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Guests light up fireworks to celebrate the unveiling of a statue honoring the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Club of Oklahoma City in downtown Oklahoma City last week. Photo by Vicki Clark, OKC Friday

In the struggle to meet a growing energy demand, two leaders in the field said last week that technology may be the simplest and most trusted option.
OG&E CEO Pete Delaney and Silver Springs Networks CEO Scott Lang presented their ideas on the third day of the Creativity World Forum at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.
Delaney said that energy demands are slated to increase by 60 percent worldwide over the next 20 years and by 30 percent in the United States by 2035. Instead of constructing more fossil fuel power plants, his company has announced that they have deferred any construction of such plants until 2020 as they attempt to meet demand through advances in technology.
Why is this important? It really comes back to energy challenges. Infrastructure does not have the capability to meet our energy challenges in the future, Delaney said. Were convinced the approach we need to take is to employ new technology into our system.
That new technology is just the sort of thing Silver Springs a Silicon Valley business that designs technology that digitizes the electric grid specializes in. Lang, the CEO, said $1.2 trillion can be saved in the U.S. by being more efficient and using that technology.
The highlight of the technology is a meter inside the home that allows consumers to read usage in dollar amounts. In theory, theyd be able to read when the peak times for usage are and how much those times cost, as well as even controlling their usage online while theyre away from home.
OG&E has been testing the new products with consumers and found that they can reduce peak usage by 20 percent and overall usage by five percent.
They like the choices they get, Delaney said. They are very much energized by having the optionality that they dont have today.
Delaney noted that China is scheduled to build a power plant every week for the next 10 years. Other advances in technology like electric cars and the internet have caused a rush to create ways to increase production.
While his company is still investing in wind power and solar energy, he said educating customers and then giving them the technology to be more efficient is the easiest solution right now.
How creative are you going to be when you have the power? Because were going to put the power in your hands, Delaney said. I hope you do a lot with it.
The forum was hosted by Creative Oklahoma Inc., and included dozens of presenters who were leaders in fields ranging from music to architecture and business.

Devon Energy Executive Chairman and Fridaylander J. Larry Nichols was one of more than 100 of the countrys leaders who were recently invited by the Wall Street Journal into a roundtable discussion to tackle policy choices facing the nation.
Dozens of chief executives from companies ranging from Coca-Cola to Time Warner joined a group of other participating guests that included economists, politicians and leaders of think-tank organizations.
The group divided into smaller task forces that debated issues like health care, job creation, business confidence and the environment. At the end of the event, the groups top priorities were to foster global trade, presidential leadership, tort reform, investing in America, debt reduction and fortifying the dollar.
Nichols, who also serves as director at Baker Hughes Inc. and Sonic Corporation, was the only Oklahoman invited to the event.
The CEOs in attendance represented more than $3 trillion in market capitalization.

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