The clean energy future is bright. Demand for secure, lower cost, and lower carbon power is increasing – and our customers rely on us to meet their changing energy needs with a flexible range of technologies, engineering expertise, and the highest safety standards. It’s both a fundamental need and simply good business to make the energy grid fit for the future.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is helping to meet that demand by unleashing a wave of investments in clean energy projects across the United States, and Invenergy has already been helping maximize the impact of those investments. Since September 2022 alone, Invenergy has commercialized more than 2,700 megawatts of clean energy projects, and because the IRA provides a stable and consistent clean energy landscape for the foreseeable future, leading institutions are continuing to see clean energy as a smart investment.
As we continue to accelerate our delivery of cleaner, more reliable, affordable energy, Invenergy gathered many of our lenders and investors together for our Financial Partners Conference in late September. We held the event at historic Wrigley Field in Chicago, which – as a result of our recent partnership with the Chicago Cubs – will be powered with clean energy from Invenergy.
Throughout the day, each speaker highlighted Invenergy’s commitment to creating jobs, investing in local communities, and leading a clean energy expansion. Two of the essential themes covered were Invenergy’s efforts to onshore the solar energy supply chain and train the energy workforce of the future.
Rolanda Shine, senior vice president of finance and capital markets at Invenergy, and Art Fletcher, head of domestic content and the Illuminate business unit, discussed Invenergy’s efforts to onshore the solar supply chain through Illuminate USA, one of the largest solar manufacturing facilities in the United States. In just one year, Illuminate USA produced 1 million solar panels and 1000 jobs in under a year, a critical milestone in our efforts to bring solar manufacturing back to the United States. John Majewski, Invenergy’s senior vice president of third-party services, and Michael Courtney, vice president of asset management, discussed Invenergy’s new Center of Excellence—the company’s latest investment in the clean energy workforce of the future. With a state-of-the-art training center, central warehouse and machine shone, Majewski and Courtney discussed how Invenergy is leading the way equipping new technicians with the knowledge they need to operate and maintain clean energy sites with excellence from day one.
Another important component of the day was an informative session on the latest clean energy policies from Washington, presented by Ray Long, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, alongside Invenergy’s president and co-founder, Jim Murphy. It is clear that the need for clean energy is only increasing, and Invenergy and the industry is well positioned to continue meeting it regardless of the election outcome in November.
As I look back on this conference, I am reminded of the collective dedication we share in driving forward the clean energy future. I left inspired and optimistic about what lies ahead, knowing that with the support of our financial partners, we are not just imagining a sustainable future—we are delivering it.