Doe Advisory Panel Issues Reports On Policy, Grid Changes Needed To Meet Future Demand

摘要

The Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Committee released three draft reports last week that recommend how the department should develop a smart grid, store electric power and ensure a reliable power supply in the face of rising demand. The committee was formed earlier this year, and whether the incoming administration under Barack Obama accepts the group's recommendations and retains the advisory committee that developed them is unclear. Linda Stuntz, the Washington attorney and former deputy secretary of energy who chairs the 30-member committee, said she does not know what will happen to the committee in the new administration or whether the reports will be used. "We were all appointed for one-year terms. It'll be up to the new administration," Stuntz said. "Our hope is that the committee will be kept by the new secretary" because "there is certainly value in having the committee," she said. Another committee member, who asked not to be named, expressed a similar sentiment, pointing out that the committee includes a broad array of people with policy and industry experience in different energy sectors. "We're not sure what will happen" when Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, but "I'm hopeful that the incoming administration will find the work product meaningful and useful" in its policy deliberations, the committee member said.