U.S., European Renewables ‘in Doldrums,’ Impax Asset Chief Says

The European and U.S. renewable power sectors are in the doldrums, and energy efficiency companies will be a better investment this year, Impax Asset Management Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Ian Simm said.

In Europe, concern that countries may have to cut renewables subsidies to restore confidence in their ability to repay sovereign debt weighs down sentiment, Simm said today in a phone interview. In the U.S., the absence of a federal renewable portfolio standard that would provide a long-term spur for wind and solar power hurts confidence in the industry, he said.