That was the main message from Tuesday's West Texas Energy Summit, which brought together Texas legislators and energy production businessmen from across the Permian Basin at the Dora Roberts Community Center.

Producers and lawmakers shared ideas, information and predictions for the future of the energy industry during the summit, which was the brainchild of Texas Rep. Joe Heflin, Big Spring's representative in the state House of Representatives, and Ben Sheppard, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association.

Heflin said the summit was designed to update West Texans on the status not only of the oil and gas industry, but other energy enterprises like wind, solar and nuclear.

“He and I were talking on the phone when we came up with the idea for a summit,” Heflin said. “We wanted lawmakers and energy producers to share information and ideas to see what we can do to keep the oil and gas industry viable ... Ben said, 'Well, why don't we bring everybody? Not just oil and gas but other areas of energy production?'”

Aside from updating the audience on the state of Texas' oil and gas industry, speakers also provided details about ongoing efforts to develop alternative and renewable energy sources.

Big Spring's state senator, Kel Seliger, chaired a session on wind energy and said it has a bright future in Texas.

“Wind energy, right now, is really complementary to conventionally produced energy such as oil and gas,” Seliger said. “But it really has an important place in energy production and a very important role in the economic development of Texas.”

The major problem keeping wind energy from assuming a bigger profile is that there is currently no feasible way to store the electricity generated from the turbines. That, plus the intermittent nature of the West Texas wind, keep it from assuming a larger role in energy production at this time.

“There's a lot of research going on now into how to store wind energy,” Seliger said. “When that question is answered, then wind is something that can depended on all the time.”

Aside from research, officials also are budgeting more than $5 billion to construct Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) transmission lines to link the state's wind farms with Texas' power grid. This move, State Rep. Warren Chisum of Pampa said, will take much of the decade.

Moves are also underway to increase nuclear energy production in Texas. Jeff Simmons, senior nuclear development officer for Luminant, said the company is joining with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in plans to construct two new units at the Comanche Peak station near Glen Rose. That move, Simmons said, would increase the facility's electrical generating capacity by 3,400 megawatts.

While alternative sources of energy are promising, officials concede that oil and gas will continue to be the major energy contributor in Texas for some time.

State Rep. Jim Keffer of Eastland, said increased regulatory pressure from the federal government is a concern, but not a back-breaker to the industry.

“There are clouds on the horizon, but nothing we can't handle with hard work and common sense,” Keffer said. “But it's going to take the whole oil and gas industry to make sure we don't head off in the wrong direction.”

Among those issues clouding the future of the industry are concerns over changes in the tax structure, Iraq's plan to auction off 12 billion barrels of oil in the near future and the fight over whether to adopt “cap and trade,” an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants.

And energy needs are not going away — in fact, officials said, they will only increase in the years to come.

“In the 1950s, the average size of a home in Texas was a little bit less than 1,000 square feet. Now, it's a little less than 2,500 square feet,” said John Fainter, director of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas. “Very few homes back in the '50s had central air and heat ... And just look at all the stuff in your house that uses electricity — TVs, computers, appliances and so forth.”

It's a demand Texas energy producers will continue to meet, Chisum said.

“Since Spindletop, Texas has led the world in energy production,” he said. “And even if we didn't have oil, we have the people and the knowhow.”

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it