David Crane

United States
Leader, The B Team; former CEO, NRG Energy

David Crane is a prominent American energy industry executive, investor and director and an advocate of the potential for value creation through transformational capitalism, particularly the necessity of, and the opportunity open to the conventional energy industry to lead the transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy. David's unique vantage point on this issue was developed during his 13 years' aggregate experience as CEO of three publicly traded energy companies: International Power Plc (IPR) and, subsequently, NRG Energy (NRG) and NRG Yield (NYLD). Amongst his most noteworthy business achievements during that period:

  • Served as a CEO of both a FTSE 100 and a Fortune 250 energy company, successfully led one company as it spun out of the privatized national utility and led the other out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy;
  • Maintained an industry top decile safety performance record throughout his tenure;
  • Successfully defended his company through two hostile takeover attempts;
  • Pioneered the "yieldco" equity asset class with the 2012 IPO of NRG Yield;
  • Masterminded NRG's move into retail with the 2009 acquisition of Reliant Energy, follows by the acquisitions of retailers Green Mountain Energy and Energy Plus;
  • Started the first electric vehicle charging network (EVGO), built a large utility scale solar portfolio, including both the world’s largest (at the time) solar PV (CVSR) and solar thermal (Ivanpah) projects, acquired both a leading demand side management company and the world’s leading maker of portable solar/storage devices (Goal Zero)
  • Mentored no less than thirteen executives from NRG and IPR who themselves went on to serve as CEOs of publicly traded companies.

Subsequent to his tenure at NRG, David served for two years as the senior operating executive at Pegasus Capital Advisors, a New York City-based private equity firm focused on investment in sustainability and wellness. Currently, David acts as senior adviser to a major international infrastructure fund and select other strategic investors as well as being a private investor in the clean energy sector, including Inspire Energy, Generate Capital and Powerhouse Ventures.

David was awarded the Corporate Environmental Leadership award by GlobalGreen in 2014 and the Equinox Solar Champion Award and The C.K. Prahalad Award for Global Sustainability Business Leadership in 2015. He is also editor at large for greenbiz.com and is a B Team Leader, co-chairing with Mary Robinson, the B Team's corporate "net zero" initiative.