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Workers who install solar power and energy storage systems, along with those working in other sectors of renewable energy, are considered “essential” to maintain “critical infrastructure” in California, according to a clarification from the California Energy Commission (CEC). The state’s Public Health Officer had earlier designated a variety of personnel, mainly health care staff, as […]

Here’s the good news: humanity knows how to solve climate change. Wind, solar, energy storage, and efficiency technologies are cost-competitive, fully mature solutions that are ready to be deployed everywhere. Wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of new energy to build and continue to get cheaper. COMMENTARY Now the bad news: market inertia […]

Earth Day is normally when we honor the headway made in advancing environmental and climate goals, while also reflecting on the challenges that remain before us. However, this year our society was caught up in a pandemic-induced economic downturn that has left Americans focused squarely on sensible preservation of ourselves, our families, and our way of […]

One of the more memorable experiences from my years with GE’s renewable energy business was managing through a growth spurt in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. From 2009–2012, U.S. installed wind capacity more than doubled, from 25 GW to 60 GW. The 14 GW installed in 2012 remain a single-year record. It is no […]

How companies respond to the COVID-19 pandemic will determine their public reputations, and those of their leaders and key employees, for years if not decades. This, along with public safety, is why “Priority Number One” for the CEOs of power producers, utilities, and grid operators is to make sure critical employees, such as control room […]

2020 will be a year dominated by environmental issues. Governments are under increasing pressure from climate activists and protest groups to address carbon emissions and reduce fossil fuel consumption. The effect of this scrutiny has been largely felt in the energy sector. This decade organizations within this industry will have to manage new environmental taxes […]

The need to reduce carbon emissions is real. In 2018, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that global emissions would need to reach net-zero (or carbon-neutral) by 2050 to prevent severe climate change impacts. Electricity is a major contributor—electricity generation was responsible for approximately 33% of total CO2 emissions in the U.S. in […]

The coronavirus pandemic is altering the power landscape, with utilities and other power generators forced to adjust for load disruptions. Power consumption is changing as commercial and industrial electricity users close their businesses, and load is shifting to the residential sector with workers now settled in home offices, and students practicing remote and distance learning. […]

This moment is like nothing we’ve seen before in our lifetimes—impacting all our communities and disrupting lives everywhere. We are all concerned for our loved ones and our future. In our business, given the nature of what we do and, in turn, the basic but essential actions we help enable others to do—turn on the lights, refrigerate […]

This blog is part of a special series from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the response to the coronavirus. The IMF is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic […]