A case study in combating bias

German utility RWE has overhauled its decision-making process, after the group underestimated the transition to green energy and lost much of the 10 billion euros it invested in conventional power generation in the second half of the last decade, the chief financial officer of RWE’s renewable spin-off innogy, Bernhard Günther, told McKinsey Quarterly. The group fell into the trap of thinking the energy world would continue as it had always been, Günther said. Among its biggest mistakes were managerial failures such as cost and time overruns on the investments. But the company also failed to take into account the political will to promote renewables, although this “was publicly known at the time our investment decisions were made”, Günther said.

Read the full interview in English here.

Find background on the utilities’ struggle to survive in the Energiewende in the CLEW dossier.