Service Reliability, Aging Workforce and Environmental
Issues Are Top Concerns
Overland Park, Kan. (December 18, 2007) – Black & Veatch, a leading
global engineering, consulting and construction company, today announced the
findings of its 2007 Strategic Directions in the Electric Utility Industry
Survey, showing the industry’s top issues remain similar to last year’s
survey results.
Service reliability continued to rank as the No. 1 overall concern, while
the aging workforce moved up to No. 2 from No. 5 in last year’s survey.
Environmental issues remained the No. 3 concern and aging infrastructure
declined to No. 4 this year compared to No. 2 in last year’s survey.
The survey reports on the opinions, activities and future plans of energy
companies in the North American power industry. It includes the inputs of
nearly 400 energy industry executives, explores, identifies and ranks the
relative levels of concern on a variety of issues facing the power industry
ranging from the aging of infrastructure and workforce, to views on regulatory
practices.
The Black & Veatch survey measures the level of respondents’ concerns by
offering a 1 through 5 scale of response intensity. For example, the 2007
survey results show that the level of concern over carbon emissions policy,
service reliability, aging workforce and aging infrastructure increased.
“This is entirely consistent with the complex issues that we assist our
clients in dealing with every day,” stated Richard Rudden, Senior Vice
President and Energy Industry Lead for Black & Veatch’s Enterprise
Management Solutions Division. “These issues are critical to the successful
planning and operations of any electric utility, independent power producer or
regional transmission operator.”
Approximately 82 percent of the survey respondents believe that global
warming is occurring, and 44 percent of those respondents feel it is caused by
human activity. In total, about 36 percent of all survey respondents believe
global warming is real and is caused by man. Approximately 35 percent of
respondents have a significant degree of confidence in the underlying climate
change science compared to 42 percent who had low confidence in the
science.
“These were surprising results. They suggest less support than we had
expected for the science that underlies current and proposed climate change
policy,” Rudden said. “The results also illuminate the substantial differences
in views between the United States and other nations participating in the Kyoto
Protocols.”
Seventy-two percent of respondents believe that some form of U.S. carbon
legislation will be implemented by 2011. This is the same response level as the
2006 survey.
“Given the increased concern expressed by survey respondents over carbon
uncertainty, and the heightened awareness of global warming in the media and
with the public, one would expect this percentage to increase in our 2007
survey,” said Rudden. “One explanation is that survey respondents may have
expected some action in the U.S. Congress on this issue in 2007, which did not
occur.”
In addition, approximately 29 percent of survey respondents prefer carbon
emissions cap-and-trade regulations; 14 percent a straight carbon tax; 8
percent a statutory physical emission restriction, and 49 percent a combination
of the three approaches.
The survey results are available in PDF format to individuals in the energy
industry and news media for no charge at Black & Veatch’s Web site:
www.bv.com/StrategicDirectionsSurvey or by emailing
laytonge@bv.com for a printed copy of the results.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction
company specializing in infrastructure development in energy, water,
telecommunications, management consulting, federal and environmental markets.
Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch develops tailored infrastructure solutions
that meet clients’ needs and provide sustainable benefits. Solutions are
provided from the broad line of service expertise available within Black &
Veatch, including conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering
design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management,
program management, construction management, environmental, security design and
consulting, management consulting and infrastructure planning. With more than
$2 billion in revenue, the employee-owned company has more than 100 offices
worldwide and has completed projects in more than 100 countries on six
continents.
Media Contact:|
George Minter
913-458-8001
minterga@bv.com
24-Hour Media Line:
1-866-496-9149
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