Talking Energy

Before the inevitable rush of questions as to the choice in title begins, I would like to point out how this homely little blog is following a long and storied tradition of using acronyms (and faux acronyms) in energy circles.

Any of these familiar? The top one should be to almost every American, given how much of a stir its former CEO caused during the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. So should the bottom one, if only because it's a good bet you have some of their light bulbs in your house. The middle one is well known to most southeastern Michigan residents because, well, DTE is their power utility.

Here are some other energy companies whose names look like (or are) acronyms:

SCANA (utility)
AGL Resources (utility)
EQT Corporation (natural gas extraction)
REC (solar panels)
XTO Energy (oil and natural gas extraction)
OCI Company (solar panels)
NRG Energy (utility)
APS (Arizona Public Service) (utility)
SRP (Salt River Project) (utility)
UGI Corporation (utility)

So on and so forth...

As you can see, energy people like acronyms. Not just for company names, but for technologies too. Energy agencies, such as the Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission love these sorts of acronyms. If acronyms for technical terms were a sea they would swim in them everyday. Acronyms are so common that the State of California's Energy Commission has an entire webpage devoted to acronyms. You can go there and search every acronym from A (ampere) to ZDMH ("mechanically scribed, deep-domain refined core steel").

I worked in a metallurgical engineering department for a year and have no idea what that last one means.

So, if my blog title seems a little crass, or just too cheeky, remember it's not meant to be an insult, just a slight jab at a very strange love affair.



Correction (5:54PM Pacific Standard Time): The year of the BP oil spill was corrected to 2010.