Another week brings more moves and shifts at the upper levels of the energy industry.
The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the national association of investor-owned electric companies, promoted Phil Moeller to executive VP of business operations group and regulatory affairs. Prior to EEI, Moeller served two terms as a commissioner with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(David Owens stepped down from the position this month. Listen to Stephen Lacey's lengthy podcast interview with Owens about his career and the range of issues that EEI is grappling with.)
Patricia Vincent-Collawn, CEO of PNM Resources, was elected chairman of the board of EEI. Also elected were three vice chairmen: Christopher Crane, CEO of Exelon Corporation; Gregory Abel, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy; and Lynn Good, CEO of Duke Energy.
Fortune profiled PG&E CEO Geisha Williams, the first Latina CEO of a Fortune 500 company, whose "biggest diplomatic triumph came in her decision to decommission Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear plant, beginning in 2024." She called electric transportation the “single biggest opportunity to really make a meaningful impact on reducing greenhouse gases.”
Microinverter builder Enphase led the adoption of PV module level power electronics, but time and recent layoffs have dispersed a crowd of Enphase people into other solar firms -- or out of the industry entirely. Here's an incomplete list of those moves.
- Martin Rogers, previously a VP and GM at Enphase, is now VP of asset management at NEXTracker.
- Ameet Konkar, previously a VP at Enphase, is now VP corporate development at Off Grid Electric.
- Deborah Knuckey, former head of global marketing at Enphase, is now VP of marketing at Lumeta Solar.
- Brian Korgaonkar, previously a principal at Enphase, is now director of product management at Sunrun.
- Juan Martinez, once a product manager at Enphase, is now a product manager at Tigo.
- Kris Sennesael, until recently CFO at Enphase, is now CFO at wireless components firm Skyworks.
- Jay Goldin, previously a senior director at Enphase, is now VP at Munich Re Greentech Solutions.
- Bill Rossi, previously CMO at Enphase, is now CEO of Metabiota, an epidemic tracking startup.
- Mike Haines, once director of EMEA sales at Enphase, is now a regional marketing manager for SolarEdge.
- Tom Hecht, previously engaged in North American commercial market sales at Enphase, is now a VP at Flex.
- Jason Michaels, previously a senior director at Enphase, is now director of strategic investments at National Grid.
- Greg Wolfson, previously a senior director of the energy storage product line at Enphase, is now with Geli.
- Ilen Zazueta-Hall, senior director, product management at Enphase, joined a stealth firm as director of client engagement.
- Bags Motwani, sales finance at Enphase, has left the firm.
- Pete Brown, senior director, financial planning and analysis at Enphase, has left the firm.
Kite Power Systems, a Scotland-based firm developing high-altitude wind power, named Colin Palmer as its delivery director. Palmer, with offshore wind experience from his previous work with SSE, will lead development of the startup's 500-kilowatt power system.
The Washington, D.C. office of law firm K&L Gates added Elias B. Hinckley as a partner in its energy practice. Hinckley joins K&L Gates from Sullivan & Worcester, where he led the energy group.
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Enertech Search Partners, an executive search firm with a dedicated cleantech practice, is the sponsor of the GTM jobs column.
Among its many active searches, Enertech is looking for a VP of Marketing -- IOT.
The client empowers energy value chain participants by providing them the power to foresee, leveraging advanced machine-learning capabilities to deliver accurate, granular predictions, which are crucial for tackling the rising challenges of today's energy industry.
Currently the client is seeking a marketing executive, experienced in utility customer engagement, who has successfully built marketing from scratch in a small company or startup environment.
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CTO Matineh Eybpoosh (previously with kWantera) and CEO Matthew Maroon (previously with Aquion) founded Watt-Learn, an artificial intelligence startup developing a battery control software platform. The firm claims its software can "radically improve battery project performance at any scale or application." Julian Lamy is also a founder.
REstore, a European demand-side energy management firm, hired Helen Park, previously with Silver Spring Networks, as VP, Internet of Things.
Colette Lamontagne, previously a director at Navigant, is now director of internal innovation at National Grid.
GTM's Stephen Lacey reports: "There are more than 250,000 people working in America's solar industry today. A trade case now underway could kill a third of those jobs in one fell swoop, according to the leading national solar trade group."
From the previous jobs column:
Nat Kreamer, CEO of Spruce Finance, has left the residential solar financing firm. Kreamer was the CEO of VC-funded Clean Power Finance before its merger with Kilowatt Financial in 2015.
VC-funded electric-bus builder Proterra hired Amy Ard as CFO. Proterra recently closed an "oversubscribed" $140 million funding round and claims to have experienced "exceptional sales growth" in the first half of this year.