Taking Personal Responsibility in Our GLOBAL WARMING CHALLENGE
By David Manning, executive vice president, External Affairs, National Grid U.S

No one anticipated the price of oil, gasoline, natural gas, and electricity would hit today’s level anytime soon—never mind this summer. Consumers are demanding answers, politicians are blaming speculators, oil companies want to drill more, and few understand what is really at play.

The new reality is not new at all. Supply is tight and demand is thriving in the world market, particularly in emerging nations. Three months ago The Tata Group, one of India’s largest business conglomerates (TATA), announced the marketing of a $2,500 car in India. GM’s strongest market for SUV’s and Buicks may well be China.

Our only defense in this new world is to use less carbon energy. Kevin Law gets it at LIPA, with an aggressive new program called “Efficiency Long Island.” Many new efficiency technologies have entered the market to allow you to control your thermostat, generate power from your roof, and break your dependence on fossil fuels.

There are many new incentives available from utilities which will still require investment by home owners and small businesses—and at today’s (and future) energy prices, the payback time is shortening by the day.

We built a new high-efficiency combined-cycle power plant at our Ravenswood station which uses far less fuel and generates far fewer emissions than its big brother next door; but in the East River next to the plant, we have invested in the Verdant Hydropower Turbines which will produce energy with no fuel cost and no emissions. The project was delayed when the force of the estuary sheared off some of the turbine blades. The positive here is the phenomenal force of the water available to make energy. Verdant is now retooling and reinstalling.
So while energy companies must look for ways to build more solar, more wind, geothermal, and biomass, an informed public has to partner with us so that we can move that energy to the market and change people’s behavior.

This is also a competitive issue for Long Island, which has always been a high-cost environment and a source of innovation in managing those costs.

At home, if you have an avocado green or harvest gold refrigerator, it should be recycled immediately, not sent to the garage to hold the beer. If you have a small business or a school and you’ve worked there 20 years and don’t know your source of heat, chances are your boiler is not efficient. New technologies have been developed and old technologies have been made more efficient and at today’s prices, a new energy audit will probably reveal new economies.

While Long Island’s Congressional delegation has been pushing, asking, and demanding on these issues with great effect, we shouldn’t just look to political leadership to help make decisions for us. The energy market is not rocket science, nor will the market self-correct to lower prices. Demand is too high and there are too many of us out there willing to pay.

Whether you’re concerned about global warming (and at least 75% of us feel it’s a very serious issue) or energy security, the war, or our dependence on fossil fuels, or if you are just worried about your electric bill in the summer and your heating bill in the winter, it doesn’t really matter. It all comes down to the same thing. We have to figure out how to use less energy, take advantage of the tools that are there and work together to broaden the array of options.

Stay tuned. In future issues, Networking® will share specific actions you can take to become an active participant in the Global Warming challenge.

David Manning leads National Grid’s U.S. External Team, with responsibility for federal relations and issues. He is also central to the company’s US and UK teams, handling all issues and functions external to the company from climate change to communications.