Cypress Creek Renewables Announces New Leadership
Cypress Creek Renewables today announced leadership changes to support the next stage of the company’s growth. The Cypress Creek Board has appointed Sarah Slusser as chief executive officer and as a director on the board, Rebecca (Becky) Cranna as interim chief operating officer and Kim Oster as interim chief strategy officer.
As part of these leadership changes, Matthew McGovern and Michael Cohen have stepped down from their management responsibilities. Ned Hall, who joined the Cypress Creek Board in 2018, succeeds Ben Van de Bunt as chairman of the board.
“I want to thank Matthew, Michael and Ben for their contributions to Cypress Creek. Through their vision and tenacity, Cypress Creek has celebrated significant accomplishments, including creating one of the largest solar companies in the US,” said Hall. “I would also like to express the entire Board’s deep appreciation for the hard work employees at all levels have put in to make Cypress Creek the leading solar company it is today. Your skills, commitment and passion are key competitive advantages for Cypress Creek and the Board is honored to support the next stage of sustainable growth.”
Slusser, Oster and Cranna will work with Cypress Creek’s board, senior management and teams across the company, to build on its successes of developing 3.7GW and building 2.2GW of solar projects in less than five years. This new leadership team, all of whom are partners at Point Reyes Energy Partners and worked together at AES for over a decade, brings to Cypress Creek broad industry experience and a proven track record of creating value in their former leadership roles throughout the energy sector. They each have more than 25 years of experience in the power business, have together developed or financed 5GW of renewable energy projects, and have held senior executive positions at companies, including AES, First Solar, Silver Ridge, TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global. Their expertise spans development, finance, construction, operations and asset management, giving them a comprehensive understanding of Cypress Creek’s business and the broader industry.
“The Cypress Creek team has built a remarkable foundation,” said Slusser. “Becky, Kim and I are excited to lead the company during this next chapter and to build on this strong foundation to achieve top- and bottom-line growth and continue to drive the expansion of solar power across the US. We look forward to partnering with the senior management team and all employees across the company to pursue opportunities that create value for Cypress Creek, its customers, vendors, financing partners, communities and landowners.”
About Sarah Slusser
Slusser is an expert in power markets, with 30 years of development, finance and operations experience. She is a Partner in Point Reyes Energy Partners and an accomplished investor and officer of public and private companies, having led investments of $3 billion across the electric sector. During her 21 years at AES, she rose to be a senior officer and built and ran the Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean division. Slusser co-founded GeoGlobal Energy, a geothermal company in the US, Chile, and Germany, which was sold to its investor. Slusser graduated from Harvard University with Honors and received an MBA from Yale School of Management.
Sarah Slusser, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board
About Kim Oster
Oster is a founding partner of Point Reyes Energy Partners and the former regional head and Vice President at First Solar. She has over 30 years of experience in the power sector having successfully developed and financed over $4.5 billion of power projects. Oster spent over a decade at AES where she successfully led the development and financing of over 600MW of power projects and transacted several M&A transactions. Oster graduated from Williams College and Yale School of Management with an MBA, and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies with an MES.
Kim Oster, Interim Chief Strategy Officer
About Becky Cranna
Cranna’s 26 years of energy experience spans multiple continents, with executive roles in finance, operations, and risk management. She is a Partner in Point Reyes Energy Partners, and previously was the CFO for TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global, both public companies. Previously, Cranna led Asset and Risk Management and operations for TerraForm Power’s 2,972MW fleet of solar and wind plants. Cranna was also CFO of Silver Ridge Power, a portfolio of 52 solar plants totaling 522MW in 7 countries, with both operations and finance responsibilities. Cranna was at AES for 17 years, including as the VP responsible for the credit review function, and other roles in greenfield development and M&A. Cranna graduated from Stanford University with Honors.
Becky Cranna, Interim Chief Operating Officer
About Ned Hall
Hall is a global senior executive leader with over 35 years of experience in all facets of the energy industry. He brings to Cypress Creek a deep understanding of international energy markets, power generation technologies and commercial structuring. Hall spent 25 years of his career with AES Corporation, where he was a member of the AES Executive Leadership Team and served as Chief Operating Officer of global generation. He serves as Chair of the Cypress Creek Board, Vice Chairman of Japan Wind Development Company and as a Non-Executive Director of Globeleq, a leading independent power producer in sub-Saharan Africa. Hall has previously served on the boards of General Cable, TerraForm Power and Green Conversion Systems.
Ned Hall, Board Chair
