Employment opportunities in the energy field are driven by a shortage of experienced personnel in petroleum geology, petroleum and chemical engineers, which is raising costs for oil exploration projects worldwide and slowing down the pace of future development. Oil company executives are positively bullish on the long-term prospects of their industry. Today's graduates might also expect that the recently concluded Kyoto negotiations regarding the regulation of global-warming gases will now set a new international order for energy technology. Most career counselors advise caution in this area. Still, global warming will remain on the energy agenda for the foreseeable future, and will put a special emphasis on new types of emissions controls, alternative and renewable fuels and conservation.
More imminent forces are at work in the utility industry.
Deregulation, begun by the Reagan Administration and accelerated by technological developments that make the production and distribution of electricity easier and cheaper, is revolutionizing the industry. In the past, local utilities essentially had a monopoly on power supply and distribution. Now, utilities can sell power throughout regional and even national grids, allowing them to distribute power from where it is cheap or plentiful to where it is expensive or scarce. Utilities are now scrambling to develop ways to sell their power and services to what had previously been a captive market. Moreover, a host of new independent power producers and others are now entering the competitive fray.