Ep. 99 | Inside One of Clean Energy’s Leading Investment Banks: Tax Credit Deals, M&A Trends & Carbon Capture | Britta von Oesen, CRC-IB
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 advised Dimension Energy on a 122 MW ITC transfer deal purchased by a Fortune 500 company — a great e...
20 Jun 13min
Ep. 98 | Founding WRISE, Then a Wind Firm: Trudy Forsyth's Journey in Clean Energy Leadership
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 chapters, a robust slate of annual programming, and continues to expand its impact across the renewable ...
13 Jun 14min
Ep. 97 | Scaling Grid Storage: How Fluence, Excelsior & Cordelio Are Navigating Policy, Partnerships & Performance
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 Excelsior Energy Capital on 2.2 GWh of U.S. projects and with Cordelio Power on 1 GWh across three ...
10 Jun 10min
Ep. 96 | Clean Energy Hiring Trends: What Companies & Candidates Need to Know | Catherine McLean, Dylan Green & Nico Johnson, SunCast
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 trends, the most in-demand skills, and how companies are approaching diversity and inclusion in to...
5 Jun 17min
Ep. 95 | Driving Sustainability Forward: ClimeCo’s Hilton & Lenovo Partnerships, Scope 3 Strategy, and the Women Leading It
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 to global nonprofits 🤝 What ClimeCo’s partnerships with Hilton & Lenovo mean for tra...
28 Mai 35min
Ep. 94 | Inside One of Clean Energy’s Most Active Infrastructure Funds: From a 7.5 GWh LG deal to a 2 GW Heliene deal | Anne Marie Denman, Excelsior Energy Capital
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 Trump ⚡ Her journey from Big Law to founding Excelsior ⚡ How Excelsior is de-risking supply chains...
12 Mai 42min
Ep. 93 | From Foster Care Roots to the Clean Energy C-Suite: Kelly Veney Darnell’s Journey
“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 is one of grit, purpose, & leadership. Catherine McLean sat down with the COO of the Amer...
28 Apr 24min
Ep. 92 | From Capitol Hill to the C-Suite: Leading a Top Solar Tracker Company & Staying Bullish on Renewables Despite Policy Uncertainty | Jessica Lawrence-Vaca, Array Technologies
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. clean energy supply chain. Jessica also shared why she’s bullish on renewables despite political unce...
15 Apr 42min
