Donald Hodel Rand Thurgood
  Earl Gjelde Brett Wilcox
  Eric Gjelde Karl Mattes
  Thomas Cameron Barry Cunningham
  Heather Redman Laura Miller
  Eric Redman Dana Zentz
   

 

Donald Hodel
Donald Paul Hodel, J.D., is Chairman and Senior Vice President for Strategy and Policy. Mr. Hodel founded the predecessor companies to Summit in early 1989. Mr. Hodel served as the Under Secretary (sub-Cabinet post) of the U.S. Department of the Interior (1981-1982), Secretary (Cabinet Minister) of the U.S. Department of Energy (1982-1985) and later Secretary (Cabinet Minister) of the U.S. Department of the Interior (1985-1988). He was the Chairman of the U.S. Critical Materials Council (1985-1988). Mr. Hodel previously served as President of the North American Electric Reliability Council ("NERC") (1978-1980) and served for 6 years on the Board of Directors of NERC during its transition from a voluntary to a statutory entity.  He has served as the Administrator (Chief Executive Officer) of the Bonneville Power Administration (a large U.S. government-owned electric utility) from 1972 through 1977. Mr. Hodel has served on the Boards of Directors of several publicly-traded and privately-held companies, numerous public foundations and institutes. Mr. Hodel was formerly on the Board of, and later on the Advisory Council of, the Electric Power Research Institute ("EPRI") and the World Energy Congress.

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Earl Gjelde
Earl Gjelde, P.E., is Chief Executive Officer and President. Mr. Gjelde currently serves as one of a special nine-member commission, appointed by President Bush and approved by Congress, dealing with special security matters, particularly Electro Magnetic Pulse. Mr. Gjelde was the Under (now called "Deputy") Secretary (sub-Cabinet Post) and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of the Interior (1985-1989), the Chief of Staff and Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Department of Energy (1982-1985), and the Deputy Administrator (Chief Operating Officer) of the Bonneville Power Administration. He served as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Critical Materials Counsel (1985-1988), as special envoy for President Reagan to China (1987) and as the Deputy Chief of Mission for the US-Japan Science and Technology Treaty negotiations (1986-1988). Mr. Gjelde is on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Energy Association and U.S. World Energy Congress with extensive activities throughout the world, AMEN Properties (a publicly traded energy and office complex company), and the National Wilderness Institute. He has served as a director on the Boards of CIGRE' (an international high-voltage transmission organization), the World Energy Congress, and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He was an officer of Waste Management, Inc., then the world's largest environmental services company, and the President and CEO of several of its subsidiaries (1989-1992).

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Eric Gjelde
Eric Gjelde, P.E., is CFO and Senior Vice President, Finance, of Summit, and the principal shareholder of Meridian Northwest, Ltd. (1993 to present) which manages investments. Mr. Gjelde is responsible for Summit's financial management, local government and community relations, land acquisition, and local services, including new power plant site development. Mr. Gjelde has been an owner of and has separately held senior management positions in commercial real estate development, asset management and financial management world-wide. He was principal officer/shareholder of three privately held real estate consulting, development, brokerage and investment firms that acted as managing general partners for properties totaling 1,190,000 sf and $160 million in acquisition cost. Under his direction, these firms performed asset and property management for 1,320,000 sf of retail, office and industrial property and participated in commercial real estate joint venture development with major Japanese banks and trading companies. He was asset manager for the Carpenters' Union retirement fund of Hawaii. Mr. Gjelde also owned and managed a heavy equipment company in California and a John Deere Agricultural Equipment Company in Idaho. He has extensive experience in commercial investing, brokerage, financing, development, asset and property management, general and financial management in the heavy equipment sector and in providing financial management services.

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Thomas Cameron
Thomas Cameron is Senior Vice President, Engineering and Project Management of Summit. He is a principal and founder of Power Development Associates, LLC and Managing Director of Cameron & Associates, a project management and engineering firm. Mr. Cameron has 20 years of experience in the power industry and has held positions in a variety of disciplines. Mr. Cameron was Project Director for Blythe Energy, LLC, a 520 MW combined cycle facility (a Summit project) using the Siemens technology; he is also currently Project Director for the Lake Side Project, a 543 MW combined cycle facility (a Summit project) using the Siemens technology, Summit Westward Project, a 520 MW combined cycle facility (a Summit project) using the Siemens technology and for the Cliffs Project, a 300 MW combined cycle facility (a Summit project) using the Siemens technology. Prior to this, Mr. Cameron held assignments as Project Manager, in charge of design, procurement, equipment manufacturing, construction, and commissioning, of several large gas turbine power projects, including the 340 MW simple cycle and the 520 MW combined cycle Bridgeport Energy Project (a Summit project), using the Siemens technology. During execution of these projects, Mr. Cameron’s responsibilities have included project management, cost and schedule control, technical and commercial contract negotiations, selection and coordination of vendors, engineering firms, and erection contractors, supervision of engineering and site staff, preparation of bid specifications, coordination of construction management, startup coordination and customer interfaces. He also has primary responsibility for the integration of fuel and electric transmission.

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Heather Redman
Heather Redman, J.D., is Senior Vice President, Operations and Legal, of Summit. Ms. Redman is in charge of all legal and administrative matters for Summit including the legal aspects of project financing and corporate structure matters. In addition, Ms. Redman serves on several boards of directors and boards of advisors of high technology companies. Ms. Redman has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, finance and corporate strategy. Ms. Redman held the position of Executive and Senior Vice President at each of AtomShockwave, Inc., Getty Images, Inc., and PhotoDisc, Inc., with responsibility for mergers and acquisitions and financings (including both public offerings of debt and equity and private financings). She led the negotiations for the successful sale of these companies and negotiated many acquisitions on the buy side while at Getty and AtomShockwave. At Getty (which was dual-headquartered in London and Seattle), Ms. Redman worked extensively outside of the U.S. In addition, Ms. Redman has been responsible for substantial operational groups, including all product acquisitions at Atom, and acted as COO at Atom. Ms. Redman has served on the Board of Directors of the Washington Software Alliance and the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association. Ms. Redman holds a law degree (with distinction) from Stanford University and practiced law prior to joining industry.

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Eric Redman

Eric Redman, J.D., is a principal of Summit and senior of counsel at Heller Ehrman LLP.  He works extensively on all of Summit's coal gasification efforts, as well as other new technologies.  He has worked as a leader on coal gasification and other climate related technologies since 2001.  He works closely with the Clean Air Task Force and several other environmental organizations on a variety of climate matters, and leads Summit and Heller Ehrman's participation in the Big Sky Carbon Sequestration Partnership and in development of coal gasification in China. Mr. Redman founded Heller Ehrman's Energy Practice Group in 1983 and its Clean Energy Technology Practice.  Mr. Redman works closely with a number of advanced gasification technology companies on matters related to technology commercialization and finance.  He works with Laurus Energy and its technology provider Ergo Exergy on underground coal gasification (also known as in situ coal gasification) in Canada and the U.S. Mr. Redman is a frequent speaker and author on coal gasification and climate matters.  Mr. Redman began his career as an assistant to the late U.S. Senator Warren G. Magnuson (D-WA) and wrote "The Dance of Legislation", a best-selling account of Congressional enactment of the National Health Service Corps.  He was educated at Harvard College, Oxford University (as a Rhodes Scholar), and Harvard Law School.

 

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Brett Wilcox
Brett Wilcox, J.D., is President and CEO of Summit Power Alternative Resources, LLC and Manager of Northwest Energy Development, LLC. From 1998 to 2005 Mr. Wilcox was CEO and owner of Golden Northwest Aluminum, Inc., a holding company for his aluminum operations, including Northwest Aluminum Company, Northwest Aluminum Specialties, and Northwest Aluminum Technologies. From 1981 to 1985, Mr. Wilcox was the Executive Director of Direct Service Industries, Inc., a trade association of large aluminum and other energy-intensive companies. He previously practiced law with Preston, Ellis and Gates in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Wilcox has extensive experience in real estate development, finance and venture capital. In addition to his commercial endeavors, Mr. Wilcox has been involved in numerous civic and charitable activities including Vice Chairman of the Oregon Progress Board (1989-present), Chairman of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Commission (1997-2003), member of the Boards of Reed College, Citizens for the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, Oregon Business Council and Washington Business Roundtable. Mr. Wilcox previously was Chairman of the Oregon Trail 150-year anniversary and a member of the Governors' Comprehensive Review of the Northwest Regional Power System as well as numerous Oregon Governor's Task Forces. Mr. Wilcox has received numerous awards for his service to Oregon. Mr. Wilcox holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Stanford University.



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Rand Thurgood
Rand Thurgood, Ph.D., is Special Advisor for Advanced Technology. Prior to joining Summit, Dr. Thurgood was Vice President of Resource Development and Construction for PacifiCorp where he was responsible for origination, development and construction of new generation resources in PacifiCorp, including the Current Creek 525 MW combined-cycle project soon to be completed and the Summit Power Lake Side combined-cycle project now under construction. Dr. Thurgood spent 26 years with PacifiCorp and was responsible for their research program during the 1980’s and their generation engineering program before assuming overall responsibility for their resource development work in 2000. He served as a member of the Western Regional Air Quality Board (1999-2000) and as Vice Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the Utah Energy Conservation and Development Council (1991-1993). Dr. Thurgood was a Project Engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory responsible for a coal liquefaction program (1978-1979) and a Project Engineer for Ireco Chemicals, a slurry explosive producer (1972-1974). Dr. Thurgood received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 1979 and has published a number of articles on coal conversion research. He holds several patents in work on slurry explosive manufacture.



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Karl Mattes

Karl E. Mattes is the Director of Projects for Summit.  Mr. Mattes has more than 25 years of experience in the power industry and has held positions in a variety of disciplines.  Most recently, Mr. Mattes was the Combustion Turbine Business Segment Manager for a major integrated service provider.  In this position, Mr. Mattes was responsible for all aspects of combustion turbine repairs and service, including facility planning and implementation, repair development, business development, project management, and industry presentation of technical repairs related to operation and maintenance.  Prior to this position, Mr. Mattes was employed as the Project Director for numerous turnkey combined cycle projects including Chouteau, St. Francis 2 and St. Francis 1 (all Summit projects), with a total capacity of over 1000MW using the Siemens technology.  Mr. Mattes also was Project Director for other turnkey combined cycle and cogeneration projects in California, New York, Virginia and other locations in the United States.  In these positions, Mr. Mattes was in charge of design, procurement, equipment manufacturing, construction, and commissioning.  During execution of these projects, Mr. Mattes' responsibilities included project management, cost and schedule control, technical and commercial contract negotiations, selection and schedule control, technical and commercial contract negotiations, selection and coordination of vendors, engineering firms, and erection contractors, supervision of engineering and site staff, preparation of bid specifications, coordination of construction management, startup coordination and customer interfaces.

 

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Barry Cunningham

Barry Cunningham is Managing Director, Project Development of Summit. Mr. Cunningham has 30 years of experience in the power industry and has held positions in a variety of disciplines.  Prior to joining Summit, Mr. Cunningham was Senior Vice President of Generation for Pacificorp where he was responsible for over 8000 MW of generating assets, and all associated support functions.  Mr. Cunningham's responsibility also included re-licensing of hydroelectric projects, new generation resource development, and construction of new resources, including the Lakeside Project, a 543 MW combined cycle plant (Summit Project).  Mr. Cunningham spent 17 years with Pacificorp and 12 years with Utah Power and Light Co. where he filled roles for all aspects of the power generation including power plant operations, maintenance, training, technical support, procurement, and health and safety.  Mr. Cunningham progressively moved into higher level roles of Plant Manager at several large thermal plants, Assistant Vice President, Vice President and Senior Vice President and executive board of director member for PacifiCorp before retiring in 2006.  Mr. Cunningham has a Bachelor of Arts with Honors degree from the University of Wyoming, and an Associates Degree of Science from Casper College.

 

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Laura Miller

Laura Miller has recently joined Summit to work on its IGCC project in Texas.  She was most recently Mayor of Dallas from 2002 to 2007.  During her tenure, she led the opposition against 18 old-technology coal plants proposed for Texas.  Ms. Miller has been an advocate for coal gasification, carbon sequestration, renewables, nuclear, conservation, and energy efficiency.  She also led a real estate development boom in downtown Dallas, leveraging $190 million in city financial incentives to spark $1.3 billion in private investment.  She also has extensive experience with public finance, including arranging for the two largest bond packages in the history of Dallas and restructuring Dallas' pension system with pension obligation bonds.  Prior to becoming Mayor, Ms. Miller was a member of the Dallas City Council.  Before she began her political career, Ms. Miller was an award-winning journalist.

 

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Dana Zentz

Dana Zentz has over 25 years of active involvement in the energy industry with management roles in supply, marketing and project development.  He founded and managed Inland Energy Consulting, Inc.  Inland Energy assisted utilities, Independent Power Producers and energy merchant firms with strategic and commercial matters related to power and natural gas supplies and energy project management.  Prior to Inland Energy Consulting, Mr. Zentz was Director of Business Development for National Fuel Marketing Company, a Rockies based natural gas production and marketing firm.  He also served as Strategic Director of western markets for Williams Energy Marketing and Trading.  Mr. Zentz worked for over 15 years in electric, gas and telecommunications utility operations at Avista Corporation in Spokane, Washington, advancing to Vice President of Wholesale Energy Marketing.  During his tenure, Avista Energy grew to become one of the top 15 U.S. energy merchant firms.  Mr. Zentz has many years experience in wholesale natural gas and power markets in the U.S. and Western Canada.  His experience includes pricing, structuring, and negotiation of numerous long and short term natural gas and power supply agreements; development of strategic plans for energy firms; management of generation project development; construction/administration of utility energy resource procurement processes; analysis and evaluation of energy projects employing both traditional and renewable generation technology; evaluation of energy projects employing both traditional and renewable generation technology; evaluation and mitigation of financial risk associated with energy supplies; and development of natural gas, wind & IGCC projects.  Recently he has been active in development of wind generation projects having assisted with contracts for off-take, asset sales and financing of wind projects in the Western U.S.  He is a registered professional engineer in Washington and holds engineering degrees (with honors) from the University of Idaho (BSCE) and Washington State University (MSEng).

 

   
   
 



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