Energy and Economy: A take on how to balance energy transition

Naturgy Foundation and IESE

This is the full session video of the 21st edition of Energy Prospectives, that took place on November 13, 2025, at the Madrid Campus of IESE Business School. On this occasion, the series of high-level conversations between Naturgy Foundation and IESE included the participation of Jennifer M. Granholm, former Secretary of the US Department of Energy, and Martin Wolf, Deputy Editor and Economics Columnist at the Financial Times.

Martin Wolf opened his speech by stating that the world is no longer "run" by the West. This shift in the economic center of gravity, he added, is a colossal shock to Western economies and a change of order that will condition the industrial and energy strategies of Europe and the United States for decades.

The British columnist described the current moment as a real energy revolution, where all market forces are pushing towards an ever-greater electrification in technologies, markets and power generation. However, he warned that this change will still be too slow to limit global warming. And he concluded that the combination between the real cost of the Energy Transition, the rise of populism and geopolitical rivalry reinforces a scenario of uncertainty.

Jennifer M. Granholm opened her presentation with a more optimistic view of the present. The former secretary of the US Department of Energy predicts that Western economies will be able to meet the sharp increase in global electricity demand by harnessing the potential of AI, and that they will be able to do so by deploying more renewable capacity.

Granholm added that the new priorities of the second Trump administration may slow down the transition, but they will not change the global course toward decarbonization.

First, because the companies behind the data centers have firm commitments to their shareholders regarding the use of clean energy.

Second, she explained that many U.S. companies are starting renewable projects before the end of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives for renewables, scheduled for next summer.

Finally, Granholm said that the new legislation replacing the IRA will keep incentives for other carbon-free energy sources.

In the welcome, Rafael Villaseca, Chairman of Naturgy Foundation, focused on the organization’s mission to promote, analyze and disseminate knowledge about the world of energy to improve decision-making in a vital sector.

He stressed that the relationship between energy and economy is close and complex, conditioned by technological, environmental and political factors that make simplistic analysis difficult. Jordi Gual, professor at IESE, reminded attendees that trends in demand, supply, consumption and structure of the energy industry are inseparable from global economic developments.

Gual closed the session by referring to American politics, hoping that the midterm elections and the upcoming Supreme Court rulings will safeguard the electoral process and liberal democracy in the United States.

To know more:

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