We have expanded the list of climate policies we assess company engagement with to incorporate land-use related policy, referring to legislative or regulatory measures to enhance and protect ecosystems and land where carbon is being stored. Assessments under this category are currently underweighted in terms of their contribution to the overall company metrics. This weighting will be progressively increased over the next 6 months.
We adjusted the terminology used to describe the queries running down the left-hand side of our scoring matrix and added additional explanatory text to the info-boxes. This has no impact on the scores and methodology. It has been done following user feedback to improve clarity.
InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Vice President of Sustainability Solutions for Constellation serves on the Board of Directors for Clean Energy Buyers Association (updated as of August 2023)
Rajiv Bazaj
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InfluenceMap Data Point on Corporate - Influencer Relationship
(1 = weak, 10 = strong)
Vice President of Sustainability Solutions for Constellation serves on the Board of Directors for Clean Energy Buyers Association (updated as of August 2023)
Rajiv Bazaj
--no extract--
In this section, we depict graphically the relationships the corporation has with trade associations, federations, advocacy groups and other third parties who may be acting on their behalf to influence climate change policy. Each of the columns above represents one relationship the corporation appears to have with such a third party. In these columns, the top, dark section represents the strength of the relationship the corporation has with the influencer. For example if a corporation's senior executive also held a key role in the trade association, we would deem this to be a strong relationship and it would be on the far left of the chart above, with the weaker ones to the right. Click on these grey shaded upper sections for details of these relationships. The middle section contains a link to the organization score details of the influencer concerned, so you can see the details of its climate change policy influence. Click on the middle sections for for details of the trade associations. The lower section contains the organization score of that influencer, the lower the more negatively it is influencing climate policy.
Open PDF file of Data Source
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: Constellation engages on climate policy with a mix of positive and negative positions, with evidence of advocacy at the US federal and state levels. Although the company demonstrates positive top-line messaging, with its CEO urging greater ambition to address climate change, it advocates for the long-term role for fossil gas and weak implementation measures around the use of hydrogen. Constellation is a member of trade groups that continue to push for policies that support fossil fuels, including the American Gas Association. Formerly an Exelon business, Constellation launched as a standalone company in February 2022. Any climate policy engagement from Constellation prior to February 2022 can be found in Exelon’s profile.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Constellation demonstrates positive top-line messaging on climate policy. CEO Joseph Dominguez articulated his support for a climate-neutral economy by 2050 in an August 2023 interview with the Washington Post, and in July 2022 the company signed a C2ES-organized advertisement that advocated for President Biden and Congress to enact climate investments through budget reconciliation. Constellation stated support for the goals of the Paris Agreement in its August 2022 Climate Change Policy document.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policy: Constellation appears to engage with mostly positive positions on climate-related policy. At the federal level, the company has advocated for the Build Back Better Act’s clean energy tax credits, including in a C2ES February 2022 joint letter. In addition, Constellation has stated support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to regulate GHG emissions from power plants and pushed for greater ambition in February 2023 comments on the agency’s supplemental methane proposal. The company demonstrates positive positions in other jurisdictions: Constellation broadly supported New York’s renewable energy goals in July 2022 comments on the state’s climate plan and, as reported by S&P Global in July 2022, advocated for Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
In contrast to this positive advocacy, however, Constellation appeared to argue for greater flexibility in compliance in August 2023 comments on the EPA’s proposed power plant rules.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Constellation demonstrates inconsistent positions on the energy mix, urging ambitious action to transition the energy mix while advocating for new fossil fuel infrastructure. Constellation’s heavy engagement on the EPA’s proposed power plant rules highlight this pattern: although the company’s CEO, in contrast to the utility sector’s negative positions, strongly supported the ambition of the rules in May 2023 and expressed disappointment with Edison Electric Institute’s opposition to the proposed use of hydrogen and carbon capture technologies to reduce emissions, the company submitted August 2023 comments that advocated for the agency to recognize a prominent role for gas.
Constellation has similarly been actively engaged on hydrogen-related advocacy. In those same comments on the EPA power plant rules, the company advocated against a clear definition of “low-GHG” hydrogen and argued that any additionality requirement, a mechanism that ensures hydrogen is produced from new renewable projects only, would “hamper the development of clean hydrogen for co-firing.” Constellation’s CEO has also advocated against additionality requirements, including in the company’s Q2 2023 earnings call and an August 2023 Washington Post interview, in discussions on the EPA power plant rules and the Inflation Reduction Act’s hydrogen tax credits. In the same earnings call, the CEO characterized fossil gas as “an important bridge fuel.”
Industry Association Governance: Constellation discloses its trade association memberships on its corporate website, but does not provide details on each group’s climate policy positions. The company is a member of the American Gas Association and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry, both of which advocate for policies to support fossil gas infrastructure buildout. Constellation is also a member of Business Roundtable, which continues to engage negatively on key federal policies, such as the Inflation Reduction Act.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the company’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q3 2023.