Funding for Pickens Plan appears to be slim pickings

Although T. Boone Pickens has become somewhat of a celebrity as of late – giving speeches and appearing on national television in interviews and commercials – the Oklahoma native is finding falling energy prices are making it difficult for his eponymous Pickens Plan to gain traction.

Furthermore, a host of other outside factors have cropped up to make the Texas oilmanÂ’s push for renewable energy increasingly difficult, most recently a Pickens-supported California proposal would have used $9.8 billion in taxpayer money to fund alternative energy research and would have helped consumers purchase alternative fuel vehicles, including those that run on compressed natural gas. However, California voters rejected the proposal. (Clean Energy Fuels Corp., founded by Pickens, contributed $17.7 million to campaign on behalf of the proposition. The Seal Beach, Calif.-based company is a leading provider of natural gas for transportation, and has invested millions in natural gas-powered vehicle manufacturers.)

California voters – long regarded for their environmentally friendly mindset – rejected Proposition 10 on Nov. 4, sending the measure packing with about 40 percent of the vote.

Since July, PickensÂ’ Dallas-based investment firm, BP Capital, has taken a beating and reportedly lost as much as $2 billion in the midst of this yearÂ’s plummeting stock markets with seemingly no floor in sight. PickensÂ’ personal losses have been estimated at about $300 million.

A Texas Panhandle wind farm project that is expected to cost upward of $10 billion has stalled due to a tight credit market. Pickens has worked on the project for more than a year, which would be built on 400,000 acres and could eventually supply enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes.

The final nail in the coffin is oil and gas prices more than 50 percent below what they were just four months ago; oil peaked at more than $147 a barrel in July, itÂ’s now selling at slightly above $61, as of publication. Natural gas sells at about $7 per million British thermal units, half of what it was during the summer.

Depressed fuel prices, while easier on consumersÂ’ wallets, hinder efforts to persuade companies and individuals to invest in renewable energy resources, especially when combined with a shortage of discretionary cash.

“It’s shifted the spotlight,” Pickens said of lower fuel prices in an Oct. 24 interview with the Fort Worth Business Press. “That’s OK because it’ll come back to us for the right reason. The cheaper natural gas prices are, the better the Pickens Plan looks.” Pickens added he isn’t dismayed by those lower natural gas prices.

John Berger is founder, chairman and CEO of Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy, which bills itself as a one-stop shop for both renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. Berger also was an adviser to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2002 and 2003 and previously worked for doomed energy giant Enron Corp., now operating as EOG Resources Inc.

“I think certainly with energy prices going down, it makes our job more difficult,” he said of persuading the public to buy into non-oil fuel sources. “There should be some policy intervention there because all these projects are being cancelled around the world.”

Berger said he thinks the U.S. government should establish a national renewable energy portfolio standard – essentially an energy plan – and allow low-interest loans to allow homeowners to make the necessary upgrades to renewable energy resources and energy efficiency products available.

“I think what we’ve done is we’ve created a situation where we’re going to spike energy prices when we come out of this recession, whenever that is,” Berger said. “I even think the price of oil will eclipse $140 a barrel because of that. That means we need to hold tight and stick to our guns on renewable energy and energy efficiency so we don’t have this whipsaw in the economy.”

While present support may appear hard to come by, Pickens can boast an “army” of followers 1.3 million strong. His New Energy Army is comprised of people who sign up to join the cause via his Web site, pickensplan.com. The Web site aims to have 2 million by Jan. 20, 2009, the day President-elect Sen. Barack Obama is expected to become the nation’s 44th chief executive.

“I think I’ve got enough people to do it, I think it’s a good number,” Pickens said. “But we’ll have 2 million by the time we get to the end of the year.”