Global Electrification Forum
Panel moderator Michael Cushman is a futurist and Senior Fellow at the DaVinci Institute. Calvin Butler is the CEO of Exelon Utilities. Gioia Ghezza is Chair of Azienda Trasporti Milanesi. Nigel Barbour is the CEO of Powerco. Jay Grewal is the CEO of Manitoba Hydro.
We've all been facing an unprecedented global health crisis, with the pandemic affecting physical and mental health. As energy and utilities companies worked to keep employees, customers, and communities safe, nations faced economic and financial impacts of the pandemic.
Many countries have proposed green recovery plans for their economies, and at the same time, the pandemic has accelerated digitalization in the workplace. As we recover from this crisis, questions include, what impacts will the energy industry, and the world face? What are lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic? Enjoy these highlights from the panel at EEI's Fifth Annual Global Electrification Forum.
Moderator, Futurist and Senior Fellow, DaVinci Institute, Michael Cushman: The main point of the keynote was that uncertainty is becoming dominant and models don't necessarily work in a perfect world. What is your biggest challenge regarding COVID and what are you doing now, or continuing to do, that you will adjust?
CEO, Exelon Utilities, Calvin Butler: What jumped out to us in this pandemic environment is the commitment of employees was always there. It raised their level of importance. Everyone is working from home, kids are being educated at home, and the importance of reliability and resiliency is at a high level.