Bolstering U.S. industrial competitiveness requires a high degree of capital investment and technological innovation. In some cases, firms and investors need policy interventions to ensure they can make innovative technologies competitive in the market.
Contracts for differences (CfDs) are increasingly being investigated as a possible solution to this challenge. CfDs originated in the 1970s in financial derivatives markets and have been applied successfully as policy tools to support renewable electricity in the U.K., and heavy industry in the Netherlands and Germany. A CfD guarantees a price to the producer, making up the difference between the market price and production costs. CfDs offer promise for encouraging manufacturing of clean goods and investments in low-carbon production processes and are being applied precisely in this way in Germany.
Join us for a webinar exploring the value and challenges of CfDs, along with actionable recommendations for implementing this policy tool in the United States. Attendees will hear from experts in the United States and Germany, as well as staff from the U.S. Congress, as they discuss how CfDs could be part of the future of clean industrial policy.
Wesley Look, Climate and Energy Policy Expert & Senior Research Associate, Resources for the Future
Wesley is a climate and energy policy expert and senior research associate at Resources for the Future. His work has focused on a range of topics including industrial decarbonization, carbon pricing, and carbon border adjustment policy. He served as advisor on energy and environment to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and to ranking member Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) on various clean energy and climate policies, including the senator’s energy policy portfolio on the Senate Energy Committee.
Pavitra Srinivasan, Senior Manager, Industry Program, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Pavitra is an interdisciplinary scientist with background in environment and public health. She is experienced in lifecycle assessment, techno-economic assessment, decision sciences, socio-behavioral science, and scientific litigation support. At ACEEE, she conducts research and analysis on emerging industrial technologies, programs, and policies to facilitate adoption of next-generation manufacturing process and energy technologies (cement, concrete, steel, nanomaterials) to advance innovation, resilience, and cost competitiveness in the industrial sector.
Brendan Larkin, Deputy Chief of Staff, Congressman Paul Tonko
Brendan has worked in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2010. He is responsible for managing Congressman Tonko’s legislative team and a policy portfolio focused on climate change, energy, and environmental issues. This work includes staffing Congressman Tonko in his capacity as Ranking Member of the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment. In addition to his work for Congressman Tonko, from 2019 to 2023, Brendan also served as Policy Coordinator on the then-titled House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Environment & Climate Change. As a member of the Committee staff, he was involved in developing, authoring, and negotiating numerous provisions enacted as part of the Energy Act of 2020, the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
Dr. Julia Metz, Director, Agora Industry
Julia leads Agora’s work on the transition toward a climate-neutral industry across the different geographies in which Agora is active. Previously, Julia was the Programme Lead at Agora Industry and Agora Energiewende and headed a team on Climate and Industrial Policy. Before joining Agora, Julia worked on energy and climate policy at the Climate Neutrality Foundation (Stiftung Klimaneutralität), the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), and the German Bundestag. From 2008 to 2014, she conducted research on European policy-making at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB).
Moderator: Dr. Neal Elliott, Director Emeritus, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Neal is an internationally recognized expert and author on energy efficiency programs and policies, and industrial energy efficiency and decarbonization. Neal is a frequent speaker at domestic and international conferences. He is also a member of the U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Technology Innovation Advisory Committee. He joined ACEEE in 1993.
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