Bill Rogers, Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Energies, led CPP Investments’ third annual CEO Energy Summit, a two-day gathering in Banff, Alberta, that brought together players from across the global energy value chain. In this conversation, Rogers reflects on what made this year’s discussions stand out, how CPP Investments is thinking about a fast-changing energy landscape, and why collaboration across disciplines is essential to sustained progress in this evolving space.
*The following has been edited for clarity and brevity.
What makes the CEO Energy Summit different from other energy gatherings?
People really value the chance to talk about what’s actually happening across the energy system with peers they wouldn’t normally be in a room with. The discussions aren’t scripted or public facing, so they tend to be more open and candid. People share what they’re seeing on the ground, including what isn’t working.
There’s also a shared sense of purpose. Everyone around the table is running a company we invest in, so there’s already a foundation of trust and alignment. That makes it easier to move past headlines and focus on the real constraints—policy, capital, engineering, or others. It also helps us see what practical progress looks like.
And it pulls people out of their silos. In a space as big and complex as energy, it’s easy to stay in your lane—whether that’s power generation, oil and gas infrastructure, or finance. The summit gives leaders a chance to step back, hear from others across the system, and connect the dots. That’s what makes these conversations so valuable.
The summit has grown each year. Has its purpose changed?
The core idea is still the same: to give CEOs of our portfolio companies a space to compare notes on the energy system, including what’s changing and how they’re responding, and explore ways to collaborate.
What’s changed is the mix of voices. It started with our Sustainable Energies Group and now includes more colleagues from other investment departments and teams: Infrastructure, Credit Investments, and Public Markets—along with a few outside experts and academics. That’s by design. The transition touches every part of the system, so it helps to hear from people who see different parts of the puzzle.
How did this year’s discussions differ from previous ones?
The biggest shift was the focus on demand. For much of the past decade, energy demand in developed markets was flat—efficiency gains offset population and economic growth—while most of the momentum was in emerging economies. That’s changed, and quickly. Over the past year, demand growth in the U.S. and parts of Europe has picked up sharply.
Three drivers stand out: the electrification of transport and heating, the reshoring of manufacturing, and the rapid build-out of data centres linked to AI and cloud computing.
Any single one of those drivers would be significant. Together, they’re reshaping load growth much faster than the system was built to handle.
For investors and operators, that changes the equation. It’s not just about decarbonizing supply anymore—it’s about adding reliable, lower-carbon capacity fast enough to keep up with demand. That puts more focus on grid resilience, storage, and permitting, the unglamorous, but essential infrastructure that determines whether new capacity can connect and deliver.
We’re also seeing different regional dynamics. In North America, industrial policy and AI-driven demand are leading the charge. In Europe, it’s energy security and net-zero emissions targets. The specifics differ, but the trend is the same: demand is evolving again, so energy systems need to keep pace and energy leaders need to stay closer to customers to anticipate these changes.
AI and data centres have become huge topics. How are they affecting portfolio companies?
AI is a big part of the demand story because of what it means for power consumption. Data centres are being planned and built much faster than forecasts predicted. They’re power-hungry and need reliable, around-the-clock electricity.
Some of our portfolio companies are already adapting. For example, VoltaGrid, a Texas-based utility, recently signed a long-term agreement with Oracle that set a new benchmark for what’s possible in that space. Others, such as Colorado-based Tallgrass, are finding smart ways to repurpose existing infrastructure by using land near pipelines or transmission routes to build data centres that can plug into power more quickly. It’s a practical workaround to what would otherwise be multi-year delays.
The summit also touched on geopolitics and trust. How do those fit into your outlook?
They’re both critical. The geopolitical landscape has become more unpredictable with conflicts, trade restrictions, and policy shifts, and all of that has a direct impact on how energy markets behave. For us, it reinforces the value of diversification. We can’t predict policy swings, but we can build a portfolio that’s resilient to them.
Trust matters just as much. Whether you’re building a pipeline, a solar farm, or a transmission line, the outcome often depends on the relationships around it. Projects that involve local partners, including Indigenous communities, tend to move faster and last longer because interests are aligned. That’s not idealism; it’s just smart business.
Looking ahead, what gives you optimism about the energy transition?
The energy system is huge and complicated, but it’s also incredibly adaptive. When you look at the long arc of progress, change usually doesn’t come from big breakthroughs—it’s incremental. The summit was a good reminder of that. Most of the progress we talked about wasn’t headline-grabbing. It was steady, disciplined improvement with technologies scaling, infrastructure getting upgraded, and companies learning from one another.
Our role is to help finance that kind of progress. We look for credible, investable pathways, not hype, and back people who can execute. Momentum is building—not everywhere at once, but enough to matter.
Read more:
Balancing Realism and Renewal: Highlights from CPP Investments’ 2025 CEO Energy Summit
Five Minutes with Caitlin Gubbels
Caitlin Gubbels, Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Private Equity, discusses the rise of the secondaries market, her criteria for a
John Graham on the Evolution of the Canadian Investment Model
The Canadian pension fund model is recognized globally for its strong governance, long-term performance, and disciplined approach to
From Experiment to Workflow: CPP Investments and the Challenge of Turning AI
If the country's largest pension fund is seeing early success integrating artificial intelligence (AI) across its operations, what's
Please enter valid email id