Pragmatism, Not Idealism, Defined New York Climate Week 2025

The conversations at New York Climate Week this year were clear-eyed. The transition is not smooth or uniform—regulatory uncertainty, permitting bottlenecks, and a cooling of U.S. investor enthusiasm are real headwinds. But that turbulence is also creating opportunity. Markets are repricing risk, and less froth means better economics and more disciplined capital deployment. For investors with conviction, this moment offers not fewer opportunities, but better ones.

As Chris Creed, Managing Partner and Co-Head of Credit and Capital Solutions, put it: “To misquote Mark Twain, the reports of New York Climate Week’s death were greatly exaggerated. I found the week to be rather upbeat. Deals were getting done.” His point captured the prevailing sentiment: while the headlines may focus on friction, beneath the surface capital is moving, projects are advancing, and opportunities are multiplying.

Several key themes stood out:

1. The electrotech revolution is here. Electrification—driven by data centers, EVs, and industrial demand—is reshaping the energy system. Energy is shifting from burning commodities to deploying manufactured technologies—solar, wind, batteries, EVs, and heat pumps—that get ~20% cheaper with each doubling of scale. Global low-carbon electricity crossed 40% in 2024, and solar has doubled in just three years. Electrotech is now the center of gravity because it’s cheaper, faster, and more scalable than legacy alternatives
2. Efficiency is destiny. Electrotech delivers the same energy services using roughly three times less final energy. That efficiency advantage—EV drivetrains over combustion engines, heat pumps over boilers—translates directly into lower costs and stronger margins, freeing growth from fuel inflation and import risk. In 2019, $4.6 trillion of energy was wasted globally in the thermal system. Reducing those inefficiencies is increasingly becoming a source of measurable value for both operators and investors.
3. Global momentum, backed by capital. Outside the U.S., the energy transition is accelerating at unprecedented speed. Europe continues to scale renewables, China is adding record solar and storage, and emerging markets are leapfrogging legacy infrastructure with distributed solutions. Capital is following the trend: in 2025, global energy investment will reach $3.3 trillion, with two-thirds—about $2.2 trillion—flowing into clean technologies. Solar alone is on track to attract ~$450 billion, more than any fossil category. The direction is deeply embedded: the world is building clean energy faster, cheaper, and at greater scale than ever before.
4. The U.S. is repricing power. Across the country, electricity markets are sending new price signals. In Texas, rapid growth in grid-scale batteries has doubled available storage in just two years, easing peak stress and driving summer wholesale prices down by roughly $160/MWh compared to 2023. Meanwhile, in PJM, the largest grid operator in the country, capacity costs surged ~750% in the latest auction, adding 1–2¢/kWh to many bills, and New England wholesale power prices are up 16% year-on-year. These dislocations are creating premiums for dispatchable local capacity and speed-to-power solutions.

Galvanize’s Role

Galvanize leaders from across Credit and Capital Solutions, Innovation + Expansion, Investor Partnerships, Real Estate, and Equities engaged with LPs, partners, and peers on how to convert transition bottlenecks—grid congestion, flexibility gaps, capacity scarcity—into investable solutions that both accelerate and monetize the shift to clean energy. Here are a few examples of what that means, in practice:

1. Behind-the-meter power as an income stream: We are standardizing solar and storage micro-utilities across industrial real estate, targeting 2–5-year paybacks while enrolling assets in demand response and capacity markets.
2. Decarbonization as value creation: We are financing decarbonization investments that allow companies, projects and buildings to reduce their operating costs by decarbonizing.
3. Electrification arbitrage: We are investing in technologies that capture the efficiency advantage of electrotech and monetize geographic spreads in power markets.
4. Clean baseload growth: We back innovators like Fervo, applying shale know-how to geothermal, and are actively evaluating nuclear opportunities as durable 24/7 complements to renewables.

As one of our Co-Executive Chair Secretary John Kerry said during the week: “Clean power passed 40% of global electricity last year. The question isn’t if the transition happens, but who monetizes the bottlenecks: interconnection, flexibility, and local capacity.”

Galvanize at Climate Week

Alongside sharing our perspective, the Galvanize team was deeply engaged across the city. From public summits to private investor roundtables, we convened, co-hosted, and contributed to conversations that are shaping the transition. Highlights included:

• Sightline Summit: Co-Executive Chair Tom Steyer shared the stage with Pedro Pizarro of Edison International, framing California’s role as a national model for electrification and grid transformation. Later, he and Pizarro took the stage at the California Delegation for a dialogue on how California’s lessons can scale nationally.
• Danish Pension Reception: Sec. John Kerry joined Galvanize colleagues and members of the Consulate General of Denmark to engage on the geopolitics of energy transition.
• Transition Capital Coalition event: Alongside Generation, Generate, Urban Partners, and Ceres, Galvanize hosted global investors for a focused discussion on transition investing followed by a broader reception. Our Co-Executive Chair & CEO Katie Hall kicked off the event with framing remarks.
• “Climate Capital Playbook” Breakfast with SVB and At One Ventures: Our Innovation & Expansion team shared perspectives with corporates and portfolio companies on building through transition volatility.
• Water x Nature x Climate Leadership Breakfast: Co-hosted with Earth Finance, Galvanize convened corporates and portfolio companies on integrating nature and water into decarbonization strategies.
• Galvanize and Rothschild Dinner on AI/Energy: A private gathering of investors, corporates, and policymakers to discuss the convergence of artificial intelligence and electrification.
• Female Investors Breakfast with TPG and BlackRock: The third in a Galvanize-hosted series designed to build community among growth-stage climate investors.
• Climate First and Galvanize Reception: The Galvanize team convened investors and partners for a private discussion on the long-term capital needs of the transition.
• Climate VCs Convening: An informal evening with peers from Congruent, Energize, Capricorn, S2G, and Spring Lane to deepen collaboration across the venture ecosystem.
• Food and Agriculture Dinner: Galvanize engaged alongside Stanford Doerr School to connect corporates and investors shaping the future of food and agriculture.