SMP 157: Proposed California Community Solar Program Update(April 2024)

Solar Maverick Podcast

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy spoke about the proposed community solar legislation in California with Derek Chernow with CCSA, Stephanie Doyle from SEIA, and Steve Campbell from Vote Solar.

Benoy Thanjan

Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies. He has extensive project origination, development, and financial experience in the renewable energy industry and in the environmental commodities market.

This includes initial site evaluation, permitting, financing, sourcing equipment, and negotiating the long-term energy and environmental commodities off-take agreements. He manages due diligence processes on land, permitting, and utility interconnection and is in charge of financing
and structuring through Note to Proceed (“NTP”) to Commercial Operation Date (“COD”). Benoy composes teams suitable for all project development and construction tasks. He is also involved in project planning and pipeline financial modeling. He has been part of all sides of the
transaction and this allows him to provide unique perspectives and value. Benoy has extensive experience in financial engineering to make solar projects profitable.

Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity to move into the east coast markets.

Benoy was the Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners which is a national solar installer where he focused on project finance solutions for commercial scale solar projects. He also worked for Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund, where he analyzed potential investments in renewable energy projects and worked on maximizing the financial return of the projects in the portfolio. Benoy also worked on the sale of all of the renewable energy projects in Ridgewood’s portfolio.

He was in the Energy Structured Finance practice for Deloitte & Touche and in Financial Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young. Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. He has a MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Benoy was an Alumni Scholar at the Stern School of Business.

Derek Chernow

WESTERN REGIONAL DIRECTOR of CCSA(“Coalition for Community Solar Access”)

Derek is a highly accomplished clean energy leader. He previously served as Executive Director of the California Alternative Energy & Advanced Transportation Financing Authority (CAEATFA), where he led all operations for the California agency charged with financing clean energy projects to spur economic development. Before CAEATFA, he spent many years working in the California State Legislature, including in the CA Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources, Environmental Protection, Energy & Transportation and as a Chief of Staff for multiple members. He also held leadership positions advocating for clean energy and environmental protection including Acting Director at the California Department of Conservation. In his spare time, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Tree Foundation.

Stephanie Doyle

She is the California State Affairs Director for SEIA(“Solar Energy Industries Association”). SEIA is the national trade association for the U.S. solar industry. Stephanie was the regulatory Director for California for Vote Solar, Climate Policy Associate for The Nature Conservancy, and the Director of National Partnerships and Outreach for Ciizens’ Climate Lobby, She also has experience as the On Deck Climate Tech Fellow and Fellow at the Clean Energy Leadership Institute.

Steve Campbell

Steve is the Regulatory Director for the West for Vote Solar. Vote Solar is a non-profit policy advocacy organization with the mission of making solar more accessible and affordable across the United States. He worked as Western States Policy Director at Grid Alternatives and Associate Program Manager, Energy Efficiency and Climate Action at Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.

Stay Connected:

Benoy Thanjan

Email: [e-mail]

LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan

Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com

Derek Chernow

Website: https://communitysolaraccess.org/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-chernow-9a358444/

CCSA Summit: https://web.cvent.com/event/4d08858f-5aef-4a10-8340-6111b45325fd/summary

Stephanie Doyle

Website: https://www.seia.org/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieedoyle/

SEIA Events: https://www.seia.org/events

Steve Campbell

Website: https://votesolar.org/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allthink/

Google: California Community Solar CPUC Public Comment

Proceeding No. A.22.05.022