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We are kicking off Women’s History Month with Mary Powell, the Chief Executive Officer of Sunrun, the Nation’s leading home solar, battery storage, and energy services company.
You may also recall that Mary served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power Corporation (2008-2019), an electric services company that serves 75 percent of the State of Vermont’s residential and business customers. During her tenure, Mary delivered on an ambitious energy vision to provide low-carbon, low-cost and highly reliable power to Vermont residents, and positioned the company as a leading energy transformation business. She is a force within the industry and I am honored to have her featured as our 450th Podcast Episode Guest!
This episode captures our enlivening discussion as we cover her path from a very art-inspired family background where she admittedly, “did not grow up with any orientation towards business nor towards the world of energy,” to coming into her own as an executive in a male-dominated industry. And even after serving for more than a decade with Green Mountain Power Corporation (which easily could have been the only story of Mary’s career path) she accepted a role with Sunrun where she presently works. These experiences, as an executive of both a Utility and now a Distributed Energy Company have given her the proper vantage point to discern the obstacles to the energy transition and sustainable future we are all working towards. So tune in to hear about:
Her strategy to transform the orientation towards an energy future while lowering bills.
Her mindset navigating as a woman and becoming comfortable being an outlier and how that propelled her into her own truth
Her focus around serving customers and its two-fold benefit to both the company and the business.
You’ll hear all this and more on today’s podcast episode so be sure to tune in!
The accidental executive (6:27)
Mary's childhood hero (8:02)
Mary's Myers-Briggs Type & Enneagram (10:45)
Mary's first job (19:47)
Mary becomes COO (24:48)
The first B Corp utility (33:03)
A woman in a male dominated industry (35:52)
The North Star at Sunrun (42:09)
Stacking benefits (46:57)
The utility of the future (49:17)
The utilities vs rooftop solar battle (52:06)
Wrap up (55:22)
NOTEWORTHY QUOTE:
“My orientation from a young age was not just enamored with the power of love but enamored with the idea that was my job to use every ounce of love I could find.”
Thanks again to this week's sponsor, helping keep the podcast FREE to you!
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ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 15-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
You can connect with Nico Johnson on Twitter, LinkedIn or email.
If you’ve been second-guessing your work decisions or maybe trying to reconsider how you "fit" in the renewable energy industry -> grab 20 minutes on Nico's calendar and discuss whether having him as Your personal coach might be the right next step.