Meet the Honorees: Cameron Bard, VP Developer Network, DSD Renewables

The Environment+Energy Leader Honoree program is an annual list that recognizes the environment and energy “doers” who break trail in creating new solutions, programs, platforms, best practices, and products to help their companies – or other companies – achieve greater success in a commercial and industrial environment and energy management. Meet the Honorees… is an ongoing series that will feature one E+E Honoree from 2022 each week. See the complete list of 2022 Honorees here.

Meet Cameron Bard, vice president of the Developer Networks team with DSD Renewables, who believes that “every day is an opportunity to help build the future we need.” DSD Renewables believes deeply that solar can change the world, and “we’re on a mission to transform the clean energy financing sector by providing the tools, capital, and transparency our partners need to grow their businesses and turn more solar + storage projects into reality,” he says.

What is your biggest energy management challenge?

Cameron Bard: Climate change, full stop. Since college, I knew the only career I would ever pursue would be the one related to addressing the greatest challenge of our lifetime. The ambitions of our solutions must match the magnitude of our problems and I cannot think of a more exciting, crucial, and impactful field than deploying clean energy. I feel incredibly fortunate to be on the DSD team, surrounded by creative, passionate, and committed colleagues motivated by helping to create a better, safer world.

What was a successful project or implementation you worked on at your company that you can share?

CB: First and foremost, I am exceptionally proud of the teams and partnerships we are building internally and externally at DSD. We need an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to climate change and I firmly believe to be successful we must operate with a combination of humility, collaboration, and urgency. This is demonstrated at the very top of our organization by our CEO, Erik Schiemann, who approaches each day with an intent to solve someone else’s problems and help drive our business and customer solutions forward.

Last year, we launched DSD Connect, a digital platform designed for and by solar developers to bring transparency and new resources to the commercial solar sector. By providing access to real-time PPA pricing, competitive capital, and standardized processes we’ve been able to help dozens of partners evaluate and pursue hundreds of projects across the country. It’s thrilling to see the market uptake and our collective growth in just the first several months of operation and I’m extremely excited about what’s ahead.

What trends do you expect to see in the market in the next few years? What challenges will the industry face and what technologies or organizational changes will overcome them.

CB: It’s hard to overstate the need for political leadership and certainty with regards to energy policy. In the ever-volatile industry that is solar, clear pathways to consistent and reliable policy landscapes can accelerate existing growth trends and serve as antidotes to the turbulence we feel too often.

The solutions to our problems already exist—from proven technologies to known policies—and new ones are emerging every day. I certainly hope our collective actions will speak louder than our words and am convinced by focusing on deployment at scale we can achieve a cleaner, brighter future for all.

Tell us about a favorite hobby, passion or book you’ve read recently that has had an impact on you and your work.

CB: Lately, I’ve been fascinated by my relatively new self-identify as a “girl dad” and what it means to really think about what the future holds for our next generation. It’s very easy to be pessimistic, and at times even outright discouraged, but hope is stronger than cynicism and frankly, we just don’t have a choice not to take action. The time is now, and I’m proud to be a part of this large, diverse, and beautiful clean energy and climate community.