What do activist Paul Singer, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and a former Texas utility regulator have in common? A desire to remake a coal burning power company that also has serious clean energy and climate goals. They just differ on how to do it.
In a sign of ESG's growing relevance, two activist investors (Elliot Management and Bluescape Energy Partners) are aggressively questioning the climate change-inspired business strategy at NRG—and prompting drama at the upcoming annual meeting with the NYC Comptroller urging other shareholders to reject the activists’ climate contrarian director.
The story is fascinating in its own right, but it’s worth following because it shows how a company strategy inspired by climate change can draw a substantive commercial challenge with a political edge, in the midst of real uncertainty about the ability of the Administration to deliver on its coal promises. Watch this space.