Energy Communities: Institutional Investment Opportunities in America’s Energy Transition

The Energy Communities IWG hosted an event highlighting the financial and public benefits of investing in energy communities, particularly hard-hit, low-capacity coal communities in rural America. The historic investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act present unprecedented opportunities to revitalize communities, diversify workforces, and support energy workers. This event convened leaders in the financial sector to discuss the opportunities for private sector investment that can result in good-paying jobs, economic growth, and supply-chain resiliency across the United States.

Event Readout

Agenda

TOPIC	SPEAKERS	EASTERN TIME
Registration and Networking Breakfast		8:00 – 8:30 a.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks	David Erickson, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York	8:30 – 8:35 a.m.
Roundtable Framing	Brian Anderson, Executive Director, Energy Communities IWG	8:35 – 8:40 a.m.
Investing at Scale in an Equitable Energy Transition	Federal Participants: Brian Anderson, Executive Director, Energy Communities IWG (co-moderator) Vaishant Sharma, Senior Policy Advisor, National Economic Council (co-moderator) Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate Advisor David Crane, Under Secretary for Infrastructure, U.S. Department of Energy Laurel Blatchford, Chief Implementation Officer for the Inflation Reduction Act, U.S. Department of the Treasury Jahi Wise, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Karen Skelton, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy Non-Federal Participants: Melissa Cummings, Beyond Carbon, Bloomberg Philanthropies Fran Seegull, President, Impact Investing Alliance Libby Wayman, Breakthrough Energy Adam Altenhofen, Senior Vice President of Environmental Finance, U.S. Bank Matthew Runkle, Senior Managing Director and Head of Renewables and Midstream, Blackstone Christine Kamil, Head of U.S. Public Sector Client Coverage, JP Morgan	8:40 – 9:40 a.m.
Open Discussion with All Attendees	Brian Anderson, Executive Director, Energy Communities IWG (moderator)	9:40 – 10:00 a.m.
Break and Networking		10:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Investing in America’s Energy Communities (livestream begins)	Ali Zaidi, White House National Climate Advisor	10:30 – 10:40 a.m.
Inflation Reduction Act Implementation Fireside Chat	Karen Skelton, Senior Advisor to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy (moderator) David Crane, Under Secretary for Infrastructure, U.S. Department of Energy Laurel Blatchford, Chief Implementation Officer for the Inflation Reduction Act	10:40 – 11:20 a.m.
A Taxonomy for Just Transition Investing	Farah Imrana Hussain, Head, Sustainable Finance and ESG Advisory, The World Bank	11:20 – 11:30 a.m.
Investing in Clean Energy Projects Panel Discussion	Jahi Wise, Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (moderator) Jerry Rickett, President and CEO, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation Nathan Wendt, President, Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs Harold Pettigrew, Chief Executive Officer, Opportunity Finance Network Hy Martin, Chief Development Officer, D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments (virtual)	11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Closing Remarks	Brian Anderson, Executive Director, Energy Communities IWG Vaishant Sharma, Senior Policy Advisor, National Economic Council	12:15 – 12:30 p.m.