Utilities Fully in on Carbon Fight

Three out of four Americans are served by utilities out to slash
carbon emissions, according to Julia Hamm, the President and
Chief Executive Officer of the Smart Electric Power Alliance. In
this episode of Grid Talk, Hamm sits down with host Marty
Rosenberg to talk about how the power industry has changed over
the last 19 years. 


“73% of all U.S. electric customers are served by a utility that
has a public target for a hundred percent carbon reduction, so
I’d say that’s pretty significant,” said Hamm.


With utilities making clean energy a core part of their mission,
they are driving significant changes to the industry.  


 “Utilities are now playing an active leadership role in
helping to decarbonize not only their own business operations but
also working proactively with customers, others in their supply
chain and really across the whole economy in order to accelerate
decarbonization.” 


To match that profound change, utility regulators and
policymakers need to better coordinate the rules governing the
energy sector, she said. 


“We need to see an increased level of coordination at the
federal, state, and local levels far beyond what we have
historically seen,” Hamm said.


For the past 20 Julia Hamm has been advising and collaborating
with utilities, solution providers and government agencies on
business models, grid modernization, and clean energy policies,
strategies and programs. She oversees SEPA’s research, education,
and collaboration activities for its 1,100 member companies.
 


Hamm is a graduate of Cornell University.