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U.S. Must Upgrade Electric Network, National Grid's Chief Says
2010-10-21 19:31:45.51 GMT
By Jim Snyder
Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. must upgrade and expand its
electricity network to compete with nations such as China, which
is investing in delivery systems and clean technologies, said
the president of National Grid Plc's U.S. subsidiary.
"Industries will locate where the grid is intelligent,
where there is support to create tomorrow's technologies," Tom
King said today in an interview at Bloomberg's Washington
office. "The U.S. is not competing on a global basis for
that."
National Grid, which delivers electricity and natural gas
to 3.3 million customers in the U.S. Northeast, is backing
climate-change legislation to restrict carbon emissions, a step
that will help businesses identify where to invest, King said.
A cap-and-trade bill passed the House in 2009 and stalled
in the Senate before lawmakers headed out to campaign for the
Nov. 2 elections.
"We can't let that sit for a year or two," King said.
"We got to go in as soon as we can after the election and
things settle to continue to advocate for the need for
comprehensive federal legislation."
National Grid, a London-based company that also delivers
electricity and natural gas in the U.K., supports a federal
renewable energy standard flexible enough to match the energy
resources of different states and regions.
King also encouraged Congress to develop a "significantly
more robust and comprehensive" energy policy.
"What we have to do is stay very active and involved and
try to continue to advocate benefits of a federal plan," King
said. "Not just cap and trade, but where does the federal
government want to take the energy infrastructure over the next
20 years."
For Related News and Information:
Top energy stories: ETOP <GO>
Carbon markets: EMIS <GO>
Top renewable-energy stories: GREEN <GO>
Top business and government news: GBIZ <GO>
--Editors: Steve Geimann, Larry Liebert
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jim Snyder in Washington at +1-202-624-1972 or
jsnyder24@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Larry Liebert at +1-202-624-1936 or
lliebert@bloomberg.net.
