In case you missed
the tweets and webcast, here are this year’s C3E Awardees
recently recognized at the 2nd annual U.S. Clean Energy Education
& Empowerment (C3E) Symposium.
This was
the second year I attended the Symposium and in looking around the room, once
again, I couldn’t help but think about all those solo women I’ve seen anchoring
cleantech panels elsewhere—sometimes the same ones. Ask the conference
organizers why so few and the answer always came in the form of a question:
“Where are they?” Take a look at the C3E agenda and attendees list and it’s
clear they are everywhere—entrepreneurs, scientists, thought leaders, corporate
innovators, teachers, policymakers, non-profit directors, and students—building,
defining and leading a clean energy revolution.
In 2008, when I participated in
the trade mission to Copenhagen at COP-15, I heard time and again from global
corporations that climate mitigation would actually provide great business and
economic growth opportunities. I thought to myself, why then is U.S. business
seemingly so opposed to investing in these solutions? Why do our
policymakers not understand the connection of new clean technologies to
economic growth and environmental sustainability? —Katherine Hamilton, 38 North Solutions
Nearly everything that Katherine Hamilton does is with the underlying goal of
getting clean energy technologies into the marketplace to alleviate climate
change. She is co-founder of 38 North Solutions, a young, DC-based, public
policy firm engaged at a critical juncture in the energy and innovation
industries. Acting as a bridge between clean energy clients and D.C.
policymakers, her firm is focused on accelerating the transition from
entrepreneur to market for clean energy and innovative technologies.
In addition to helping a wide range of clients navigate the public policy
process, 38 North Solutions is also seeking to take a more holistic, thought
leadership role in the clean energy space. Recently, the firm introduced The
Clock – a quarterly report on clean energy trends measuring the industry’s
progress. The “hands of the clock move backwards or forwards toward the
midnight hour, when clean energy can compete head to head with fossil energy
across the U.S. on cost, reliability, and quality.”
Hamilton parlays direct technology experience at a utility into her work in
clean energy policy. She thinks there will be more energy storage, distributed
energy resources and smart grid technologies on the grid in the future, but
that tomorrow’s grid configuration will ultimately force an evolved utility
model that offers consumers more choice in the process of using energy.
She became interested in transitioning from a technological background to
public policy while at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). As manager
of government relations, she educated Members of Congress on NREL’s research
programs, often finding that policymakers did not understand the linkage of
research and development in innovation to applications in the “real” world.
Q: How did you leap from English and French degrees to being a
distribution engineer and eventually, pursuing a career in clean energy
advocacy?
A: My
grandfather worked as an engineer for the electric company and wanted someone
to be an engineer in his family; I somehow ended up becoming that. I had
dreamed of writing and illustrating children’s books but also wanted to make a
living wage. One summer during college I worked as a technical writer at what
was then Virginia Power, now Dominion, and was lucky enough to land a full-time
spot there following graduation. The company placed me in a program that
required I take a test every six months, take engineering classes at night, and
learn how to design distribution systems on the ground during the day.
The commercial building boom in the ‘80’s created a huge demand on the
electrical grid and the utility needed to market creative solutions like
time-of-use rate structures and new technologies like thermal storage to shift
the peak. I moved into commercial marketing
and managed over 100 corporate clients, focusing on helping them to become more
efficient.
I used my decade at the utility to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal
Energy Management Program where I started energy audit and water conservation
programs for federal buildings, hired through the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. I eventually became manager of government relations for the lab—by
using both my communications and technical skills—to begin connecting the world
of innovation to the world of policy.
Q: What
keeps you up at night?
A: Climate change. I have four
children and the thought of an unsustainable planet is terrifying. What can we
do to reverse the direction we are going in? What does success realistically
look like? Will we ever get there? We don’t as a nation have a vision and
long-term energy strategy.
I believe part of the problem is in our political cycle. Representatives are
elected every two years, making it difficult for them to focus on long-term
issues. Structurally, this will not change, but we do need to attempt to take a
longer view. One common misperception is that clean energy is more expensive
and that solving climate change will be a drain on our economy. In fact, we
have a huge economic opportunity to keep innovation in this country and provide
a strong manufacturing base in clean and sustainable solutions. For those who
have been working in traditional energy venues, this transition could be
incredibly positive.
I think we have to come at this in two ways. One, shore up Congress with facts
and concrete policies that enable them to stand up to incumbents who do not
want to change the path we are on. Convince them that everyone can benefit from
change both economically and environmentally. Two, break down the concept of
climate change so the average person doesn’t say, “Climate change is so big I
can’t do anything about it.” Each citizen needs to begin noticing the
environmental changes around them, such as how their garden has changed in the
last few years, how much earlier the mosquitos are coming out, how storms are
becoming more frequent. Then we need to give people something to act on
politically—support policymakers and candidates who take our planet’s future
seriously and want to combat climate change.
Q: Is there a state(s) that stands out as a leader in using
renewables?
A: California
comes to mind right away. In order to get to the reductions they want, the
state is using every conceivable policy path and every available clean
technology. Building the value proposition for new technologies like energy
storage, for example, is extremely important and California will help with this
by incentivizing these systems. New York is also in a leadership role; Governor
Cuomo has laid out a strong plan and vision for a sustainable energy future.
Texas, while separated from the “organized” bulk power markets, has taken a
pro-active position in building transmission that can exploit one of their
greatest resources—wind energy.
In addition to Silicon Valley, places like Austin, Boston, Chicago, Raleigh,
and Boulder have become clean tech hubs that attract innovators and investment
in new technologies that can make our grid stronger and smarter. Many cities
not on the “usual suspect” list are stepping up to attract entrepreneurs as
well.
Q: What is hampering the development of technologies like grid-scale
energy storage? How do we change that?
A: We tend to place a lot of blame on utilities but they are
hamstrung by our arcane regulatory construct in many ways. If we could change
some of the metrics regulators use—add the value of reduced carbon, more
resilience, increased energy security, for example—we might have better
outcomes for new clean innovations like energy storage. I have been working
hard to ensure that federal and state regulators get the rules right and
capture the value technologies like energy storage can provide to the grid. I
think we will get there and, hopefully, before the U.S. loses its foothold on
the innovation.
Q: What do you think the electric grid will look like in 10 years?
A: I think we
will have a lot more “disruptive” and distributive technologies on the
grid—smart grid, energy storage, demand response, and renewables. We will have
a more electrified transportation system and the utility business model will
change to allow for much higher consumer engagement. I am an eternal optimist
and think our policymakers will evolve as well. With climate change staring us
in the face, we will all be stepping up to participate in a clean energy
economy.
# # #
In many ways, women are more closely tied to and affected by the energy question than men. Yet our general lack of presence in the C-suite, board room, and government has put our ideas, health, and safety on the back burner. If rules are made to be broken, then status quos are made to be changed.
When it comes to moving to a clean energy future faster women are the "X" factor. And C3E (Clean Energy Education and Empowerment -- video link) could be the initiative that finally taps this global resource.
Support C3E. Add women. Change the energy landscape.
A few months ago I
ran across a tweet quoting Ilene Lang, president & chief executive officer
of Catalyst, as saying, “One of the key things for women advancing in business
is to make sure that their achievements are visible.” Lang’s comment is
particularly important for the traditionally male dominated clean energy
industry, and underscores the importance of the U.S. Clean Energy Education
& Empowerment Awards (C3E) and Symposium launched by the U.S. Department of
Energy with the MIT Energy Initiative on September 28, 2012.
The C3E Awards—each
carrying a $10,000 prize—recognize six women’s leadership and accomplishments in
clean energy (see below) and are part of the U.S. Clean Energy Education &
Empowerment (C3E) Program announced at the third Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)
in London.
One of 13
technology and clean energy initiatives under the auspices of the Clean Energy
Ministerial (CEM), C3E was launched at the first CEM in 2010 on the underlying
motivation that, “…to progress further and faster toward a cleaner energy
future, societies must harness the talents of all its members.”
The U.S. Department
of Energy estimates that women make up substantially less than half the global
clean energy workforce—from R&D to entrepreneurship and from policy to
finance. The gap is further reflected in annual “Top 10” lists of people to
watch in clean energy, as well as at conferences where I’ve often been asked,
“Are there women in clean energy?” For those still wondering, take a look at the
Symposium's agenda.
While there is a
dearth of stories highlighting the pursuits and contributions of women in
technology-related careers, including clean energy, the opposite is true for
those outlining the barriers and challenges women confront in advancing their
careers—from wage disparity and isolation to benevolent discrimination and open
hostility. A quick Internet search on women in technology will reveal a number
of such articles, blogs, and reports in just the last 24 months. Constantly
pointing out the negative, however, might perpetuate the very negative we are
trying to change.
Perhaps what we
need to do is balance those negative articles and reports by increasing the
number of positive stories highlighting the achievements, contributions and
perspectives of women—of all ages, in all roles, at all stages in their careers,
and in every country—in clean energy.
Women are clean
energy’s X factor. And C3E just might be the global initiative that leverages
the other half of the population, giving us the scale and effort needed to
transition to a clean energy future faster.
