Sign up by 2/21 to save $800 to attend Circularity, the leading circular economy event 4/29-5/1 in Denver.

Article Top Ad

Exclusive: Former NRG CEO David Crane’s farewell letter to his DOE colleagues 

'Career success often is linear. But what I have found to be very much NOT linear is impact.' Read More

The US DOE Joint Computational Facility at Sandia National Laboratory
The Joint Computational Facility at Sandia National Lab is one of the research arms carrying out the DOE's clean-energy mission. Source: US Department of Energy

Editor’s note: In 2016, when he officially stepped down as CEO of NRG Energy, then and now a Fortune 200 company, David Crane published a farewell letter to his employees on this site, affirming his commitment to a clean-energy future. Today, after his departure as Under Secretary for Infrastructure at the U.S. Department of Energy, we are again exclusively publishing his farewell to his team.

“You never know when in your career you are going to be thrust into a situation where literally everything is at stake and you are in a position to do something about it,” he writes, expressing appreciation for those who showed him “the power of purpose.”

As for future plans, Crane would only say: “I do not plan to go away. I plan to continue the push toward the clean energy transition from the private-sector side.”

Crane’s letter

Dear DOErs:

Today is my last day as your colleague at the Department of Energy. The hurdle to the finish line these past few weeks has been all-consuming so I have not had the chance to say goodbye, nor have I had the chance to say thank you. It is not the way I would choose to part ways after our three momentous years working together since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act were passed.  

You have accomplished so much. As the “point on the spear” for the government in the implementation of this landmark legislation, together you accomplished historic things and took enormous strides forward on the path to the clean energy transition. The more than $180 billion of loans and grants committed, the 5,000 recipients, big and small, across every state and territory, the 900 some new manufacturing factories announced, the range of new energy technologies innovated in America now, for a change, being deployed at scale here at home rather than overseas, the immeasurable enhancement of national energy security — have all been catalyzed by your actions.

It was you who brought that legislation to life, translating breathtakingly ambitious and complicated statutory language into thoughtful action within a private sector-paced timetable, and no one will ever be able to take away from you the scale and scope of your accomplishment. The impact you have had is undeniable; the progress is irreversible and, as such, the achievement of our shared goal is inevitable.

For me, serving in government, working with you, has been a revelation. Your consummate professionalism and profound subject matter expertise, I would have predicted. Your affinity with the hard-pressed energy communities that have powered our country for decades, the compassion for the millions of Americans on the fringes of our society who lack reliable access to affordable energy, the commitment to skilled blue-collar workers who will build and operate our 21st century energy system — that I did not expect. You have done your job, not only with your brains, but with your heart.

Career success often is linear. If you are smart, work hard, with integrity and treat people fairly, you will get ahead. But what I have found to be very much NOT linear is impact. You never know when in your career you are going to be thrust into a situation where literally everything is at stake, and you are in a position to do something about it. I feel very privileged to have been put together with all of you at just the right time and place to be in the vanguard of the United States government’s bold attempt to bend the curve on climate change. Certainly, our work together has been the most important thing I have ever done in my career and may very well prove to be the most important thing in yours as well. It is my sincere hope that whatever lies ahead, you will take enormous satisfaction in knowing that when the stakes were highest, you rose to the challenge.

Finally, I wanted to thank you all for demonstrating to me the power of purpose. For three years, we labored together in the hyper partisan Washington bubble: a legion of DOE career civil servants, with the full range of personal political views amongst you, smattered with an overlay of political appointees chosen by a Democratic Administration. And for three years, I couldn’t tell the difference.

It would be easy to say that we were so united because serving in Government, we are all Americans. We all swore an oath to the Constitution as a predicate to our public service. And I believe in country over party or ideology, but there was obviously more at work.

There was a unity of purpose. We were singularly focused on the common objective of providing safe, affordable, reliable and resilient energy to all Americans, while deploying at scale zero carbon technologies essential to winning the fight against climate change. Now it is important to realize that our work not only advanced the mission, our mission is now infused within each of us. And it will not stop animating and motivating us.

I leave you now confident in the knowledge that each of us, whatever path we each take from here, will do whatever it is within our power to do, to continue to advance to the dream of a clean energy future, that dream is fulfilled as an American dream and that dream never dies.

Until we work together again,

David Crane

Trellis Briefing

Subscribe to Trellis Briefing

Get real case studies, expert action steps and the latest sustainability trends in a concise morning email.
Article Sidebar 1 Ad
Article Sidebar 2 Ad