NEW YORK (AP) -- To meet the United States' growing power needs, utilities must be willing to consider new generation methods while making existing techniques more efficient, General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said during a speech Monday.

 

Growth in fast-growing economies such as China and India, as well as steady demand at home, will keep energy costs high for the foreseeable future, Immelt said.

 

''Demand for energy is going to grow for a long period of time,'' he said.

 

Immelt's speech to executives gathered at an Edison Foundation conference was underscored by a new Brattle Group study that found utilities must invest about $457 billion (euro287.4 billion) in new generating capacity by 2030 to meet domestic demand growth. An additional investment of $900 billion (euro566.1 billion) will be needed over that time to build and modernize transmission and distribution facilities.

 

''The industry is facing an investment challenge,'' Peter Fox-Penner, Brattle's chairman, said later at the same conference.

 

To meet that challenge, Immelt urged utility executives to consider all options -- including emerging technologies such as solar, wind, biofuels and coal gasification -- and efficiency improvements to existing coal, natural gas and nuclear plants.

 

''The energy solutions in the future are going to be in ... spreading bets across a variety of energy options,'' Immelt said. GE has a substantial energy business, which includes making gas turbines and nuclear reactors.

 

Solar, wind and coal gasification plants -- in which coal is turned into a gas that is burned to drive steam turbines -- all show promise, he said. But more investment is needed to develop them and bring their costs down to competitive levels, he said.

 

''Our job is to make them lower cost,'' Immelt said. ''The industry has been fundamentally underinvested in from a technology standpoint.''

 

Solar and wind power are supported by generous government subsidies, while coal gasification technology has yet to prove itself as an economic alternative.

 

High fuel prices are boosting the viability of these alternatives, he said.

 

''There's a lot of entrepreneurial money coming into the space,'' Immelt said.

 

At the same time, Immelt urged executives not to take older generation techniques off the table. Energy diversity is key to the industry's ability to meet the nation's long-term energy needs, and to avoid the price shocks that come with spikes in fuel and materials costs.

 

Existing coal, natural gas and nuclear generation technologies can be made cleaner and more efficient, he said.

 

''We have to keep investing ... to get 5 to 10 points more efficiency out of the technologies we have today,'' Immelt said.

 

Immelt did not address GE's recent profit report -- in which first quarter earnings fell 6 percent and triggered a drop in the company's shares -- other than to open his speech by saying, ''I'm looking forward to starting off a better week with you than we had last.''