The movement of energy and information nationwide will be the topic of two high-level conferences here this week.

Pat Wood III, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will be the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Kansas Transmission Summit. The conference will be from noon to 7 p.m. at the Adams Alumni Center at Kansas University, 1266 Oread Ave.

Thursday, Diane Law-Shu, senior staff member of the Federal Communications Commission, will be the speaker at the Kansas Telecommunications Stakeholders Summit. The conference will be from noon to 3 p.m. at the Burge Union at KU.

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, is coordinating both meetings.

At the transmission summit, chief executives of major electric utilities, regional transmission system operators and wind-power developers will participate in a workshop designed to remove constraints on the movement of electricity within Kansas and from Kansas to major markets, Sloan said.

Kansas has the greatest potential in the nation to harness wind power to produce electricity but is limited by the downturn in the national economy and capacity of its transmission lines to carry electricity to other markets, he said.

Building larger transmission lines to increase the potential for Kansas to export electricity “has great significance for the state,” Sloan said.

The telecommunications conference will include state legislators, Kansas Corporation Commission officials and industry representatives. Sloan said officials would discuss how to make high-speed Internet service more accessible, especially in rural areas, and regulation of the industry.

Both conferences are by invitation only. For more information, contact Sloan at 841-1526.