SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Directors of sPower (Sustainable Power Group), a leading renewable energy provider, today announced the appointment of long-time energy policy leader Bob Foster to its board, effective Oct. 1, 2014.
To become eligible to serve on sPower’s Board of Directors, Foster publicized his resignation from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) board as of today. ISO board members are prohibited by state and federal policy from being affiliated with market participants due to potential conflict of interest.
“sPower is one of the industry’s rare companies whose management has a 20-year history of success in large-scale energy management supported by deep financial resources with an impressive project portfolio and pipeline,” Foster said. “I’m honored to be on the sPower board and to be part of an enterprise dedicated to renewable power development.”
As an ISO Board member, Foster helped California lead the way to enabling more renewable generation development and to lowering carbon emissions. Foster championed the ISO’s aggressive “greening” of the grid, including helping to put in place rules for giving clean resources equal footing in the marketplace and more efficient grid planning for renewable energy transmission.
“We conducted an exhaustive search for someone who would further strengthen our board’s breadth of talent and background and are delighted to have been able to engage such an outstanding individual,” said Ryan Creamer, sPower CEO. “I’m confident that Bob is going to make a positive impact on our company and continue his important leadership role in the renewable energy industry.”
Foster served as mayor of Long Beach, Calif., from 2006 to 2014. He worked at Southern California Edison from 1984 to 2006, most recently as president of the utility, where he led California’s largest electric company through the 1999 energy crisis. During his tenure, SCE developed the biggest renewable, clean energy programs in the United States in solar, geothermal, biomass and wind. Before that, Foster was deputy executive director of the California Energy Commission, helping establish statewide energy efficiency standards, many of which are still in place today. Foster was appointed as the Environmental Committee Chair in 2008, elected to the Advisory Board in 2009 and elected to the Board of Trustees in 2010 for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Foster was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Board of Governors for CAISO in 2010 and was reappointed by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. to a second three-year term in January 2013. Foster is a graduate of San Jose State University with a degree in public administration.
The appointment of Foster to sPower’s board is the latest in a series of strategic adjustments to senior management, including appointing SunEdison founder Jigar Shah to sPower’s Board of Directors and promoting sPower’s CFO, J. I. “Chip” Everest, to President.
About sPower: Headquartered in Salt Lake City, with offices in San Francisco and New York City, sPower is a leading independent power producer (IPP) which owns and/or operates more than 130 utility and distributed electrical generation systems across the United States. With greater than a gigawatt between construction and pipeline, sPower is actively buying renewable assets in any stage of development, as well as working to acquire operating sustainable energy projects in North America and the UK. Concurrently, sPower’s land division is seeking landowner partners (to develop green energy projects) and landowners with existing renewables assets (who can benefit from liquidating current land leases). sPower is a portfolio company of Fir Tree Partners, a leading global investment fund with more than 20 years of investing history and approximately $13 billion of capital under management.
sPower's growth (including: acquiring Tioga Energy's operating assets; merging with Fir Tree Partners-backed Silverado Power; acquiring Bosch North American operating assets; appointing Jigar Shah to the sPower Board of Directors; and negotiating a collaboration agreement with Camborne Capital to expand to the UK solar market) has secured its position as a leader in the renewable energy industry since its founding in 2012.
For more information, visit www.sPower.com.
