the world of conservation in the U.S.,” Brown said. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen Japan or western Europe suffering from their [energy] conservation.”
All of the panelists agreed that dealing with carbon as it relates to climate change will be the preeminent issue in the years to come.
Coal-fired power plants supply much electricity, but there are not many alternatives, yet.
“I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think we can exclude coal from the picture altogether,” Curtis said.
Others said nuclear power is just as important to keep in the picture.
Brown proposed a change in federal law that prevents nuclear plants from reusing waste and getting more life out of mined uranium.
Groff suggested local governments take a lead in preventing huge losses in commercial and residential electricity waste via poor insulation. Green building standards should be adopted on a statewide level, he said.
Murray reminded the audience that as an energy provider, Dominion is interested in investing in energy sources that are of “utility scale and economic.”
That’s why energy research funding is imperative, said LS Power’s Lynne Mackey, director of regulatory policy.
She stressed that coal, one of the biggest sources of carbon pollution, cannot be left out of the energy equation.
“We cannot eliminate the most prolific fuel source in the country,” she said. “It should be considered as a bridge to the next generation.”
Staff writer Lillian Kafka can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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