Bringing the ESG Conversation to the Forefront at Distributech: Exclusive Conversation with Damien Quentin, ESG Practice Lead at Copperleaf Technologies
Earlier this month, the Distributech Conference took place in San Diego, California, once again bringing together thousands of leading voices and decision-makers in the energy and utilities sector. The topics discussed throughout these days in the conference hall, at presentations and panels, and even at the after parties extended across the gamut of critical areas for the power industry today: digitalization and modernization to security to wireless communications to grid resiliency and much more. A key node amongst all those conversations, though, was the common thread of corporate responsibility and ESG.
A key voice in that conversation at Distributech 2023 was Damien Quentin, the ESG Practice Lead at Copperleaf Technologies. Damien is focused on helping clients align investment planning to enterprise ESG goals and grid safety, reliability, and resiliency risk objectives. His background includes a master’s degree in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia.
At the conference, Damien spoke to eager attendees in a presentation entitled Equitable Investment Strategies for a Just Energy Transition. After that, he caught up with Energy Central at the Copperleaf booth to share more about his ESG-related takeaways from the conference and to share further details that we could share with those Energy Central members who couldn’t make it in person.
Matt Chester: You spoke earlier at the Distributech Conference on Equitable Investment Strategies for a Just Energy Transition. For our readers who weren’t able to attend, can you give us the Cliff Notes version?
Damien Quentin: There is pressure now on utilities, more than ever, to significantly incorporate environmental justice in capital planning. The EPA recently added environmental justice to its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives. California requires environmental justice for inclusion and investment planning, even going so far as to ask PG&E for an overlay of planned mitigations on top of CalEnviroScreen. Across the United States, federal initiatives like Justice40 are directing funding to underserved communities, and state legislation and regulation are mandating utilities to consider social impact and environmental justice.
So there's suddenly this big need to demonstrate an awareness of the social impact of utility investment plans, at the very least. Leaders now realize they have to develop a strategy and align their investment plans to objectives that come out of that strategy.