Powering the People 2022
Powering the People 2022
On October 18, the Institute for Electric Innovation (IEI) brought together senior executives, policymakers, and other thought leaders for its annual Powering the People forum, which featured panel discussions on how customer partnerships are driving the future of energy.
IEI Executive Director Adam Cooper and EEI Vice President of Customer Solutions Lisa Wood opened the event by discussing the critical role customers play in driving toward a carbon-free economy, and how electric companies are partnering with customers to help them meet their clean energy goals.
IEI Co-Chair and Puget Sound Energy President and CEO Mary Kipp moderated the first panel, which included NV Energy President and CEO Doug Cannon; Holly Lahd, energy strategy manager, energy, environment, site selection at Meta; and Emmett Romaine, vice president of customer solutions and innovation at Xcel Energy. The leaders addressed the challenges and opportunities ahead for electric companies to work with corporate customers to provide carbon-free energy solutions while still prioritizing reliability and affordability.
Following was a discussion of how to leverage new and existing technologies to provide personalized products and services to residential customers. The conversation was moderated by IEI Co-Chair and NorthWestern Energy CEO Bob Rowe and included Aaron Berndt, head of industry partnerships at Google; Erica Borggren, vice president of customer solutions at ComEd; Brett Carter, executive vice president and group president, utilities, and chief customer officer at Xcel Energy; and Justin Segall, chief strategy officer at Uplight.
EEI President Tom Kuhn concluded the event by highlighting how the new climate and clean energy laws can help to make the clean energy transformation more affordable for all customers: “I know we have challenges ahead, but this significant recently passed legislation will move our industry forward. When we talk about 100 percent carbon-free energy and new technology to help customers, we have lots of positive tools in place.”