Former Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Dte
Search every verified Gerard Anderson interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In an April 2021 appearance at the Ford School, former DTE Chairman and CEO Gerry Anderson discussed energy policy and Michigan's economic recovery from COVID-19. Anderson stated that the utility industry is "desirous of trying to establish what we call an ambitious, but technically grounded clean energy standard," and said the industry favors such a standard over a carbon fee because a fee "doesn't necessarily correlate to a known carbon reduction." He noted that DTE announced in early 2017 a plan to reduce carbon emissions 80% and retire its coal plants, and described the reaction as "overwhelmingly positive." Anderson also addressed the Texas power crisis, attributing high residential bills to a deregulated market where "marketers can pass through the provider spikes to homeowners." He distinguished between rates and bills, saying DTE has "relatively high rates and relatively low bills" due to lower electricity usage in Michigan. Anderson also reflected on the pandemic's impact, predicting that reduced business travel would be a "permanent change for the better in terms of lower energy use," while noting that home energy use had risen and was "likely to be permanent, too." He served as co-chair of the Michigan Economic Recovery Council, which was tasked with forming a reopening plan during the pandemic.
“In early 2017, right in the middle of all of the talk, we actually came out and said we are going to reduce our carbon emissions 80% and retire our coal plants in the process. I was afraid President would take us to task on Twitter, but in reality, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. We got big press coverage wor...”
“We have to do 100% carbon removal, we will do 100% renewables. We are going to need new technologies to keep the grid stable and reliable. In particular, we are going to need zero carbon base loader technologies, technologies that run when you tell them to, versus intermittent. We will need technologies that generate z...”
“The Texas event, I'll spend a minute on that, frankly, that was an event that many of us have simply wondered when it's going to happen. For a couple of reasons. They had a cold weather scare a decade ago and a lot of them told them, you better harden your systems for cold weather and they didn't. Much of the issues do...”
“The reason that is favored by the industry versus a carbon fee is that carbon fees, especially where they might be set by Congress, don't necessarily correlate to a known carbon reduction unless you know where to set it in terms of price to get the result that you want. That's one thing. But there is something more fun...”
WE HAVE CE CENTERED IN A CLEAN ENERGY STANDARD AS THE POLICY VEHICLE AND THROUGH -- -- I HAVE BEEN ...
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Gerard Anderson.