Back in 2008, coal and oil comprised 77% of the energy used for transportation, electricity production, and industrial activity. Since then, the global drive to go green has not only helped the environment, but it has also subtly boosted the economy. Wind and solar are providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, with solar companies employing as much as 43% of the power sector’s workforce in 2016. Because of this, more jobs are expected to create and churn growth, and this will allow end consumers to directly benefit from renewable energy. As a result, the price of renewable energy will become more affordable.
I had the chance to speak to Tom Cummins, CEO American Power, and Gas, we spoke about the impact of renewable energy sources and his drive behind making renewable energy accessible to more Americans.
How did American Power & Gas get started?
Cummins: Originally, we were a sales company exclusively. We had a company called Consumer Sales Solutions, which serviced energy suppliers, just like we do now. Then about six years ago, we decided to move up the food chain, to become those that we serviced. We made that decision to go from a sales company to an energy company. That’s also when we made a bigger decision, to not just become another one of those “guys,” but to get in there and accelerate the adoption of clean energy in our society. We currently serve the states of New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Our headquarters is based in Florida, and we have two additional offices in Colombia and Italy. American Power and Gas now have 800,000+ customers, but not just any customer, but those who want to influence and shape green energy and be part of the ‘green revolution.’
The need for Green Energy is evident across the world, what sort of solutions to you bring to the table to solve those needs?
Cummins: We are working on some programs where we can circumvent the quote “system” and allow us to be able to provide green power in places like Florida, Georgia and other areas where it is not conventionally allowed, but that’s a whole other thing that we are working on. Such programs will reshape policies in energy and make the influence and demand of green, renewable energy become the trend. We have a phenomenal amount of territory, and we can probably expand it 100%to many other States, just here in the United States as the campaign gains strength. There are all sorts of financing options that will offer the possibility for a family or business to switch to renewable energy with barely any costs up front. Green energy from wind turbines gets sold on the utility or supplier level, which is one of the green energy options we provide. The more people who use green energy, the more the prices go down. It’s a matter of everyone taking responsibility and switching to green energy.
Your company certainly strives to be more than just another energy company, can you elaborate a little more about that?
Well beyond just the work we’re doing in the energy sector, it’s really about the team we’ve built and maintained. Our ultimate goal is to have a group of strong men and women who work together creating an environment where each can demonstrate every day that they are truly competent and worthy of the complete respect, trust, admiration and unwavering support of their fellow workers. We’re working to build a corporation which is lead by highly able and caring individuals, who create fantastic financial success for the corporation and the executives which run it and who never lose sight of the suffering of the world around us, ensuring that every employee and their families are given shelter from it. Creating an environment where people can succeed and provide a service that benefits other people’s really helps keep us driven.