The CSR Minute: Energy Companies Aim for Profits Despite Rollback of Clean Power Plan

Energy Companies Aim for Profits Despite Rollback of Clean Power Plan

Clean energy companies are counting on profits, despite the Trump Administration’s recent executive order to cancel the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. The principal reason is economics. Prices in the wind and solar industries have fallen so much that renewables now compete with fossil fuels.

Wind and solar farms have become cheaper to build, making them good investments in place of aging, costly, fossil-fuel plants. Demand from the private sector is strong. Dozens of large companies including Bank of America, General Motors, and Alphabet’s Google are planning to power their operations entirely with wind and solar power.

And state laws requiring utilities to source some of their electricity from renewables, along with federal tax credits extended with support from Republican lawmakers, are driving companies such as NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, and NRG Energy to expand their portfolios, reports Bloomberg. The strategy for this private sector “clean power plan” is aimed directly at the bottom line—and profits. I’m John Howell for 3BL Media.