Superstars came to the Sunstone Presentation Stage in July, offering insight into how the P3 approach is changing the world.
Arnab Pal visited on July 18 to share his experience as the Principal Advisor & Consultant at the U.S. Department of Energy and leader of the California Center for Sustainable Energy. He has founded the nonprofit Deploy Action and is CEO of Policy Pulse, and continues to work on the transition to clean energy.
John Keisler, CEO of Sunstone Cities (presenter of the Strategy Series) asked Pal to explain the scope of the government’s role in sustainable energy development.
The U.S. Department of Energy “made $60 billion in loans,” Pal said. “There was virtually no default – we invested in tech we knew would work. We would loan 50% of the cost with developers and entrepreneurs coming up with the rest (of the financing). We helped finance the equivalent of 800 successful manufacturing plants through this project.”
Pal said that it appears the move to sustainable energy is now so far along it can’t be stopped – increasing demand for electricity will drive need, and new technologies already are or soon will provide generation techniques cheaper than use of fossil fuels.
He warned that it will not be a smooth road ahead, though.
“There are tax credit changes in the works,” Pal said in reference to recent federal legislation. “It does put some of our momentum in jeopardy… Hopefully the state can step in. The government has been an early-stage investor; it now can also be a late-stage investor as well.”
Public participation – the public-private partnership – is essential to lowering risk when dealing with cutting-edge technology development, Pal said. And because the government can loan money at lower interest rates, when public utility infrastructure is involved, government participation keeps rates lower for consumers.
In the sustainable energy sector, P3 can be a win, win, win.
Making Connections
On July 25, the Sunstone Presentation Stage welcomed Tracy Colunga and Lisa Mae Brunson to talk about “How purpose-driven partnerships shape inclusive innovation.”
Colunga was a longtime city of Long Beach employee with jobs including being the Director of Civic Innovation before leaving for the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University, then founding Colunga & Associates LLC.
Lisa Mae Brunson is the founder and CEO of Wonder Women Tech, chair of the Long Beach Commission for Technology and Innovation and most recently completed the 2024-2025 Obama Foundation USA Leader program.
Wonder Women Tech is a nonprofit putting on conferences and trainings aimed at overcoming underrepresentation in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, Math) fields and innovation. In 2015 she gained support from then-Mayor Robert Garcia to host the inaugural Wonder Tech convention in Long Beach.
Colunga began supporting Brunson and Wonder Women Tech while working for the city. As Director of Civic Innovation, she said she was interested in promoting the underrepresented in STEAM fields, and saw Wonder Tech as a great vehicle to make that happen.
“I see this as the civic lens of P3,” Colunga said. “It is a matter of scaling impact across sectors and industries. The partnerships make it work.”
Colunga and the city provided physical support – a venue, paying for an event planner, etc. – at the first event. As the relationship grew, Brunson began to tap Colunga’s network of contacts to expand nationally and internationally.
“This has really been a P3 case study,” Brunson said. “The key is that this is heart-centered and purpose-driven. We are together in our goals.”
Brunson added that Wonder Women Tech is organizing “the world’s largest pitch competition” to coincide with the World Cup soccer tournament coming next year to Long Beach and Southern California. She said it couldn’t happen without the network that has developed through support from Colunga.
Next on the P3 Strategy Series calendar is Dr. Tara Lynn Gray, Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) on Aug. 8. RSVP at lu.ma/l84uncnj. For more information, contact Ryan Phong at Ryan.Phong@SunstoneCities.com.
About Sunstone Cities
Sunstone Cities is an economic development consulting firm that helps local government leaders unlock economic development, new business formation, and job growth. Data-driven insights, industry expertise and public-private partnerships help cities revitalize economies, attract businesses and better monetize community assets. Visit www.sunstonecities.com to learn more.