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Press Release
George Schaefer Joins Soltage as Chief Financial Officer
Jersey City, New Jersey- April 7, 2009: Soltage is pleased to announce that George P. Schaefer, who has more than 30 years experience in the energy and finance industry, will be joining Soltage in the newly created position of Chief Financial Officer.
Co-founder and CEO of Soltage, Jesse Grossman, explains, “We are very excited to have George become our new CFO, as he brings a broad level of expertise in structuring financial arrangements in the energy field, which is key to Soltage’s growth. He closed over $15 billion in debt and equity issuances when he was V.P. and Treasurer of NRG Energy. He led negotiations for a $3 billion power plant in China when he was the V.P. of Entergy Power Group. Earlier in his career, he led GE’s European Structured Finance group headquartered in London, England, and led the financing of more than 25 independent power transactions in the U.S., all when he was Senior V.P. of GE Capital.”
Vanessa E-H Stewart, co-founder and COO, adds “securing complex financial arrangements is a critical component to being able to provide our clients with what they’re looking for — a Soltage Powerstation that will provide a significant amount of savings on their electric bill and allow them to stabilize their electric rates for the next 20 years, all without any up front costs to them. Bringing George on board — especially after recently securing the financial backing from Tenaska Solar, a subsidiary of Tenaska Energy, one of the largest independent power producers in the U.S. — is truly an important development in the growth of our business.”
“Soltage is the ideal fit for me,” states Mr. Schaefer, “because it is a young, vibrant, growth-oriented renewable energy company and that dovetails well with my most recent experience as CFO of two venture capital backed start-up companies. I’m very excited to be able to have the opportunity to help accelerate Soltage’s growth not only here in New Jersey, but also as Soltage expands beyond the east coast to further demonstrate its national presence.”
Prior to joining Soltage, Mr. Schaefer served as the CFO of Mascoma Corporation of Boston and ASAlliances Biofuels, LLC of Dallas where he was responsible for all of the Company’s accounting, analytical, budgeting, finance, human resources, information technology, and risk management.
He was Vice President and Treasurer of NRG Energy, Inc. for four years, where he closed over $15 billion of debt and equity issuances for the Company and its subsidiaries in the U.S, Australia, and Germany. He successfully led NRG through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2003 and the refinancing and listing of NRG on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004. In 2005, he led the evaluation and closing of a major transforming $10 billion merger for NRG and also led the sale and disposition of non-core businesses.
Mr. Schaefer served as Vice President, Finance and Treasurer of Reliant Energy International for five years from 1995-2000. During this period, he led the analysis, financing and acquisition of eight operating utilities in South America, including those in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which provide electricity to over 20 million customers. He also led transactions in Colombia, El Salvador, India, the Netherlands, and the United States during this period.
From 1993-95, Mr. Schaefer was Vice President of Entergy Power Group and where he led its negotiations for a $3 billion power plant in Guangdong Province, China and the negotiations and financing of three new electric generation projects in Argentina and Peru worth $500 million.
Mr. Schaefer was Senior Vice President of GE Capital for over 10 years. During his tenure at GE Capital he lived in London and led GE’s European Structured Finance Group. While at GE Capital, he led the financing of over 25 independent power transactions in the United States and five industrial and power projects in France, England, Hungary, and Mexico.
He also worked for three years in Booz Allen’s Energy and Environment Unit and for two years at the US Federal Energy Administration following his completion of his studies at the Maxwell School.
Mr. Schaefer has his M.P.A. from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from The American University in Washington, DC. He and his family reside in Montville, New Jersey.
About Soltage, LLC
Soltage, LLC is a full service renewable energy company that develops, finances, and operates solar energy stations on client structures across the USA. Using proven technology and on-site generation, Soltage supplies a significant portion of client long-term energy demand at a cost below retail rates. Soltage has an office in Hartford, Connecticut and is headquartered in New Jersey. www.soltage.com.
About Tenaska Solar, LLC
Tenaska Solar, LLC is a privately-held company owned by employees of Tenaska Energy, Inc. Tenaska is one of the largest independent power producers in the U.S., with headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska and offices in Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; and Calgary, Alberta Canada. Forbes magazine ranked Tenaska as 24th among the 411 largest privately-head U.S. companies, based on 2007 revenues. Tenaska affiliates currently operate, manage and own in partnership with oher companies eight power plants in six states totallying approximately 6,800 MW of generating capacity. Tenaska affiliates also market natural gas, electric power and biofuels with Tenaska’s natural gas marketing affiliate rated as one of the top ten natural gas marketers in North America. Tenaska affiliates are also involved in private equity fund and acquisition management, fuel supply, gas transportation systems and electric transmission development. www.tenaska.com
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Jesse Grossman or Vanessa E-H Stewart
(201) 432-1786
media@soltage.com