The Path to Drawdown: Electrical Utilities
Electric utilities play a critical role in the path to a world of net-zero emissions. They provide the connective tissue between key Drawdown solutions: renewable energy generation and energy storage. Through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), utilities enable renewable energy developers to secure buyers for their power and unlock project finance. Utility companies also often control electrical grids, putting them in the position to prioritize (or de-prioritize) the extent to which the grid is outfitted for the intermittency of solar and wind power generation. They're also the key actors in green-lighting the development of large-scale energy storage.
There are dozens of publicly-traded utilities on the New York stock exchange (such as Duke, NextEra, Dominion, Xcel, PG&E, etc.), and many of them are purchasing or developing renewable power capacities to provide clean electricity to customers across large regions. We use a stringent criteria to determine which utilities are significantly contributing to the low-carbon energy transition.