About WEC

WEC: Recent history

In the three years leading up to the 1992 Madrid Congress, WEC reorganised its finances to increase substantially the annual subscriptions it charged its members. The more robust financial picture enabled WEC to support expanded programmes and services for its membership, which had swelled to nearly 100 countries. A special WEC Foundation was also set up to help fund the work of WEC, with 24 Member Committees and several outside organisations contributing nearly £1.2 million. The organisation also changed its name to the World Energy Council, and the International Executive Council was renamed the Executive Assembly.

In December, 1997, WEC Secretary General Ian Lindsay (left) became seriously ill and died unexpectedly the following spring. He was deeply mourned. His 12-year tenure of service and his significant contribution to WEC's growth and its increasing importance on the world energy scene were recognised during the first session of the Executive Assembly at the Houston Congress. After an international search, Gerald Doucet (below, right), President and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association, was selected as WEC's new Secretary General.

Also at the Houston Congress, WEC's Global Energy Information System (GEIS), an Internet-based, value-added information service, was introduced. GEIS has become a significant benefit of WEC membership and an important interactive communication tool for members as well as a way to publicise WEC and its work to the world at large.

In 2000, WEC published another landmark report, Energy for Tomorrow's World - Acting Now!, which re-examined the premises and conclusions of the 1993 Energy for Tomorrow's World. Nearly 20,000 copies of the report were distributed to WEC members, energy leaders, government officials, and the media.

In 2001, a major step forward was taken when WEC was incorporated as a charity limited by guarantee under UK law.