【英语国际】通用电气CEO痛批美国政府不撑腰

General Electric Co. (GE) Chief Executive Jeff Immelt warned the lack of an energy policy and the 'stupid' current structure of the industry is causing the U.S. to fall behind in new energy fields.

In sharply worded comments at an energy event in Washington, Immelt on Thursday praised China's approach to energy and criticized what he called a stalled effort to revamp U.S. energy policy. The remarks come as GE is facing tougher competition around the world from rivals in the markets for renewable and nuclear energy that the company believes get more help from their governments.

'The rest of the world is moving 10 times faster than we are,' Immelt said, referring to the U.S. during a speech at the Gridwise Global Forum. 'This is a great country. But, you know, we have to have an energy policy. This is just stupid what we have today.'

The head of the Fairfield, Conn.,-based conglomerate said China is moving faster to develop clean technologies such as nuclear power, electric vehicles and wind power. He also said China also has the right mix of a big local market, innovation in technology, a low-cost supply chain and federal policy support. The country's State Grid utility, he said, is larger than nearly all U.S. utilities combined.

Meanwhile, the current energy regulatory system in the U.S.--split between federal and state authorities--as 'a relic of 1860 or something' and said 'it has fundamentally no basis in the modern world,' Immelt said. Countries such as Canada, Australia and China have much simpler regulatory structures for energy and are moving more quickly, he said. The U.S. must decide, he said, if it is serious about updating the 100-year-old 'antiquated grid' and whether the much talked about smart grid is 'a hobby shop or a real business.'

GE has long expressed frustration with what it sees as a lack of government support for new energy technologies in the U.S. and for sales of nuclear power and other technologies overseas. The conglomerate's nuclear business has won little business in the current round of reactor development around the world, and its wind-power business faces heavy competition from Chinese manufacturers.

China could spend billions on advanced electricity transmission and distribution systems--collectively known as smart-grid technology--but GE will face competition from State Grid, which is shaping up to be a rival producer as well as the country's main customer.

Immelt's comments appeared aimed at prodding the Obama Administration, Congress and public toward action, particularly in areas where GE does business. But not all competitors and peers shared his viewpoint.

'It's easy to point in all directions,' said Guido Bartels, general manager for global energy and utilities at International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), which sells software and services to help upgrade power grids. 'We just need to step up to the plate.'

Immelt on Thursday repeatedly talked about the nuclear power industry and how the U.S. has failed to maintain and expand its nuclear power industry. 'There should be a nuclear renaissance in this country,' he said. 'The nuclear industry is here because government supported it in the United States. This notion that government is not a catalyst in this industry has no basis in fact.'

He joked that nuclear industry's 'most important output these days is press releases.' He said most Americans probably don't realize the U.S. is only building one nuclear power plant, and at a slow pace, while the rest of the world is building nearly 50. He also said most Americans don't realize how slowly the U.S. is moving on electric vehicles, clean coal plants and other technologies. 'That's kind of the state of play,' he said.

Immelt said GE in the past aimed to produce only the 'quality, expensive, high end' products to sell around the world, but that strategy is changing in nearly every product from wind turbines to MR scanners for sale in rural and urban areas of both emerging and developed markets.

'Now, I want to occupy every corner of an industry. I want to have the value product all the way up to the high-end product,' he said. 'We don't want to give any space to a competitor' from places like China and India. -By Paul Glader, The Wall Street Journal; 212-416-4917; paul.glader@wsj.com

通用电气(General Electric Co.)首席执行长伊梅尔特(Jeff Immelt)警告说，美国没有能源政策，美国能源产业目前的结构也是“愚蠢”的，这种状况正造成美国在新能源领域落后于人。

伊梅尔特上周四在华盛顿一场以能源为主题的活动上发表尖锐言论，在赞扬中国能源政策的同时，批评美国在完善其能源政策方面裹足不前。他说这些话之际，通用电气在全球可再生能源、核能领域正遇到更加激烈的竞争。通用电气认为，竞争对手们从其本国政府获得的扶助比通用电气从美国政府获得的扶助要大。

伊梅尔特在“Gridwise全球论坛”上发表讲话说，国外的前进速度比我们快了10倍；美国是一个伟大的国家，但大家知道，我们得有一项能源政策，我们今天所拥有的，简直是愚蠢。

伊梅尔特说，中国在发展核能、电动汽车和风能等清洁技术方面速度更快。他还说，中国拥有巨大的国内市场，有技术创新，有廉价的供应链，还有中央政府的政策支持，这是一个完美的组合。他说，中国国家电网公司的规模差不多超过了美国所有电网公司的总和。

伊梅尔特还说，当前美国分割于联邦和州政府有关部门之间的能源监管体系，属于“1860年那种时代的遗留”，在现代世界根本没有任何基础。他说，加拿大、澳大利亚和中国等国的能源监管结构简单得多，效率也更高。他说，美国必须确定自己要不要认真对待有百年历史“老旧电网”的升级改造问题，也必须确定谈了很多的智能电网是“一个玩具店还是一件正经事”。

通用电气认为，不论是在美国国内发展新能源技术，还是在国外销售核能和其他技术，它都没有得到政府的支持。很久以来它就一直对此表示失望。在当前全世界的核反应堆建设热潮中，通用电气的核能部门争取到的业务很少，而其风电部门也面临着来自中国生产商的激烈竞争。

虽然中国可能斥巨资采购先进的电能传输和分配系统（一种被称作“智能电网”的技术），但通用电气在争取这些业务时将会面临中国国家电网公司的竞争。国家电网既是通用电气的在华主要客户，也在日益成为它的一个竞争对手。

伊梅尔特上述言论的目的，应该是敦促奥巴马政府、国会和公众采取行动，特别是在通用电气的业务领域采取行动。但并不是所有竞争对手和同行都和他抱有相同的看法。

国际商业机器公司(International Business Machines Corp.，即IBM)全球能源与公用事务部的总经理巴特尔斯(Guido Bartels)说，到处开火很容易，而我们需要做的是承担起责任来。巴特尔斯所在部门卖的是用于电网升级的软件和服务。

伊梅尔特上周四反复谈到核能，以及美国是如何未能保持、扩展其核能产业的。他说，这个国家应该有一场核能复兴，核能产业发展到现在这个程度，是因为它在美国得到了政府的支持；政府不是该行业催化剂的说法，是没有事实依据的。

他开玩笑说，核能产业这些天最重要的成果就是新闻稿。他说，多数美国人或许并没有意识到，美国在建的核电厂只有一座，进展也很缓慢，而国外在建的却有将近50座。他说，多数美国人并没有意识到，美国在电动汽车、清洁煤和其他技术方面的进展是多么迟缓。他说，这差不多就是现状。

伊梅尔特说，通用电气在过去只生产“优质、昂贵、高端”产品销往世界各地，但这种策略目前正在改变，这种改变体现在从风力涡轮机到磁共振扫描仪等几乎所有产品领域，这些产品遍及新兴市场国家和发达国家的城乡市场。

他说，现在，行业的每一个角落我都想占领，从经济实惠产品到高端产品我都想拥有，我们不想把任何空间让给来自中国、印度等地的竞争对手。