Learning From Each Other

At first I felt a little out of place speaking about clean energy to a room of transportation and water professionals on the panel I participated in at The P3 Government Conference.

But as the conversation and the conference continued, I saw that we are all tackling similar issues and have plenty to learn from each other.

Some infrastructure has historically been built by the government, like roads and water facilities. Power generation is generally built by the private sector. But at the end of the day, it is the public that pays for all this infrastructure, whether through taxes or regulated electric utility bills.

The P3 Government Conference mostly explored how traditionally government-built projects can get built faster and cheaper by allocating more risk to a private developer.

But I found myself realizing that government clean energy programs may be approaching things from the opposite direction. Many of these programs place most risks on developers; only recently have governments been more open to taking on the kinds of risks traditionally taken on in the transport and water sectors. The main exception has been the regulated utility model, in which the utility manages infrastructure development and is guaranteed a rate of return, exposing ratepayers to any cost overruns.

As the energy transition, the rise of AI and climate change unfold, governments and developers will have to creatively collaborate on how to best allocate risk to ensure critical infrastructure projects are both affordable and actually get built. This will take learning from each other, both across geographies and industry sectors.

I look forward to participating more in the P3 Conference events next year!

Thank you to the P3 Conference for inviting me to speak and to my excellent copanelists Mike Bonini and Steve Townsend and moderator Sam Headon for a great conversation.