People’s Action Institute, United Ratepayers, and the Climate Defenders mobilized to stop the for-profit utility industry buying its way into the global event
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 17, 2026
PRESS CONTACT: Kenza Hadj-Moussa, khadjmoussa@oconnellconsulting.net
NEW YORK CITY– This September, Climate Week NYC will bring together more than 100,000 people from around the world to advance climate action. Facing an escalating climate crisis, rising utility costs fueled by AI, and corporate greenwashing, People’s Action Institute, the United Ratepayers campaign, and the Climate Defenders launched a petition calling for the event to drop Edison Electric Institute (EEI) as a sponsor.
After more than 1,000 people signed on to demand accountability, EEI and other fossil fuel companies were removed from Climate Week’s sponsorship page.
People’s Action Institute and the Climate Defenders released the following statement:
“We are happy to see that the Edison Electric Institute and for-profit utility companies have been removed as Climate Week sponsors. For-profit utility companies are still not on the side of clean, renewable, affordable energy for all. EEI has lobbied against EPA pollution limits, funded groups to block public power and community-owned renewable energy, and represents an industry that has abandoned commitments to reduce emissions while raising costs for ratepayers and doubling down on dirty, expensive fossil fuels.
Climate Week is a critical moment to get global leaders and elected officials at every level of government aligned on action to update our utility system to incentivize clean, renewable, affordable, and reliable energy. Corporate polluters profiting from fossil fuels burning the planet do not belong in spaces working to solve the crisis they are causing.
Corporate leadership on climate cannot be bought–it requires action and accountability, which for-profit utilities are failing at miserably.”