SEPA Welcomes New Board Members

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) announced today the election of seven new members to its Board of Directors and the re-election of two members to additional terms.

SEPA welcomes newly elected Board members Joseph A. Forline of PSE&G, Bobby Hollis of NV Energy, John D. Hewa of Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Steve Malnight of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Stephen E. Morgan of American Clean Energy, Micah Myers of Clean Power Finance, and Tim Rebhorn of First Solar.

SEPA is also pleased to announce that its membership re-elected Ervan Hancock of Georgia Power and Theresa Williams of Western Area Power Administration.

“SEPA will benefit from the rich business experience and leadership in the electric utility and solar industries that our Board members will contribute,” said SEPA President and CEO Julia Hamm.

The selections were announced today at the 2013 SEPA Annual Membership & Utility Awards Luncheon, which takes place in conjunction with Solar Power International 2013, an industry trade show and exposition occurring in Chicago.

The Board of Directors is made up of 20 individuals, allowing for representation from a broad spectrum of the utility and solar industries. Seats on the Board are apportioned across six membership categories. Board members are selected by vote by SEPA members and serve three-year terms.

More about the newly elected members of SEPA’s Board of Directors:

Joseph A. Forline was elected vice president – customer solutions of Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) in December 2006. Prior, he was vice president – customer operations and division manager – gas operations. He is responsible for renewable energy programs, customer satisfaction, marketing and market strategy, customer contact, and meter to cash functions. He also led responsibility for developing and managing PSE&G’s solar and energy efficiency programs. Mr. Forline has worked for PSE&G for more than 28 years and has a broad background in electric and gas operations, customer operations, and the appliance service business. His areas of expertise include Customer Satisfaction Programs, Business Process Improvement and Best Practice Implementation. He is a graduate of the Leadership New Jersey Program, class of 2006. Mr. Forline has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Rutgers University – College of Engineering, and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Rutgers University. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan Executive Development Program.

Bobby Hollis was raised as an Army Brat all over the U.S. and Western Europe as the son of an enlisted soldier. Mr. Hollis was the first person in his family to graduate from college when he earned Phi Beta Kappa with Honors from the University of Florida. He also holds a law degree from the University of Iowa. His work as an attorney for Jenner & Block in Chicago eventually led Mr. Hollis to positions at Alliant Energy and Invenergy, the latter one of the nation’s leading renewable energy developers. He joined NV Energy, Nevada’s largest electric utility in 2008, to help build its renewable energy division. In 2011 he entered into his present position as Executive of Renewable Energy, reporting to NV Energy’s CEO and COO.

John Hewa is Chief Executive Officer of Pedernales Electric Cooperative, the nation’s largest electric distribution cooperative which includes a service territory of over 8,100 square miles in the Texas Hill Country. , The cooperative, whose founders included Lyndon B. Johnson, has served the region for 75 years and now delivers electricity to a rapidly growing membership including nearly 250,000 active accounts. Prior to joining Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Mr. Hewa served as NRECA’s Vice President of Research, Engineering, and Technical Services at the association’s Arlington, VA headquarters. He previously served in the capacity of General Manager for Talquin Electric Cooperative, Inc. a member-owned, electric cooperative headquartered in Quincy, Florida and General Manager of Talquin Water and Wastewater, Inc, a non-profit, Florida corporation providing water and wastewater utility services. Previous to his tenure at Talquin, Mr. Hewa served as the utilities manager for the City of Manassas, Virginia. He holds a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and Masters degree in Engineering Management from the University of Tennessee, and is a licensed Professional Engineer.

As Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions (CES) for PG&E, Steve Malnight is responsible for the company’s expanding portfolio of demand-side customer solutions, which includes energy efficiency, demand response, time-varying electric pricing options, automated energy management, electric vehicles and on-site customer generation. Mr. Malnight’s organization provides integrated energy solutions designed to help customers reduce energy usage and save money. CES delivers targeted solutions, addressing the specific needs of customers of varied sizes (large commercial and industrial enterprises, small and medium businesses, and residential) in diverse market segments (e.g. high tech, biotech, health care, hospitality, agriculture) across all energy technologies. Mr. Malnight joined PG&E in 2002 and has held various leadership positions during his time with the company. Mr. Malnight holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He and his family reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Stephen E. Morgan is the CEO of American Clean Energy; LLC, a New Jersey based Renewable Energy Development Company. He is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, policy, governance and overall financial and operational results. Prior to retirement in September 2009, Mr. Morgan was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board at Jersey Central Power and Light Company (JCP&L), a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation. JCP&L is the second largest electric utility in the state of New Jersey serving 1.1 million customers in half the towns and counties across the state with over 1500 employees. His background with FirstEnergy Corporation spanned 33 years and included engineering, operational management and executive positions across the three state service territory including parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mr. Morgan earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Ohio State University and is a registered Professional Engineer in Ohio. He also completed the University of Michigan, School of Business Executive Management Program.

Micah Myers has led teams in senior operational roles for over 18 years and comes with deep experience in renewable energy, software and finance. Prior to rejoining as a full-time team member, Mr. Myers was the first Product Manager at Clean Power Finance in 2007. He later led the investment in Clean Power Finance as a Principal at Claremont Creek Ventures where he also served as a board observer with Alphabet Energy, EcoATM, and Sentilla Corporation. He previously worked with the energy team as an analyst at Passport Capital. Still an officer in the United States Marine Corps (Reserves), Mr. Myers has served in combat operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan and graduated from the TOPGUN Strike Fighter Weapons Instructor School. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of California at Davis and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Tim Rebhorn joined First Solar in December 2012 as Senior Vice President, Sales – Americas. As a member of the senior leadership team, he oversees all regional business and project development. Mr. Rebhorn’s 30-year career in the energy industry includes senior leadership roles in the natural gas and power generation segments in worldwide markets. His efforts have been focused on developing, financing and operating utility-scale energy projects, and large infrastructure projects in water and steel. Prior to joining First Solar, he was CEO of Quail Nuclear Specialty Services, an industrial construction company. Previous experience includes executive leadership of Resolutions Management/Merrill International, which provided high-level consulting for clients in energy, steel, engineering and construction industries. Mr. Rebhorn began his career in the United States Navy, where he served as a Certified Nuclear Engineer in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion program (USS Parche SSN-683 nuclear submarine) and as a NATO staff planning officer. Mr. Rebhorn is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and earned an MBA from Texas A&M University.

Re-elected Board members include:

Ervan Hancock, Manager of Georgia Power’s Renewable Resources Department, is responsible for development of the Company’s renewable generation portfolio, renewable and green energy strategy and renewable research programs. In this role he has been pivotal in the development and implementation of the Company’s Advanced Solar Initiative which will increase the total amount of solar energy under contract in Georgia Power’s service territory to almost 800 MWs by 2016. Mr. Hancock is also responsible for the Company’s other efforts around renewables, leading the acquisition of 250MW of wind generation and more than 180MW of biomass generation in the last 18 months. Ervan currently serves as Vice Chair on the Executive Committee of the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and as Chair of the Solar Energy Trade Show Association (SETS). Hancock earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in May 1999.

Theresa Williams was named Chief Strategy Officer in September 2011 and reports directly to Western Area Power Administration’s Administrator, serving as the Administrator’s primary spokesperson on strategic initiatives. Ms. Williams leads strategy development and facilitates change initiatives and decision-making processes to ensure the Agency’s strategic plans are executed within the organization. She previously served as Western’s Senior Planning Advisor and Transmission Infrastructure Program Liaison. She has also served as Corporate Communications Manager, Manager of Western’s Power Marketing and Conservation and Renewable Energy Program, as well as Manager of Administrative Programs. Ms. Williams has more than 30 years of Federal experience. She began her Federal career with the Bureau of Reclamation in 1980 as an economist and joined Western in 1985 as a public utilities specialist. Ms. Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Utah.

About SEPA

SEPA is an educational non-profit organization based in Washington dedicated to helping utilities integrate solar power into their energy portfolios. The SEPA Top 10 Utility Solar Rankings report is one of many market intelligence, utility interaction and educational services SEPA provides to its utility and solar industry members. For more information about SEPA, visit our website at www.solarelectricpower.org