By Jasmin Melvin
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Proponents of alternative energy and energy efficiency were elated on Thursday by President-elect Barack Obama's economic stimulus speech, but some analysts warned his energy agenda could hit turbulence in Congress or from the slow economy.
Obama asked Congress "to act without delay" to pass legislation that included doubling alternative energy production in the next three years and building a new electricity "smart grid."
He said he also planned to modernize 75 percent of federal buildings and improve energy efficiency in 2 million homes to save consumers billions of dollars on energy bills.
Billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens called Obama's comments "an important first step in solving our nation's energy crisis and getting our economy moving again."
"Investing in alternative energy, focusing on conservation and rebuilding our power grid to deliver that energy to every corner of our country are critical components of this effort," Pickens said in a statement.
The League of Conservation Voters said Obama's plan to create jobs producing solar panels and wind turbines and making homes more energy efficient "is just what the doctor ordered."
"President-elect Obama's prescriptions will address the twin challenges of an ailing economy and the threat of global warming," the group said in a statement.
But some analysts questioned Obama's ability to boost spending on higher-cost renewable fuels during a recession.
"It will be more difficult to meet the alternative fuel goals if oil prices keep falling and we are in a recession," said Phil Flynn, an oil analyst with Alaron Trading in Chicago.
Obama's plan is still far from implementation, noted Tim Evans, an energy analyst at Citigroup in New York.
"All of the details of whatever policy he wants will be heavily negotiated in the legislative arena," Evans said. "It's too early to give an opinion. This stuff has to get through a lot of committees."
Obama's economic warnings foreshadowed what could be a negative employment report on Friday, another analyst said.
"If job losses exceed 700,000, that will send a shudder through the markets, keeping a lid on energy prices, if not engender further losses," John Kilduff, senior vice president of MF Global in New York.
"The U.S. economy will need every bit of the stimulus outlined by President-elect Obama," Kilduff said.
(Reporting by Jasmin Melvin; additional reporting by Robert Gibbons and Joshua Schneyer in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
