A Game Changer in Renewables: How Corporations are Shaking Up “Business as Usual”

Infocast Corporate Renewables Team

The history between fossil fueled utilities and renewable energy developers is a contentious one.  Consistently at opposite ends of the spectrum, both politically and at the very core of their respective missions, you would be hard pressed to find two industries more at odds with each other—which makes it all the more surprising when these two supposed arch-enemies did a 180 and started working together towards a common goal.
According to a recent article from Utility Dive, this type of about-face partnership is spreading to the non-profit and for-profit worlds, including corporations, environmental policy groups and utilities, in a surprising method that is certainly not “business as usual”.

Leading the way is The Corporate Renewables Partnership, which includes the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Rocky Mountain Institute(RMI), and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and over 30 partnering corporations who will, together, create tools so that energy developers better understand and predict the needs of corporate buyers while, in the other direction, making purchasing process more efficient for corporate buyers.  The many-faceted plan will, in the end, benefit all stakeholders involved, provided the partnerships stay strong and cooperative.

“There is a synergy between interests from the for-profit and non-profit worlds when both are pursuing the common goals of increased renewables and decreased greenhouse gas emissions,” says BHE Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Vice President Jonathan Weisgall.

“Policy alone doesn’t work and capital alone doesn’t work,” says Weisgall. “Policy and capital need each other. An organization like this brings the policy and capital together.”

Despite the long-standing history of doing battle against one another, the future of energy depends on these industries working together.  By focusing on the same goals through a mutually beneficial organization, renewable energy will finally have new opportunities for growth in previously unavailable sectors, making it more accessible on a whole new level.

Take your understanding of the future of corporate renewables to a new level by attending Infocast’s Corporate Renewables summit on September 26-28, 2016.  To learn more about who will be there and what you’ll hear, check out the agenda here.