Author: Karen Hansen
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Emissions Measurement Is Moving From Estimation to Governance
Companies are adopting artificial intelligence faster than they can measure its environmental effects. Most organizations know what they spend on AI services, but many lack reliable information about token volumes, model-specific electricity use, serving locations, data-center overhead, and training emissions. A new framework released by Watershed offers a practical way forward. Instead of requiring perfect…
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The Energy Transition Is Not Slowing—It Is Becoming More Operationally Difficult
Three major energy outlooks now provide a useful, if sometimes divergent, picture of the electricity transition: The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2025 examines global energy pathways through 2050. The IEA’s Electricity 2026 provides a five-year global power-sector forecast through 2030. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2026 examines 11 alternative U.S.…
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Recent EU Sustainability Reporting Changes: Relief, But Not a Free Pass
The European Union has significantly changed the trajectory of corporate sustainability reporting. The recent “Omnibus” simplification package narrows the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, delays reporting for many companies, and reduces some of the expected reporting burden. For companies watching CSRD from the United States, the message is clear: the EU has softened…
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California SB 253 Deadline Change: More Time, Not Less Urgency
California has moved the first-year reporting deadline for SB 253 greenhouse gas emissions disclosures from August 10, 2026, to November 10, 2026. That three-month extension is meaningful, but companies should not read it as a reason to pause. It is better understood as a narrow implementation adjustment while the California Air Resources Board finalizes clarifying…
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California Climate Disclosure: SB 253 & SB 261 Move Into Implementation (CARB’s Feb. 2026 “Initial Regulation”)
California’s climate disclosure laws—SB 253 (Corporate Data Accountability Act) and SB 261 (Climate-Related Financial Risk Act)—moved from theory to real operational setup in late February 2026, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved an initial regulation to stand up the programs, fund them, and lock in key administrative definitions and timelines. Below is a…
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Your customer is sending carbon surveys. What now?
You’re minding your business, delivering product, hitting deadlines—and suddenly a supplier or buyer emails: “Please complete this sustainability / climate / Scope 1–3 / net-zero questionnaire by Friday.” If you’ve gotten one of these, you’re not alone. Carbon-performance surveys are rapidly becoming a commercial gate: they influence winning work, staying on approved vendor lists, pricing…
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EPRI Webinars: Navigating Carbon Markets and Standards
Navigating Carbon Markets and Standards: A Practical Webinar Series for Hydrogen, Power-to-X, and Other Low-Carbon Projects For those developing hydrogen, e-fuels, or other low-carbon resources, they are already living the reality that “carbon performance” is no longer a single number. It is a portfolio of decisions—how you define system boundaries, how you source electricity, how…
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Direct Pay Tax Credits: 5% Safe Harbor
MN Tech Assistance Direct Pay 5% Safe Harbor Meeting Friday 12/12/2025 As 2025 comes to an end, there are many Direct Pay solar projects eligible for 5% Safe Harbor across Minnesota that are underway with the intention of applying for Direct Pay tax credits for 2025. Please join Deloitte for Office Hours to answer your in-process…
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What’s in Your Energy Wallet?
Why EPRI’s New Metric Matters for Affordability, Electrification, and Policy When most people think about their “energy costs,” they’re really thinking about a single bill—usually electricity or gas. EPRI’s new Energy Wallet research flips that perspective on its head and asks a much bigger question: How much are households really spending on all the energy…
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ESG, Affordability and the Real Test of Your Business Model
For years, ESG was treated as an optional extra—something you did for ratings agencies, awards, and glossy reports. That idea is quickly becoming outdated. In the United States, one of the big lessons of 2025 is that affordability itself is a core risk management and performance issue. When customers, regulators, and investors are all watching…