The Distributed Energy Financial Group (DEFG) wondered who will promote and guide investment in distributive generation to bridge the gap between capital markets and energy technology firms.
     The financial services firm decided to do the job itself.
     The firm released its first major report on the subject in April and decided that DG will reach a point in the next three to five years where it's going to take off and boom, said Jamie Wimberly, DEFG's CEO.
     You remember Wimberly as president of the Center for Advancement of Energy Markets.
     The Distributed Energy Sector Review (DESR) is a 150-plus page PowerPoint presentation in four main sections.
      Traditionally DG was segmented by technologies but Wimberly would rather arrange the industry according to standard financial analysis, value chain, customer value and the traditional technology approach.
     DEFG COO Tom Lord has heard investors who sense deals are available but hard to see.
     "We've heard investors say ,'I know there's a deal here -- I just can't figure out what this guy has to sell,'" Lord quoted.
     The analytical framework of the DESR is meant to create a "translation process" for investors to communicate with technology providers and vice versa.
     DEFG saw a recent rise in interest from utilities.
     Often utilities are turned off to DE because their "best" customers are the ones DE firms want most to serve.
     But big money is lining up to get into the sector, said Wimberly -- with firms like Baker Capital and Allied Capital, for example, taking their first steps into DE.
     New Energy Capital is another firm with money for DE.
     On the down-side, the firm expects DG to stay volatile and speculative until the boom with some firms bought up and others going bankrupt.
     "There will be winners and losers," said Wimberly.
     (Story originally published in Restructuring Today 4/20/04)