New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has served many elected and appointed roles in his political career. In 1997, as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, he spoke to the World Affairs Council of San Diego. I still recall the opportunity to pose a question about power grids and hand him the GENI technical package.

Then, Mr. Richardson served as the US Energy Secretary for several years. During this term he hosted his fellow energy ministers in three regional summits: Latin America, Africa and Asia. GENI was given prime exhibit exposure at each event, and we convinced the Dept. of Energy to convene the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Energy Summit in San Diego in 2000. Secretary Richardson had become a strong advocate of windpower as the costs (4-5 cents/kwh) were now competitive with fossil energy sources.

Now, as Governor of New Mexico, he is putting his words into projects. Mr. Richardson understands that developing the optimal wind resource requires high-voltage transmission to reach the market. As Chairman of the Western Governor's Association, his knowledge and leadership on this issue is seen by all. He recognizes that renewable energy development and transmission are linked, stating "it doesn't matter how much wind energy we have in New Mexico if we can't send it (via transmission) to markets that need it."

The linked article highlights this awareness and commitment. In closing, I must mention the tragedy caused by the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. In a few minutes, over 150,000 lost their lives and millions lost everything they owned. By any comparison, the rest of us live blessed lives and we need to help in any way we can. I thank you for contributing to our work - and encourage any assistance you can give to the tsunami survivors.