GE and Google said they would leverage their lobbying muscle in Washington to try and persuade politicians to push for major policy changes in energy. A statement by the two firms said that 'policy is a major impediment to building a 21st century electricity system.'

GE is now one of the biggest players in the wind power industry and is involved in developing hybrid locomotives, water reuse solutions and photovoltaic cells. Google is also involved in clean energy initiatives that include geothermal, solar and wind-generated electricity.

Google has maintained that the benefits of renewable electricity can not be fully realised without updating US power transmission lines into a 'smart grid' that lets people track and control what types of power they use and when. GE and Google plan to work on technologies that will convert geothermal power into electricity as well as prepare the nation's grid for plug-in vehicles.