Cole hosts energy summit at OU

By M. Scott Carter
The Moore American

NORMAN August 19, 2008 04:23 pm

— Oklahoma and the Central Plains area of the United States are poised to become “the Saudi Arabia of wind power,” an alternative energy expert said Friday.
Speaking at an energy summit on the University of Oklahoma campus, Mike Bergey, president of Bergey Windpower, said the state’s location makes it a major player in the country’s wind energy market.
“Wind power is taking off in the United States,” Bergey said. “And in Oklahoma we’ve produced about 690 megawatts of electricity via wind power.”
Bergey, one of six panelists at Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole’s 2008 Energy Summit, said Oklahoma has invested about $650 million in wind power since 2004.
“I’m very bullish on the economy in Oklahoma,” he said. “Resources such as wind and natural gas are the cornerstone of that economy — and from an engineering standpoint they are very complementary.”
And while Bergey said his industry is seeing “the best business environment we’ve seen in 30 years” he said that industry needs federal tax credits to grow.
“We’re just waiting to be in the big time,” he said. “We need a small wind power tax credit. The federal government grants tax credits for Japanese solar modules, but not for Oklahoma wind turbines; I hope that bothers you as much as it bothers me.”
It’s “mind boggling,” he said, that the U.S. Congress hasn’t developed an energy bill.
Echoing Bergey, Cole, R-Moore, agreed.
“No institution should stand in the way of our nation’s future of energy security — especially not Congress,” he said. “(In Washington) it’s about winners and losers and good or bad. It’s not about what works. In the end, Americans are interested in what works, what will give us the most abundant supply.”
The issue, Cole, said, is now foremost on people’s minds.
“I don’t know of a single issue that is hotter right now than energy,” he said, “and that people are more concerned about, most immediately, because of the price at the pump.”
While all of the panelists agreed that wind power and a better energy policy would help reduce the nation’s reliance on imported oil, other experts at the forum said the most immediate solution could be found in the state’s natural gas resources.
“In Oklahoma, right now, natural gas accounts for about 80 percent of the gas taxes paid,” said Chesapeake Energy Crop’s Senior Vice President, Tom Price. “So when you hear people talking about the oil and gas industry in Oklahoma, remind them it’s actually the gas industry.”
Oklahoma, Price said, has about “100 to 150 years’ worth” of natural gas available based on current national usage levels. “Chesapeake Energy, alone, accounts for more drilling activity than Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell and ConocoPhillips put together.”
Further, by using natural gas to fuel automobiles, Price said the fuel could “help save” the American automobile industry.
“I think natural gas is one way to save U.S. auto manufacturers,” he said. “With natural gas you have a gas-equivalent fuel which costs 50 percent less at the pump today.”
Americans, Price said, “could still have their SUVs” and fuel them at a reasonable price.
“Increasing the usage of natural gas vehicles by a factor of 10 (about 1 million additional vehicles) would only increase usage of natural gas by less than 1 percent,” he said.
Still, even with the current debate about reducing the country’s energy policy, world demand for energy continues to grow.
And that growth, the leader of Devon Energy said, would have a “profound impact” on the United States.
“World demand for energy is growing, growing and growing,” Larry Nichols said. “Fifteen years ago, OPEC had a 10 million barrel per day surplus; today that surplus is gone. And one of the reasons is demand is increasing in countries like China and India.”
America, Nichols said, has “opposed all forms of energy” but, at the same time, wanted producers to deliver “low cost oil and gas.”
“The surpluses are gone,” he said. “They are gone forever. We haven’t built a new power plant in 30 years and no new refineries since Jerry Ford was president. We cannot oppose all forms of energy. There is no such thing as a perfectly clean source of energy.”
Nichols urged leaders to “have a rational debate” about how to produce energy in a cheap way. “I’m excited because for the first time in decades, the public is finally engaged,” he said. “We need to have a rational debate and not listen to the rhetoric out there.”
He said a “correct” energy policy would be to support all forms of energy — excluding corn-based ethanol.
“We need to develop (a policy) not by doing what is politically popular,” he said. “You can look at ethanol, which is a waste of billions of dollars of tax payers money. I understand the politics of it and, perhaps, after the presidential election we can look at it. But ethanol is a fuel that does not result in less importation of oil.”
And while Nichols said his company “loved ethanol” because its production uses natural gas, he continued to stress the need for new investments in oil production.
“We may not ever develop an alternative form of energy,” he said. “If you look at world demand, I hope we certainly can develop an alternative fuel, but we need oil and natural gas. We need all those fuels until that day comes.”