A State Program Leading The Clean Energy Transformation – Doreen Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA
Release Date: 03/25/2025
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“(A.I.) is so energy intensive as a technology, and that's the thing that we have to get, the infrastructure of AI… Right now we do not have an electricity grid that is, that is built for this purpose. There's the water requirements of it as well. And we also need to just think about the energy, the actual fuel that's being used to fire up and power the electricity grid.” Dr. Stephanie Hare on Electric Ladies Podcast Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous today and advancing faster than we can imagine. It’s being used in many ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change, too, and...
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“Energy efficiency…is doing more, using less. The megawatt not used is the cheapest megawatt and there's so many things, either by using technology, old technology like insulation or digitalization, that allows us to really stretch what we can get out every single megawat, a kilowatt electron that we use. And so that's what we're talking about. If we had the kind of massive adoption that we need, we could get to a big 40% reduction.” Paula Glover on Electric Ladies Podcast With the Energy Star program and other energy efficiency programs under attack and misunderstood, we decided to...
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“For anyone, women especially who are interested in the energy and climate space, I would say that you shouldn't feel that you need to choose between the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. I've been able to continue to build my expertise in the energy and climate space, but from multiple different perspectives. My advice would be to just not feel that you need to pick one of those lanes and, and to take the risk to bounce between those different segments of our economy.” Claire Seaborn on Electric Ladies Podcast Summer is a good time to think about your next...
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“Carbon Recycling International…is converting CO2 into sustainable methanol…(W)e have technology, which takes CO2 as a waste, and it takes hydrogen and turns it into methanol…and it is used today both like into chemicals. So, the chemical sector is a big consumer of methanol, which is a very large known product in the world today. …(and into) a sustainable fuel...playing a pretty big role in the energy transition.” Bjork Kristjansdottir on Electric Ladies Podcast As the Trump administration sends mixed signals on carbon capture technologies – keeping the tax credits for them...
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“There are those individual actions that we can take. But if I can work with my community or work inside of my company, or if I can work inside of my house of worship and we can build some community and some action that way, it will have a much bigger impact than anything that I can do as an individual… The communities that they're already a part of, whether they're residential, like in their neighborhoods, or it's the nonprofits that they're a part of, or the places where they have other kinds of communities like religious communities, and start conversations there. What could we do as a...
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“Our job is to recycle so that we can recover all of that scrap and goods that you and I are recycling in our garbage bins every week or recycling as we get new cars. And our job is to recover that because we make steel in a very clean and efficient process through what's called an electric arc furnace. So, we take all of that scrap, we melt it down, and we make new steel. It does not degrade. It has a continuous reusable life.…Depending on the different products of steel, that actually determines the recycled content that goes into them for the finishes and the quality of the steel that's...
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“If you cannot change the system, change the frigging system… Women, when we have our money, are more likely to start an impact fund business or something. So, we have really got to get out of our way and just take the risk. " Tracy Gray at The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025 Innovative financing models are urgently needed to tackle the climate crisis, but significant gaps persist. Research shows that women and people of color deliver stronger returns yet continue to be underrepresented. Meanwhile, the insurance industry must confront the mounting risks of climate...
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"The climate crisis has roots in fossil fuels, but at the same time, fossil fuels fund this Russian invasion to Ukraine. So it means this is a fossil fuel war. If we will actually fight against our overall actually dependency on fossil fuels in the same way we will fight against climate change." Svitlana Krakovska on Electric Ladies Podcast The climate emergency is a security threat, and a “threat multiplier,” as former Defense Undersecretary Sherri Goodman has written. Looking at security in the same way as it has been is no longer working. The old view leaves us very vulnerable....
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“Food systems have to do with everything from production to processing, distribution, and the utilization. Then of course, end of life for food systems which includes food waste. In the United States, 40% of the food that we produce goes to waste. This means with distribution challenges that not everybody has equitable access to the kinds of foods that they need and want, at the times that they need them." Robin Currey on Electric Ladies Podcast Climate change is disrupting our food and agriculture systems, including the critical supply chains that feed and clothe us. Yet,...
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“Most things when it comes to corporate sustainability do not happen in a vacuum. I am part of an environmental sustainability team, but we would not be able to accomplish anything without our energy teams, our network teams, and more. The ability to take what can be a complex idea and translate that into a compelling business case often comes down to dollars and cents. While it takes time, that's how we've been able to drive change.” Rosie Austin on Electric Ladies Podcast In a poll at The Earth Day Women’s Summit in Dallas, Texas, 100% of respondents said that business is...
info_outline"The [sub-national level] is where we can incubate and to effectuate the private sector shifts that we see happening every day. We are looking to move markets in a direction that can improve not only quality of life, but the very metrics that we're solving for. And when you look at this over years or even decades, you can see the pace accelerating and market momentum taking off."
Doreen Harris on Electric Ladies Podcast
As the fourth largest state in the U.S., New York consumes a staggering amount of electricity annually to power an economy that ranges from finance to manufacturing, so it’s facing the reality every state faces today: how to meet its growing energy demands and mitigate climate change. Enter NYSERDA, an agency which has been at the frontlines of the clean energy transition for 50 years, and is showing how clean energy on the state level leads the way to the clean energy future we need to address the climate crisis. How are they doing it?
Doreen Harris, President and CEO of NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority on Electric Ladies Podcast talks about it. She explains how NYSERDA is balancing acting urgently on climate change and deploying innovative solutions that drive cost efficiency, economic growth, and a higher quality of life for all New Yorkers.
You’ll hear about:
- Why modernizing the grid and integrating new technologies are essential to New York’s clean energy transition.
- NYSERDA’s role in driving innovation in renewable energy, energy storage, advanced nuclear, and hydrogen – and what other states can learn from them.
- How federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is accelerating deployment.
- Plus, career advice from a woman who become the first president of NYSERDA who came from within the organization.
"I asked to do things that maybe others weren't bold enough to say. I identified needs, I put myself in positions of exposure, and ultimately was successful in delivering on them. In doing so, not only did I build a portfolio that is a game changer for the State of New York, but this allowed me to be exposed to areas, stakeholders and people outside of the organization. It all starts by being confident in your ability to deliver and to be able to say so."
Doreen Harris on Electric Ladies Podcast
Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.
You’ll also like:
- ICWS Webinar, Joan Michelson moderates an enlightening webinar with top leaders on The Future of the Energy Transition and the Grid.
- Paula Glover, CEO of the Alliance To Save Energy, on energy efficiency savings and opportunities
- Vanessa Chan, former Chief Commercialization Officer of the Department of Energy, on funding the transition to clean energy.
- Anne Kelly, VP of Government Relations at Ceres, on the role of the business community in the clean energy transition.
- Jennifer Granholm, immediate past Secretary of Energy on why she’s confident the clean energy transition will endure.
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