Submitted by EnergyTechStocks.com

As big a shock as $4-a-gallon gasoline is proving to be for many Americans, the warning signs have been there for the last four years, during which time pump prices have consistently recorded huge year-over-year jumps averaging roughly 50 cents a gallon. While $4 gas isn’t likely to crush investors’ portfolios, there are other energy shocks on the horizon that could. In this EnergyTechStocks.com Special Report, we look at five events investors would be wise to plan for as best as they can. None are certain to happen, but warning signs are there.

Shock #4 – As coal joins oil and food as increasingly scarce commodities, and as public outcry over global warming forces utilities to spend tens of millions of dollars on new pollution control equipment for the coal-fired power plants that generate 50% of America’s electricity, the price of electricity in the U.S. goes through the roof.

This is one energy shock that’s a virtual certainty. Electric rates in the U.S. are indeed about to surge on pass-throughs of higher utility operating costs in the areas of fuel (coal) and environmental controls. But out of this severe short-term pain ought to come healthy long-term gain, as a new nonpolluting “green” electricity generation era comes into view.

With China, India and other developing countries continuing to stress global coal supplies the same as they are oil supplies, coal-based electricity costs will keep rising even if U.S. regulators deny every permit for a new coal-fired power plant. As bad as higher utility bills will be for average Americans, record electricity prices should open huge new markets for solar, wind and other renewable energy sources that will suddenly be cost competitive without government subsidies.

The list of potential beneficiaries of this trend is long, but at the top should be the global giants in alternative energy, because they’ll be best positioned to exploit this huge transformation in the power generation market. Giant wind power companies such as Gamesa, Vestas, Nordex, Suzlon and Goldwind might see their price-to-earning ratios surge, as might major solar energy firms including SunPower, Suntech, Kyocera and Sharp. Geothermal energy companies might also do quite well, such as maybe Ormat and Raser.