From Left to Right: William Reilly, CEF Chair P.J. Simmons, Sir Rober Swan, CEF Founder MR Rangaswami, and CEF Director Amy O’Meara with 2015 CK Prahalad Award winner David Crane of NRG Energy. The winner was recognized by the Corporate Eco Forum for “globally significant private sector action that exemplifies the fundamental connection between sustainability, innovation and long-term business success in a globalizing world.”
The Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) this evening presented the 2015 C.K. Prahalad Award to NRG Energy and CEO David Crane. The winner was announced by world-renowned polar explorer Sir Robert Swan, and followed by an on-stage dialogue with William K. Reilly, Founding Partner, Aqua International Partners, LP and former EPA Administrator. The award ceremony was attended by members of the Prahalad family and 150 senior executives representing CEF member companies with combined revenues of over $3 trillion.
Crane was honored for his visionary leadership since taking the reins at NRG in 2003, positioning the company for long-term success, through a business and innovation model guided by sustainability. He has led NRG’s transformation from a regional wholesale generation business to a national, Fortune 200 diversified energy company –now the nation’s largest competitive power generator, and one of the country’s largest owners and operators of renewable generation facilities.
“Crane has distinguished himself as an outspoken voice in the power industry on the need for curbing carbon emissions, and was one of the first U.S. power industry CEOs to publicly call for mandatory climate change measures,” said CEF Founder, MR Rangaswami. “He doesn’t shy away from controversy and this sets him apart. His courageous leadership has the potential to transform energy markets and usher in meaningful emissions reductions that could stem the tide of climate change.”
Added winner and CEO David Crane, “As I articulated in my 2014 letter to shareholders, it’s up to the next generation of consumers and corporations to ensure that the status quo is challenged. As we transition to a clean energy future, it’s not about how quickly we can tear down the past, but rather how quickly we can build for the future. And consumers and corporations have a right to know, understand and choose where and how their energy comes from, and to understand the impact those choices have on their future, and the future of the planet.”
VIDEO PROFILING THE WINNER
With Crane at the helm, NRG has built upon significant emissions reductions going back nearly a decade. In November 2014, the company set an ambitious new goal to reduce CO2 emissions 50% from 2014 levels by 2030, on a path to reducing emissions an additional 90% by 2050. The goal represents the first time that a major electricity generator has voluntarily put dates around the transition to a low-carbon economy.
NRG was recognized for forging groundbreaking partnerships that are revolutionizing the relationship between energy providers and customers, and yielding results. In April 2014, with MidAmerican Solar, NRG brought online one of the world’s largest solar PV arrays–the Agua Caliente Solar Project in Arizona. The same year, in partnership with consumer products giant Unilever, NRG provided renewable generation solutions that will enable the company to use 100% clean energy across all its U.S. sites by 2020. 2015 witnessed a new endeavor with Kaiser Permanente to install up to 70 MW of on-site solar across as many as 170 sites, which will place them among the top three on-site commercial solar portfolios among all U.S. healthcare companies. NRG is also helping show millions of sports fans what the future of power could look like by implementing solar PV systems at several of America’s biggest stadiums, including Arizona State University, FedEx Field, Gillette Stadium, Levi’s Stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, MetLife Stadium, and NRG Stadium.
“As CEO of NRG Energy, David Crane has boldly invited scrutiny of the energy industry’s role in climate change, encouraged consumer activism, and challenged investors to embrace a visionary path for the company that will require innovation at every turn,” offered P.J. Simmons, Chair of the Corporate Eco Forum and co-author of The Green To Gold Business Playbook. “Every day we see the evidence of him making his vision a reality, in a way that stands to benefit the long-term for his company, while inspiring business leaders around the world as well.”
The C.K. Prahalad Award was created to honor the vision and life’s work of the late Dr. C.K. Prahalad, one of the world’s most influential business strategists. Towards the end of his illustrious career, Prahalad focused his enormous talent on the link between sustainability and long-term business success. In a 2009 Harvard Business Review cover story he co-authored with CEF founder MR Rangaswami, Prahalad argued that over the next decade “traditional approaches to business will collapse, and companies will have to develop innovative solutions. That will only happen when executives recognize a simple truth: sustainability equals innovation.” Prahalad was a senior adviser to CEF before his untimely death in 2010.
The C.K. Prahalad Awards were presented at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, CA during the Gala Dinner of CEF’s 8th Annual Retreat. The CEF Annual Retreat brought together more than 150 senior executives from companies with combined revenues of over $3 trillion to focus on “The Next Wave of Sustainability Innovation” during two days of discussions and working sessions.