WEBVTT 00:00:00.041 --> 00:00:03.920 We will see more changes in the energy industry in the next ten years 00:00:03.920 --> 00:00:05.422 than we've seen in the last 100. 00:00:05.422 --> 00:00:10.135 And I think Exelon has an opportunity not only to be part of this transition, 00:00:10.218 --> 00:00:16.766 but to lead it. 00:00:16.808 --> 00:00:18.560 Christoph, how are you? 00:00:18.560 --> 00:00:19.102 I'm good. 00:00:19.102 --> 00:00:20.520 Welcome to Spring Gardens. 00:00:20.520 --> 00:00:23.314 Thank you so much. 00:00:23.314 --> 00:00:26.526 You are the biggest utility company in the United States. 00:00:26.568 --> 00:00:28.611 Tell us a bit more about the business. 00:00:28.611 --> 00:00:31.823 People connect with their utility by their local utility. 00:00:31.906 --> 00:00:32.574 Excellent. 00:00:32.574 --> 00:00:35.660 Being that holding company, we provide resources 00:00:35.827 --> 00:00:38.705 and allow that local utility to do what it does best. 00:00:38.705 --> 00:00:41.624 This is a symbolic place for Exelon, but 00:00:41.624 --> 00:00:44.586 I understand it's also a very important place for you personally. 00:00:44.711 --> 00:00:45.378 It is. 00:00:45.378 --> 00:00:50.300 I was CEO for BGE for almost six years, and it does mean something to me 00:00:50.300 --> 00:00:54.304 because it was my first opportunity to get to understand 00:00:54.304 --> 00:00:57.849 what a local utility means to its customers 00:00:58.058 --> 00:01:03.104 and how that connection goes much deeper than a monthly bill. 00:01:03.354 --> 00:01:06.357 This parking deck is being powered by solar. 00:01:06.566 --> 00:01:09.110 We're charging our electric fleet 00:01:09.110 --> 00:01:12.238 and we're trying to lead by example with the electrification effort. 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.492 30% of our fleet is going to be electrified 00:01:15.492 --> 00:01:19.037 by 2025, 50% by 2030. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:23.708 And this is just a hub of where that activity is taking place. 00:01:23.708 --> 00:01:28.463 Basically we've in a place where we see the heritage and the future of Exelon. 00:01:28.671 --> 00:01:30.799 And that's exactly what we were trying to create. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:34.344 We wanted to let people know we're so proud of our tradition, 00:01:34.427 --> 00:01:38.348 but we have to keep moving forward. And the electrification of our vehicles 00:01:38.348 --> 00:01:41.226 is just an example of how we keep pushing the envelope, 00:01:41.226 --> 00:01:45.355 and we're part of the solution to combat climate change. 00:01:45.438 --> 00:01:46.689 So it was late 00:01:46.689 --> 00:01:49.901 2022, Calvin, that you got the phone call that you were going to be 00:01:49.901 --> 00:01:54.405 the next CEO of Exelon after 14 years with the company. 00:01:54.656 --> 00:01:58.451 What were your thoughts after you hung up on that phone call? 00:01:58.701 --> 00:02:04.999 Excitement and a gratefulness, but yet, let's get to work. 00:02:05.166 --> 00:02:09.254 Because I was chief operating officer, I knew the people 00:02:09.420 --> 00:02:13.007 and I knew the culture and I knew where we needed to go. 00:02:13.091 --> 00:02:17.095 You had two very distinct cultures: an operational culture, 00:02:17.137 --> 00:02:20.140 meaning those men and women who are running the business 00:02:20.140 --> 00:02:23.059 each and every day, and a corporate culture. 00:02:23.059 --> 00:02:27.230 And if you're sitting in a corporate job and you don't think of the operating 00:02:27.230 --> 00:02:30.817 companies as your client, you shouldn't be in your job. 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:33.945 And what I was trying to do over the last couple of years 00:02:33.945 --> 00:02:37.615 prior to becoming CEO was instill that mindset. 00:02:37.657 --> 00:02:40.869 And I knew who was getting it and who wasn't getting it. 00:02:40.952 --> 00:02:44.497 So when I became CEO, it was a matter of giving them 00:02:44.497 --> 00:02:49.127 that opportunity to make that transition. And if they could not, 00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:51.421 we had to decide on something else. 00:02:51.421 --> 00:02:55.466 The moment you appoint your team as the new incoming CEO 00:02:55.508 --> 00:02:57.427 is one of these moments of truth. 00:02:57.427 --> 00:03:01.973 And actually it's so important strategically, operationally, culturally. 00:03:02.056 --> 00:03:04.058 How did you go about that? 00:03:04.058 --> 00:03:07.312 One of my strengths is building a team. 00:03:07.395 --> 00:03:10.899 I believe I can recognize people's strengths and weaknesses 00:03:10.899 --> 00:03:13.693 and put them in positions where they can thrive. 00:03:13.693 --> 00:03:16.613 Every leader is entitled to put together his or her team. 00:03:16.613 --> 00:03:20.241 Doesn't mean anything against the people who were previously in the job. 00:03:20.450 --> 00:03:23.077 They just may not see it the same way you do. 00:03:23.077 --> 00:03:26.497 And it's incumbent upon that leader, me in this case, 00:03:26.581 --> 00:03:29.334 to make those changes and do it in a respectful manner. 00:03:29.334 --> 00:03:32.295 It hasn't been easy because every time you change 00:03:32.295 --> 00:03:36.174 a person on that team, you change the dynamics of that team. 00:03:36.216 --> 00:03:40.053 So you almost have to start rebuilding trust all over again. 00:03:40.220 --> 00:03:41.888 And I think that's the most important part 00:03:41.888 --> 00:03:45.683 about any team is building trust amongst each other. 00:03:45.725 --> 00:03:46.559 And again, 00:03:46.559 --> 00:03:48.937 there was a trust built with the operating companies 00:03:48.937 --> 00:03:52.982 because we had been working together for a while and they had to build a trust 00:03:52.982 --> 00:03:56.694 in the corporate team to say, "Are we all on the same page? 00:03:56.861 --> 00:03:58.780 Are we working to achieve the same goals? 00:03:58.780 --> 00:04:02.450 Not just financial goals, but overall company goals?" 00:04:02.617 --> 00:04:04.202 And that was very different. 00:04:04.202 --> 00:04:08.790 Was there a moment where you had your team together 00:04:08.873 --> 00:04:13.628 and you said, Wow, this is the moment where I see I made the right calls. 00:04:13.711 --> 00:04:17.215 It feels like it's been indoctrination by fire, right? 00:04:17.257 --> 00:04:19.717 We've had one big issue after the other. 00:04:19.717 --> 00:04:22.679 What I've loved most, though, is how each of them have 00:04:22.679 --> 00:04:26.224 shown up in times of crisis. Because you really get to see 00:04:26.224 --> 00:04:29.227 what type of leader someone is when things are going rough. 00:04:29.227 --> 00:04:33.273 The end of last year, we had a regulatory ruling in Illinois 00:04:33.356 --> 00:04:37.235 that, for all practical purposes, came out of nowhere and was detrimental 00:04:37.235 --> 00:04:42.407 to the business. So detrimental that the order came out on December 14th. 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:45.076 And on December 15th, we had lost 00:04:45.076 --> 00:04:48.621 $6 billion in market cap from that ruling. 00:04:48.705 --> 00:04:51.499 So I called the CEO of ComEd and said, look, you know, 00:04:51.499 --> 00:04:55.920 you're the right person for the job, but this is going to define your leadership. 00:04:56.004 --> 00:05:00.383 at ComEd How you handled this 00:05:00.466 --> 00:05:02.677 with your team members, 00:05:02.677 --> 00:05:06.055 is going to dictate the next steps over the next several years 00:05:06.055 --> 00:05:10.518 and how you and this team are going to show up. And, to a T, 00:05:10.768 --> 00:05:14.355 he took that and he immediately got to work. 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:16.357 That's when I knew the hire was right. 00:05:16.357 --> 00:05:18.693 If I'm in a trench, I want him next to me 00:05:18.693 --> 00:05:23.072 because he was not going to shy away from what needs to be done. 00:05:23.156 --> 00:05:24.449 Fast forward a year. 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:26.701 What did you learn in that year? 00:05:26.701 --> 00:05:27.535 And I mean, 00:05:27.535 --> 00:05:31.748 how did you also look at the dynamics in the team, the individuals, etc.? 00:05:31.873 --> 00:05:34.792 When you're growing up in your career, you think, once I become CEO, 00:05:34.792 --> 00:05:38.171 I'm going to have all this time. And you recognize when you become CEO, 00:05:38.171 --> 00:05:40.298 you have no time. You have no time at all. 00:05:40.298 --> 00:05:42.383 And you don't even control your own calendar. 00:05:42.383 --> 00:05:43.509 You know, they tell you, 00:05:43.509 --> 00:05:47.096 and then you at 4:00, you realize I haven't eaten lunch today, right? 00:05:47.096 --> 00:05:49.599 So after that first year, I understood, 00:05:49.599 --> 00:05:53.394 okay, where am I adding value this to the business? 00:05:53.436 --> 00:05:57.732 I restructured and made a CFO because I was doing everything. 00:05:57.732 --> 00:06:01.194 I was still running the utility business, still running corporate. 00:06:01.235 --> 00:06:05.531 But I needed someone to think of the operations each and every day. 00:06:05.656 --> 00:06:09.369 You worry about everything, and you have to realize that I can transfer the worry. 00:06:09.577 --> 00:06:10.244 Absolutely. 00:06:10.244 --> 00:06:14.332 And it's also the hardest thing because you know where the accountability sits. 00:06:14.415 --> 00:06:17.377 And when you have a high level of accountability 00:06:17.377 --> 00:06:20.546 built into yourself, you want to own it, control it, 00:06:20.588 --> 00:06:25.718 but you can't function like that long term and you have to put the team in place. 00:06:25.718 --> 00:06:29.889 It's a period of unprecedented change for the energy industry, 00:06:30.056 --> 00:06:32.266 and the same is true for Exelon, of course. 00:06:32.266 --> 00:06:36.145 If you look forward for the next five years or even beyond that, 00:06:36.187 --> 00:06:38.981 how do you see the company positioned? 00:06:38.981 --> 00:06:41.984 And how does your leadership team impact that? 00:06:42.068 --> 00:06:43.986 Yeah, it's a great question. 00:06:43.986 --> 00:06:47.281 I think we will see more changes 00:06:47.281 --> 00:06:50.660 in the energy industry in the next ten years than we've seen in the last 100. 00:06:50.701 --> 00:06:52.453 I believe that, right away. 00:06:52.453 --> 00:06:55.039 And I think Exelon has an opportunity 00:06:55.039 --> 00:06:58.126 not only to be part of this transition, but to lead it. 00:06:58.251 --> 00:07:02.755 We serve some of the largest cities in the United States, and we're investing 00:07:02.797 --> 00:07:06.467 just over the next few years, $35 billion in capital. 00:07:06.551 --> 00:07:11.347 We're going to invest in every community that we serve, period. 00:07:11.347 --> 00:07:14.684 We're going to put equity into this transformation. 00:07:14.684 --> 00:07:20.481 I cannot serve the Second Ward of DC, one the wealthiest, any different 00:07:20.690 --> 00:07:25.111 than I serve the Eighth Ward of DC, one of the more under-resourced. 00:07:25.194 --> 00:07:26.320 You have to serve them 00:07:26.320 --> 00:07:30.408 the same way and give them opportunities to make this transition. 00:07:30.491 --> 00:07:33.453 You've been a champion for diversity, equity and inclusion 00:07:33.453 --> 00:07:36.456 for many years and very vocally so. 00:07:36.456 --> 00:07:41.419 What role did diversity play when you assembled your core leadership team? 00:07:41.502 --> 00:07:46.549 For me, DEI is so core to our business and why we're successful. 00:07:46.632 --> 00:07:48.342 I have never said to anyone, 00:07:48.342 --> 00:07:51.846 "You need to hire a woman for that job or a person of color for that job." 00:07:51.929 --> 00:07:57.435 You always hire the best person, but your slate, one, needs to be diverse, 00:07:57.435 --> 00:08:00.438 and the people interviewing that slate need to be diverse. 00:08:00.521 --> 00:08:02.231 And guess what happens, Christoph? 00:08:02.231 --> 00:08:06.068 You hire the best people and you get a lot more diversity on your leadership team. 00:08:06.235 --> 00:08:07.904 And that's exactly what's happening. 00:08:07.904 --> 00:08:11.908 Calvin, thank you so much for this conversation and thanks for the candor. 00:08:11.949 --> 00:08:13.367 Was wonderful to see you. 00:08:13.367 --> 00:08:14.911 My pleasure. Thank you, Christoph.