By Jerry Shottenkirk
Reporter
As printed in The Journal Record, August 11, 2008.

It's difficult for anyone to have all of the answers for U.S. and world energy supplies, but a way to start is to hear a variety of points of view, said U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., during an energy summit he hosted Friday at the National Weather Center in Norman.

"Energy is not always approached scientifically," Cole said, hinting that politics and geography often are involved. "Clearly there is not a single, quick-fix solution that will help Americans see a measurable difference in their transportation and home-energy expenses. That's why I believe it is important for the public to hear more about alternative forms of energy and ways to better utilize our existing domestic resources."

Cole was joined by Larry Nichols, chairman and chief executive officer of Devon Energy; Tom Price, senior vice president of corporate relations for Chesapeake Energy; Mike Bergey, president of Bergey Wind Power; Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud; and Steve Rhines, counsel for the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

Cole said he has co-sponsored four pieces of energy legislation, none of which is perfect. He has supported a bill to authorize construction of nuclear power plants and add tax credits for renewable energy and hybrid vehicles, another to allow drilling on Alaska's Coastal Plain, one that allows for drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, and another to allow exploration off the coasts of Alaska. The same bill calls for new refineries.

The natural gas, oil, wind, and biofuel sectors were represented, and even nuclear power got a pop at the summit from Cloud.

Cole said what's important to one area of the country might not be a priority to another. He said it's easy for East Coast people to call for oil shale development in the Rockies because it's not in their backyard. The same goes for those in the central part of the country who are calling for wind energy on the East Coast. Residents there do not want to lose their shoreline to wind turbines or oil rigs.

Cole said America lived off of surplus for 30 years, and now the surplus is gone.

Price said Chesapeake and other exploration and production companies have increased their drilling in unconventional resource plays and added natural gas is a major part of the solution to energy problems. As part of the T. Boone Pickens Plan, wind energy and natural gas would help relieve some of the nation's reliance on imported oil, he said.

"We think now is the right time for natural gas," said Price, who is part of a company that leads the nation in rigs. "It's one way to save the U.S. auto industry. I think with natural gas, the SUV can be saved."

Bergey's company, which is based in Norman and was spun off of the University of Oklahoma, sells small wind turbines for home and commercial use.

"I'm very much bullish on the prospect for wind energy in Oklahoma," he said.

"It's a getting a lot of long-deserved attention."

Transmission is the biggest challenge, he said.

"Oklahoma would be a huge beneficiary of wind energy," Bergey said. "It would be one of the top four states in wind capacity by 2030, and by that time the state will have 44 times the current capacity."

Bergey said it would be helpful to the country if 20 percent of the power would be supplied by wind.

Cloud said wind and natural gas are two great resources in Oklahoma but there could be more.

"We should take a look at nuclear power," Cloud said. "The coal plants are older and in 10 to 15 years there will be some big-time decisions we'll need to make."

Cloud said there are 104 nuclear power plants in 31 states and they supply 20 percent of the nation's electricity. He said all the states surrounding Oklahoma - Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas - have nuclear power.

He said the negatives are high capital costs in construction, red tape, waste and limited expertise. A nuclear plant in Michigan is expected in about 18 months and it will be the first one built in 30 years.

"Nuclear energy may have a smaller impact on the environment (than other forms)," he said. "It's proven to be a reliable, clean and a low-cost supplier of electricity. A nuclear plant can add as much as $500 million a year to a local economy."

Nichols said he was for the expansion of all forms of energy and said the country will never be entirely energy-independent.

"During the last three decades we've had the best of both worlds," he said. "We could restrict (drilling) and still deliver. We've lived off the surpluses that are gone forever."

Devon Energy gets about half of its production from oil, and Nichols said the lifting of drilling bans on the Outer Continental Shelf and other federal lands would give some relief.

He said every form of energy comes with some risks.

"There's no such thing as something that doesn't have some kind of negative impact," Nichols said.

Rhines and the Noble Foundation said the development of switchgrass as celluolosic ethanol is another boost to energy.

"Switchgrass grows on the side of the road; the key is to turn it into a crop," Rhines said.

He said the Noble Foundation, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University formed the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center.

"We took three institutions and put resources together, and there are emerging technologies," he said.

Corn ethanol has had an effect on food prices, and alternatives are needed, Rhines said.

This article appeared in The Journal Record, www.journalrecord.com, on August 11, 2008.