David Crane is a leading business voice in the field of sustainability, clean energy, and climate change. Prior to his confirmation as Under Secretary for Infrastructure he served as Director of DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. Outside of government, Crane was the CEO of Climate Real Impact Solutions and served on the Boards of Heliogen Inc, Source Global, JERA Co. Inc., and Tata Steel Ltd, along with the not-for-profit Boards of Elemental Excelerator and The Climate Group NA. He was also a part of The B Team, serving as a leader and chairing the organization’s Net Zero Initiative.
Previously, Crane was CEO of NRG. During his 12-year tenure, he took NRG from Chapter 11 to a Fortune 200 company. Crane also led NRG to the forefront of next-generation clean energy development through large scale initiatives in utility scale renewables (now Clearway), residential solar, post combustion carbon capture (Petra Nova) and DC fast charging (EVGO). Prior to NRG, Crane was CEO of International Power Plc, a UK-domiciled FTSE-100 company. During Crane’s tenure, NRG won numerous industry, community, and environmental awards, including multiple “transaction of the year” awards. Crane was named Energy Industry “CEO of the Year” by EnergyBiz in 2010, top CEO in the electric utility sector by Institutional Investor in 2011, and “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young in 2010. Crane was also awarded the Corporate Environmental Leadership award by GlobalGreen in 2014 and the Equinox Solar Champion Award and the C.K. Prahalad Award for Global Sustainability Business Leadership, both in 2015. NRG, under Crane’s leadership, was a key member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership from 2008 to 2011.
Crane is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Princeton University.