What You Need to Know: Jennifer Granholm

Jennifer Granholm serves in leadership roles and owns stock in several electric vehicle companies that are likely to benefit from the Biden administration’s energy agenda.

“Among [Granholm’s] biggest assets are $1 million to $5 million worth of stock options she can exercise in Proterra Inc...She also owns a large amount of unvested shares of the company’s stock options, the value of which is not readily ascertainable, according to the report.” – ABC News

“In a bid to fight climate change and build a stronger, greener economy, Joe Biden is starting with plugs. Specifically, the president-elect has a plan to install 500,000 electric vehicle charging cords by 2030, roughly a five-fold increase in the nation’s EV infrastructure that could cost more than $5 billion.” – Bloomberg

“We will reduce harmful air pollution and protect our children’s health by transitioning the entire fleet of 500,000 school buses to American-made, zero-emission alternatives within five years. We will lead by example in the public sector by transitioning the 3 million vehicles in the federal, state, and local fleets to zero-emission vehicles.” – Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force Recommendations

“ChargePoint, the world’s largest and most open electric vehicle (EV) charging network, today announced that Jennifer Granholm has been appointed to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.” – ChargePoint

“Today Proterra, the leading innovator in heavy-duty electric bus transportation, announced that Jennifer Granholm, former attorney general and two-term governor of Michigan, has joined its board of directors.” – Proterra

Granholm and her husband also own several smaller stakes in energy-related companies.

“Within retirement accounts, Granholm and her husband also own smaller stakes in publicly-traded companies with ties to the energy sector, such as solar panel manufacturer First Solar (worth $16,000 to $65,000), electric power company Duke Energy ($2,000 to $30,000) and Albemarle, a business that sells lithium used in batteries ($1,000 to $15,000).” – Forbes

“Those shares are owned through a consulting company that Granholm co-owns with her husband, which also manages investments in various other companies like Pfizer, Bank of America and AT&T.” – ABC News

Granholm joins a number of Biden cabinet picks who have potential conflicts of interest which are raising concern among many government watchdogs.

“‘I’d want her out of the options before she took office if at all possible,’ said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration who often criticized the Trump administration for its ethical issues.” – Forbes

“‘One of the things we’re seeing already with the Biden administration is that there are a lot of folks with ties to industries or ties to the private sector of what they are going to oversee or regulate once they move into government,’ said Delaney Marsco, ethics legal counsel at Washington-based good government group Campaign Legal Center.” – ABC News

“Austin is also under scrutiny on the left. As a board member at Raytheon, his nomination has drawn flak from observers who worry about too much defense contractor influence on policy decisions.” – Roll Call

“Blinken launched WestExec Advisors with fellow Obama national-security chiefs in 2018. WestExec’s very name—a reference to the avenue that runs along the White House—suggested that its founders were trading off of their recent experience in the Oval Office and were angling for positions in the next administration.” – The American Prospect