Client Projects and Stories

Scout Clean Energy  

Before the end of 2016, Michael Rucker, one of the best Wind Developers I know, the founder of Scout Clean Energy, Safe-Harbored 2 GW of projects- getting sites, buying equipment, and putting in gravel roads. Since Michael had previously worked for Clipper Wind before founding his own Development/EPC/O&M Company, he knew where the Interconnections, favorable wind, and RTOs were. Michael engaged The Resource Group to help add to his Origination and Development Teams, and we have continued to augment his growth efforts. Scout closed a number of projects in 2019, with new ones coming. Scout has a great pipeline of Wind and Solar projects for 2020, 2021, and beyond. We are proud to have been able to help Michael.

Power Company of Wyoming

In 2018, at the AWEA Wind Energy Summit, we met the Director of Finance for the Power Company of Wyoming,  a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation.  PCW was responsible for the development and construction of a 3,000 MW Wind Farm, on ranch land owned by Anschutz in Wyoming with high wind resources.  In order to get the power to customers in the Rockies and desert Southwest, Anschutz would also have to build a 730 mile high-voltage transmission line, The TransWest Express, from Rawlins, Wyoming to an interconnection near Las Vegas. Anschutz identified a significant market for renewables in the desert Southwest and California as well as the opportunity to tie into the existing infrastructure of a Utah coal plant slated for retirement in 2025.

In February, The Resource Group was engaged to find a candidate to lead the Origination and Business Development efforts in Nevada and California. We were tasked with finding someone with success getting PPAs in California, who knew the folks who needed power in the desert Southwest/Rocky Mountain area. This successful candidate would be able to put deals together for PPAs starting in 2023-2024, when the PTC clock started ticking. We referred the EDF Director of Business Development Director in Colorado who fit right into the culture and the challenge. He arrived in May and is still doing well.

Image thanks to Chris Fox, VP Construction, Clearway.

Building up Senior Executive-level bench strength for a large, Global OEM

The good news: a profitable, large, global Power and O&G OEM long-term client of mine treats their employees so well, from the recent graduates to the MD/C-Director level Executives, that almost no one ever leaves.

About 12 years ago, the top executives attended their Annual Long-term Planning meeting. A couple of old friends, who are clients of mine, looked around the room and said to themselves, “Man, that guy is old. Come to think of it, that one has really been here a long time. And the other ones too. Uh Oh! They are all looking at me!”  The Board decided to give all the top executives, with 30+ years of experience, full pensions, and generous retirement/severance packages, which most of them took. Fortunately, there was a crop of fully capable #2’s who were ready to step up and fill the jobs. 

The bad news: In 2016, the Senior Executives had another meeting, looked around the room at the now 10-12 year more -seasoned Executives who looked around the room, and said to themselves, “Uh, oh.”  And again, the board decided to reach down and replace them with the next group of 20+ year up-and-comers. And there were a lot fewer ready to take over – not much bench strength. And the next level down, 15+ years, there were only a handful on the bench, with even fewer farther down. So, they called us to help prepare the company for the future.

For the last three years, we have been filling the vacant positions and beefing up their bench strength with the 2025-2030 future Senior-level Executives, for Mid-level to Managerial positions in the Business Development, Engineering, Marketing, and Sales areas, EPC and Product/Market Leaders. The extra bonus for us at The Resource Group is that we get to work with great people--candidates and executives, for a company we believe in. Not all bad.

Procurement Director Search

In 2019, an owner/developer client had been extremely successful in Wind – 6, going on 8, Gigawatts, but wanted to build up a Solar presence rapidly; starting from 85 MW, target was a Gigawatt in a year through development and acquisition. Almost all his folks were experts in wind, but didn’t know how to price Solar projects, so they kept losing RFP bids. They also had to build up their Solar Supply chain to get their ITC qualifications by the end of 2019. Even though it was a great company with great people, the location was not where a lot of qualified people wanted to live. 

It wasn’t easy, but we found someone extremely well-qualified who wanted to live in that city. We went from initial conversations in May, to his starting work in August. With his supplier relationships, he found ways to get the company qualified before the ITC deadline, while also helping support acquisitions.