Oil Prices Spur Interest in New Energy Sources

ByABC News
September 28, 2000, 10:24 AM

N E W   Y O R K,  Sept. 28 -- The Clinton administrations decision to dip into the nations oil stockpile helped pull prices back from 10-year highs. But it might be too late to curb a renewed push to tap renewable energy resources that has financial planners and mutual-fund managers seeking greener pastures for their energy holdings.

When oil prices jumpedin the 1970s there was interest in stocks (of alternative energy companies), but it abated when oilprices dropped and they havent really regained their popularity untilrecently, says Stephen Barnes, a portfolio manager at Barnes Investment Advisory in Phoenix.

This doesnt mean investors should dump shares of oil giants and flee to the arms of a company harnessing wind power. Alternative energy is developing slowly, which may mean a long gestation period for companies aiming to profit from these technologies.

For fund managers and long-term individual investors companies that can develop successful alternatives to oil-derived energy sources stand to be huge winners. Among the potential gainers are both small companies and established energy conglomerates with divisions engaged in harnessing such renewable energy resources as the sun, the wind and the tides.

Sunny Forecast for Fuel Cells

Weather-driven power sources, like solar and wind power, are fickle but the forecast for fuel cell technology is bright, says Barnes. Unlike traditional power generation based on the burning of fossil fuels or the splitting of atoms, fuel cells use hydrogen as a power source, and so only have heat and water as byproducts. But Barnes cautions that fuel cells produce power on too small a scale to make a huge impact on the energy business.

A problem for investors is that many alternative technology companies are trading at a premium, and so finding value is complicated, says Barnes. An example is Ballard Power, a Canadian fuel cell maker. Daimler-Benz purchased a 25 percent stake in the company for about $200 million in 1997 with the aim of applying fuel cell technology to a new generation of automobiles running on electric power. Ford purchased a smaller stake in 1998. Since then, Ballards stock price, which traded up from just more than $30 in January to its current price of around $115, has risen too high to be considered an alternative energy bargain.