EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
“The increased use of energy results in a cumulative growth in emission rates and will cause Ireland to be blown more than 25% off course.”
KELLYBECKER - SCHNEIDER
Who is Kelly Becker?
How does someone raised in Louisiana, educated in Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts, then blooded in sales at a building systems management company, end up in Kildare with a Fortune Global 500 company? Bags of talent, determination, and a seemingly innate ability to lead certainly didn’t do any harm. However, Kelly is also willing to admit that her sizeable student debt also played a part in her rise to the position of Country President Ireland at Schneider Electric, one of the world’s biggest suppliers of power equipment and automaton services. Her education was funded through a combination of scholarship, part-time jobs and parental help, Kelly decided the only course of action to clear her loans was to secure the highest paid job possible, even if not related to her field of study (marketing and PR). So, sales it was, with TAC, a company originally founded in Stockholm, Sweden. Learning the ropes by selling the company’s energy conservation projects to school districts and universities across America’s south, TAC and Kelly were the subject of a takeover by Schneider in 2003. A decade in the Windy City saw Becker work her way up the corporate ladder, becoming Vice-President of Schneider’s Power Solutions Division. Now based at Schneider Electric Ireland’s HQ in Maynooth, Becker is charged with advancing the interests of the French conglomerate in Ireland, working alongside Schneider Electric’s UK & Ireland Senior Management Team and reporting directly to the company’s Chairman and CEO, Jean-Pascal Tricoire.
is an energy issue. The increased use of energy results in a cumulative growth in emission rates and will cause Ireland to be blown more than 25% off course. To meet the 2030 net zero target, Ireland will need to cut its emissions by at least 7.6% a year for the next decade if it is serious about reaching the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. Rethinking the way we live with energy We cannot accept a world where the end-to-end energy system losses amount to a staggering 60%. We should leverage technology, embarking on a different path to a net-zero carbon world and limit the reckless damage we bring to societies and economies. Through digitisation, we are forced to rethink the way we manage energy, which can help curb emissions and keep Ireland on track to meet our emissions reduction targets. The combination of electrification and decarbonisation of electricity is the only way to cut, over time, the carbon intensity of energy. Electricity is, indisputably, the most efficient energy vector at the final point-of-use. It is also the only practical option on the table to decarbonize energy and the economy. Ireland needs to play its part by decarbonising its electricity generation and the energy landscape transformation in the long run needs to be accelerated.
One solution could be through wind power. Wind is currently the dominant renewable energy technology in Ireland and proving to be highly attractive to range of investors. In 2019, wind energy in Ireland grew by 463MW, taking the countries installed capacity to 4.1GW. Indications are that 2020 might be another bumper year for wind energy generation in Ireland. Time for action Ireland can no longer stray on the edge of climate action. Even in tumultuous economic times, almost two-thirds of adults in Ireland believe that it remains important, according to the recent Friends of the Earth Ireland survey. There has been a huge shift in public opinion relating to environmental issues, and a growing belief that the government needs to prioritise climate change action. The time to get serious about climate change is now.
Schneider Electric, Ireland, Block A, Maynooth Business Campus, Maynooth, County Kildare. T: +353 1800 805 800 E: gb-customerservices@gb.schneider-
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