Green Jobs: New CEOs, CFOs, Chairs at NextEra, GridPoint, Petra Solar, Verengo

Executive and boardroom moves in greentech and the utility industry

Eric Wesoff October 22, 2013

Eric Wesoff

Editor-at-Large
Greentech Media

Eric Wesoff is Editor-at-Large at Greentech Media. Prior to joining GTM, Eric Wesoff founded Sage Marketing Partners in 2000 to provide sales and marketing-consulting services to venture-capital firms and their portfolio companies in the alternative energy and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Wesoff has become a well-known, respected authority and speaker in these fields.

His expertise covers solar power, fuel cells, biofuels and advanced batteries. His strengths are in market research and analysis, business development and due diligence for investors. He frequently consults for energy startups and Silicon Valley's premier venture capitalists.

NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) named CEO James L. Robo as chairman of the board, succeeding Lewis Hay III. NextEra also named Kirk S. Hachigian to its board of directors. Hachigian served as chairman and CEO of Cooper Industries, a maker of electrical products and tools acquired by Eaton Corporation in 2012. NextEra is an energy company with consolidated revenues of $14.3 billion and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity.

Steve Rhoades, formerly the CEO of inverter firm Satcon and more recently at investment bank Stonecroft Capital, is now helming Petra Solar, the very quiet of late balance-of-system and AC-module startup. (More on this story later today, reporting from SPI in Chicago, IL.)

GridPoint named a new CEO: former Berkshire Hathaway executive Todd Raba. GridPoint is a long-in-the-tooth startup that has had to shift its business model a bit to arrive at its current target, the "enterprise energy management market." Raba was chairman and CEO at Johns Manville, reporting directly to Warren Buffett, and President of MidAmerican Energy Company. Peter Corsell is still Chairman of the Board of Directors of GridPoint, which has raised more than $200 million from investors since 2003.

Verengo, a residential solar installer, announced that Michael Hansen has joined the company as CFO. Hansen was most recently CFO of RAE Systems, a PE-backed firm sold to Honeywell. Verengo has grown 700 percent over the past four years and has added 900 new employees over that period, according to the company.

Zachary Gentry is now GM of the Saved Performance Payment Agreement program at Enlighted. As Jeff St. John has reported, Enlighted is one of a host of startups seeking to monitor and control interior lighting for improved energy efficiency, better occupant control and comfort, and reduced operations and maintenance costs.

The firm ePower Engine Systems hired John Petersen to serve as its CFO and EVP. Peterson served as board chairman of Axion Power, a maker of advanced lead-carbon battery technology. Currently, ePower Engine Systems is developing a diesel-electric series hybrid drivetrain for heavy trucks.