The Cleanie Awards® Announces 2021 Winners at Virtual Award Ceremony

The Cleanie Awards®, the leading awards program focused on recognizing innovators and those making an impact on the clean energy industry, announced its 2021 winners today at its virtual The Cleanie Awards® 2021 Award Ceremony. The awards program recognizes people and brands delivering on the promise of a clean energy future. Among the diverse group of winners included organizations such as DNV, Amazon, FlexGen, Heila Technologies, Clean Energy Leadership Institute, and Solar Energy Industries Association.

BNEF reported an estimate of nearly $174 billion was invested in renewable energy projects and companies in the first half of 2021. The clean energy industry continues to grow, and this year's total investments reached a record high. This year's program added two people's choice categories and introduced new categories, the Best Corporate Sustainability Strategy and Best Journalist, to address the growing needs of this sector. This was the most competitive in the awards history with a triple-digit increase in the number of submissions from 2020.

"We launched the awards in 2017 as a recognition program, welcoming 10 names into our winner's circle for the inaugural year. Now, four years later, we have grown 600 percent with our winner's circle nearing 100 people and brands driving the clean energy economy," said Randee Gilmore, Executive Director, The Cleanie Awards. "We have established ourselves as the #1 comprehensive clean energy awards program, and we feel like we're just getting started. To say I'm excited about this year's class of winners is an understatement."

The full list of 2021 The Cleanie Award winners is as follows:

Enterprise Company of the Year

• Gold: DNV
• Silver: Blattner Company
• Bronze: Generac Power Systems
• Hon. Mention: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

Midsize Company of the Year

• Gold: FlexGen
• Silver: Pine Gate Renewables
• Bronze: Edison Energy
• Hon. Mention: World Energy

Startup Company of the Year

• Gold: Heila Technologies

Non-Profit Company of the Year

• Gold: Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI)

Best Corporate Sustainability Program

• Gold: Amazon
• Silver: Black & Veatch
• Bronze: Resolute Forest Products
• Hon. Mention: Pine Gate Renewables

Journalist of the Year

• Gold: Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg
• Silver: Jeff St. John, Canary Media

Community Contributor of the Year

• Gold: Stuart McCafferty, Eamonn McCormick, and David Fofia, Contributors at Energy Central

Podcaster of the Year

• Gold: Stephen Lacey, Post Script Media

DE&I Champion (Corporate)

• Gold: Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
• Silver: Renewables Forward
• Bronze: Atlas Renewable Energy
• Hon. Mention: Leyline Renewable Capital

DE&I Champion (Individual)

• Gold: Catherine McLean, Dylan Green

College Excellence, Sponsored by REpowering Schools

• Gold: Avery Taylor, Student at Penn State University
• Silver: Callie Chaplain and Meghan Jennings, James Madison University

Corporate Investment Leader of the Year:

• Gold: FullCycle

Individual Investment Leader of the Year:

• Gold: Meghan Schultz, Invenergy

Keep the Power On:

• Gold: Connexus Energy

Pioneer in New Technology

• Gold: FlexGen
• Silver: Plug Power
• Bronze: Schneider Electric
• Hon. Mention: SOLV Energy

Rising Star ? Under 40

• Gold: Kevin Magayah, CS Energy

Rising Star ? Under 30

• Gold: Miles Braxton, Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group/Black Oak Collective

Trailblazer

• Gold: Annika Colston, AC Power

Women of the Year

• Gold: Abigail Ross Hopper, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

Project of the Year ? PEOPLE'S CHOICE

• Gold: Ameresco

Project of the Year ? JUDGES' CHOICE

• Gold: Fluence

BEST MEDIA OUTLET ? PEOPLE'S CHOICE

• Gold: Canary Media

Visit www.thecleanieawards.com to learn more about the program and sign up for notifications about next year's application process.

About The Cleanie Awards®

The Cleanie Awards® is the first comprehensive awards program exclusive to the cleantech industry. It generates much needed visibility for innovators and disruptors in the industry who are creating life- and planet-changing solutions. The campaigns recognized by the award program aim to influence public opinion about technologies delivering on the promise of a clean energy future.