Rushad Nanavatty leads RMI’s urban transformation work, currently focused on helping U.S. cities achieve their climate, sustainability, and clean energy goals. Rushad established the City Renewables Accelerator, an initiative of the American Cities Climate Challenge providing over 100 U.S. cities with technical assistance related to decarbonizing their electricity systems. The work has helped deliver some of the largest ever municipal renewable energy transactions and most impactful utility and regulatory engagement by cities in the United States.
Rushad also helped establish and lead the Global Cooling Prize, a global innovation competition to develop a climate-friendly residential cooling solution that produces 80 percent lower emissions than today’s standard room air-conditioners. Previously, he worked with the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), a partnership between RMI and Grid Singularity to develop promising applications for blockchain technology in the energy sector
Background
Prior to joining RMI, Rushad served as the founding COO of WeGen Energy, a start-up developing off-grid energy solutions and virtual power plants in the Philippines and Vietnam, utilizing a mix of distributed solar and battery energy storage.
Before WeGen, Rushad spent six years at McKinsey & Company as a member of the firm’s sustainability, infrastructure, and private equity practices. While at McKinsey he led projects for clients across Africa, Asia, and the Americas; including market entry, growth, turn-around and sustainability strategies, operations transformations, reorganizations, and commercial due diligences.
Education
Rushad has a Master’s degree in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Philosophy from St. Stephens College at the University of Delhi.
Location
Washington, DC
Authored Works
Blog
HB6 Is a Terrible Deal for Ohio
In the summer of 2019, Ohio lawmakers passed House Bill 6, a multifaceted piece of legislation that could shape the regional energy landscape for a generation. It was quickly lambasted as “the worst energy bill of the 21st century.” Key provisions included: A bailout for two nuclear plants, which…
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Primer for Space Cooling
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Breathing Life Back into Cities
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Four Lessons from RBG for the Climate Fight
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a hero. The obituaries have focused on her legacy as a feminist icon, her singular determination, her deep humanity, and her profound common sense. These traits were exemplified by her famous dissents—equal parts restrained and biting—against a series of regressive Supreme Court majority decisions. We don’t…
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US City Stimulus
The report recommends five strategies that Congress could use to direct stimulus investment toward helping cities recover and build back better from the dual challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn.
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How COVID-19 Is Pushing Cities to Change Solar Permitting for the Better
In order to meet social distancing requirements brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, cities across the United States are moving permitting services, including solar, online. The International Code Council (ICC) recently surveyed its members and found that 65 percent of local code permitting officials have moved to remote work…
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Adapting to Fire: How Cities Can Enhance Resilience with Distributed Energy
As California experienced uncharacteristically low precipitation in February, normally its peak rainy season, parts of the state are moving into drought conditions. This is likely to increase wildfire prevalence in the state in 2020, and it underscores the point that communities need to be thinking about a range of…
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Our Climate as an Infrastructure Asset
Our climate is getting plenty of attention, but we don’t often view it as infrastructure. We should. The global climate comprises an essential and massive part of the natural systems that form the foundation for our world and our society. Our economy is built on assumptions about climate stability. Our…
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Opinion | A Market-Driven Green New Deal? We’d Be Unstoppable – The New York Times
Any serious energy transformation will need to harness America’s powerful and creative economic engine.