A dear friend asked how come I had not written any recent articles about the credit crisis, the gargantuan trade deficit, the plunging dollar, gold above $900.00 an ounce, or commented about the recessionary trade winds that are permeating our economy. Well, since these issues are front and center in the media, and rightfully so, I have decided that I would not feed the fire by adding fuel to an already challenging environment. Instead, because I am an eternal optimist who likes to focus on the positive, (definitely not saying ignore the negative) I will concentrate on investing for the future.
As I look back to the United States of the past, and I am not a historian, we see a nation that is built on ingenuity and vigor that always rises to the challenges. Some examples of ingenuity are motor vehicles, telephones, railroads, bridges, tunnels, internet, man on the moon, and the space shuttle to name a few, all made possible by our number one resource, the electrical grid. Where would the United States be without electricity? Electricity has been the unpinning of every developed country and in America’s case taken for granted uptil now. I believe that is about to change and I will tell you why.
As the world becomes more educated people desire to live in a more comfortable life style is a natural phenomenon. India and China are perfect examples. These countries populations are enormous with great desire for absorbing information and learning brought on by the Internet. Other countries are following, increasing the demand for the non-renewable natural resources that enable the creation of electricity. Want some irony? America has been and continues to outsource manufacturing and service related industries to countries that have reduced labor cost. The result is increased demand by those countries for the resources used for the generation of electricity. So, not only are the jobs gone but competition for the natural resources used to create electricity that is America’s underpinning has increased tremendously and does not seem to be abating. Additionally, climate change issues abound thus causing increased pressure to manage the creation and usage of electricity.
There is no quick fix to the electric conundrum, however it seems law makers are reacting. On December 18, 2007 our President signed H.R.6 the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The short version of the bill is the funding for the reduction of greenhouse gases and to enhance energy conservation and efficiency. This means alternative energy supplies generated via renewable natural resources will becoming online. I have also noticed and increased usage of the phrase “Smart Grid”. In order for America’s electrical grid to take advantage of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, and battery storage the electrical grid has to be upgraded. However creating new supplies is half the battle, managing the supplies is the other half, hence the term smart grid.
In closing several years ago in an online chat forum I wrote that Google has the ability to recognize a trend before the trend has fully developed. Google at that time with several others invested $100,000,000 into a privately owned smart grid company called Current Technologies. IBM is working with CenterPoint Energy to create a smart grid. Cree, Itron and Echelon are other companies worth mentioning. Flying way under the radar at .041 cents a share and buried in the over the counter bulletin board (OTCBB) land of lagers is Ambient Corp. Ambient Corp. is working with Con Edison, Duke Energy, First Energy, Entergy and a recently ended trial with San Diego Gas & Electric on smart grid technologies. I have often wondered why would behemoths utilities work with a company that does not have the resources to expand. I have not arrived at an answer but possibly trials with Ambient Corp is investing in the future, if so, should I? Thank you to my friend for inspiration.
Forensic Trader - Copyright © 2007, all rights reserved.
