I know it’s belated, but happy new year! I hope your 2026 is off to a good start and is looking brighter as we edge towards spring.
This year will bring a few changes to this newsletter. Despite this delayed first issue, you can still expect a monthly issue. However, the format will change a bit, including:
Branding/marketing article: a monthly article covering topics to help clean energy organizations improve their branding and marketing efforts.
A makeover: each month I’ll present a makeover of a slide, or chart, or graphic and explain the whys and wherefores.
Of note: articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, or events focused on clean energy I think is of interest and informative.
Joke: and of course, an eye-roll worthy safe for work dad joke
If you have something you’d like to see made over, or would like to draw attention to something of note, send it my way. I’d love to feature it!
Brand and marketing planning for clean energy mergers and acquisitions
Or, how not to lose that brand equity in the acquisition shuffle
With the changing 2026 clean energy landscape, expect more mergers and acquisitions. Branding and marketing are often forgotten as intense focus is drawn to negotiations. Pre, during, and post-acquisition branding and marketing get muddled through, with a “we’ll figure it out” strategy.
With a little planning and thoughtfulness, organizations can preserve or transfer brand equity instead of losing it in the shuffle. Read on to dive into the big questions, and how to tackle short, medium, and long-term planning for post-merger/acquisition branding and marketing.
Monthly Makeover
This month’s makeover is a slide makeover. Sign up for the newsletter for full access to this and future content!
Of Note
Electricity on the national stage, literally
This section wouldn’t be very “of note” if I didn’t address the grid’s closeup during the Super Bowl’s halftime show. It was icing on the cake for my local team winning the Super Bowl. Go Seahawks!
Those of us in clean energy think about the grid way more than just about anyone else. The homage to grid reliability, or lack thereof, in Bad Bunny’s show was aptly done. I look forward to the day when the grid is powered by clean energy and is so reliable we don’t think about it at all (unless we work in the industry).
Amazon outbids WA utility for one of nation’s largest solar projects
I thought this article on Amazon outbidding Puget Sound Energy for a shovel-ready solar project in Oregon was worth reading. I find it a sign of the times that this utility-scale project had bidders other than utilities.
Although my designer brain is still twitching at the photo used with the article, showing aging panels in Tucson. It feels discordant.
February Joke
Who always has a date on Valentine’s Day?
A calendar.