The Groundwire Group

Groundwire is hitting the road! It’ll be a busy fall as Abby L. Watson and Raquel Pichardo travel the East and Gulf coasts attending conferences and taking a deep dive into #energypolicy, #manufacturing, #international cooperation and more. Here’s where we’ll be – if you’re there too, let us know! 📅 October 8: Maryland Clean Energy Center’s Clean Energy Summit, College Park, MD: https://lnkd.in/eM_nh3dr 📅 October 11: Jersey Renews' Time for Turbines, Atlantic City, NJ: https://lnkd.in/dMy57Mg 📅 October 16: Oceantic Network’s New England and Canada OSW Forum; Portland, ME:  https://lnkd.in/gD5yU4St 📅 October 28-30: American Clean Power Association (ACP)’s Offshore WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition, Atlantic City, NJ: https://lnkd.in/ejFfXuyi 📅 November 12-14: International WorkBoat Show, New Orleans, LA: https://lnkd.in/ghQSSkh

Groundwire is back from #ClimateWeek 2024 in NYC! This annual gathering brings together thousands from around the world who believe #ItsTime to act on climate! From financial institutions in Midtown to on-the-ground community organizers in Queens, our founders Abby L. Watson and Raquel Pichardo heard from speakers taking action to solve the climate crisis. We were honored to participate in Transition IQ’s event: How Investors Are Addressing the Climate Emergency. Abby moderated the Energy Transition Venture Investor Lighting Round, Featuring speakers from S2G Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures and the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund about where they see opportunities for impact and returns in #climatetech investing over the next five years. More to come in Groundwire’s newsletter next week, but spoiler alert: there was plenty of talk about the role of #AI in making existing technologies more efficient. In Queens, we attended the second annual Climate Justice Forum – Building the #GreenEnergy Future with Frontline Communities event hosted by Rise Light & Power, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, the NAACP New York City Housing Authority Branch and City & State. Here we were challenged to expand our definition of a successful #energytransition – moving beyond #GHGreduction stats, and considering real-world impacts like improvement in children’s health, safer homes and greener communities.  More to come and more to do!

Excellent article from City & State summing up the second annual Climate Justice Forum – Building the #GreenEnergy Future with Frontline Communities event, co-sponsored by Rise Light & Power, WE ACT for Environmental Justice and the NAACP New York City Housing Authority Branch. The Groundwire Group was excited to attend this #ClimateWeek2024 event, which highlighted the potential for transformative impact from the #cleanenergytransition on everyday New Yorkers. Notable comments: Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor: “Clean Energy grew twice as fast as the rest of the sector, and it had two times the union density as the rest of the private sector. So this is a chance to lift folks up...” Peggy Shepard, co-founder and executive director of WE ACT describing the need for an equitable energy transition, noted that black New Yorkers are twice as likely to die from heat-related illnesses than white New Yorkers, and pointed to other health disparities, like increased asthma rates. “So it's now time for their fair share benefit, and that's what we mean by just an equitable transition. Now this transition will require a comprehensive all hands on deck reimagining of our economy.” Read the full roundup here: https://lnkd.in/e4aZT8mY

Groundwire is excited to be attending #ClimateWeek2024! Our founders Abby L. Watson and Raquel Pichardo will be in NYC September 23-24 gathering with others passionate about driving #climateaction. 📅 On September 23: Find our team at the TransitionIQ’s event, How Investors Are Addressing the Climate Emergency. Abby will moderate the Energy Transition Venture Investor Lighting Round, exploring where investors see opportunity for impact in #climatetech investing over the next five years. Featuring speakers from S2G Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures and the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund. Details here: https://lnkd.in/eeT3YpHS 🗓 On September 24: The team is traveling out to Queens for Rise Light & Power’s #ClimateJustice Forum, exploring how industry, labor and communities can together ensure a just energy transition. https://lnkd.in/e92MDqde If you’ll be in NY next week, let us know! #ClimateWeek #ItsTime

Thanks, Timothy Ferry, for the chance to comment. As our co-Founder Abby L. Watson told Recharge, "To the extent that [President Biden] stepping aside and a new candidate coming in increases the likelihood of a Democratic administration in the White House in 2025, that's obviously going to be a much better outcome for offshore wind than the alternatives." But even under a Trump presidency, there's support for #offshorewind at the state and local level. Read our take below.

Excellent overview from Darius Snieckus of Nova Scotia’s plan to leverage existing infrastructure and manufacturing know-how to build out an #offshorewind supply chain. Our co-founder, Abby L. Watson, told the publication that focusing on #supplychain this early in the province’s planning process is the right thing to do noting that supply chain constraints have contributed to price increases and canceled projects in the US. Nova Scotia is positioning itself for long-term sustainability by considering how an early investment in its supply chain can support the local economy and workers, and the broader US market. There’s also a nice nod here to the Coalition for a New England - Maritimes Offshore Energy Corridor's findings that a shared transmission backbone channeling energy between Atlantic Canada and New England could save ratepayers in both countries $800 million. A win for wind in Nova Scotia, could very well mean a win for the US, too!

Thank you Chris Whitehead and Perpectives on Sustainable Development for inviting our Founder (and podcast enthusiast) Abby L. Watson on your most recent episode. What do carbon taxes, transmission planning and homeownership have to do with a just transition? Listen to this engaging discussion between Chris, Abby and Prof. Raphael Heffron to find out about all of that, and what continues to give us hope. #EnergyJustice #ClimateTransition #Justice40 #JustTransition #CarbonTax #TransmissionPlanning

We're #hiring! We are looking for a senior consultant to help us create the stories and strategies driving the clean energy transition. This candidate will have a passion for sustainability, the ability to think strategically and creatively to help solve our clients’ most challenging problems, and be a clear and engaging storyteller. Apply today or share this post with your network.

Excellent article covering a robust discussion about rethinking the approach to #offshorewind procurements at Oceantic Network's #IPF2024 last week. Groundwire President, Abby L. Watson: “Developers are hugely incentivized to take big risks and big gambles in securing these procurement awards because that’s the way that our process tends to be — expect the developer to take on a lot of that risk and they’re competing on the lowest price with a very limited amount of information about their lease areas,” Watson said. “We have to find a way to do this better if we want to attract those domestic manufacturing jobs and the supply chain piece,” she added, “also making good on our commitments to the people who have gone through workforce programs expecting to have jobs on a certain timeline that now we’re looking at pushing those timelines out.” 

And, #IPF2024 is done and dusted. What an incredible four days in New Orleans. Thank you to the friends and colleagues who helped us celebrate the launch of The Groundwire Group and to Oceantic Network for bringing the entire #offshorewind community together to share and learn from each other. We all received an important reminder this week that doing big things is hard. It should be no surprise that there will be bumps in the road, but we can choose how to respond. We could just give up, or we can pivot, learn and improve. The stakes for the climate are too high to walk away. After many discussions focused on creative ways to deal with challenges around procurement, permitting, supply chain, public perception and more, we know the industry can do the big things, and build a more sustainable future!