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Technology Stocks : Energy Conversion Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Devlin who wrote (2413)	10/2/1998 10:35:00 AM
From: Tom Hoff	Respond to of 8393

Competition shines light on solar power market By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES, Oct 1 (Reuters) - If some utility experts are right, sunshine could become one of the region's most valuable commodities -- within the next 100 years or so. That's because environmentally friendly solar power, collected in photovoltaic cells, is becoming an energy source of choice for consumers as they are unleashed from their traditional monopoly utilities. As technology drives costs down, some industry experts say solar power may come to dominate the industry worldwide, relegating fears of global warming to a distant memory. ''Under the old system, captains of industry decided what plants would run and what resources would be degraded,'' said Renz Jennings, commissioner at the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates the state's utilities. ''But now consumers can decide what risks to take and what resources to degrade by voting with their dollars.'' He was referring to deregulation of the electric utility industry, a process that is meant to replace regulated monopolies with open competition between power suppliers. Deregulation has chiefly been driven by big businesses looking to lower their power bills. But environmentalists and other public policy watchers also applaud the trend, which they believe opens up opportunities to push the industry toward a cleaner system. ''PVs (photovoltaics) are a transforming technology,'' Jennings said. ''They have the prospect for becoming a powerhouse in the next century.'' The Worldwatch Institute reported in July that solar energy had surpassed wind power to become the world's fastest-growing energy source. While solar energy makes up less than 1 percent of global power supplies, it is becoming more popular as countries move to reduce automobile and industry emissions, said Worldwatch, a research group that tracks emerging global trends affecting the world economy and environment. Solar power has vast potential but it will take decades for it to become much more widely used, experts said. ''Wind is intermittent, as is solar. But solar alone could ultimately replace thermal power generation,'' Jennings said. Technological advances are the biggest reason for the growth in solar power, but the need to diversify resources as well as cut greenhouse gas emissions, seen by many as the main cause of global warming, are also cited as key incentives. Last week, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest municipal utility in the country, announced a new ''green power'' programme aimed at environmentally conscious customers. David Freeman, general manager of the utility, called on the power industry to emphasise image as it markets renewable energy rather than focus entirely on cost. ''If people have the option and it is made simple, they will do it,'' Jennings said. California, which launched deregulation of its electric utility industry earlier this year, so far has seen only a modest amount of supplier switching at the residential level. That is largely attributed to the state's four-year transition plan for the industry, which limits competition on the basis of price, at least until the year 2002. But the California Energy Commission estimated about 25 percent of the roughly 70,000 California households that have opted to stop buying power from their local utility did so in order to purchase ''green'' energy. Those buyers are paying an extra 10 percent or so to show they care about the environment. Meanwhile, utility regulators across the west are working to coordinate rules requiring power suppliers to disclose fuel mix and emissions data when they solicit new customers. ''The public doesn't understand that the energy sector is by far the most polluting segment of the economy,'' Jennings noted. ''This is information that customers need to know. They will, in effect, be dispatching the system.'' 12:22 10-01-98 Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.