The Green Light

Did you know Sunnova recently secured a historic $3 billion partial loan guarantee from the Department of Energy? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Meghan Nutting, EVP of Government & Regulatory Affairs at Sunnova, from the Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE) Leadership Forum. Meghan spoke about how Sunnova's Project Hestia will help reduce electri...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Joy Seitz, CEO at American Solar & Roofing, about recent solar policy in Arizona & the SEIA Board Election for which Joy has been endorsed by the SEIA Nominating Committee. Arizona is now ranked #5 in the U.S. in terms of installed solar capacity, & with Joy’s 15 years of experience advocating for distributed solar generation in the sta...

What was it like to transition from a White House intern to eventually become the COO of CleanCapital, which now manages 250 MW of clean energy assets in over 20 states & 150+ sites? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Zoe Berkery about this, CleanCapital’s recent $500 million funding round led by Canada’s ManuLife & why more senior women leaders are needed to accelerate the...

What was it like to found a startup dedicated to building EV fleet charging hubs after nearly a decade of leading energy strategy for Google? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with the brilliant Neha Palmer, CEO at TeraWatt Infrastructure, who had the foresight to anticipate the future real estate, operational & interconnect needs of EV fleets across the country. Fast forward to tod...

What does it take to succeed as an investor in the cleantech venture capital space in this market? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Kathryn Meng, Investment Director at RA Capital Management about how she has navigated the industry, transitioned from humanitarian to cleantech work, as well as about some of the trends she’s seeing. They also spoke about the necessity of having seni...

Did you know that 51% of professionals working in clean energy transitioned into the industry last year, according to a recent survey? Our CEO recently spoke with Salina Derichsweiler, who transitioned from oil & gas to founding & leading geothermal startup, Transitional Energy. In her current, new role as Director of Development at SunShare, Salina is leveraging her experience developing...

Have you heard of Dynamo Energy Hub, “the Soho House of clean energy”? From their partnerships with BloombergNEF and Alvarez and Marsal to their cohesive workspaces, Climate Tech and Tonic events & Cleantech Founders Breakfast Club, Dynamo is building the future of work for the new energy economy. Catherine had the pleasure of speaking with Kristin Barbato and Meade Harris, who decided to co-f...

Qcells USA Corp. has been all over the news lately with a handful of major announcements, including a $2.5B investment in the solar supply chain. Catherine recently spoke with Amy Jo Miller , Director of Policy and Market Strategy at Qcells, about what these recent developments mean for our industry, the most important upcoming policy rulings to follow, and the energy storage trends Qcells is seei...

Did you know that 59% of employers have reported that veterans perform ‘better’ or ‘much better’ than their non-veteran peers? Catherine recently spoke with Adela Wilson at Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) and LaTisha Phillips at Onyx Renewable Partners L.P. about how HOH, through Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)’s Solar Ready Vets program, is enabling veterans to transition back to civilian life...

“Park it, plug it, profit.” Did you know sustainable-minded companies could earn upwards of $8k per summer just for parking just one EV at specified times? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Claire Broido Johnson, who was recently hired as COO at Fermata Energy, about all things V2G, or vehicle-to-grid. Claire is well known for having founded SunEdison alongside Jigar Shah, as well...

What impact is the Inflation Reduction Act having on the development of green hydrogen projects in the U.S.? Catherine spoke with Mona Dajani , Global Head of Renewable Energy and Hydrogen at Shearman & Sterling LLP , about this and how the U.S. is now leading the world in terms of green hydrogen legislation. They also spoke about the ways in which the U.S. is rapidly ramping up its 8% EV adop...

How can solar engineering, procurement & construction companies increase gender diversity & inclusiveness in a short amount of time? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Janani Ramkumar, VP of Operations at CS Energy, about how CS Energy was able to increase women employees by 70% & achieve 40% women in its C suite in about a year’s time. It all started when Jan, Dawn Robi...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Doseke Akporiaye, about becoming the new Executive Director of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy (WRISE). Hailing from Nigeria with a background in computer programming & management consulting, Doseke has led an incredible career to date. From starting her own consulting business to successfully launching the Nigerian branch...

How can renewable energy companies & professionals level up their marketing communications? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Megan Meany, a seasoned broadcast journalist who has worked for NBC, CBS, CNN & FOX about elevating pitch & presentation skills; finding the optimal use of industry jargon & data; & how to crush it on camera. They also spoke about the nee...

Why are only 1.6% of S&P 100 senior executives Latinas & how can this gap be overcome? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Marta Ronquillo Newhart , who has worked for companies like Westinghouse Electric Company , Boeing , Medtronic & Johnson Controls , about this as well as how the ‘chingonas’ & male mentors in her life helped propel her career. They also spoke abou...

How impactful can a renewable energy nonprofit membership program be when it comes to the triple bottom line - people, profit & planet? According to American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) , over 75% of its 25 total women or BIPOC-owned cohort member companies have significantly grown their businesses as members of ACORE’s Accelerate Membership Program, a recipient last year of the ground...

What does it take to found & lead a clean energy investment firm & tech company simultaneously? Catherine spoke with Uche C. Isiugo Jr., PhD , CEO & Founder of Infranergy & Managing Partner at Emerging Infrastructure Capital about this as well as how his upbringing and living on two continents influenced his entrepreneurial path in energy. They spoke about his prior experience outs...

Clean Energy Leadership Institute (CELI) grew its programming by 40% over the past 2 years. Clean energy fellowship & internship programs like these are critical to enable the industry to scale by educating & training new talent & connecting them with leaders in the industry. In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Esther Morales, Executive Director of CELI, about the recent...

What is it like to lead one of the world’s largest energy storage integrators? Catherine spoke with Andrew Tang, Vice President of Energy Storage and Optimization at Wärtsilä Energy, about this & how, as a first generation Chinese immigrant, he opted to pursue a renewable energy career path over following his siblings’ footsteps with a medical career. They also spoke about how he broke into th...

hat does it take to break into the clean energy industry? Kate Henningsen went from being a corporate litigator with no energy experience to COO & Co-Founder of Arcadia , which now manages 1 GW of community solar & has 800 employees. In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Kate about her transition into, & success within, cleantech, her advice for others looking to do the sam...

What does it take to start a hydropower company from the ground up? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Gia Schneider about this, what it was like to found Natel Energy with her brother & father, as well as their fish-safe hydropower projects with Apple in Oregon & MyHydro in Africa. Natel Energy has been featured by Bloomberg & Time & has been named to Fast Company’s...

How are artificial intelligence & digitization being leveraged to realize huge cost savings for growing wind turbine fleets? In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with Danielle Merfeld, VP & CTO of GE Renewable Energy, about this, how she went from winning science fairs across the country as a child with Air Force parents to receiving her PhD in Electrical Engineering & ultimate...

In this Green Light episode, Catherine spoke with her good friends, Abby Hopper & Erin Duncan, from SEIA - two of the incredible women behind the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. They spoke about what it takes to succeed in their roles, what it was like behind the scenes to get the IRA across the finish line & what parts of the IRA they’re most excited about. Notably, Abby & Eri...

What does it take to lead sustainability initiatives for a Fortune 500 company like Microsoft? In this Green Light episode, Catherine speaks with Dawn James about this as well as her career journey from creating predictive models for water management to energy and sustainability strategy at Microsoft. They also speak about Microsoft’s latest sustainability initiatives, designed to cut its carbon e...

Congratulations, Ike Emehelu , on your new role as Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP ! Although Ike knew he wanted to be a lawyer from his earliest days in Nigeria, he never imagined he would get to work on two of the three largest onshore wind projects in the U.S. Focusing almost exclusively on renewable energy project finance since 2008, Ike has worked on impactful projects throu...