The Green Light

Catherine recently spoke with Louay DaCosta, Vice President at Macquarie Asset Management, about what infrastructure investors should be paying closer attention to as growing demand from AI reshapes energy infrastructure. With transmission interconnection timelines often stretching 5+ years, Louay sees growing opportunities for battery storage and on-site generation as developers look to bring dat...

In this episode of The Green Light, Catherine spoke with Kelly Veney Darnell, COO of American Clean Power (ACP), about building more inclusive leadership pathways across the clean energy industry through initiatives like CLEANPOWER in Color and EmpowHER. Kelly shared how CLEANPOWER in Color - taking place June 1–2 during CLEANPOWER in Houston - has already tripled its registrants year over year as...

In this episode, Catherine spoke with Priyanka Duvvuru, Principal at S2G Investments, to explore what’s driving the next wave of innovation in the energy transition. They discussed how investors evaluate risk, what separates hype from real value, and where the biggest opportunities are emerging across today’s energy landscape. She’ll also share insights from her experience investing in companies t...

In this episode of The Green Light , Catherine sat down with Richenda Van Leeuwen, Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI)'s new Executive Director, to discuss how the next generation of clean energy leaders is being developed. Recently featured in Forbes , CELI is playing a key role in shaping talent across the industry through its fellowship and broader community. They explored leadership...

What does it look like to spend more than two decades advancing community-led clean energy — from helping farmers and rural landowners build their own wind projects to supporting Native and tribal nations pursuing energy sovereignty today? In this episode, Catherine sat down with Lisa Daniels, one of the founders of Women of Wind Energy (now WRISE) and the longtime Executive Director of Windustry,...

What does it take to lead one of the earliest U.S. wind companies through four decades of change — and help spark a nationwide movement for women in clean energy? Catherine sat down with Jan Blomstrann, Co-Founder and later CEO of NRG Systems, a company that helped build the modern wind industry through its early resource assessment tools and later expanded into solar. When she took over as CEO in...

What happens when three generations of clean energy leaders sit down for one honest conversation? A masterclass in resilience, leadership, and the future of our industry. In this Green Light podcast episode recorded at the WRISE Leadership Forum, Catherine spoke with: Patty Rollin — CCO at Onyx Renewables Yvonne Robinson — Regional Director at EVgo Jimin Suh — Development Associate at Arevon Toget...

What happens when women stop waiting to be invited to the table — and start building their own network? That question led Suzanne Tegen and her peers to found Women of Wind Energy, now Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE), twenty years ago. Today, WRISE has over 3,000 members, 47 chapters, a robust slate of annual programming, and continues to expand its impact across the r...

What does it take to build a world-class development team from scratch inside a company that already operates over 4.5 GW of solar and storage projects? Catherine sat down with Shanelle Montana, Chief Development Officer at Arevon, on SunCast’s PowerUp Live stage presented by Wärtsilä at RE+ in Vegas, to talk about: • Her path from Washington D.C. to leading utility-scale solar and storage develop...

What does it take to lead operations for Greenbacker’s largest utility-scale solar project and maximize performance across a diverse national portfolio? In this episode, Catherine spoke with Emily Modglin, Manager of Solar Operations at Greenbacker Capital, at Solarplaza's AMNA conference about: 🔹 Her transition from engineering and O&M into large-scale asset ownership 🔹 Managing the 24...

What actually drives revenue for solar-plus-storage projects? In this episode, Catherine spoke with Sam Kuhlwein from Stem at the Asset Management North America (AMNA) conference in San Diego, where they dug into how energy management systems shape asset performance. They also talked about what gets in the way of performance: commissioning delays, low-quality data, and systems that can’t respond f...

Karen Conover helped found WRISE — and in doing so, shaped a generation of women leaders and the clean energy industry itself. Today, WRISE has 3,000+ members and 47 chapters advancing diversity across renewables. But Karen’s influence goes further: at 29, she launched Global Energy Concepts, a wind power pioneer later acquired by DNV, helping scale wind in the U.S. and abroad. Two decades later,...

How do you scale a 1.3 GW C&I solar platform while navigating policy shifts, AI integration, and long-term asset performance? Catherine spoke with Elizabeth Brennan, COO of Luminace, a Brookfield Renewable company, at the Solarplaza AMNA conference in San Diego about:  🔹 Her path from engineering to executive leadership  🔹 How she defines growth vs. advancement  🔹 Recent expansions via deal...

For the past two decades, Michelle Montague has helped build WRISE— shaping programs, creating opportunities, and driving conversations about what true leadership and equity in energy should look like. When she first joined the organization, she stepped out of her comfort zone, volunteered for a committee, and quickly found a mission that would guide much of her career in renewables. Today, WRISE...

What does it take to bring hundreds of megawatts of utility-scale solar to rural communities—and truly earn their support? Valerie Newcomb, VP of Economic & Community Development at Urban Grid, brings deep communications expertise and a decade of leadership in the renewable energy industry to the table. In this episode, she shares how transparent engagement, agrivoltaics, and long-term investm...

What does it take to lead a top investment bank in the energy transition? Catherine McLean sat down with Britta von Oesen, Partner & Managing Director at CRC-IB, at Solarplaza's Asset Management North America (AMNA) Conference to talk about the trends shaping clean energy finance — from tax equity & M&A to carbon capture & distributed generation. Britta & her team recently...

20 years ago, Trudy Forsyth and a group of women in wind asked a simple but powerful question: where are the other women in this industry — and how do we bring more in? That question led to the founding of Women of Wind Energy (now WRISE). The first event in 2005 was so packed they ran out of programs — and proved there was a community ready to grow. Today, WRISE has over 3,000 members, 47 chapter...

How are Fluence, Excelsior Energy Capital, & Cordelio Power scaling grid battery storage — while navigating policy uncertainty, domestic content requirements, and O&M challenges? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Kaumil Shah, Senior Director at Fluence, at Solarplaza’s Asset Management North America (AMNA) conference in San Diego to discuss: New storage partnerships with Ex...

This episode is a little different — fellow podcaster Nico Johnson sits down with Catherine McLean, CEO & Founder of Dylan Green, at Intersolar North America to uncover insights on one of the biggest challenges in clean energy: finding and retaining top talent. Catherine, who specializes in recruiting senior-level professionals across the clean energy sector, shares her perspective on hiring t...

Our CEO had the privilege of placing all three of these incredible senior women at ClimeCo, and it’s been inspiring to watch them lead with purpose, impact, & real momentum in the sustainability space. In this episode, Catherine sat down with Emily Damon, Erica Schiller, and Emma Cox to talk about:  🌱 How each of them found their way into sustainability — from Big Oil to green tech startups t...

From a 7.5 GWh partnership with LG, to a solar+storage sub-portfolio sale to BlackRock, a 2 GW agreement with Heliene, & the launch of Lydian Energy, Catherine McLean spoke with Anne Marie Denman, Co-Founder & Partner at Excelsior Energy Capital, about what’s driving one of clean energy’s most active infrastructure funds. They also covered: ⚡ Why she believes renewables will thrive under...

“There was such an emphasis in our house about—you can be anything you want to be. Education was really, really important... My parents actually sold their house to send me to college.”  Raised by parents whose resilience defied circumstance—a father with a third-grade education who ensured Kelly’s mother could earn her degrees and become a teacher—Kelly Veney Darnell’s clean energy C-suite path i...

What was it like to transition from Capitol Hill to leading one of the world’s top solar tracking companies? Catherine McLean sat down with Jessica Lawrence-Vaca, CCO at Array Technologies, to discuss her career journey, including the 188 MW Honeysuckle solar project with Lightsource bp & Lock Joint Tube in Indiana, & Array’s new Albuquerque manufacturing facility’s impact on the U.S. clea...

Dylan Green is thrilled to be partnering with WRISE to amplify the voices of underrepresented leaders in cleantech! Catherine spoke with WRISE’s Executive Director, Doseke Akporiaye, at the Leadership Forum in D.C. about our new partnership & WRISE’s latest initiatives to advance women, BIPOC & those with marginalized identities in our industry, including: • Expanding their conference capa...

In this episode, Catherine spoke with Liane Randolph, Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). They discussed how CARB has reduced carbon intensity by 30% through the Low Carbon Fuel Standard under Randolph’s leadership, as well as about California's environmental justice initiatives & its global collaborations to reduce emissions. Chair Randolph also spoke about CARB’s partner...