Advanced Energy Institute (AEI)

AEI’s board of directors overlaps with the boards of directors for AEE and Advanced Energy Works (AEW). As AEE’s affiliate, AEI helps advocates for environmentalist policy that subsidizes the expansion of businesses using environmentalist energy or operating in environmentalist energy sectors. ¹

Background

Founded in 2009, Advanced Energy Institute (AEI) was originally named the Clean Economy Network Education Fund until it became affiliated with the business league Advanced Energy Economy as its charitable arm. ² Following this, it was renamed the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, and as of 2024 the organization changed its name again to the AEI. ¹ It is also affiliated with AEW, the lobbying branch of AEE. Before becoming an affiliate of AEE, Clean Economy Network Education Fund worked with businesses to become members of the fund and coordinate advocacy for environmentalist policy. ³

Tom Steyer founded AEE in 2011 with about 700 companies as the first trade group that includes multiple environmentalist energy sectors. It was created so there could be more environmentalist policy advocacy by trade groups that included multiple sectors as opposed to one. ⁴

Resources and Advocacy

The website for the Advanced Energy Institute (AEI) offers various resources that provide information about environmentalism and how it envisions environmentalist energy could replace conventional energy. The organization’s resources all link to Advanced Energy Economy’s website and sponsored resources, including reports, webinars, a program called PowerSuite, and a blog. ⁵

AEE’s reports, webinars, and blog provide information advocating for the economic benefits for using environmentalist energy. As a business league, AEE provides resources that support its advocacy for government spending on environmentalist energy sectors in which its members operate. ⁶

In 2017, then-State Senator Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) cited a report by then-AEEI in a speech to support the argument that there are 10 times as many environmentalist energy workers in California as there are coal miners in the entire country. The left-of-center fact-checking organization PolitiFact found that the report provides an “elusive” number, is problematic, and needs further clarification based on which workers it includes in the statistic. ⁷

Insight Engine

Advanced Energy Institute’s (AEIs) website directs users to its “Insight Engine,” formerly called its “PowerPortal,” as one of its resources. ^{5 8}
Insight Engine is AEE’s SaaS database platform that automatically collects legislation data related to energy policy at the regional, state, and federal agencies, including both houses of the United States Congress. ⁹ It contains over 80 million regulatory filings, 1 million legislative issues, and 200 regulatory and utility profiles. ^{10 8}

Leadership

Sudeen Kelly is the board chair for Advanced Energy Institute (AEI), as well as a partner with Jenner & Block law firm. She previously served as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations, worked as a lawyer for both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and was a legislative aid for then-Senator Senator Jeff Bingaman when he was a ranking member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee. ¹

Financials

In 2009 and 2010, the organization, then titled the Advanced Energy Economy Institute (AEEI), reported $1,750,027 in combined revenue. ¹¹ After becoming an affiliate of Advanced Energy Economy, AEEI reported an average annual revenue of $5,615,261 between 2011 and 2022. ¹²

In 2019, then-AEEI reported paying $3,181,819 in salaries and other compensation out of its $4,466,549 in total expenses. ¹³

According to the AEI’s 2022 990 form, the organization reported $7,914,899 in revenue, $7,249,048 in expenses, and $9,540,786 in total assets. ¹⁴