This paper develops a relation‑first account of energy grounded in the generative operator framework. Instead of treating energy as a substance, quantity, or transferable commodity, the paper defines energy as the rate at which the orientation operator updates a constrained separation mode. This structural definition unifies kinetic, potential, field, and mass‑energy phenomena by showing that each arises from the interaction of orientation, separation, and constraint within a continuous generative field.Kinetic energy reflects active orientation updates across separation; potential energy arises from curvature in constraint geometry; field energy corresponds to the generative effort required to maintain coherence in non‑uniform constraint structures; and mass‑energy equivalence expresses the bandwidth tension required to stabilize separation. Conservation of energy emerges not as a fundamental law but as a structural invariant: a continuous generative field must preserve coherent orientation‑update rates across separation.By reframing energy as a derived invariant of generative structure, the paper dissolves the object‑based ontology implicit in classical and quantum treatments and establishes the conceptual foundation for a relational account of light as the maximal orientation‑propagation mode.
Denis Bailey (Sat,) studied this question.