What the U.S. power industry thinks about the future of the U.S. power industry

[n2doc]

BY DAVID ROBERTS
16 JUN 2011 8:00 AM

Every year, consulting firm Black & Veatch conducts a survey of people in the U.S. utility sector, mostly executives and managers, soliciting their opinions on trends, technologies, and strategies in the power industry. This year participation more than doubled, to 700 people. I've been looking through the full results (PDF) and was going to write up a summary, but then I discovered B&V already did that for me! Far be it from me to do unnecessary work, so with their permission, I'm going to post their "top 10 insights" from the survey. Then I'll do a follow-up post highlighting a few things I think are worth a closer look. This is a bit long for a blog post, but if you're interested in the direction of electricity in the U.S., it's packed with interesting details.

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Top 10 insights from electric utility industry survey results

Prepare for a "significant" increase in your electric bill over the next five years.
Coal will remain part of the future energy mix.
Aging infrastructure is now top operational concern.
Lack of national energy policy impedes investment in new technology.
Water and nuclear safety dominate top environmental concerns.
Natural gas overtakes wind, solar and nuclear as the top "Environmentally Friendly Technology."
Water management viewed as a "Potential Game Changer" and Energy Storage gaining momentum.
Lack of understanding and funding represent greatest obstacles for Smart Grid implementation.
Electric Vehicles will impact utilities' annual load over time.
The United States' competitive position in the renewable energy technology market is at risk

more
http://www.grist.org/climate-energy/2011-06-16-what-the-us-power-industry-thinks-about-future

[GliderGuider]

1. Hmmm. Not good, but no surprises. nt

[FreakinDJ]

2. Black & Veatch is a contracting firm that builds Gas Fired Power Plants

and their summation reflects that

[Nihil]

3. Unrec for marketing lies ...

> Natural gas overtakes wind, solar and nuclear as the
> top "Environmentally Friendly Technology."

Anyone who is claiming that natural gas is a more "environmentally
friendly technology" than wind or solar is a blatant lier(*).
It doesn't even matter what your view is on pro/anti-nuclear as the
lie is proven by the reference to wind & solar.

(* = Note: This refers to B&V not n2doc.)