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About National Grid Renewables

National Grid Renewables is a leading North American renewable energy company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with satellite offices located in the regions where it develops, constructs, and operates renewable energy projects. As a farmer-friendly and community focused company, National Grid Renewables repowers America’s electricity grid by reigniting local economies and reinvesting in a sustainable future. National Grid Renewables is part of the National Grid Ventures division of National Grid and has a portfolio of solar, wind, and energy storage projects located throughout the United States in various stages of development, construction and operation.

National Grid Renewables Board Members

Cordi O'Hara

Chair of the National Grid Renewables Board & President, National Grid Ventures

Blake Nixon

President, National Grid Renewables

David_Reamer

David Reamer

Head of Development, US Onshore Renewables, National Grid Renewables

Mitchell Carroll

Vice President & Deputy General Counsel,
National Grid Ventures

Julie Taylor Web Size

Julie Taylor

Chief Financial Officer, National Grid Renewables

Blake-Nixon

Blake Nixon

President, National Grid Renewables

David_Reamer

David Reamer

Head of Development, US Onshore Renewables, National Grid Renewables

Jeff-Ringblom-

Jeff Ringblom

Head of Finance, US Onshore Renewables, National Grid Renewables

Andy Curkus

Chief Operating Officer

Betsy-Engelking-

Betsy Engelking

Vice President, Policy and RTO Strategy

Drew Terwilliger

Drew Terwilliger

Vice President, Commercial

Gemma Smith

Gemma Smith

Vice President, Safety, Health, Environment, Social and Governance (SHESG)

Joe_Melesha_

Joe Melsha

Vice President, Operations

John_Larkey_

John Larkey

Vice President, Power Marketing

Nathan

Nathan Franzen

Vice President, Development

Randy-Porter-

Randall Porter, P.E.

Vice President, Transmission

Roger-Johanson_

Roger Johanson

Vice President, Project Finance

Sanjay Bhasin

Vice President, Origination

Our Projects

National Grid Renewables has a portfolio of wind, solar, and storage projects in development, construction, and operation throughout the United States.

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Our team of experts are located throughout multiple states in the regions where we develop, construct, and operate projects.

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© 2023 National Grid Renewables. All Rights Reserved.
8400 Normandale Lake Blvd, Suite 1200, Bloomington, MN 55437
About
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952.988.9000
[email protected]
8400 Normandale Lake Blvd, Suite 1200, Bloomington, MN 55437
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© 2022 National Grid Renewables. All Rights Reserved.

Cordi O'Hara

Chair of the National Grid Renewables Board & President, National Grid Ventures

In her role as President of National Grid Ventures (NGV), Cordi is responsible for the development, financing, construction and operation of large-scale energy assets, including: electricity interconnectors; LNG storage and regasification; onshore wind and solar generation; and competitive transmission.

Prior to joining NGV, Cordi was Chief Operating Officer, US Gas Business for National Grid; where she was accountable for the safe, reliable and affordable operation of National Grid’s gas distribution businesses across the New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island service territories on behalf of the company’s 3.6 million customers.

Cordi also ran the UK System Operator for National Grid, where she oversaw the strategy, planning and operation of over 14,000 miles of gas and electricity networks in Great Britain. In her tenure in this role she integrated over 14 GW of renewable, clean energy into the UK system. She has advocated for innovative solutions to a decarbonized energy market, including clean technology solutions and new demand response initiatives.

Cordi became a fellow of the UK Energy Institute in 2016, acknowledging her significant experience in UK and European energy markets and networks, and was awarded an OBE in 2019.

Cordi has more than 20 years’ experience in the energy industry, managing key relationships with government officials, regulators and customers. She has overseen transformation efforts to improve the customer experience across the National Grid businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom. Prior to joining National Grid, Cordi worked for Centrica, the largest UK energy retailer, in a variety of commercial and operational roles; including serving 11 million customer accounts in the United Kingdom.

Blake-Nixon

Blake Nixon

President, National Grid Renewables

Blake Nixon is the President of National Grid Renewables. Prior to National Grid Renewables, Blake was Chief Executive Officer for Geronimo Energy and led its growth into a leading independent North American renewable energy project development company. Prior to Geronimo Energy, Blake served as a Principal at The Rahn Group, the family investment office of Geronimo Energy founder, Noel P. Rahn, where he managed the venture capital and private equity portfolio of the family office, as well as the firm’s hedge fund. In the private investment portfolio, Blake was responsible for deal flow generation, due diligence, deal negotiation, portfolio management, active assistance for portfolio companies on operational and strategic issues, and investment divestitures. Blake was also responsible for the majority of the portfolio company oversight and board relationships for the firm’s private equity investments. Prior to The Rahn Group, Blake worked as an equity analyst for money management firm Investment Advisers, Inc. (IAI).  Blake holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Washington at Seattle and completed the General Course at The London School of Economics (LSE).

 
David_Reamer

David Reamer

Head of Development, US Onshore Renewables, National Grid Renewables

David G. Reamer is the Head of Development, US Onshore Renewables for National Grid Renewables, which includes the renewables development company formerly known as Geronimo Energy. Prior to National Grid Renewables, David served as President for Geronimo Energy. David had been involved with Geronimo Energy since its inception as both an investor and active Board Member and took an active executive role with the company in 2015. David provides a unique combination of executive management experience and entrepreneurial and investor success. For the past 25 years, he has been involved with multiple renewable energy and technology companies as a founder, CEO, board member, advisor and investor. This experience has built the foundation of David’s customer-first approach to business. After receiving his B.S. Degree from the University of Minnesota (U of M), he started his professional career as a territory manager with Johnson and Johnson. David then moved into the high tech industry by joining Applied Epi, a solar, LED and wireless semiconductor equipment company. At Applied Epi, David ultimately grew to serve as CEO and was instrumental in selling the company to Veeco Instruments (NASD: VECO). At Veeco, he led their worldwide Business Development and Strategic Marketing departments, and today, Veeco is recognized as one of the world’s leading advanced Solar PV and LED equipment companies. Also while at Applied Epi, David co-founded Spectracom, a fiber optic laser company, which was sold to ADC Telecommunications. David remains an Advisor to the U of M’s Venture Center and Office of Technology Commercialization.

Mitchell Carroll

Mitchell Carroll

Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, National Grid Ventures

Mitch is responsible for legal, risk management and compliance matters across all US-based business units of National Grid Ventures, the competitive business unit of National Grid, and National Grid Partners, the business unit responsible for corporate venture capital investment and innovation development in the energy technology sector. As Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, he leads a team that provides counsel on all transaction, finance, corporate governance, compliance, project development, investment and technology matters.

Mitch is a business executive who holds a variety of positions on numerous boards and investment committees associated with National Grid. Prior to joining National Grid, he was a partner in the Energy & Project Finance Group at Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Mitch has also held senior legal positions at Calpine and Vitol. Mitch has more than 25 years of experience representing developers, investors, sponsors, financial institutions and other asset owners in all aspects of development, project finance, M&A and restructuring of energy and infrastructure projects.

Julie Taylor

Chief Finance Officer for National Grid Ventures

Julie Taylor is Chief Finance Officer for National Grid Ventures, the competitive division of National Grid. (https://www.nationalgrid.com/national-grid-ventures) Prior to joining National Grid in 2018, she had a thirty year career in the public sector, qualifying as an accountant in the NHS in the early nineties and undertaking a number of senior roles in hospitals and primary care, prior to moving to central government in 2001.  In central government she held a variety of roles, including Director roles in the Prison Service, Border Force and the Ministry of Justice, where she was change leader as well as a leader of finance and other functions.  Her last roles in government were as Director General for Transformation in the Home Office and Director General Corporate Services in the Ministry of Defense. She is passionate about the potential for organizations to grow and develop through well-managed change.

952.988.9000

[email protected]

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Jeff-Ringblom-

Jeff Ringblom

Head of Finance, US Onshore Renewables, National Grid Renewables

Jeff Ringblom is Head of Finance, US Onshore Renewables for National Grid Renewables, which includes the renewables development company formerly known as Geronimo Energy. Jeff brings over a decade of experience in corporate finance and accounting. He has spent the majority of his career in renewable energy, where he has been instrumental in structuring the sales and negotiations of renewable energy projects throughout the Midwest. Jeff’s extensive experience in corporate finance includes M&A transactions, procurement negotiations, corporate restructurings and general business strategy. Jeff joined Geronimo Energy as Controller in 2010. Prior to joining Geronimo Energy, Jeff was at Deloitte & Touche, LLP in Assurance and Advisory services as well as St. Jude Medical, Inc. Jeff holds a degree in Accounting from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He is also a certified public accountant.

Andy Curkus

Chief Operating Officer

Andy has over 38 years of experience in the energy, engineering, and construction industries, with the last 22 years in the renewable energy space including wind, solar and energy storage.He has held senior management positions with venture funded start-ups, large OEM’s, ISP’s and developers in the renewable energy industry, and the management of various other international businesses focused on providing design, engineering and construction services. 

Earlier in his career, he was responsible for the design, engineering and construction of processing facilities in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, having designed and constructed facilities in Russia, China, Argentina, Mexico,  Australia and throughout the US.

Andy is passionate about coaching and mentoring managers and leaders in fast-paced growth industries, early-stage start-ups, and turn-arounds.  He also voluntarily serves on the Illinois State University Renewable Energy Board and is the Executive Director of the Latvian American Chamber of Commerce.

Andy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an MBA from the University of Chicago – Booth Graduate School of Business.

Betsy-Engelking-

Betsy Engelking

Vice President, Policy and RTO Strategy

Betsy Engelking joined National Grid Renewables as Vice President in January 2012 and currently leads the Company’s policy efforts. Betsy developed the regulatory strategy for the Aurora Project and provided expert testimony in the PUC process. She also collaborated with a number of legislators and advocates to achieve passage of the 2013 Minnesota Solar Energy legislation. Previously, Betsy was Director of Resource Planning for Xcel Energy, where she developed and implemented long-range power supply plans, including compliance with Xcel’s wide-ranging renewable energy requirements. She has also held positions with Great River Energy and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.

With more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry, Betsy’s expertise in energy policy, renewable energy, resource planning, utility rates and regulation, and energy markets are invaluable to National Grid Renewables. Since the beginning of her career, Betsy has worked both regionally and nationally to promote the advancement of wind energy and other renewables through participation with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), the National Wind Coordinating Committee (NWCC), the Great Plains Institute’s Power the Plains collaborative, and through an active role in state and national policy development. Betsy holds a MBA in Finance and Economics from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Drew Terwilliger

Drew Terwilliger

Vice President, Commercial

Drew Terwilliger is the Vice President of Commercial for National Grid Renewables and is responsible for execution of strategic initiatives within the commercial side of National Grid Renewables. Drew joined the company in 2011 and has experience in tax equity finance, project debt finance, power sales, financial modeling, PPA negotiation, deal structuring, and management. Before joining National Grid Renewables, Drew worked as a management consultant at eCapital Advisors specializing in financial database construction and optimization. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin — Madison with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Investments, and Banking.

Gemma Smith

Gemma Smith

Vice President, Safety, Health, Environment, Social and Governance (SHESG)

Gemma Smith is the Vice President Safety, Health, Environment, Social and Governance (SHESG) at National Grid Renewables. Gemma develops, manages and continually improves the EHS and Training programs to support the company’s target of zero injuries to the team and its contractors and leads the company’s strategy and reporting for environmental, social and governance (ESG). Prior to joining National Grid Renewables, Gemma lead the EHS and Training department at Pattern Energy Group, where she created and managed the EHS & Training Program. Gemma currently serves as the Chair of the American Clean Power EHS Standards Committee which is working on developing ANSI standards on EHS practices in the clean energy industry. Gemma holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University.

 
Joe_Melesha_

Joe Melsha

Vice President, Operations

As Vice President of Operations, Joe has oversight of building and maintaining the project operations group and functions within the National Grid Renewables portfolio of onshore wind, solar and energy storage projects. Joe also plays a key role in developing projects as they near the construction phase. Joe’s experience includes: Regional Director of Operations for Avangrid (formerly Iberdrola) Renewables, Construction Project Manager for PPM Energy focusing on renewable projects, several positions with Black and Veatch including Design Engineer, Construction Manager, and West Coast Operations Manager. Joe is a registered professional engineer and has extensive design, construction, and management of renewable projects. Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from North Dakota State University.

John_Larkey_

John Larkey

Vice President, Power Marketing

John Larkey currently serves as Vice President, Power Marketing for National Grid Renewables. John joined the National Grid Renewables executive team in 2016 and previously served as the company’s Vice President, Origination. To support the growth of National Grid Renewables, in April 2021, John was asked to take on the role of Vice President, Power Marketing to lead the operating company’s growth as an Independent Power Producer (IPP) and establish the company’s commercial team and related trading and market activities, functions, and processes.

Prior to joining the National Grid Renewables executive team, John most recently served as Vice President of Power Marketing for Recurrent Energy, where he led Recurrent’s origination and structuring team’s growth with new customers, markets and products. Before Recurrent, John had an extensive commercial leadership career with Cargill across a multitude of global industries including energy, commodity and financial markets, food manufacturing and industrial processing. As Cargill’s Director of Power Markets, he was part of a high-performing team that worked on transactions with customers across all North America energy markets.

As a seasoned energy industry executive, John has worked with investors, asset owners, and project developers across the energy industry – including gas, power, renewables, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, and crude oil derivatives. He has originated, structured, negotiated, and completed transactions with private equity companies, hedge funds, multi-national companies, utilities, co-ops and municipalities, government entities, project developers, and strategic asset owners, primarily in North America and Europe. John received a MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor, MI and a BSME from the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering in Minneapolis, MN.

Nathan

Nathan Franzen

Vice President, Development

Nathan Franzen is the Vice President of Development for National Grid Renewables. Nathan leads the company’s multi-gigawatt U.S. development portfolio of utility scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects. Nathan has more than 20 years of energy experience and has overseen the development of over 15GW of renewable energy projects, including over 2GW of operating assets. Over the past two decades, Nathan has led the execution of over $1B in vendor supply agreements and project purchase and sale agreements. At National Grid Renewables, Nathan currently leads a team of project development professionals, including real estate, permitting, and resource assessment. Throughout his career, he has also led teams specializing in engineering, procurement, and construction disciplines.

Nathan has a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning from the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
He lives with his wife Melisa and their two sons in Edina, MN.

Randy-Porter-

Randall Porter, P.E.

Vice President, Transmission

As Vice President of Transmission, Randy oversees transmission and interconnection for the National Grid Renewables portfolio of onshore wind, solar and energy storage projects. Experience: Executive Consultant for Power System Engineering, multiple positions at Avant Energy, Dahlen, Berg and Company, Inc., Xcel Energy and Northern States Power. Randy is a registered professional engineer in Minnesota, and has extensive experience in electric power delivery system planning, power supply resource evaluation and planning, resource portfolio development, and integrated resource planning. He also has experience managing and performing generation interconnection studies involving combined cycle, simple cycle, coal, wind and biomass fueled Electric Generating Stations.  Education: Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Roger-Johanson_

Roger Johanson

Vice President, Project Finance

Roger Johanson is responsible for raising tax equity and debt capital for National Grid Renewables’ projects. He has 30+ years of domestic and international project/structured experience. Prior to National Grid Renewables, as Senior Director, Structured Finance for GCL New Energy, he raised capital for GCL’s projects in the U. S., Latin America and Europe. Before that, he was CFO of Cimarron Solar, a Mexican developer, and immediately prior, was VP, Finance – Latin America for Ecoplexus Inc., responsible for developing the company’s Latin American solar markets strategy, emphasizing the Mexican, Brazilian, Argentine and Chilean solar markets. Prior to Ecoplexus, he was an MD at Renewable Energy Trust Capital, where he closed $230MM in renewable financings in 8 months. Before that, Roger was Director, Structured Finance, at GCL Solar Energy, responsible for project financing for Utility-Scale, Distributed Generation and Residential solar PV projects. Prior to GCL, Roger was a VP in Banc of America Merrill Lynch’s Portfolio Trading & Acquisitions Group where he closed tax-equity based portfolio acquisitions totaling over $1B. Previously Roger held positions at CIT Group, GE Commercial & Industrial Finance and GATX Capital Corporation. Roger holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from UCLA and an MBA, Finance & Statistics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

 

Sanjay Bhasin

Vice President, Origination

Sanjay Bhasin is the Vice President of Origination for National Grid Renewables. Sanjay has over 20 years of renewable energy experience, including expertise in origination, contract negotiation, underwriting, strategic planning, acquisitions, finance, and tax equity investments. Over the years, he has established an extensive network of customers across the US – IOUs, C&Is, Munis, and Coops.

Prior to National Grid Renewables, Sanjay served as the Senior Vice President of Originations at Savion, LLC. There, he focused on a 10+ GW solar + storage portfolio across 26 states. Prior Savion, he worked for Tradewind Energy (TWE) for six years as the Head of Business Development. Under his leadership, TWE blossomed from 2 GW to over 5 GW of operating renewable projects. Earlier in his career, Sanjay played a key role in launching and growing Edison Mission Energy’s (EME) wind energy business as their Managing Director of Business Development. Over the course of 10 years, EME was successful in developing, owning, and operating 2.2 GW of wind energy products. Sanjay holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Statistics from Elphinstone College, and an MBA in Finance from Northeastern University.

Daniel

Daniel Westerman

President, Renewable Energy for National Grid, Chairman of the Board

As President of National Grid’s competitive Renewable Energy business, Daniel is globally responsible for all non-regulated activities across Utility scale Renewables (wind, solar and storage), Distributed Energy Resources (solar, storage, grid services, energy management & other services), Metering (traditional & smart), and Electric Vehicle charging solutions. Having joined National Grid in 2014 as Group Head of Strategy, he has since held a number of operational and strategic roles with the company. Prior to National Grid, Daniel was an Associate Partner with McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm, and spent his early career in the Automotive sector. Daniel is a Director of Enbala Power Networks, a leading provider of intelligent software to manage distributed energy resources, an advisory board member to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a leading US-based energy think tank, and Habitat Energy, a UK battery optimisation software developer. He was also a contributor to the comprehensive review of the Australian Energy Market lead by the Chief Scientist. Daniel holds degrees in Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Melbourne and an MBA from the Melbourne and London Business Schools. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the IET. Born in Australia, Daniel now lives in Shakespeare country in England with his wife, two sons and their somewhat over-entitled dog.

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