Interview: A Power Company CEO Ties His Future to Green Energy

David Crane, the CEO of NRG Energy, is not your typical power company executive, as becomes clear when he calls climate change a “slow-moving catastrophe” and “the fundamental issue of our day.” As head of a Fortune 500 company that produces electricity for 20 million households, Crane is still neck-deep in hydrocarbons, with more than 90 percent of NRG’s electricity production coming from natural gas, coal, and oil. But the future, vows Crane, will look radically different. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Crane says he believes the electricity market will be transformed by the widespread adoption of three innovations: solar panels on residential and commercial roofs, electric cars in garages, and truly “smart meters” that transfer power to and from homes, electric vehicles, and the grid.

Read the interview