In a Business Week article and video interview, PG&E Chairman Peter Darbee explains the logic and the math. By saving the peak energy costs — shifting energy use to cheaper off-peak prices and not having to build additional power plants — his company is doing more with less. Instead of spending $2 billion on a new facility to support more consumption, a greater benefit could be obtained by spending half that amount on insulation, more efficient bulbs or other ways to lower energy use. Looking hard at the details and finding new solutions for big picture issues makes the difference.
Uncertainties over financing huge projects and the difficulty of long-range forecasting for recovering billion-dollar infrastructure bets means companies are looking for more dependable sources of income and profits. That’s just one reason why large multinational companies are pursuing diversification or finding ways not to rely on sales graphs that go perpetually up — as we’ve learned in recent years those projections may not come true. No wonder Duke Energy CEO James Rogers says “The business model fundamentally changes in the 21st century.”
David Wallace
Spotfire Blogging Team
Image Credit: Microsoft Office Clip Art
