# Sustainability In Your Ear: Schneider Electric's Steve Wilhite Maps the Renewable Energy Transition

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-838586/sustainability-in-your-ear-schneider-electric-s-steve-wilhite-maps-the-renewable-energy-transition
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-838586/sustainability-in-your-ear-schneider-electric-s-steve-wilhite-maps-the-renewable-energy-transition.md
Podcast: [Sustainability In Your Ear](https://stenobird.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-838586)
Published: 2026-03-30T10:50:02+00:00
Episode link: https://earth911.com/podcast/sustainability-in-your-ear-schneider-electrics-steve-wilhite-maps-the-renewable-energy-transition/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70910974/siye_interview_steve_wilhite_of_schneider_electric.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3269

## Resource

The global energy system is changing in two big ways: it is moving from centralized fossil-fuel generation to distributed renewables, and it is becoming more digital in how energy is measured, traded, and optimized. Steve Wilhite, Executive Vice President of Advisory Services at Schneider Electric , works at the intersection of these complementary yet challenging transitions. Schneider supports more than 40% of the Fortune 500 with energy procurement and sustainability strategies, managing over $50 billion in annual energy spending. His experience shows something that pledges and press releases often miss: the biggest challenge for corporate sustainability is not money, technology, or political will. The real issue is the gap between ambition and the ability to deliver. Companies are making Science-Based Targets commitments faster than they are building the infrastructure to meet them. Scope one and two emissions are being managed better, but scope three emissions, which come from a company's supply chain, still present a systems problem that no single company can solve alone. Schneider's zero-carbon supplier program suggests what it takes to close this gap. When the company started its own effort to cut emissions from its top 1,000 suppliers by 50% in five years, all 1,000 signed up within two weeks. However, about 84% of them did not fully understand what they had agreed to. Achieving success meant creating measurement tools, education programs, and action plans to help the whole ecosystem, not just individual companies. This critical conversation explores how renewable energy is bought, including the difference between physical and virtual power purchase agreements. Steve also explains why the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) market became more complex as it grew, and…

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## Transcript

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