WATCH: Jigar Shah and Al Subbloie Discuss Accelerating Climate Progress
One of the highlights of Climate Week NYC 2025 was a fireside chat between Jigar Shah and Al Subbloie. In their discussion, they addressed timely and urgent topics, from the ways energy efficiency drives measurable impact to the critical need for public-private partnerships to accelerate climate progress. They also shared actionable feedback for climate leaders and opportunities for further progress.
If you weren’t able to attend Climate Week, you’re in luck. The insightful chat was recorded, and you can watch it on Youtube.
No time to watch? No problem. We’ve shared our key takeaways from the conversation below!
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Who is Jigar Shah? Jigar Shah is a clean energy leader, entrepreneur, author, and one of Time’s Most Influential People of 2024. He is currently a Managing Parter at Multiplier and was previously the director of the Loan Programs Office in the US Department of Energy from March 2021 to January 2025. |
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Who is Al Subbloie? Al Subbloie is the CEO and founder of Budderfly, the fastest-growing energy-as-a-service company in the U.S. and the premier sustainability partner for businesses and commercial facilities. Under Al’s leadership since 2017, Budderfly has been included on the Inc. 5000 list for 5 consecutive years (2021-2025), named Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies (2025) and its virtual power plant was one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2025. |
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What is Climate Week? Climate Week NYC is an annual event that brings together business, tech, politics, academic, and other climate leaders for a series of events and discussions about climate change progress. The events tackle timely challenges and solutions addressing clean energy, climate finance, technology, green jobs, and climate justice. |
Our Key Takeaways from Climate Week 2025
The energy space desperately needs more innovation.
The energy space needs more innovation, not just to create new technologies, but to create new business models. There are countless opportunities to think beyond expected solutions. For example, energy service companies (ESCOs) have historically focused on reducing carbon by taking on municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals with $100 million contracts. Budderfly CEO Al Subbloie recognized an opportunity to avoid such long sales cycles and lengthy contracts by prioritizing the mid-market instead. By creating a unique, fully outsourced model for this underserved market that could quickly scale, Budderfly has grown to a $250 million company in seven years while helping significantly lower emissions from businesses across the country.
Public and private partnership can help scale.
Energy rates have gone up 30% in the last 4 years and are expected to continue growing. It’s not just a climate issue, it’s a financial and political crisis. Private companies have the talent and expertise to push technology forward and the ability to grow quickly. The public sector has the power to remove friction and accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions. If these two forces work together, carbon reduction can scale, energy rates can stabilize more quickly, and communities can benefit.
Budderfly’s success has lessons for climate progress.
Budderfly’s model focuses on delivering measurable outcomes, aligning profitability with sustainability. It was designed not to be at the mercy of shifting political winds and administrations that change every four years. If tariffs are enacted or incentives are thrown aside, Budderfly’s model still works to help reduce energy consumption at businesses and commercial facilities in a financially accessible way. The innovative approach, targeting of SMBs, and focus on waste reduction has propelled Budderfly forward despite industry challenges. This is a crucial perspective to keep in mind as climate leaders look for next steps to take for the clean energy future.
To get more perspective on climate progress, read 5 Powerful Insights on the Future of Energy.
To learn how your business can join Budderfly in reducing emissions, contact us today.