Cole Simons - College of Engineering - Purdue University

Cole Simons

Head of U.S. Government Affairs & Policy, GE Vernova

Cole Simons is the Managing Director of U.S. Government Affairs and Policy at GE Vernova. In this role, Cole serves as an advisor to the GE Vernova leadership and business units while leading on domestic policy and government interactions including on energy innovation, tax, permitting, banking, and manufacturing.

Prior to joining GE Vernova in 2023, Cole served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Energy & Industry for Senator Cassidy. In this role, Cole served as a lead negotiator of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and led the introduction of policies spanning border carbon adjustments, energy tax, permitting, and energy research, development, and deployment (RD&D).

Before joining Senator Cassidy's team, Cole served as Chief of Staff and as a Policy Analyst at ClearPath. In his roles at ClearPath, Cole helped quadruple the size of the organization, organized several NGO-based coalitions, oversaw political giving and SuperPAC activities, and crafted policy proposals that formed the basis of the Energy Act of 2020, IIJA, multiple appropriations bill, and tax packages.