Jennifer Granholm, Former Director, Department of Energy

Oct 31, 2025

Jennifer Granholm, former U.S. Secretary of Energy and governor of Michigan, shares her journey from a childhood shaped by immigrant parents to leading clean energy initiatives. She discusses her pivotal role in passing major climate laws and reorganizing the Department of Energy for increased deployment. Granholm also highlights the importance of empathy in energy transitions and advises on engaging communities. Her vision for the future emphasizes affordability and momentum in the energy sector, blending optimism with a realistic understanding of challenges ahead.

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ANECDOTE

Electrolux And Greenville's Last Supper

Jennifer Granholm recounted Electrolux moving a 3,000-job factory from Greenville to Juarez despite massive local incentives.
That moment crystallized for her the human cost of globalization and the need for an industrial strategy.

INSIGHT

Timing Supply And Demand Matters

Early state efforts to build battery supply chains can be ahead of consumer demand and incentives.
Supply without matching demand risks firm failures, so timing supply and demand matters.

ADVICE

Center Communities In Energy Transition

Listen to workers and communities experiencing economic shifts and design transitions compassionately.
Treat transition as transformation, not a zero-sum threat to people's identities.

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At a moment when our country can feel deeply divided, and when progress on clean energy can feel uncertain, this month's guest — former U.S. Secretary of Energy and two-term Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm — couldn’t be timelier.

It was the perfect moment to take stock of where we are as an industry. After years of historic progress, we’re now facing growing uncertainty about what comes next. The optimism that followed the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act can feel harder to access — and yet gatherings like this live recording and New Dawn, our thousand-person sold-out annual party hosted the following evening, remind us how far we’ve come and how powerful it is when this community comes together.

Special thanks to this year’s New Dawn Terawatt sponsors, Silicon Valley Bank and Wilson Sonsini, for helping make gatherings like these possible.

For me, this interview was personal — and a bit of a full-circle moment. I’ve admired Governor Granholm for years. We first met over a decade ago, when she served as a judge for one of Powerhouse’s early hackathons, and even then, her conviction and optimism left a lasting impression.

Her legacy in public service is one of transformation — from rebuilding Michigan’s economy to reshaping the Department of Energy’s role in accelerating the clean energy transition. At DOE, Granholm led an unprecedented expansion of clean energy deployment and manufacturing, rebuilding supply chains, creating jobs, and helping position the United States as a global leader in the energy transition.

In a moment when federal leadership can feel disconnected from what our country truly needs for clean, abundant energy and lasting progress, Governor Granholm is a reminder of what grounded, forward-thinking, and empathetic leadership can achieve. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

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