It's time for a broader approach to ensure that the U.S. meets energy demands and leads the world in innovation and education. Photo via Getty Images

U.S. energy consumption is projected to rise nearly 20 percent over the next decade — driven by advancements like AI, increasing electrification, and the growing demand for electric vehicles. While attention often centers on the technologies that generate power, the driver behind this transformation is the skilled workforce, which comprises men and women dedicated to enabling the nation's growth. Ensuring a steady supply of qualified workers is imperative for meeting the energy demands of the coming decade.

Developing this talent pipeline starts with a commitment to education. As the energy landscape evolves rapidly, educators play a crucial role in equipping the next generation with the skills to embrace new technologies and adapt to changing industry demands. This commitment to education is central to the Energy Education Foundation's (EEF) mission. It's also a cornerstone of EEF partner and board member, Coterra Energy's, efforts to be recognized as a leader in energy education.

At a recent Energy Education Exchange, hosted by Coterra and EEF, in collaboration with industry partners such as the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Consumer Energy Alliance, over 50 educators and industry leaders gathered in Houston to address this need.

During the three-day event, educators, administrators, and industry professionals were immersed in the many facets of the oil and gas industry, learning best practices for incorporating energy education into their programs.

Educators experienced an in-depth tour of the San Jacinto College Center for Petrochemical, Energy, and Technology. As the largest petrochemical training facility in the Gulf Coast region, the center offered a unique look at industry-standard equipment, including a multifunctional glass pilot plant lab, a glycol distillation unit, and 35 specialized training labs. Participants engaged in demonstrations led by faculty and students, exploring circuits, on-campus refineries, and advanced machinery — essential experiences that bring classroom lessons to life.

The event also highlighted efforts at the high school level, exemplified by a presentation and tour at Energy Institute High School in Houston's historic Third Ward. The Institute showcased how project-based learning, robotics, and hands-on fabrication labs are shaping students' skills for the energy sector. The high school's mission aligns perfectly with EEF’s goals: sparking interest in energy among younger students, developing their skills, and paving a pathway toward lifelong careers in the industry.

API's "Lights On" reception concluded the first day, promoting networking among educators and industry professionals. By facilitating these connections, we are ensuring that educators learn about energy careers and establish ongoing relationships that can translate into opportunities for their students.

Keynotes throughout the exchange included Peter Beard, Senior Vice President of the Greater Houston Partnership, and Chris Menefee, President of Unit Drilling Company, who further emphasized the critical need for workforce development. Beard noted, "As our economy grows, we must ensure we have the electrons and the workforce to support that growth." He stressed that aligning skills with job requirements is more than just matching credentials; it's about upskilling and offering real career mobility.

Menefee echoed this sentiment, acknowledging the pressures on educators to prepare students for an ever-changing job market. He underscored his company's commitment to "quality over quantity" in hiring, prioritizing well-trained individuals, and emphasizing the value of strong foundational skills, which begin in the classroom, especially career and technology classrooms.

The Energy Day Festival in Houston provided an additional opportunity for educators and administrators to engage directly with the industry. Thousands attended, visiting booths set up by companies, trade groups, and educational institutions. EEF's own Mobile Energy Learning Units offered interactive exhibits designed to teach students of all ages about energy and career opportunities. The Units appearance at Energy Day was made possible by the American Petroleum Institute.

Looking forward, the U.S. must expand opportunities for the next generation of energy workers and provide educators with the necessary resources. The Energy Education Exchange is a significant step forward, but one initiative alone cannot shape an entire workforce. All stakeholders involved must invest in tools, training, and programs that empower educators and provide opportunities for students. As Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden recently stated, "Apprenticeships are essential for advancing the economy and building critical skills."

It's time for a broader approach to ensure that the U.S. meets energy demands and leads the world in innovation and education. At the Energy Education Foundation, we are proud to be at the forefront of this mission, working alongside Coterra and other partners. By empowering educators, we empower the next generation—one that will fuel our nation's future. Together, we can build a workforce ready for the challenges ahead.

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Kristen Barley is the executive director of the Energy Education Foundation, an organization dedicated to inspiring the next generation of energy leaders by providing comprehensive, engaging education that spans the entire energy spectrum.

According to a new report, Houston is one of the top cities for funding for sustainability companies. Photo via Getty Images

Houston ranked a top market for attracting funding for sustainability-focused startups

by the numbers

From a financial standpoint, Houston appears to be a sustainable environment for sustainability-focused startups.

An analysis by PromoLeaf, a retailer of sustainable promotional products, that came out at the end of last year ranks Houston fourth among U.S. cities for the average funding raised by locally based startups in the sustainability sector, according to Crunchbase data.

Per the report, the Bayou City attracts $150.7 million in sustainability funding for startups. Ahead of Houston are Salt Lake City with $204.5 million; Santa Monica, California, with $154.3 million; and Fremont, California, with $153.4 million.

PromoLeaf’s analysis features cities where at least 20 companies are focused on sustainability.

The analysis indicates Houston has 20.6 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents. Ranking first in that regard is Boulder, Colorado (115 per 100,000 residents).

While Houston trails Boulder by a long distance, it fares well among the Texas cities in the analysis:

  1. Austin, 26.2 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents
  2. Houston, 20.6 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents
  3. Midland, 18.8 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents
  4. Plano, 11.9 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents
  5. Dallas, 11 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents
  6. Fort Worth, 5.3 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents
  7. San Antonio, 5.2 sustainability startups per 100,000 residents

PromoLeaf says more than 21,600 sustainability startups operate in the U.S. They’re in the renewable energy, recycling and pollution control, environmental engineering, green consumer goods, and environmental consulting industries.

The analysis shows Houston has:

  • 13.7 renewable energy startups per 100,000 residents
  • 5.8 recycling and pollution control startups per 100,000 residents
  • 3.5 environmental engineering startups per 100,000 residents
  • 2.9 environmental consulting startups per 100,000 residents
  • 0.70 green consumer goods startups per 100,000 residents

According to the Greater Houston Partnership, renewable energy startups leading Houston’s energy transformation include Energy Transition Ventures, Fysikes Biosolutions, Ionada, Katz Water Technologies, Pressure Corp., and Renewell Energy.

“A dynamic business climate combined with growth in venture capital funding in Houston has created fertile ground for companies of all stages aiming to power our world through the global energy transition,” the partnership says. “As the Energy Capital of the World, Houston has become a hub for startups and venture capital firms investing in the region’s energy future.”

Outside the energy sector, Houston startups like Trendy Seconds also are making their mark in sustainability. The company runs an online marketplace where women can find preowned clothing or shop for new clothing from sustainable brands.

“Our ultimate goal is to make responsible consumption super easy,” Maria Burgos, founder of Trendy Seconds, told InnovationMap last year.

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

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Tesla announces annual meeting under pressure from shareholders

Tesla Talk

Tesla has scheduled an annual shareholder meeting for November, one day after it came under pressure from major shareholders to do so.

Billionaire Elon Musk's company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that the meeting would be held Nov. 6, but that may prove troublesome because it comes nearly three months after it is required to do so under state law in Texas, where the company is incorporated.

The annual meeting, given Tesla's fortunes this year, has the potential to be a raucous event and it is unclear how investors will react to the delay, which is rare for any major U.S. corporation.

Tesla shares have plunged 27% this year, largely due to blowback over Musk's affiliation with President Donald Trump, as well as rising competition.

The announcement of the meeting comes a day after a group of more than 20 Tesla shareholders sent a letter to the company's board pressing for an annual meeting after receiving no word of one with the deadline just days away.

Many shareholders have been miffed by Musk's participation in the Trump administration this year, saying he needs to focus on his EV company which is facing extraordinary pressures.

“An annual meeting provides shareholders with the opportunity to hear directly from the board about these concerns, and to vote for or against directors, the board’s approach to executive compensation, and other matters of material importance,” the group said in the letter.

The group cited Texas law, which requires companies to schedule annual shareholders meetings within 13 months of the prior annual meeting.

Tesla’s last shareholders meeting was on June 13 of last year, where investors voted to restore Musk’s record $44.9 billion pay package that was thrown out by a Delaware judge earlier that year.

Also on Thursday, Musk that the Grok chatbot will be heading to Tesla vehicles.

“Grok is coming to Tesla vehicles very soon. Next week at the latest,” Musk said on social media platform X, in response to a post stating that Grok implementation on Teslas wasn't announced on a Grok livestream Wednesday.

Grok was developed by Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI and pitched as an alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Shares of Tesla rose 3% at the opening bell after tumbling this week when the feud between Trump and Musk heated up again.

Greentown Labs names Lawson Gow as its new Houston leader

head of hou

Greentown Labs has named Lawson Gow as its Head of Houston.

Gow is the founder of The Cannon, a coworking space with seven locations in the Houston area, with additional partner spaces. He also recently served as managing partner at Houston-based investment and advisory firm Helium Capital. Gow is the son of David Gow, founder of Energy Capital's parent company, Gow Media.

According to Greentown, Gow will "enhance the founder experience, cultivate strategic partnerships, and accelerate climatetech solutions" in his new role.

“I couldn’t be more excited to join Greentown at this critical moment for the energy transition,” Gow said in a news release. “Greentown has a fantastic track record of supporting entrepreneurs in Houston, Boston, and beyond, and I am eager to keep advancing our mission in the energy transition capital of the world.”

Gow has also held analyst, strategy and advising roles since graduating from Rice University.

“We are thrilled to welcome Lawson to our leadership team,” Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs, added in the release. “Lawson has spent his career building community and championing entrepreneurs, and we look forward to him deepening Greentown’s support of climate and energy startups as our Head of Houston.”

Gow is the latest addition to a series of new hires at Greentown Labs following a leadership shakeup.

Flatter was named as the organization's new CEO in February, replacing Kevin Dutt, Greentown’s interim CEO, who replaced Kevin Knobloch after he announced that he would step down in July 2024 after less than a year in the role.

Greentown also named Naheed Malik its new CFO in January.

Timmeko Moore Love was named the first Houston general manager and senior vice president of Greentown Labs. According to LinkedIn, she left the role in January.

Key takeaways from HETI's Resilient Power Fueling Houston's Economy event

The View From HETI

Recently, the Resilient Power Fueling Houston’s Growing Economy workshop hosted by The Greater Houston Partnership’s Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) brought together more than 80 industry, civic and innovation leaders in Houston to examine the region’s ability to meet rising demand with resilient power leadership.

The overarching message was clear: Houston is the epicenter of energy and power resilience and the “all of the above” strategy continues to position Houston well for the mission of continued economic growth for the region.

Morning highlights

Keynote speakers and panelists throughout the morning sessions highlighted that Houston’s ability to collaborate is creating real opportunities in a time of significant complexity and uncertainty in the power landscape. Discussions also focused on strategic approaches to resilience in both generation and transmission to serve growing power demand and drive economic growth over the near-term and long-term.

A successful near-term strategy highlighted in the workshop is the innovative business partnership to provide resilience for H-E-B’s retail operations with Enchanted Rock’s bridge-to-grid power solutions. The impact of growing sources of power demand was explored, including the decarbonization of industry and increasing digitization, and the essential collaborations between the energy and tech sectors to drive effective long-term power resilience and economic growth were discussed.

Notable quotes

“Public-private collaborations are the key to solve long-term power resilience problems with the technical expertise and investment capital of corporations and a right-sized local government approach” – Angela Blanchard, Chief Resilience Officer, City of Houston

"The risks and challenges in terms of our net zero power goals require both urgency and long-term focus to drive standardization across the system with speed.” – Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, General Manager & Head of Product, Microsoft Cloud for Energy

Afternoon highlights

Afternoon sessions focused on complexities and challenges in the current power landscape, as well as policy enablers, investment trends, and innovations driving growth in Houston’s power sector. Stakeholder engagement, supply chain, permitting, and policy emerged from these discussions as key enablers for power and infrastructure investment, innovation, and project advancement.

Advancing and accelerating power and infrastructure projects will require focusing on the critical needs of land, power, and permits. Public-private investment partnerships, along with redesigned regulatory architecture and redirected government incentives, can enable and accelerate innovation and emerging technologies within the power sector.

Notable quotes

Broad based stakeholder engagement on the ground – early and often – is necessary for the build-out of large-scale power infrastructure. – Al Vickers, Chief Operating Officer, Grid United

“Learning curves are essential to cost curves, iterative improvement is paramount to project execution.” – Mary Dhillon, Strategy Lead, Fervo Energy

“Show us good unit economics, and we will find the capital for those power and infrastructure projects.” – Michael Johnson, Vice Chairman, Energy Transition Investment Banking, J.P. Morgan

Houston’s resilient power leadership demonstrated through a unique “all of the above” approach with a broad range of investments and collaborations across sectors is creating sustained value for businesses and development opportunities for communities. The insights shared in this workshop reinforce the critical need for resilience of the power sector to meet growing demand for continued economic prosperity in the Houston region.

As the world moves toward a future of significant power demand growth, the power sector should prioritize integrated strategies, stakeholder engagement, supply chain, permitting, and policy as key enablers for innovation, investment, and collaboration.

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This article originally ran on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. Power resilience is a strategic imperative for the Greater Houston Partnership, and power management continues to be a key workstream for HETI. To learn more about HETI's work in power management and resilience, connect with us at contactheti@houston.org. And for more information about HETI, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.