12.1

Billion Dollars

in 2019 revenue

12%

CAGR

in revenue growth, 2010 - 2020

100%

Renewable Electricity

Quanta is helping Puerto Rico transition to 100% renewable electricity

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The Path to Drawdown: Grid Expansion

Solving climate change and remaining below 1.5ºC of global warming requires a massive scaling of emissions-free energy sources. Thankfully, renewable sources like solar and wind are quickly expanding their capacity worldwide. But to reliably provide renewable energy to every household and organization in the world, we need a power grid that’s much bigger and more flexible.

The power grid is the dynamic network of electricity generation, transmission, storage, and consumption that 85% of the globe relies on. But its initial design for constant, centralized power production is not conducive to the intermittency of solar and wind power. For the world’s electricity supply to become completely renewable, the power grid needs to become more adaptable than it currently is. Many technologies -- constant renewables like geothermal and nuclear, utility-scale energy storage systems and batteries, and smart appliances -- contribute to grid flexibility.

The power grid also needs to expand to support a renewable transition. Where the grid spans larger geographies and more electricity sources, it can even out the total output and variability of renewables. Electricity generated in Texas during the summer can then be used to power houses in snowy Chicago during the winter. To achieve this scale, the IEA estimates that, between 2020 and 2030, around 16 million km of distribution and transmission lines need to be built, an increase of 80% compared with the past decade.

What We Want to See Improve

Divest from Oil and Gas Business

Alongside Quanta’s work in expanding the power grid, they also serve the natural gas and oil industries (p. 4). Specifically, they protect and conduct integrity testing for pipelines, engineer, construct and service gas and oil storage systems and pump stations, etc. For a company that professes the focus on sustainability to a great extent, their business with some of the highest emitting sectors is puzzling. We urge Quanta to pull out of this business segment as soon as possible.

Electrify the Fleet

Quanta owns and leases ~51,000 vehicles in their fleet (p. 32). And their attempt at reducing emissions so far has been to convert a portion of their fleet to electric and liquified natural gas, succeeding in reducing the emissions from the converted portion of the fleet by 49% over the last three years. We applaud this initiative and want to see them do more. But we’d like to warn Quantana that liquified natural gas isn’t clean or low in emissions and hinders the world’s transition to zero emissions. We urge Quantana to concentrate on completely electrifying their fleet, and move on this initiative as soon as possible.

Disclose GHG Emissions

As much as we like Quanta’s sustainability initiatives, we need to withhold our highest praise until we see their track record of cutting their own GHG emissions. The first step to doing that is to track and report their emissions, both direct and indirect. We want to press Quanta to disclose their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and clearly report them in their sustainability report so that they can set targets for reducing them in the near future.

Related Electrical Infrastructure Stocks in the Climate Index

View All Climate Index Stocks →

Allocated Company Description

4.34%

ABB Ltd (ABB)

ABB offers EV charging, solar and modular substations, distribution automation to expand the power grid. A larger grid can integrate more renewables

4.19%

Eaton Corporation plc (ETN)

Eaton offers electrical components, industrial components, power distribution for the electrical grid. Grid expansion is key for integrating renewables

1.08%

Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR)

Quanta offers engineering, construction and repair of electric grid infrastructure. Expanding the power grid is necessary for integrating more renewables

0.42%

MasTec, Inc. (MTZ)

MasTec builds the infrastructure that connects the US power generation to consumers. Expanding the grid is critical for integrating more renewables

0.42%

WESCO International, Inc. (WCC)

WESCO helps the power grid expand and adapt to a growing integration of clean energy. A key Drawdown solution for a more resilient and green grid

0.31%

Sunnova (NOVA)

Sunnova provides residential solar and energy storage systems in the United States. Both are critical for electrifying the energy system

0.17%

SPX Corporation (SPXC)

SPC makes transformers and cooling equipment for power generation and transmission - expanding the grid helps to integrate more renewable energy

0.03%

Willdan Group (WLDN)

Willdan helps utilities with new construction, improve efficiency, and demand response - all valuable in expanding and making the grid more resilient

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