June 2, 2017
CHICAGO, IL - Members and partners of the Council on Competitiveness met Wednesday in Chicago for a dialogue focused on the advancement of American competitiveness in an era of abundant, low-cost energy and an increasingly diversified energy mix.
The dialogue, one of five sector studies of the Council’s Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership (EMCP), was hosted by Chris Crane, President and CEO of Exelon Corporation and industry co-chair for the EMCP, in partnership with Eric Barron, President of Penn State University, Paul Kearns, Interim Director of Argonne National Laboratory and Council President and CEO Deborah Wince-Smith.
While energy is an economy-wide competitiveness linchpin, it is in its own right a formidable, diverse, and transforming industry. With one of the most complex supply portfolios, the U.S. energy sector is an enormous driver of research, innovation manufacturing and job creation. “There is no question energy has been and still is the competitive advantage of our nation. The low cost energy we have is the engine that can continue to drive the competitiveness of our economy, but also, continue to find ways to advance manufacturing,” said Chris Crane, President and CEO of Exelon Corporation.
While it was agreed that being in a position of strength when it comes to our energy system is a significant competitiveness opportunity for the United States, trends such as the digitization of data, the need for energy storage systems, increasing demands for energy efficiency and a changing regulatory landscape necessitate the need for a more dynamic, secure and resilient energy system. “Efficiency gains often come at the cost of security,” noted a dialogue participant. “National and economic security are reliant on energy security.”
Aside from the need to address resiliency and security of America’s energy grid, there was a strong consensus among participants – who spanned industry, academia, labor, and the national laboratories – that in order to capitalize on the country’s shift from an energy importer to an energy exporter, we need the infrastructure, regulatory environment, investment and talent to capitalize on the opportunity at hand. The recommendations around these challenges and opportunities will inform the Council’s continued engagement with the administration and, if adopted, will improve national security and drive American economic productivity and competitiveness.
