“目前，没有人实际上是从美国从燃煤发电厂赚钱，”前首席执行官戴维·克兰（David Crane）NRG Energy, one of America’s biggest power companies.

That may seem a strange sentiment coming from a man who led a Fortune 200 company owning more than a dozen coal-fired power plants. But then again, Crane is far from your typical energy exec.

在Crane担任首席执行官的12年期间，他试图改变NRG（当时是美国第四大碳发射器），这是一家专注于风，太阳能和核电的公司。该公司朝这个方向迈出了大步，但克雷恩最终在今年早些时候被放开。

“I was trying to turn a company from brown to green, from centralized to distributed, and wholesale to retail,” he told corporate leaders on May 24. “I was trying to do three transformations at the same time. That was probably a couple of bridges too far.”

然而，即使在挫折之后，起重机仍致力于改革美国的电力部门。

Crane在WRI的Mindshare活动上分享了他的观点，这是为期两天的会议，将可持续发展董事和其他商业领袖汇集在一起公司咨询小组。在与WRI总裁兼首席执行官Andrew Steer的晚餐对话中，Crane对公司如何帮助将美国置于可持续的能源道路上了直率。

标题：David Crane（左）解决了Andrew Steer（右）的问题。ia摄影照片

更改公用事业

根据Crane的说法，扩大太阳能和其他可再生能源的最大障碍之一是公用事业的不愿。他们已经在化石燃料上建立了业务模型，并且由于当前的网格设计，消费者无法去其他地方。简而言之，自由市场的原则不适用于公用事业。

Crane说：“不必为客户竞争的公司没有与之相同的客户服务心态。”“改革公用事业的问题在于，您不必为它们提供比现在拥有的要好。”

起重机指出能量模型，例如分布式太阳能作为电力业务的下一代，房间的其他专家看到了公司领导层与公用事业公司合作扩大可再生能源份额的角色。新的Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA),例如，是由60多家大公司组成的联盟想要购买large amounts of affordable, renewable power from local grids. “REBA really makes the demand for renewable energy from fast-growing sectors visible and brings it toutilities that are willing to have a conversationabout how their business model needs to change to respond to this demand,” said WRI Energy Director Alex Perera. “This is a very powerful forcing mechanism for utilities.”

“I think of us as a significant energy consumer,” said Bill Weihl, sustainability director at Facebook, one of REBA’s members. “We want to move a lot faster than the reform process can, and I think some of that involves working with utilities.”

在行业中创造竞争

There’s also a role for stoking competition within industries. Crane recalled when the Philadelphia Eagles committed to install solar panels on their football stadium. Not two months later, the owner of the New York Giants approached Crane, who was still with NRG. “He said, ‘David, I’ve spent my whole life in football, and all I know is I want to beat the Philadelphia Eagles,’” Crane said. “’I want to beat them on the field and I want to beat them off the field. Can you get solar panels on our field before them?’”

Crane envisions similar competition in other industries, such as fast food.

释放公司可持续性官员

Crane最终希望我们朝着更清洁的能源未来（如太阳能和电动运输的增长所证明的）迈向清洁的能量未来，但我们说我们需要采取步伐。公司有权响应迅速并影响变革，甚至比政府更快，更有效。这就是为什么Crane认为公司可持续发展官员现在拥有最重要和令人兴奋的工作。

“如果您可以在公司中找到一个冠军，如果您能让其中一个人在您身边，那就很好，” Crane对充满可持续性官员的房间说。“There’s a huge opportunity to say within your company, ‘We have a chance to lead on this!’ As sustainability officers, we can really make an impact, so when it’s all done you can look your kids in the face and say ‘I did everything I could and we were successful."