Jennifer Granholm, fresh off her role as Biden’s Energy Secretary, is now drawing paychecks from firms tied to fossil fuel and utility interests that lobbied her while she shaped U.S. energy policy. Recently, she joined the boards of Edison International and its subsidiary, Southern California Edison, led by executives who headed a powerful industry lobbying group during her tenure, and took a senior counselor role at DGA Group, a global advisory firm serving energy clients, including those in oil and gas.
As Energy Secretary, Granholm managed billions of dollars in investments from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand renewables, battery storage, and hydrogen production. However, under her leadership the DOE also approved significant oil and gas projects, including ConocoPhillip’s oil drilling Willow Project in Alaska and the expansion of Cheniere’s natural gas export terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas. Granholm supported carbon capture technologies with DOE grants, which some environmentalists argue extended the country’s fossil fuel reliance. She also defended the Biden administration’s record-high oil drilling permits on federal land, as a response to global energy demands like those triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Her new roles as a board member of Edison International and Southern California Edison, which began April 1, tie her to a utility that was part of a consortium that received over $600 million in DOE grants for grid upgrades during her tenure. Edison International’s president, Pedro Pizarro, was chair of the powerful utility industry lobbying group Edison Electric Institute (EEI) during Garnholm’s tenure, from 2023-2024. Ganholm was a keynote speaker at the group’s 2023 annual meeting. In 2022, the Washington Post reported on a closed-door meeting where Pizarro pushed Ganholm for changes to energy tax credit policies that would allow companies to claim financial benefits from the credits more quickly.
