Il WEC Inside è una pubblicazione bimestrale del World Energy Council (WEC) contenente interviste a rappresentanti del WEC e dei Comitati Nazionali, overview e aggiornamenti sulle attività recenti e future del WEC in tutto il mondo e, approfondimenti sulle ultime news in ambito energetico. La versione integrale del WEC Inside è disponibile nell'area Servizi Informativi, riservata ai soli Associati, sul sito del WEC Italia.

1.
US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz urged action on climate change at the USEA Public Policy
Forum ■ Llewellyn King (above right, centre of photo) of the news program White House Chronicle
received the 2014 United States Energy Award from USEA Chairman Vicky Bailey and Executive
Director Barry Worthington in recognition of his contributions to the understanding of energy issues
WEC Inside
1–15 May 2014
Welcome to WEC Inside, your exclusive
briefing from your WEC network
News
The United States Energy Association (USEA), the
WEC US committee, hosted its Public Policy Fo-
rum with its annual membership meeting last
month (23 April) in Washington, DC.
Influential leaders from across the North Ameri-
can energy sector updated delegates on the latest
policies and trends affecting the energy industry.
US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz ad-
dressed the need for energy efficiency standards
and the urgency for climate change action. Failure
to tackle climate change now will make the task “a
lot more expensive, a lot more difficult later on,” he
told delegates. His comments were seen as part of
a renewed effort by President Obama to escalate
the Administration’s action on climate change.
The reliability of the US electricity grid is an
issue of uncertainty, according to Philip Moeller,
Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC), speaking in reference to both
cybersecurity threats and physical security con-
cerns since an attack on a substation near San
Jose, California in February this year.
US Nuclear Regulatory Chairman Allison
Macfarlane highlighted the importance of regulato-
ry independence. She said: “The bottom line is that
we owe it to the public, and to the industry we
regulate to ensure that our decisions are sound,
USEA forum explores trends and threats for energy sector
well informed, and best position us to continue pro-
tecting public health and safety.”
Chairman of the Arkansas Public Service Com-
mission & President of NARUC, Colette Honorable,
discussed upcoming energy initiatives for ensuring
safe, reliable, and affordable utility services. She
cited a collaboration between the FERC and NAR-
UC bringing together federal and state regulators.
1–15 May 2014 WEC Inside1
What themes tie the events together?
There are three common themes. First, we need to
reduce the political risk to energy infrastructure
investment. We are in a time of big change for the
energy sector, and this generates uncertainty and
slows down investment. Governments in all coun-
tries are asking what we need to do differently to
attract investment. This is an issue we will focus on
at the Clean Energy Ministerial, the Asian Clean
Energy Forum with the Asian Development Bank
(ADB), and the UN Sustainable Energy for All
Forum. There we will continue to provide our tri-
lemma work as a tool towards reducing political
risk and uncertainty.
The second theme is how we can adapt to
emerging risks. As we see in our Scenarios and
Issues Monitor and from our Congress last year,
investors and infrastructure decision-makers are
looking ever more at how issues such as the ener-
gy-water-food nexus, extreme weather events,
cyber security, and social activism could impact
their investments. These risks are already affecting
Interview
design and bankability of future infrastructure,
and we’ll be looking at what they mean to the
sector at our World Energy Leaders’ Summit
(WELS) in Astana, the Clean Energy Ministerial,
and at the UN event.
The third theme is energy efficiency. At the
CEM we’ll remind leaders that we will need ener-
gy efficiency to mitigate risks such as the water
footprint of energy generation, irrespective of
energy price volatility. We’ll also be asking at our
joint event with the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) and at the UN how we can refocus efforts
on energy efficiency to accelerate progress.
At the North American events in June,
what should we be interested in?
The unconventionals situation continues to be
very dynamic in North America. The key question
is the unfolding export agenda. We’ll focus on
this topic at the International Economic Forum of
the Americas and the WEC North America Re-
gional Forum, organised this year by our Canadi-
an member committee, the Energy Council of
Canada.
Central and Eastern Europe and the
CIS regions have undergone massive
changes in the last two decades. With
energy being so important there,
what’s a key opportunity?
This region has much to go but also have the
biggest gains to make in improving energy effi-
ciency, as we’ve seen in our recent energy effi-
ciency report. The region also has a lot of opportu-
nities in hydropower and unconventionals. The
recent political developments are of concern to the
region, and many will come to our WELS and our
FOREN will have in the back of their minds the
question of what the recent developments will
mean for the sector in the region. ■
■ WEC Inside will be reporting on the outcomes of
our engagements at the events mentioned.
May and June will be two busy months for the WEC as it engages
government and business leaders at global gatherings across
four continents. Secretary General Christoph Frei talks about the
cross-cutting themes for these events.
Eric Postel, USAID Assistant Administrator for
the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, &
Environment, said that leveraging energy partner-
ships could help achieve development goals. One
example is a recent trip where representatives from
Haiti travelled to Colombia to observe power sector
management there, in an initiative organised by the
WEC Colombian member committee.
Christoph Frei
is Secretary General of the
World Energy Council.