BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Catalyze, a clean energy transition company that builds, owns and operates solar, battery storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems for commercial and industrial customers, announced the expansion of its executive suite with the hires of four energy sector veterans. Former electric power industry executive Brian McDonald joins as EVP/Chief Operations Officer (COO), former digital solutions and demand response executive Terrill Laughton joins as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), energy sector supply chain executive Joseph Kiwak joins as Senior Vice President (SVP) of Supply Chain Management, and former Tesla and SolarCity leader Tristan Glenwright joins as Vice President (VP) of Energy Storage Solutions.
As the power, transportation and building sectors work to transition to zero-emission energy sources, clean energy companies are attracting industry veterans who recognize the opportunity to be a part of the innovative solutions that offer lower costs and greater reliability. Catalyze’s new additions to its leadership team will play a critical role in enhancing the company’s ability to deliver sustainable, profitable and simplified energy solutions nationwide.
“As our company continues to grow, we are committed to building a seasoned team that shares the knowledge, experience and passion needed to deliver on the promise of decarbonizing commercial real estate,” said Steve Luker, CEO of Catalyze. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Brian, Terrill, Joseph and Tristan to the Catalyze family. With impressive track records of executing large scale strategic initiatives across the clean energy industry, I am confident that our new executive team members will help bring our solutions to more partners than ever before in 2023 and beyond.”
McDonald joins the executive leadership team as EVP/COO, leading efforts to ensure the effective project delivery execution of Catalyze’s rapidly growing operations. With a career spanning over three decades, McDonald brings an extensive background as a clean energy executive, holding leadership roles at Cupertino Electric, Inc., NextEra Energy, Inc., Pacific Gas & Electric Co., and Calpine Corp. In these roles, McDonald led teams specializing in renewables development, energy innovation, EVs, and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services.
As CCO, Laughton will lead Catalyze’s business growth strategy, helping further expand the reach of the company’s nationwide project portfolio. Most recently, Laughton spent nearly 15 years at Johnson Controls, culminating in his role of developing cloud based offerings from incubation to maturity and marketing those solutions to major multi-national corporate accounts as VP/General Manager for their Digital Solutions Business. Laughton also has over 12 years of experience with energy stakeholder relations, software development, and management consulting with McKinsey & Company and Exelon.
In his role as SVP of Supply Chain Management, Kiwak will be responsible for ensuring the availability, sustainability and affordability of the resources needed to deliver Catalyze’s diverse clean energy solutions. Kiwak boasts over 30 years of experience in the energy sector, including executive positions at Sunfinity Renewable Energy, Sunnova Energy, and NRG Renew. He is thoroughly experienced at managing diverse, multidisciplinary teams in the execution and successful completion of multimillion-dollar projects within time and budget constraints, including more than 60 solar projects in C&I rooftop, community solar, as well as utility scale and residential solar projects accounting for close to 1GW in total.
Glenwright will take on the role of VP of Energy Storage Solutions, helping further advance the adoption and integration of Catalyze’s energy storage solutions to offer increased savings, sustainability and resilience for Catalyze’s partners. Glenwright joins the company following his time with Tesla where he successfully led some of the world’s largest and most novel energy storage and microgrid projects. Glenwright brings over 12 years of renewable energy experience, leveraging his strong hardware and software engineering foundation, combined with systems engineering experience from 20+ years in aerospace.
Catalyze is backed by leading energy investors EnCap Investments L.P., Yorktown Partners LLC and Mercuria Energy. To learn more about Catalyze’s leadership team, visit https://catalyze.com/company/leadership/.
About Catalyze
Catalyze is a national Energy Transition Partner that develops, constructs, owns, and operates integrated renewable assets, and combines its proprietary technology, financial strength, and battery and electric vehicle savvy to deliver standardized, yet configurable systems that meet their partners’ unique needs. These offerings enable commercial and industrial property owners, operating companies, and their customers to extract greater value from their assets, take increased responsibility and ownership of their energy profile, and ultimately become part of the clean energy transition. Catalyze owns two proprietary technologies – REenergyzeⓇ, an origination-to-operations software integration platform that helps accelerate and scale the nationwide adoption of commercial and industrial solar and storage, and SolarStrapⓇ, a proprietary mounting technology to install rooftop panels.
Catalyze is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado with offices in California, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, and is backed by leading energy investors EnCap Investments, L.P. and Yorktown Partners LLC. For more information, visit https://catalyze.com/.
About EnCap Investments L.P.
Since 1988, EnCap Investments has been the leading provider of venture capital to the independent sector of the US energy industry. The firm has raised 21 institutional investment funds totaling approximately $37 billion and currently manages capital on behalf of more than 350 U.S. and international investors. For more information, please visit www.encapinvestments.com.
Contacts
Carlos Villacis
Antenna Group for Catalyze
Catalyze@Antennagroup.com
