AMERICAN COUNCIL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Accelerate
Designed with the needs of entrepreneurs in mind, the ACORE Accelerate Membership Program builds opportunities for emerging women and minority-led renewable energy companies.
Accelerate members work on solutions in wind, solar, battery storage, hydrokinetic energy and more. They are women and minority-led businesses committed to creating good-quality jobs and sustaining impact in their communities. Members include manufacturers, project developers, professional service providers and consultants.
ACORE hosts an annual call for applications and selects up to 10 Accelerate members per cohort. Over the two-year program, Accelerate members receive complimentary access to paid events, exclusive briefings, tools and advocacy. Members build relationships across ACORE’s influential network of financial institutions, major corporate renewable energy buyers, utilities, academic institutions, and allied nonprofit groups and are eligible to serve a year-long term on ACORE’s Board of Directors.
Sustainable Investing and ESG
By aligning sustainability disclosures and metrics to fully reflect the deep impact and climate value of renewable energy, ACORE is enhancing the attractiveness of renewable energy investments and facilitating the increased deployment of renewable energy solutions.
Companies have the opportunity to improve their sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies by engaging in the clean energy transition. We work to ensure that those who invest in, purchase, or generate renewables receive ESG-related recognition for their important roles in avoiding climate risks and creating climate opportunities. We do this by collaborating with investors, corporates, and companies across the renewable economy to provide policy recommendations to federal regulators and international standard setters on sustainability disclosures and reporting, ESG policies, and renewable energy claims.
Project Finance
For over 20 years, ACORE has been a respected leader in shaping the course of U.S. renewable project finance. Working collaboratively with tax equity providers, lenders, private equity firms, project sponsors, and advisors, we strategically engage with policymakers and other key decision-makers to guide the project finance marketplace needed to drive renewable sector growth.
Through curated executive programs, ACORE advances changes to policy incentives, regulatory actions, accounting standards, and international developments to both maintain existing and attract new investors to the sector. We assess how capital stacks are evolving in response to shifting policy and market environments, and take actions to build opportunities for new financing vehicles like transferability and direct pay, address the impacts of new regulations on tax equity, and build financing pathways for emerging technologies.
Policy
ACORE works with Congress, the Administration, the federal complex, state lawmakers, and the nation’s power markets to promote and defend policies that accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. Through impactful advocacy and industry-leading analysis, ACORE strategically engages in the legislative and regulatory pathways that help shape renewable sector growth and expand the marketplace.
Macro Grid Initiative (MGI)
The Macro Grid Initiative promotes investment in a 21st century transmission network that will drive job growth, reduce pollution, and save American consumers money. Antiquated transmission infrastructure and a balkanized electric grid are limiting America’s ability to meet changing demands on the electric system. Investment in more interregional transmission through a U.S. Macro Grid that better connects our largest population centers with our lowest-cost renewable energy resources will enhance grid reliability and resiliency, save consumers billions of dollars, deliver significant job creation, and dramatically reduce carbon emissions. Power system operators confirm that a larger geographic footprint for the nation’s power grids decreases variability in energy supply and demand while also improving system performance. As extreme weather events increase in frequency and severity, more interregional transmission lines will be critical to prevent deadly power outages and grid failures.
Events
ACORE’s events set the standard for connecting clean energy industry leaders with up-to-the-minute insights on the policies, financial trends and grid issues most pertinent to the renewable energy sector. ACORE is committed to ensuring that our events, including speakers and attendees, are inclusive and represent the broad spectrum of people, perspectives, and programming needed to ensure an equitable and just transition to a renewable energy economy. ACORE holds three signature events annually, the ACORE Policy Forum, Finance Forum, and Grid Forum, as well as public webinars throughout the year.
The American Renewable Investment Campaign
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) presents U.S. clean energy with an unprecedented opportunity for expansion, but meeting the increased demand spurred by the IRA will involve tripling the current annual private investments in clean energy projects. Investors are ready to scale their involvement, yet barriers are limiting potential.
ACORE's American Renewable Investment Campaign champions policy reforms and market incentives to facilitate the necessary project financing to advance the expansion of renewable projects and build out emerging clean technologies. The campaign engages the nation’s leading capital contributors and project sponsors, and educates new entrants to catalyze the next wave of sector growth. We benchmark progress on the campaign and identify priorities through our annual Expectations for Renewable Energy Finance report.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AMERICAN COUNCIL ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
Board of directorsas of 10/20/2023
Mr. Kevin Gresham
RWE Renewables Americas, LLC
Term: 2021 -
Shannon Kellogg
Amazon
Kevin Gresham
RWE Clean Energy
Vikas Agrawal
Goldman Sachs
Ja Kao
Starwood Energy Group
Mona Dajani
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Mit Buchanan
J.P. Morgan
Gaurav Raniwala
GE Energy Financial Services
Raymond Wood
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Patrick Reiten
Berkshire Hathaway Energy
Himanshu Saxena
Starwood Energy Group
Kevin Lynch
Avangrid
Laura Beane
Vestas
Philip Musser
NextEra Energy
Rose McKinney-James
McKinney-James and Associates
Urvi Parekh
Will Conkling
Kristal Hansley
WeSolar
Marcus Krembs
Enel North America
Meghan Schultz
Invenergy
Gregory Wetstone
American Council on Renewable Energy
William Demas
Macquarie Asset Management
Monique Dyers
Ensight Energy Consulting
Kathleen Frangione
Orsted North America
David Giordano
BlackRock
Vishal Kapadia
Walmart
Francis O'Sullivan
S2G Ventures
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 10/20/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.