Shareholder Resolutions Address Climate Change

State pension funds for New York and Connecticut filed shareholder resolution proposals for this proxy season that ask electric utilities to report on their progress in achieving the Obama administration's goal of an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In addition to reporting, the resolutions ask the companies to consider innovative energy generation technologies and strategies such as renewable energy and distributed generation, and to evaluate best practices among domestic and international peers. The proposed resolutions have been filed with Ameren, CMS Energy, Entergy, FirstEnergy, and Southern Company.

The shareholder proposals refer to various studies and reports that predict transformative changes in the power generation sector, including a 2013 report by Edison Electric Institute that urges the industry to "proactively assess the impacts and alternatives available to address disruptive challenges." Similarly, the shareholder proposals