Advanced Energy United (AEU)

Background

Advanced Energy United was founded in 2011 under the name Advanced Energy Economy as a trade association of about 700 companies. It was the first trade group to coordinate multiple environmentalist energy sectors. It created a multi-sector trade group to promote environmentalist energy policy in coordination with environmental groups. A stated goal of the group is to “create and support a goal of 100% clean energy and electrified transportation in the U.S.”  ^{2 3}

A co-founder of the group was Tom Steyer, an American hedge-fund billionaire turned climate change activist who is a major political donor to environmentalist causes and Democratic campaigns. ^{4 5}

AEU lobbies at the federal, state, and regulatory levels to advocate for policy that allows for environmentalist energy companies, styled as “advanced energy,” to grow exponentially and transition away from conventional energy. It also coordinates among businesses how they can partake in the transition to relying solely on environmentalist energy. ⁶

Nat Kramer, former AEU CEO, claimed the “Advanced Energy” AEU advocates for as any form of technology that allows the United States to replace conventional energy with environmentalist energy, including technology that minimizes energy consumption AEU advocates for is any form of technology that allows the United States to replace conventional energy with environmentalist energy, including technology that minimizes energy consumption. ⁷

The group also operates an educational and research arm, the Advanced Energy Institute, a 501(c)(3) organization. ⁸

Advocacy

During the Biden administration, Advanced Energy United advocated for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to drastically increase spending to create an infrastructure reliant on wind and solar-reliant energy. In response to then-President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan, AEU CEO Nat Kreamer stated, “We need to do this or we’re never going to be able to hit decarbonization plans.”  ⁹ The plan itself states it creates “a new economy,” which some critics argue is a “socialist takeover.” ¹⁰¹¹

The group also supported the passage of large omnibus spending legislation during the Biden administration including the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act. The group stated that “Advanced Energy United has dramatically expanded market opportunities for advanced energy companies like mine and is well-positioned to leverage recent federal investments into meaningful change at the state level.” ¹²

Name Change

In 2023, Advanced Energy Economy rebranded as Advanced Energy United, “with plans to expand its advocacy and engagement portfolio on behalf of an industry with a combined market capitalization in excess of $3 trillion.” Then-AEU CEO Nat Kreamer stated that “The new name is designed to better reflect our strength as a unifying force for companies that create and support a goal of 100% clean energy and electrified transportation in the U.S.” ³

Fellowships

Advanced Energy United drew criticism from the right-leaning Washington Free Beacon for its role in a Michael Bloomberg-backed fellowship program known for placing attorneys in state attorney general offices to spearhead climate litigation. The New York University State Energy and Environmental Impact Center‘s fellowship and AEU began recruiting candidates to work in state and local agencies. The Free Beacon reported, “The groups gauged the interest of New York’s Department of Public Service in July 2023, the Michigan Public Service Commission in August 2023, and Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities in September 2023.” ⁸

PowerSuite

Advanced Energy United (AEU) provides a paid subscription to software-as-a-service (SaaS) database platform PowerSuite. PowerSuite automatically collects legislation data related to energy policy at the regional, state, and federal levels, including both chambers of the United States Congress. ¹³ It contains over 80 million regulatory filings, 1 million legislative issues, and 200 regulatory and utility profiles. ¹⁴

PowerSuite’s database includes data from all state public utility commissions as well as dockets and filings posted at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). ¹³ The data focus on environmentalist-related sectors, such as public utilities and energy, but includes additional sectors as well. ¹⁵

PowerSuite offers a premium subscription that includes a “legislative forecast.” PowerSuite claims that it can predict the outcome of a proposed bill with an 87% accuracy at the time of proposal and up to a 99.5 % accuracy rating as details are revealed. ¹⁶

Leadership

Nat Kreamer was the CEO of Advanced Energy United from 2018 to 2023. He is also the founder and CEO of Fairtide Renew, an environmentalist-focused investment firm, and has previously worked for other environmentalist investment companies. Kreamer has also worked as an environmentalist energy business consultant and served as the chairman for the board of directors of the Solar Energy Industries Association.  ¹⁷

Heather O’Brien has been president and CEO of Advanced Energy United since 2023, and was previously president of the group from 2018 to 2023. She was previously president and CEO of Spruce Power (formerly Clean Power Finance) a solar industry financing group. From 2012 to 2017, she was the board chair of the Solar Energy Industries Association. ¹⁸

Tom Steyer, is an AEU co-founder. He is a hedge-fund billionaire turned climate change activist and major political donor to environmentalist causes and Democratic campaigns. ^{19 5}

Eric Fitz is the General manager of Powersuite. Fitz has co-founded several software technology companies and worked as a management consultant where he focused on incorporating environmentalist energy. ²⁰

Jeff Dennis is the Managing Director at AEU, overseeing the expansion of environmentalist energy technology within wholesale markets. Prior to joining AEU, he worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission  (FERC) for over ten years as a director of policy development and legal advisor. ²¹ After President Joe Biden was elected, Dennis advocated for the expansion of spending by the FERC on environmentalist energy infrastructure. ²²

Financials

In 2023, Advanced Energy United (AEU) reported $5.7 million in revenue and $5.7 million in expenses, with over $8.2 million in assets. ²³

Membership

Members of Advanced Energy United (AEU) include Microsoft, EnergyHub, nrg, Wilson Sonsini, Apple, Carrier, Ford, EDF Renewables, Meta, Oracle, Rivian, and Target. ²⁴