Conference to examine ethics in energy industries

As the electrical and gas utility industries shifted from regulated markets to competitive ones, a number of ethical, market and regulatory issues arose. How those issues should be addressed will be the subject of a meeting this month.

"Ethics and Changing Energy Markets: Issues for Engineers, Managers and Regulators" is being organized by University of Notre Dame and Carnegie Mellon University. Engineers, economists and energy-industry decision makers, as well as ethicists, are expected to attend the meeting on Oct. 28–29 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

The meeting will be co-sponsored by ASME's Energy Resources Group and the Board on Professional Practice and Ethics.

The conference will focus on how public confidence in deregulated systems has been shaken by the California energy crisis and the Enron scandal, according to conference organizers. Organizers note that questionable ethical decisions precipitated some of these problems and that an adherence to high ethical standards will be essential in restoring confidence.

The Northeast blackout of 2003 also weakened confidence in the national power grid by demonstrating the vulnerability of the current, highly interconnected system, meeting organizers maintain.

The conference speakers who will address the origins of the problems and best practices to avoid their repetition include Pat Wood III, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Vernon Smith, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics and a professor of economics and law at George Mason University; and Bethany McLean, a reporter from Fortune magazine and co-author of "The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron."

For a complete meeting agenda and registration information, visit energyethics2004.nd.edu.

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