Energy that just works: lessons from women shaping the future of home energy

When I recently surveyed 75 households about how energy decisions actually get made at home, one word kept surfacing again and again:

Control.

Not control in the technical sense.

But control that feels personal.
Invisible.
Reassuring.

Control that supports daily life without demanding attention.

It was a reminder that while the energy industry often focuses on infrastructure, megawatts, and policy, homeowners are asking a much simpler question:

Does this make my life easier?

As part of this exploration, I spoke with two women whose work sits at very different parts of the energy ecosystem but whose perspectives converge in surprising ways.

• Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun, the leading residential solar and battery company in the United States.
• Emily Kirsch, Founder & Managing Partner of Powerhouse Ventures and a long-time investor in the next generation of energy innovation.

Both are helping shape the future of energy. Both are also homeowners navigating these choices in real life.

Their reflections reveal something simple but powerful:

The future of energy isn’t just about technology. It’s about experience.

Control: energy that works in the background

Mary Powell has spent decades transforming how electricity reaches homes.

Before becoming CEO of Sunrun, she spent over twenty years leading Green Mountain Power in Vermont, where she pushed the utility industry toward a more customer-focused model.

But what stands out most about Mary is not just her leadership, it’s her deep belief that energy companies exist to serve people.

When I asked her what control over energy at home actually means, her answer was refreshingly human.

“For me, control means having direct say over how and when energy is used, financially and from a resilience standpoint, without having to think about it day to day.

Mary went on to describe how different this feels from the traditional relationship most homeowners have had with their utility.

“It’s about knowing the system is working in the background, optimizing for cost and reliability, and doing it in a way that’s seamless and worry-free. In that sense, it’s a far better experience than what a traditional utility model has historically offered.”

That idea, energy quietly doing its job, came up repeatedly in the homeowner survey as well.

People don’t want to become energy experts.

They want confidence that their home is powered reliably and affordably.

Mary also sees women playing a major role in shaping how these decisions unfold.

“Women are strongly involved in two ways,” she told me. “First, they’re seeking a greater sense of comfort and security for their families. Second, they’re very strongly involved in the aesthetic placement of any new hardware."

In other words, energy upgrades are no longer just technical purchases. They’re home and family decisions.

Confidence: energy that feels worth it

If Mary’s perspective centers on control, Emily Kirsch brings another dimension:

Confidence.

Emily spends her days investing in startups shaping the future of energy through Powerhouse Ventures. She also founded Powerhouse Innovation and hosts the climate podcast Watt It Takes, where she interviews founders building the next generation of energy innovation including an interview with our CEO, Kunal Girotra.

But like many homeowners, she’s also navigated the messy reality of upgrading her own house.

When I asked what control means in her home, she framed it in terms of confidence.

“Control over energy at home means feeling confident that what’s powering my life is clean, reliable, and affordable.”

Yet even for two people who work in energy every day, electrifying their home wasn’t simple.

“We recently went all-electric, and it was an absolute pain,” Emily told me.

“Too many disjointed incentives, installers, decisions, and unknowns turned what should have been exciting upgrades into an exhausting scavenger hunt.”

That experience mirrors what many homeowners in the survey described.

People want cleaner energy.

But they also want the transition to feel simple, fair, and worth the effort.

Emily believes the next wave of innovation must solve that problem.

“People want clean energy, but they also want the experience to feel simple and trustworthy. The next wave of innovation has to make the transition effortless.”

The real opportunity: simplicity

Listening to Mary and Emily, it’s striking how their perspectives, from completely different roles in the ecosystem, land in the same place.

Homeowners don’t want more complexity.

They want energy that simply works.

Mary described a future of curated energy experiences, where systems optimize in the background around lifestyle and cost.

Emily described a future where clean energy upgrades feel straightforward and economically worthwhile.

Different angles.

Same destination.

The real innovation opportunity in energy may not be another piece of hardware. It may be designing systems that feel as intuitive as the best consumer technology.

Where these leaders recharge

I also asked each of them a personal question: Where do you recharge?

Mary’s answer:

“In the wild, and with my animals. Through regular exercise and meditation. I also get recharged at work, especially when I’m interacting with our employees and customers.”

Emily’s answer was more social:

“Cracking up with our delightful and hilarious neighbors during a spontaneous Friday night neighborhood hangout.”

Different settings.

Same energy source.

Connection.

A final reflection

What stood out most in these conversations is how both leaders approach energy with a deeply human lens.

Mary sees energy as a service that should quietly support people’s lives.

Emily sees energy as a system that should empower households without overwhelming them.

Together, their perspectives echo what many homeowners, especially women, told me in the survey.

They want energy that is:

• Reliable
• Intuitive
• Affordable
• Designed around real life

Not something they have to manage.

Just something they can trust.

And perhaps that’s the real definition of control.

Energy that simply works.

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