David Crane

A Fortune 200 CEO turned senior U.S. energy official, David Crane brings a rare blend of private-sector leadership and public-sector impact to the global energy conversation.

As Under Secretary for Infrastructure at the U.S. Department of Energy under President Joe Biden, Crane steered one of the largest federal clean energy investment portfolios in history—overseeing billions in federal funding to modernize infrastructure, scale innovation, and accelerate the clean energy transition. 

Previously, he served as CEO of Fortune 200 energy giant NRG, where he transformed the company from bankruptcy into a national leader in utility-scale renewables, residential solar, EV charging, and carbon capture. He also served as CEO of the global energy company, International Power, and served on the boards of multiple private sector climate tech innovators and sustainability-focused nonprofits.

Drawing on his rare top-level insider’s view of both the public and private sectors, David Crane unpacks what the future holds for energy markets, infrastructure, and business strategy, during this period of tremendous uncertainty and looming energy scarcity. Audiences gain a candid look at the federal government’s approach to climate and innovation, learn how to shape and transform traditional companies in a conservative industry to embrace the unprecedented disruption at scale underway in the energy industry; and to illuminate for large scale energy buyers how to sort through the ever lengthening list of energy solution technologies to determine the optimal approach for the buyer in energy scarce economy and a carbon-constrained society..

Crane has been named Energy Industry “CEO of the Year” by EnergyBiz, top CEO in the electric utility sector by Institutional Investor, and “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young.