Independent power giant NRG Energy Inc. CEO David Crane predicted Wednesday that the entire energy sector would be impacted by continuing low natural gas prices this year. Crane was a keynote speaker at the Jefferies 2012 Global Clean Technology Conference in New York City.

The onslaught of record low gas prices is “steam rolling” everything in its path, said Crane.

“While renewables to a large degree have been protected by renewable portfolio standards, ultimately the low price of natural gas is an issue that will affect all sectors of the energy space,” said Crane. People who invested in the renewables sector lost money in 2011, “and that is not a good thing, but I actually see it as a sign there are opportunities in the year ahead.”

Crane called gas prices “the overriding theme” for the energy sector, which he sees creating more opportunities, not just for gas-fired displacement of coal-fired electric generation, but also renewables moving more aggressively into the transportation space. “I call it the ‘tyranny of natural gas,'” he said. “The extraordinary price of natural gas these days is steam rolling everything in front of it, and right now its major impact is being felt by coal-fired plants.”

Crane reiterated that while NRG will maintain a fleet of fossil fuel generation plants long into the future, he thinks the world is going through an energy turning point in which renewables, energy efficiency and distributed generation will become more of the “model” for the 21st century.

Crane said support for clean energy is no longer bipartisan, and he thinks that is ironic because he thinks many Republican elected officials have been big backers of renewables in the past for their investment, innovation and technology advancement attributes. “It is hard to imagine Republicans in Congress supporting the clean tech sector now, despite the fact that some of the earliest RPS [renewable portfolio standard] programs were passed in the reddest of states, including Texas and Arizona.”

He urged the clean technology sector to reach out to those on the conservative end of the political spectrum.

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