Last week, I had the opportunity to attend ClimaTech in Boston. This event, which is now in its third year and brought together over 1,500 registrants and 120 speakers from more than 10 countries, served as the flagship and kickoff event for the first ever Boston Climate Week. A very fitting location given a new report that came out during the conference showing 16 of the top 20 energy companies have a presence in Massachusetts, underscoring the state’s role as a global center for innovation, investment and deployment of clean energy technologies.
Over the course of two days, I had the chance to sit in on keynotes and panel discussions (including a closing session with our own client, Schneider Electric) as well as network with professionals in the space. The energy (pun intended) in the room was palpable, and it was clear energy is no longer a niche conversation but one that is showing up front and center in communities and globally. It also reinforced that the path forward is one that intersects technology, finance, policy, and, of course, communications.
It can’t be climate vs. financial growth
One of the first sessions of the day covered the elephant in the room: how do you integrate climate and sustainability into financial markets in a way that actually scales? The answer is to make the case that climate action is an economic strategy, one that protects future competitiveness, strengthens resilience, and supports growth. It’s not just about doing what’s morally good, it’s about tangibly future proofing the economy.
This is why how the topic is approached is so critical. More education, clearer narratives around the long-term payoffs, and a focus on incentives vs. mandates can help fuel adoption and create champions for the change. Jobs also must become a much bigger part of the narrative. Grid upgrades, electrification, storage, efficiency, and resilient infrastructure all require people to do the work. Job creation is a win-win for everyone.
Data centers are here to stay, we must build them for the future
There wasn’t a discussion about if data centers will be part of our future infrastructure. That’s a fact. The bigger, more important question that was discussed in-depth during ClimaTech was what kind of energy and infrastructure we build around them. And the answer is we must build them responsibly, sustainably, and with the future in mind.
We must keep communities in mind as we build data centers: how we power them, how much water they use, and what they really will mean for local reliability, rates, land use, and community resilience. Transparent planning and a clear understanding of tangible local benefits are crucial to communities. As is practical energy, that is solutions that work in real-world constraints and ideally deliver something back to the community.
AI is a grid necessity
A line that I jotted down during one of the panel discussions was “utilities are data-rich and insight poor.” Meaning utilities are data rich at the transmission level but insight poor at the distribution level, an area that’s becoming increasingly complex. AI can help turn data and insights into decisions: forecasting demand, identifying anomalies, improving outage response, and supporting targeted efficiency. AI also offers a pathway to more control and orchestration of DERs (distributed energy resources), which is becoming essential as the grid evolves from a one-way system to a dynamic, multi-directional network.
Perhaps more importantly, it is risky to not deploy AI. AI is integral to grid reliability, particularly around things like:
- Wildfire prevention and faster detection
- Managing data center loads with advanced analytics
- Keeping pace with complexity, security threats, and accelerating demand
Don’t forget to lead with the people
I love a good data point and often think it can be one of the most compelling parts of storytelling. But the discussion at ClimaTech raised a good point: climate is meaningless unless you center it around how it impacts people’s values. The climate movement can be extremely data-focused, filled with bar charts and infographics. But action most often happens when people feel something relevant, personal, and solvable. This means we must lead with what climate tech improves: health, jobs, affordability, resilience, with data as a supporting point.
A few other storytelling lessons I think we can all take to heart:
- Consistency builds trust, you don’t need to pivot with every news cycle
- Strong leadership is a prerequisite for credible messaging
- As a space gets more crowded, it’s even more important to know your message
- Emotion moves people, it’s how solutions become understandable and shareable
Move fast, but don’t break things
Unlike other areas of tech that have adopted a motto of “move fast and break things,” the energy industry is one that cannot tolerate failure. Because failure could mean outages, safety risks, and economic impacts. Instead, the future of energy will be built by the teams who can move with urgency and discipline and who can explain, in human terms, why these choices matter.
