SMP 133: An Update on the IRA and current trade policy issues in renewables by Greg Wetstone who is head of ACORE

Episode Summary In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy speaks with Gregory Wetstone who is the President and CEO of American Council on Renewable Energy (“ACORE”).  Greg gives an update on  the Inflation Reduction Act(“IRA”) and talks about current policy issues in renewables.  He also talks about how ACORE is leading as a trade organization in the equitable transition of renewables with the Accelerate Program and partnership with the National Urban League.   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 Environmental Commodities 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 Tesla 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.     Gregory Wetstone Gregory Wetstone is President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a national nonprofit organization that unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. Since assuming this role in January of 2016, he has led the way to dramatic improvements in ACORE’s organizational health, prominence and effectiveness in pursuit of its mission. Greg oversees ACORE’s strategic planning and core activities, including government affairs, communications, research and analysis, executive programs, market expansion priorities, signature events and fundraising. Prior to joining ACORE, Greg served as Vice President for Terra-Gen Power LLC, a renewable energy company with utility-scale wind, solar and geothermal energy facilities. Prior to his six-year term with Terra-Gen, he served as Senior Director for Government and Public Affairs at the American Wind Energy Association and Director of Programs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where he founded the legislative program. Earlier in his career, Greg was Senior Counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and played an important role in crafting a number of important laws, including the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Prior to joining the Committee staff, Greg was Director of the Air and Water Pollution Program at the Environmental Law Institute. Greg is a forceful advocate for the policies and financial structures essential to renewable energy growth, and has been widely published and quoted on energy and environmental issues over the span of his career. He has a Juris Doctor degree from the Duke University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Florida State University. Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: [email protected]  Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   To Learn More about ACORE: https://acore.org/   ACORE Finance Forum June 7-8, 2023 in New York https://acorefinanceforum.org/   ACORE Accelerate Program https://acore.org/accelerate/