The next big thing? dot-com refugees eye alternative energy market. (Green Matters: Environmental Policies).(Editorial)

Don't look now, but the "next big thing" may be just over the horizon. That may be hard to believe be-cause we know that the next big thing is unlikely to emerge from traditional areas of the energy business, spooked as they are by the Enron fiasco, the California deregulation meltdown, charges of market manipulation too numerous to count, and the queasy financial situation.

No, the next big thing most likely will be a "disruptive technology," in the parlance of venture capitalists and the late dot-com crowd. We've certainly got the disruptive part going pretty well, so why not add some technology?

As for dot-coms, ever wonder what happened to those guys? We suspect that when they're not flipping burgers at some fast-food emporium, they're scheming to make a comeback. Computer and telecom industries, otherwise attractive to the former dot-com crowd, are in a funk. So what could be better than alternative energy? Electricity is one of the largest industries in the United States, after all.

This isn't unfamiliar territory to the dot-corn boys. You take a developing technology with big market potential; stir in a little management expertise (real or phony), seasoned with bravura; and mix in some venture capital--et voila, the next big thing!

Made-to-Order Scenario

It's a made-to-order scenario for former dot-corn warriors, who, we're told, live not to challenge established, complacent industry powers head to head, but for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to engineer the perfect end run that will lead to insane profits.

And that's just what some of the dot-corn refugees among us are quietly up to, the New York Times says. ("Can Energy Ventures Pick Up Where Tech Left Off?", February 9, 2003)