District Energy - 2008 Second Quarter

President’s
Message

crisis was “the moral equivalent of war,” and my assignment was to research the controversy surrounding the “Greenhouse Effect.” I interviewed scientists whose elaborate models of atmospheric carbon dioxide buildup predicted possibilities of massive societal and economic disruption from melting polar ice caps and rising sea level, an increase in violent storms, population displacement and a substantial northern shift in arable farming climate. Remember, this was 1978.

Each year at this time, as winter finally gives way to spring (here in New England, anyway), I’m reminded of a career decision I made 26 years ago to stay in the energy field rather than accept an offer from Jake Burton Carpenter to join him in the early stages of his company, Burton Snowboards. In hindsight, now that snowboarding is a hugely popular Olympic sport and Jake is an iconic, self-made millionaire doing cool television commercials for American Express and HP, it would seem I really goofed. But, in retrospect, I believe now as I did then, that working to transform how we use energy is an important calling.

Today, society is dealing with record-high oil prices, massive urban population growth, decaying infrastructure, declining water resources and a panoply of environmental challenges largely due to increasing fossil fuel consumption. From Wall Street to Main Street, interest in greener energy solutions is growing exponentially, and the district energy industry is well positioned to ride this groundswell of market forces. As I reflect on the road not taken in spring 1982, I see some interesting parallels between the path ahead for district energy and the emergence of snowboarding from a cottage (in this case, barn) industry. It has gone from a disruptive technology to market acceptance to a prominent Olympic sport.

I see some interesting parallels
between the path ahead for dis-
trict energy and the emergence
of snowboarding from a cottage
(in this case, barn) industry.

The Epiphany

My career epiphany occurred early in college during a summer internship at the Energy Policy Information Institute in Boston. The year was 1978, when the second energy

Still other climatologists felt that increased temperatures and moisture would enhance cloud cover and therefore increase reflectivity to offset UV radiation. Even then, there was an “unsettled climate controversy” within the scientific community.

In analyzing the causes of atmospheric CO₂buildup, however, it was crystal clear to me that energy efficiency was dramatically undervalued and stymied by “principal-agent problems” (as noted by Fred Krupp in his new book Earth: The Sequel). I found that our national energy policy needed major overhaul and that unfettered fossil fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions held real economic and environmental peril for future generations. I had an epiphany that working in the energy field would make for a challenging and interesting career where I could both make a living and, possibly, a difference.

Throughout college, I stayed with energy through work-study assignments at the U.S. Department of Energy in Appropriate Technologies and Office of Consumer Affairs, culminating in a professional opportunity at the DOE after graduation to oversee a solar demonstration program. But the 1980 presidential election brought a change in the

White House, and the new administration’s axe fell swiftly on the solar energy program, ending my public sector career in energy before it even began.

After graduation from Tufts University and another summer of lifeguarding and bartending, I opted for a winter job in Vermont at a slopeside ski lodge that included room, board and a free season ski pass. It was here at Bromley Mountain on a slope aptly named “The Lord’s Prayer” that I first met Jake Burton as he was testing new snowboard prototypes after hours. I was immediately hooked on the sport and, over the course of the winter, I not only got pretty good at riding but also, without really trying, managed to sell dozens of snowboards to young lodge guests during after-hours snowboarding sessions.

As winter gave way to spring and my “endless summer” came to a close, Jake thanked me for selling a whole bunch of boards and asked me to join his small company and tag along for a helicopter boarding adventure in Utah where they were filming a new video. Yet this was 1982 and in mulling it over I had to consider that snowboarders were still not allowed on ski areas and without real market access, and worse yet, the onset of summer, the immediate financial prospects of this opportunity seemed rather thin. In declining, I told Jake that I might one day regret it, but I felt compelled to return to the alternative energy field where I had a sense of mission. I wished him luck in converting the landed gentry to accepting his renegade sport.

Snowboarder Turned
Energy Evangelist

One year later in spring 1983, after hiking up in the backcountry to take a ride at Snowbird Utah, I was angrily “escorted” off the slopes by the ski patrol, and I felt somewhat vindicated in my career decision. At the time, incumbent ski area owners still resisted innovation and new technology participants, much like the treatment many investor-owned electric utilities give cogeneration developers today. Citing issues like insurance risk and probable damage to groomed trails, the incumbents required that snowboard design evolve by eliminating fins and adding bindings that would reduce runaway boards.