Joined July, 2021– As a business student working at the University of Texas at Austin’s Clean Energy Incubator, I fell in love with the industry, but I honestly wondered back then if renewable energy would ever become cost-competitive with fossil fuels during my career. Thank goodness it has!

Over the last 15+ years, I’ve worked in different renewable energy subsectors. I’ve consulted with startups, sold retail green power products in deregulated markets, built residential solar programs, and most recently, served as Sr. Director of Origination at 7x Energy, Inc. I entered my current role after bp acquired the 7x portfolio and engaged Lightsource bp to continue developing and marketing those projects. As VP of Business Development, USA, it has been nice to continue to market those projects, as well as Lightsource bp’s own portfolio.

Lightsource bp has two characteristics that stand out for me. First is our relationship with bp. This relationship provides strong financial backing and access to capital in an industry that is incredibly capital-intensive. Our financial strength increases our counterparties’ confidence in us as developers, allowing us to make competitive deals with big players.

Second, I’ve been pleasantly surprised since joining at how quickly things move here. Speed is so important, as it means that more solar goes into the ground more quickly, resulting in earlier greenhouse gas reductions. I am happy that Lightsource bp has aggressive timelines and goals, because we (and by “we” I mean the world) have no time to waste in this regard.

Helen Brauner, Senior Vice President, Business Development, USA

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