RELP Overview

It’s been some time since I’ve posted anything here. The reason is fairly straightforward: my summer internship has been pretty intense. This is going to be the first of several posts discussing the experience, what I’ve tested about the wind industry as a result, and some thoughts on GE.

I’ll start out with the basics on the program of which I’m a part. GE’s Renewable Energy Leadership Program (RELP) is modeled off of the company’s Enterprise Commercial Leadership Program (ECLP) but is specifically targeted at individuals focused on renewable energy. Program members rotate through 3 or 4 positions within 2 years within GE’s wind, solar, and Jenbacher businesses.

For the past several years there are 5-7 summer internship offers and 5-7 full-time offers extended globally, although I have no particular insight as to whether that will grow or shrink in the future. RELP is only open to experienced hires and mostly draws from top MBA programs, although they take some internal and industry hires. For all of you undergrads who will read this, there is a new program called REDP for you.  I believe that program tends to hire engineers, however, so it’s a little bit different.

Myself and another intern from UNC, Colin Pistell, have been working in the wind business within the services and systems product lines.  The other four interns are working in wind operations, including product service & warranty and parts fulfillment, and have very different summer experiences.  Colin and I are building a business case for a new program; the other interns are working to streamline operations and make incremental improvements in existing products.

All of us have very defined scopes and the internship is well-structured and run.  Each of the teams will report out to the head of renewables, Vic Abate, and his entire staff during the final week of the program.

One of the problems that RELP has faced in the past is that there is very little information about the program online and so prospective applicants don’t know exactly what to expect.  With this post and the others that follow it I hope to address a small part of that need.  I’m more than happy to be a resource for future applicants; just contact me using the link above.