Bruce Nelson, Minnesota Department of Commerce, and Bruce Johnson, National Grid Keyspan

Richard Heppe, president of fluid systems at Emerson Motor Technologies, welcomed attendees to the Industry Partners Meeting on September 25 in St. Louis, Missouri, especially the Cardinals fans in the audience.

Located in one of the best cities for young professionals and home to a business incubator, Emerson itself has caught the spirit of innovation. Early on, Emerson identified four trends over the coming years: energy efficiency, increased cost of energy, strain on hydrocarbon resources as the third world develops, and a certain inertia when it comes to changing energy behaviors. To illustrate the last point, Heppe quoted Sam Bodman, secretary of energy, from a speech last June, “I’ve come to the conclusion that energy policy is like the weather: everyone has an opinion on it… but expects someone else to do something about it.”

Emerson has taken the attitude that they need to do something about energy, and made the decision in 1992 to begin working with other people. Getting people together works. In this case, it’s resulted in NEMA Premium, which includes the best characteristics of each manufacturer. Heppe concluded his remarks by stating, “Energy efficiency is something we can all control.”

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