Michael P. Polsky is the CEO and founder of Invenergy, which claims it is the “largest privately held global developer, owner and operator of renewable energy.” 1 Invenergy stated in 2022 that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) was a “guiding principle.” 2
Forbes described Polsky in 2020 as a “hard-nosed, profit-driven” developer who was “ready to bulldoze, litigate and lobby through such not-in-my-backyard objections.” 3 Forbes estimated Polsky’s net worth at $1.6 billion as of November 2023. 4
Polsky is a board member of the World Resources Institute, a global research nonprofit that proposes policies on environmental issues. 5 He has held political fundraisers at his Chicago residence that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton attended. 6 7
Background
Polsky came to the U.S. in 1976 with $500 and four suitcases full of his belongings. 3 He began working in Chicago on the design of power plants. 8
In 1985, Polsky and a partner launched Indeck Energy Services. 3 Polsky sued in a dispute with the partner and took a settlement for $25 million. He created Polsky Energy in 1991 and the company was later named SkyGen. 3 The company specialized in making gas-fired generators that could provide power at peak demand. 3 Polsky sold SkyGen in 2000 and made $225 million from the deal. 3 He used $75 million of his own money to start Invenergy. 3 Polsky had a net worth of $367 million by 2006. 3
In 2007, Michael Polsky’s wife Maya Polsky was awarded $184 million in a divorce settlement that ended their 31-year marriage. 9 Michael Polsky paid $6.95 million in 2010 for a Gold Coast Historic District mansion in Chicago that he bought from JP Morgan Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon. 10
Invenergy
Clean Path NY
The state of New York selected Invenergy in September 2021 to be part of a $11 billion project to provide renewable energy to the city of New York and downstate. 11 The project is a partnership between Invenergy, the state of New York and energyRe. 12 Invenergy said the project was created with “environmental justice at its core.” 11
Funding for the project was secured by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). 11
NYSERDA said it does not purchase energy. It procures renewable energy attributes called Renewable Energy Credits that are created by the delivery of renewable energy on a per-megawatt-hour basis. When Clean Path NY delivers renewable energy to New York City, it creates the Renewable Energy Credits that NYSERDA purchases and then sells on the market. 13
The majority of the cost for Clean Path NY is upfront capital costs. 11 NYSERDA said its 25-year purchase agreement of Renewable Energy Credits would provide “a level of certainty” and was one of the “key underwriting agreements” to enable the financing of the project. 13 NYSERDA said the purchasing of Renewable Energy Credits was “critical” to the financing of the project and without it, the project would need to go to the market and sell it on a merchant basis, “which would introduce significant volatility into the revenue stream for the project.” 14
Blackstone Investment in Invenergy
Blackstone Infrastructure Partners invested $4 billion from 2021 through 2023 into Invenergy Renewables Holdings LLC to support Invenergy’s business. 15 Blackstone is the world’s largest manager of assets such as private equity and real estate. 15
Bloomberg News reported in February 2022 that Blackstone told its clients that the private equity arm of its business would no longer invest in the exploration and production of oil and gas. 16 Blackstone had been a major investor in shale patches. 16
Blackstone stated that environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles “help develop strong, resilient companies and assets that deliver long-term value for our investors.” 17 Blackstone stated that “ESG principles have long informed the way we run our firm.” 17
Blackstone cited Invenergy in its 2022 Climate-related Financial Disclosures report and cited the amount of metric tons of carbon dioxide it was offsetting with its projects. 18
Invenergy Future Fund
Polsky was the chair in 2017 of the investment committee of the Invenergy Future Fund. 19 It spun off into a company called Energize Ventures and was managing $700 million by 2021. 20 The investment fund focused on “process automation, decentralization, risk mitigation, electrification and asset optimization.” 20
Energize Ventures invested in SINAI in September 2022. SINAI makes technology to measure carbon emissions and recommends ways to reduce it. 21
Nonprofit Involvement
World Resources Institute
Polsky is a board member of the World Resources Institute. 5 The World Resources Institute promotes tax credits from government as “a very important policy tool” to “reduce carbon emissions and address climate change.” 22
The World Resources Institute promoted a report by the left-of-center Union of Concerned Scientists advocating for the closure of nuclear power plants because they were unprofitable. 23
Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business established the Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2002 after Polsky gave the university a $7 million gift. 24 Polsky received an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1987. 24 Polsky donated $35 million to the University of Chicago in 2016 to expand the Polsky Center. 25
Political Involvement
Dick Durbin Fundraiser
Then-President Barack Obama visited the home of Polsky in 2014 for a reception and a fundraiser for U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). 6 The cost to attend the fundraiser at Polsky’s home varied between $1,000 to $15,000. If a donor gave $10,000 or more, he or she would get a photo with then-President Obama. 6
2015 Hillary Clinton Fundraiser
Polsky held a $2,700-a-head fundraiser for Hillary Clinton at his home in 2015. 7 Clinton attended the fundraiser in Chicago. 7 After the meeting, Clinton said she met with “a big group of clean renewable energy businesses” and said, “They need some help from the government.” 7
Other Political Donations
According to political donations data tracked by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Polsky made 22 donations of $10,000 or more from 2005 to 2022 and all were made to Democratic causes. 26
Polsky’s largest political donation was $50,000 in 2016 to the Hillary Victory Fund for Hillary Clinton. 27 He made a $36,500 donation in 2022 and a $35,500 donation in 2020 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 26 In 2016, Polsky made a $33,400 donation to the Democratic National Committee. 26
In 2022, Polsky made four $5,800 donations to Republican politicians, the highest amount he has donated to Republican Party candidates, according to the Federal Election Commission. 26 He made the donations to U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), U.S. Representative Darin LaHood (R-IL), U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), and U.S. Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA). 26
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Invenergy stated in its 2022 Impact Report that the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act “reflects America’s commitment to decarbonize” and that Invenergy was committed to achieving Neto Zero in carbon emission by 2050 across its entire portfolio. 2 Invenergy stated it had created an internal committee that would do ESG data collection to track progress and stated ESG was a “guiding principle.” 2
Skydeck LLC
Skydeck Capital is an investment firm started in 2013 28 and is the private investment firm of Michael Polsky’s family. 29 The name “Skydeck” comes from two former Polsky companies: Skygen and Indeck Energy Services. 9
Controversies
Pennsylvania Gas Plant Approval
In 2015, Polsky sent an email to Katie McGinty, then the chief of staff to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), asking her to help secure “public support” from Wolf for a proposed $1.2 billion natural gas power plant. 30 Polsky had contributed $2,500 in 2014 to McGinty when she unsuccessfully ran for governor of Pennsylvania. 30 In his email, Polsky also wanted to pressure then-state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale (D) and then-State Senator John Blake (D) to support the project. 31
McGinty forwarded Polsky’s email to Wolf and told him she was taking on the project. 30 She also forwarded Polsky’s email to Wolf’s assistant and McGinty scheduled a phone call with Polsky the next day to discuss the project. 30
Within days of the email, Wolf went to the small town of Jessup where the plant was proposed to be built and met with residents about the impact of the project on their community. 30 Wolf told the residents he did not know much about the project but that he was in support of the jobs it would create for the community. 30 The Sierra Club opposed the plant and called it “dirty fossil fuels.” 30
Within a year of Polsky’s email, the natural gas power plant received full approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. 30 Polsky continued to contribute to McGinty’s political campaigns and made the maximum amount allowed of $5,400 to McGinty’s 2016 campaign for U.S. Senate. 30 Five other Invenergy executives also contributed to McGinty’s campaign. The Invenergy PAC gave the maximum allowed $5,400 to McGinty’s Senate campaign. 30
Iowa Wind Power Projects
Invenergy has been involved in some legal battles involving wind farm projects in Iowa. Iowa’s Dickinson County Board of Adjustment rejected a permit for Invenergy to put up 79 turbines in the Red Rock Energy Center in October 2023. 32 Some residents had protested the project and did not want it near their homes and said it would have a negative impact on their health, wildlife, property values and tourism. 32 Invenergy stated that more than 240 landowners had supported the project. 32
Invenergy began plans for a wind farm in the eastern part of Worth County, Iowa in 2018. 33 The county did not have any zoning laws related to wind turbines, and the turbines went up in 2020. 33
In the spring of 2021, some residents of Worth County began to voice concerns over the wind turbines. The Worth County Board of Supervisors started to talk about enacting a moratorium on wind turbines while the supervisors worked on an ordinance that would regulate wind energy projects. 33 The Worth County supervisors approved the moratorium in April 2021. 33 Invenergy affiliate Worthwhile Wind LLC filed a lawsuit in May 2022 in Worth County District Court. 33
The Worth County supervisors approved a countywide zoning ordinance in May 2022 and a month later followed with a specific wind power ordinance and then cancelled the moratorium. 33 A non-jury trial on the wind developer’s lawsuit was set to begin in October 2023. 33
Landowners in Iowa’s Palo Alto County filed a lawsuit in 2019 claiming that the Palo Alto Board of Supervisors did not have the legal authority to amend its wind zoning ordinance involving an Invenergy project. 34 The Iowa Supreme Court would rule in favor of Invenergy. 35 Invenergy had wanted to develop a 170-wind turbine project in Palo Alto County in 2015. 35 The existing ordinance contained only a single paragraph devoted to wind turbines and the Planning and Zoning commission believed a new ordinance was needed. 35
The Palo Alto county attorney drafted a new ordinance in 2016 that had a proposed setback for wind turbines set at 2,640 feet and no “shadow flicker,” the term for when the sun shines through the rotating blades of the wind turbine. 34 Invenergy wanted changes to the initial draft of the new ordinance and the Board of Supervisors approved changes so that setback was shortened to 1,500 feet and the shadow flicker was prohibited to no more than 30 hours a year. 34 But not all of Invenergy’s suggested changes were adopted but made clear they could not go forward with the proposed project if certain modifications were not made. 35
Grain Belt Express
The Grain Belt Express is a proposed 800-mile long transmission line that would carry electricity generated from weather-dependent sources that was generated in “hot beds of renewable power generation” like “wind-rich” 36 states such as Kansas to four states from western Kansas to Indiana. 37 Invenergy worked for years to get regulatory approval while acquiring land easements to build the transmission line. 38
The project has been opposed by some landowners and farm groups because it crosses private property, and Invenergy has used the power of eminent domain granted by the state of Missouri to take the land of private residents. 38 In 2022, the Missouri legislature passed a law that required companies using eminent domain to build electric transmission lines to pay private property owners for easements on their land at 150 percent of the fair market value. 39
Missouri Farm Bureau criticized Invenergy’s tactics of using eminent domain in June 2023. 40 Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins said that “Invenergy is not operating like a conventional business in the free market” but was instead using eminent domain to seize the private property of citizens and “apply for lucrative federal subsidies” to make the transmission line “to benefit its entirely private interests.” 40
References
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- Invenergy. Impact Report 2022. Accessed Nov. 25, 2023. https://invenergyimpact2022.com/uploads/downloads/Invenergy-Impact-Report-2022.pdf
- Christopher Helman. “The Green Revolution Has Been Won, Says America’s New Wind Billionaire”; Forbes. Nov. 17, 2020. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2020/11/17/how-an-immigrant-engineer-rode-wind-power-to-billionaire-status/?sh=37c4075b2344
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- World Resources Institute. Michael Polsky. Accessed Nov. 25, 2023. https://www.wri.org/profile/michael-polsky
- Lynn Sweet. “Obama Here For Fundraisers As Outside Groups Target Durbin”; Chicago Sun Times. Archives From The Original June 23, 2014. Accessed Nov. 25, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20151009041919/https://chicago.suntimes.com/uncategorized/7/71/218224/obama-here-for-fundraisers-as-outside-groups-target-durbin
- Al Weaver. “Clinton: Green Donors ‘Need Some Help From The Government’”; Washington Times. Nov. 3, 2015. Accessed Nov. 26, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clinton-green-donors-need-some-help-from-the-government
- Andrew Bauld. “Future Of Energy Innovation With Michael Polsky”; University Of Chicago. May 21, 2018. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/big-brains-podcast-explores-future-energy-innovation-entrepreneur
- Alex Aguilar. “Wife Gets $184 Million In Divorce”; Chicago Tribune. June 5, 2007. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023.
- Bob Goldsborough. “Bears’ Forte Buys A House For $4M Plus”; Chicago Tribune. Jan. 29, 2015. Accessed Nov. 28, 2023.
- Invenergy. Clean Path New York Project Selected For Renewable Energy Award To Build Transmission And Clean Generation – Ensuring New York State’s Inclusive, Economically Vibrant Clean Energy Future. Sept. 20, 2021. Accessed Nov. 25, 2023. https://invenergy.com/news/clean-path-new-york-project-selected-for-renewable-energy-award-to-build-transmission-and-clean-generation-ensuring-new-york-state-s-inclusive-economically-vibrant-clean-energy-future
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- New York State Energy Research And Development. About Tier 4. Accessed Nov. 25, 2023. https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Large-Scale-Renewables/Tier-Four/About-Tier-4
- New York State Energy Research And Development. Purchase Of New York Tier 4 Eligible Renewable Energy Certificates. Business Entity And Financing Plan. May 2021. Accessed Nov. 25, 2023. https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Large-Scale-Renewables/Tier-Four/About-Tier-4
- Arunima Kumar. “Blackstone Raises Investment In Invenergy Renewables To $4 Billion”; Reuters. June 21, 2023. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/blackstone-raises-investment-invenergy-renewables-4-billion-2023-06-21/
- Dawn Lim. Sabrina Willmer. “Blackstone Swears Off Oil-Patch Investing As Private Equity’s Retreat Widens”; Bloomberg. Feb. 22, 2022. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-22/blackstone-swears-off-oil-patch-investing-as-private-equity-s-retreat-widens#xj4y7vzkg
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- Blackstone. 2022 Report. Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023. https://www.blackstone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/2023_TCFD_Report_Blackstone.pdf
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- Juliette Portala. “SINAI Technologies Raises $22 MLN Backed By Energize Ventures”; Reuters. Sept. 27, 2022. Accessed Nov. 28, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/technology/sinai-technologies-raises-22-mln-backed-by-energize-ventures-2022-09-27/
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- Federal Election Commission. Individual Contributions. Michael Polsky. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Michael+Polsky
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https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Michael+Polsky - Skydeck Capital. LinkedIn. Accessed Nov. 24, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/company/skydeck-llc
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- Borys Krawczeniuk. “Invenergy Sought Officials’ Support”; The Times-Tribune. March 12, 2017. Accessed Nov. 28, 2023.
- Sheila Brummer. “Dickinson County Board Rejects Invenergy Permit To Install New Wind Turbines In The Iowa Great Lakes Area”; Iowa Public Radio. Oct. 26, 2023. Accessed Nov. 26, 2023. https://www.iowapublicradio.org/environment/2023-10-26/dickinson-county-board-rejects-invengery-permit-for-wind-turbines
- Bob Steenson. “Wind Power Project Concerns Voiced At Meeting In Rockford”; Charles City Press. Sept. 18, 2023. Accessed Nov. 17, 2023. https://www.charlescitypress.com/front/2023/09/18/wind-power-project-concerns-voiced-at-meeting-in-rockford/
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- Bryce Gray. “Grain Belt Express, A Four-State Power Line Project, May Finally Pass In Missouri”; St. Louis Post-Dispatch. March 24, 2023. Accessed Dec. 9, 2023. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/grain-belt-express-a-four-state-power-line-project-may-finally-pass-in-missouri/article_205401b0-6e61-53d0-a7a3-7e4eae61cf47.html
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- Allison Kite. “Grain Belt Express Transmission Line Wins Final Approval In Missouri”; Missouri Independent. Oct. 13, 2023. Accessed Nov. 21, 2023. https://missouriindependent.com/2023/10/13/grain-belt-express-transmission-line-wins-final-approval-in-missouri/
- Elizabeth Reiher. Property Over Planet: How The Grain Belt Express Sparked Utility Eminent Domain Reform In Missouri. University of Missouri. School Of Law. June 12, 2023. Accessed Nov. 21, 2023. https://law.missouri.edu/lawreview/2023/06/12/1958/
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