Gov. David Paterson’s initiative earlier this year to draft a coherent and forward-looking energy plan for New York state couldn’t have come at a better time. And recent market developments here also should prompt the governor to look at Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens’ national energy plan, because it contains some useful ideas for New York.

By applying some of Pickens’ ideas, New York’s growing wind and natural gas resources could give us a running start at meeting four key goals: renewable energy, stabilized pricing, environmental improvement, and domestic sourcing of critical resources.

Pickens calls for replacing natural gas-fired electric plants with wind generation, thus using a renewable source for 20 percent of the nation’s electric supply. Pickens would use natural gas instead to fuel cars and trucks, vastly reducing U.S. demand for Middle East oil.

Environmentally, it’s a win-win. Switching to wind from natural gas for electric power has obvious climate change benefits. On the transportation side, natural gas causes 30 percent less pollution than gasoline.

Economically, using wind instead of natural gas would eliminate a major cause of volatile and high electricity prices. This is especially true for New York, where market pricing of all electricity in the grid is commonly set by natural gas-fired capacity because of the rules of the grid operators.

Although the Pickens Plan is focused on the windy Great Plains states, New York could apply it here, especially in light of two current events: the ongoing expansion of wind generators throughout upstate New York (boosted by a big utility merger approved this month by the Public Service Commission), and the exploration and development of natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale formation under the Southern Tier between the Catskills and through the Finger Lakes region. The state has already reported record gas production for 2007, and much more is coming.

The Marcellus formation is one of a number of deep shale layers under the U.S. estimated to contain natural gas reserves equivalent in energy value to one-half the oil in Saudi Arabia. New drilling and recovery techniques have made these shale formations economically productive. Today, natural gas exploration companies are signing options with Southern Tier landowners, paying thousands an acre just to explore over the next five to eight years.

The advent of wind and natural gas development is exciting. But going forward, New York state should have its priorities in order so as to realize the full potential.

First, regulatory certainty. Existing environmental rules should be clear and must be adhered to.

Second, infrastructure improvement. The state should use its regulatory and development clout to bring both wind power and natural gas to wider groups of consumers. Utilities should extend gas pipelines to serve transportation needs near big cities, and to hard-pressed rural areas where oil and propane have the monopoly on heating fuel. Meanwhile, New York’s electric transmission corridors should be expanded to facilitate wind farm development. Lack of transmission capacity is a constraint on renewable energy and an ongoing tax on electric consumers. There have been times this summer when downstate users paid 400 percent more than Western New York consumers, mainly due to transmission constraints.

Third, market stimulation. Government can use its buying power to partner with gas companies to install fueling stations where state and municipal transportation fleets are housed, and at airports where buses, taxis and private vehicles can be fueled in the normal course of business.

Fourth, reasonable revenues. The state should set an excise tax for new natural gas no higher than other states do, so as not to limit development here. New revenue should be dedicated toward the expense of fleet conversions and fueling infrastructure.

Since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, New York, along with the rest of the U.S., has barely weathered a perfect storm in energy markets. Weather, war, a weak dollar, and rampant speculative buying drove prices to all-time highs unjustified by the fundamentals.

The state’s economy and environment have waited long enough for the political logjam to break in Albany so that we could modernize our systems of energy production, distribution and consumption. Now, the governor has an opportunity to provide an energy plan that capitalizes on new resources and diversifies consumption patterns so that we can avoid these problems in the future.

Gordon Boyd is president of EnergyNext, an energy buyers’ agency for business and municipal consumers based in Saratoga Springs. The Gazette encourages readers to submit material on local issues for the Sunday Opinion section.