The Green Light

From carbon capture & clean hydrogen to a groundbreaking partnership with Siemens on zero-emissions turbine power, Catherine McLean sat down with Esther Kamau at 8 Rivers, to talk about how 8 Rivers is leading the charge toward global net-zero goals. They also explored how the company balances technological & financial risks in energy commercialization & the meaningful steps they’re ta...

What was it like to partner with Microsoft & EDP Renewables on the first ever Environmental Justice PPAs? Catherine spoke with Jean Nelson-Houpert from Volt Energy Utility at the WRISE Leadership Forum about this & how the industry can better enable new developers to enter the space. Jean also shared about the Sharing the Power Foundation & some of the successes it has had with its gro...

From the White House & the Department of Energy to founding SustainabiliD, Catherine McLean spoke with Kerry Duggan about how to foster public-private sector collaboration to advance sustainability goals. They spoke from the WRISE Leadership Forum in D.C. about this & the intersection of environmental justice & sustainability consulting. Kerry is a corporate Board Director at BlueGreen...

What was it like to receive a call out of the blue from President Joe Biden's transition team about leading the Department of Energy’s Justice40 initiative? Catherine spoke with Shalanda Baker about this as well as implementing the DOE’s first ever Equity Action Plans (EAP), which addressed foundational issues with how data is collected concerning underserved & underrepresented population...

What does it take to transition from aerospace to leading the nation’s #1 fastest-growing community solar developer? In this episode, Catherine McLean spoke with Erica Brinker, Chief Commercial & Sustainability Officer at Chaberton Energy, about the company’s 7,300% growth & its origination of 350 MW annually. Some of the company’s recent work includes floating solar projects with Noria En...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with EDP Renewables North America’s CEO, Sandhya Ganapathy, from the WRISE Leadership Forum in D.C.! They discussed EDPR NA’s partnerships with Microsoft & Volt Energy Utility, including their innovative Environmental Justice PPA. They also spoke about EDPR NA’s agreement with Google to develop & install 80 distributed solar projects - the large...

From increasing women staff from 38% to 46% in 2 years to implementing innovative solutions like breast milk shipping for traveling mothers, Staci Schwartz & Primergy have been making waves in creating a supportive, inclusive work culture. In this Green Light episode, Catherine McLean spoke with Staci about this, as well as about childcare costs & the impact of caretaking on both genders,...

Looking for some inspiration? In this episode, Catherine McLean spoke with leaders of 3 women-founded climate tech companies that are driving energy equity through partnerships with local communities, & organizations like Microsoft, T Mobile & Okta. Hear how: Dana Clare Redden at Solar Stewards is integrating renewable energy credits into underserved communities; Laura Zapata at Clearloop...

How can gaps in the U.S. solar supply chain be overcome to increase clean energy production & job growth? In this episode, Catherine spoke with John Smirnow at Smirnow Law & Arielle Brown at Wacker about this & the Polysilicon Coalition that they’re making advances through, alongside REC & Hemlock. While the U.S. is making strides in domestic module manufacturing, there’s currently...

Biodigesters, sustainable vineyards, & board positions for women are just a few of the fun topics Catherine discussed with Suzanne Hunt, VP of Policy at Generate Upcycle, in this Green Light podcast episode. With operations in Europe, Canada & the U.S., Generate Upcycle is dedicated to scaling up mature infrastructure in areas like organic waste recycling & wastewater, & has invest...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine sat down with Lightsource bp’s COO & Head of USA, Emilie Wangerman, to hear about her latest updates - from 520 MW of solar projects with Verizon, Bank of America & McDonald’s to scaling agrivoltaics to bp fully acquiring the company. Emilie has worked her way up from Director to now COO at the company. Six years after Emilie began working at Lightsou...

Did you know the U.S. Army has over 950 renewable energy projects that supply it with over 480 MW of power? The Army also plans to add 25 new microgrids by 2024. The Department of Defense is one of the largest consumers of energy in the U.S., & for over a decade, Ameresco has been enabling the DoD to decarbonize & transition to renewable energy. Nicole Bulgarino, Executive Vice President a...

Solstice recently partnered with ENGIE North America & Microsoft to bring up to 60% electricity savings to low-income households & nonprofits in Illinois through community solar. In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with the Founders of Solstice, Steph Speirs & Sandhya Murali, who met in business school at MIT after working in off-grid solar in places like India, Pakistan &...

Heading to the WRISE Leadership Forum in D.C. this year? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Doseke Akporiaye, Executive Director of WRISE, about what will be new at the Forum, including their executive track, which will help empower senior women & non-binary leaders. Doseke & Catherine also discussed the impact that the WRISE Speakers Bureau & #NoMoreManelsPledge are hav...

What was it like to found an onshore wind development firm & develop a pipeline of 8 GW in a few short years? Catherine spoke with Kenneth Labeja, CFO & Co-Founder at Triple Oak Power, about this, Triple Oak’s recent acquisition by private equity fund Energy Capital Partners & onshore wind development challenges. Labeja also shared tips for building a diverse & inclusive workforce,...

From a $4.5M zero emissions trucking project with Forum Mobility, to virtual power plants, to contracting with Clearway Energy Group on a solar project involving Wartsila & NEXTracker, Ava Community Energy continues to track toward 100% carbon-free power by 2030. In fact, NREL recently named Ava, a community choice aggregator, one of the top green power providers in the U.S. In this Green Ligh...

Are you heading to Cleanpower in May? In this Green Light episode, you will learn what sets this show apart, including its EmpowHER Forum that is associated with WRISE, as well as about the significant growth of the trade association behind the conference. Catherine spoke with Rosanna Maietta, Chief Communications Officer & Senior Counselor to the CEO at the American Clean Power Association (A...

From SunPower to Silicon Ranch to now RWE, Tasha McCarter has provided engineering leadership at every stage in the lifecycle of a power plant. She is now tasked with ensuring continued cleantech growth by focusing on people, processes & technology for RWE, which has nearly 20,000 employees in 30 countries. In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Tasha about where she anticipates the...

Arevon has been all over the news lately with a handful of major announcements, including its $350 million raise from Blackstone for an 800 MWh energy storage project with Southern California Edison, Rosendin & Tesla. In total, Arevon has secured over $2 billion in clean energy project financing over the last 4 months alone. In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Lydia Li, Director...

How was Pine Gate Renewables able to grow its team by 3x during the pandemic while also ensuring nearly half of its team remained people who identify as women? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Eric Shangle, a Navy Veteran & Veterans Advanced Energy Project Fellow, about the company’s myriad successful people & culture programs, including its work toward greater pay transpa...

In this Green Light podcast episode, Catherine spoke with Juan Parra at Nexamp, the nation’s largest community solar provider, about the company’s $2B expansion plan & new, second HQ in Chicago. Juan also shared about Nexamp’s purchase of 1.5 GW of American-made solar modules from Heliene - the largest ever community solar module order in history. He shared about how he transitioned from volun...

From starting out in gas turbine logistics to now leading sales for decarbonization initiatives in the Americas, Linette Casey has seen it all in her 23 years at Siemens Energy.  And it all started with a Girl Scout trip. In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Linette about her transition to renewables as well as the company’s green hydrogen partnership with Air Liquide. Linette also sh...

Did you know that the DOE Loan Programs Office’s authority for clean energy commercialization increased tenfold - from $40 billion to $400 billion dollars - due to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law & the Inflation Reduction Act? In this Green Light podcast episode, Catherine McLean spoke with Arpita Bhattacharyya, Chief Climate Officer at the LPO, about the organization’s strategic priorities...

As an American with Kenyan heritage and a multicultural upbringing that includes formative years in India, Elizabeth Kaiga brings a highly unique & necessary lens to the energy transition. Our CEO spoke with Elizabeth, DNV’s Chief Commercial Officer for Energy Systems in North America, at her office in Virginia. They spoke about her unconventional career path in the energy industry - starting...

What was it like to close a $76 million climate tech VC fund backed by Microsoft & Bank of America? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Allison Myers, one of the founders of the 100% women-owned firm, Buoyant Ventures, about this, as well as how Buoyant is advancing global sustainability initiatives by enabling startups to digitalize climate solutions. Think: software, AI, &...