In my conversations with sustainability focused executives at large companies, I am often curious to ask how they get their counterparts in other divisions to care aboutand emissions reduction. Knowledge about climate change is mixed, and addressing it is rarely part of the job description.
This week, Schneider Electric, the French multinational firm focused on energy management, is pitching a climate solution designed to get CFOs and finance departments excited: an innovative way to take advantage of new tax incentives in the U.S.The company announced this week that it has partnered with Engie, a French utility company, on the buildout of four clean energy projects in Texas. Schneider has agreed to pay Engie $80 million to buy access to the tax credits associated with the project.
Schenider hopes the deal will raise eyebrows for CFOs who are, by design, laser-focused on the bottomline. Before the IRA, many of the clean energy tax incentives were too complicated to pursue except for project developers themselves and a few of the world’s largest firms. The IRA’s provisions, which the Treasury Department provided guidance on last June, expand the potential pool of corporate participants from dozens to hundreds.
There are lessons here beyond the details of this particular agreement. For one, the deal is a reminder of how important it is to adapt how we think and talk about climate change to the priorities of a range of jobs. And it’s also a reminder of the variety of new opportunities created by the IRA for companies to advance decarbonization while turning a profit—though some of them require thinking a little differently as the Schneider deal illustrates.