Working towards the future of Energy
“What has kept you there so long?” I get this question all the time, especially from people interested in joining DNV.
More than 17 years ago, I was working in the real estate development industry. As we developed and permitted projects, I could not understand why all it took was a permit with the local utility to supply power to the projects we were developing. No discussion about the ample solar resource, the methane rich soil or the distribution system infrastructure.
Soon thereafter, I received an offer from the largest wind energy consultancy in the world, Garrad Hassan. After the best interview of my life, it was clear I would transition to working with a group of like-minded colleagues. My primary perception of working in the energy industry at the time was shaped by the Enron scandal earlier in the decade and the fossil fuel industry. I was apprehensive about the transition from real estate development to wind development.
I remained hopeful, guided by good people and a memory that remained engrained in my head from years earlier. I was traveling through the Altamont Pass as I moved from Portland to San Diego, and I passed beneath aged wind turbines. As I looked up at them from the car window, I thought to myself, “that is so granola1.” It seemed so environmentally experimental to me, lacking any real longevity – I mean, how were wind turbines like that supposed to power the state of California? Turns out, the folks that worked on that project were now my new colleagues at Garrad Hassan, and so were several of the employees that had weathered the career disruption of the Enron collapse. Those “experimental” wind turbines were the beginning of one of the fastest growing sectors of energy in the country. Wind energy is now the fourth-largest source of electric capacity, providing approximately 10% of U.S. electricity and slightly more in the state of California. I realized I had found my purpose, a new perspective and new people with whom I would shepherd a clean energy transition.
For many years, I didn’t like my job. I felt like an imposter and inadequate because of my inexperience and the super intelligent people around me, but I worked (and still work) with crazy smart people that stimulate my mind. DNV invests 5% of our revenue every year in research and innovation, to drive continuous improvement in the industry and sectors in which we work. We invest in the technical and professional development of our people, facilitated annually through individual development plans to ensure our people are also on a path toward continuous improvement.
In 2013, motivated by all the smart people around me, I earned my Masters in Sustainable Business with a focus on renewable energy. It was not until 10 years later that I was able to really apply my degree to my day-to-day work at DNV, where I now have the privilege of directing environmental, social and governance (ESG) services in the company’s Energy Systems business area of North America. The “Why DNV?” for me today is not the same “Why DNV?” that it was 17 years ago, but one thing I and anyone that has worked at DNV, or a legacy DNV company, will tell you is: the people are amazing and it is the corporate culture that underlies the people that motivate and enable them to be providers of sage advice and trusted partners to shepherd the clean energy transition, no matter where in the world they are.
My “Why DNV?” today – the reason why I chose DNV – is because of the alignment of my values with the company’s values – we care, we share, we dare. When it comes to the future of energy, we can go one of two ways:
- The way of the past, with companies that lacked good corporate governance, exacerbated historical inequities and injustice, and that have accelerated global warming.
- The way of the future, with companies that actively promote good corporate governance, protect people both inside and outside their organizations, work toward reversing the inequity and injustices of the past. They uplift people, reduce carbon emissions, and promote net gains in biodiversity.
The future I live every day for is complemented by DNV’s vision – to be a trusted voice to tackle global transformations. To tackle global transformations sustainably is among the greatest of challenges.
1 Granola, for those that do not know, is slang for those with liberal or environmentalist political views, correlated with eating healthy foods (like granola).
12/3/2024 6:00:00 AM