Interview with Emilie Wangerman, Lightsource bp

Catherine: Hi, I’m Catherine McLean, Founder and CEO of Dylan Green. And today I have with me my dear friend, Emily Wangerman, who I’m so excited to say is the chief operating officer and head of America for Lightsource bp. So a very well-deserved title. So thanks for joining me, Emily.

Emily: Thank you for having me, Catherine. It’s nice to see you.

Catherine: So the last time we did this, we were talking about earlier, it was 2021. So a few things have changed since then.

Emily: Just a little.

Catherine: Yeah, just a little. So glad we’re going to have a refresh and all the exciting things that have been happening with you and Lightsource. So for those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Emily: So as you mentioned, I recently became the chief operating officer. So I’ve been at Lightsource since 2017, but I started as a director and since then I’ve moved up into various roles. Now I’m in the chief operating officer role, which is actually the replacement for the CEO role. So I lead all of the US and I’ve been leading in an interim capacity since October, but officially became the full-time position in May.

Catherine: Great. Well, I’m really pleased to hear that. And this past November, BP agreed to acquire the remaining 50% of Lightsource bp. What impact will this have on Lightsource bp internally and within the broader clean energy industry?

Emily: So BP took an investment in us in 2017. I think they actually signed in 2018 and that was a minority investment in Lightsource. So they’ve already been heavily involved in Lightsource.
What’s been really great about the partnership is they’ve helped us scale. So when I first started, there were about three or four countries. Now we’re at 19 countries. So we’ve had a lot of expansion since then. And that’s really been because of BP’s investment in us. And then in 2019, they expanded their investment to 50-50. So they became a joint partner. And then when they moved to full ownership in Lightsource, I suspect that it’ll continue to be the relationship we’ve already had with them with the benefit of having the full benefit of the BP brand and the BP balance sheet. So overall, I don’t expect it’ll make a big difference as it relates to what we’ve already engaged with in partnership with them. But I expect it’ll help us continue to grow. We’re also going to be the onshore renewables component of them, which includes things like wind and green hydrogen, as well as solar and battery, which is what we’re already doing.

Catherine: Right. You started working with Lightsource, as you mentioned, Lightsource BP in 2017 as a VP of business development. When the company first entered the U.S. market, that’s, I think, when you and I started speaking. Six years later, the team has exited over 4 gigawatts of power contracts and raised over $4 billion in project financing with a pipeline of over 30 gigawatts in the U.S. As discussed, you’ve been promoted. And how have the job duties changed? What do you most look forward to in your new role?

Emily: Well, my first role was actually director, and I had just come from PG&E, which is Pacific Gas and Electric. And there I was doing a program which was a variety of roles from things like rate design to energy procurement to transmission and distribution. So it was really a breadth of experience at PG&E. So when I moved to Lightsource, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to get into, but I was focused on origination of power marketing contracts. So there it was very early days. We were in one little office, sharing one office, which is actually a sublet to another company. And we didn’t have any projects yet. So it was a lot of, you know, wearing a lot of hats and just kind of rolling up my sleeves, trying to find new projects, trying to find new business. And so it was a lot of learning and a lot of doing, jumping in there. And then over time, I’ve taken an expanded role. I started taking on more work like our short-term power marketing, which was more of a rep trading and our energy trading. And then I also took on M&A. So we’re mainly our acquisitions, doing a lot of acquisitions to continue to supplement our greenfield pipeline. And so over time I grew. And then this latest role actually takes on even larger scope.
It takes on the full breadth of the U.S. business. And so in that case, I think my actual role has changed over time into being more and more of a leadership role and less of a, I still do a lot, but it’s much more about guiding the organization and giving support to the teams as roadblocks come along and helping them address those. So from my perspective, it’s become much more, I’ve always had a strategic component to my team or sorry, excuse me, to my role, but it’s become much more strategic as I’ve moved into the senior leadership role.

Catherine: Last December Lightsource BP closed on an $85 million tax equity investment from Bank of America to support construction and operation of the 188 megawatt Honeysuckle solar project in Indiana, which will recycle nearly 90% of construction waste in addition to providing pollinator habitats. This sounds so interesting. Can you talk a bit more about it?

Emily: Yeah, so Honeysuckle, I’m really proud of this project in particular. One, I got to name the project and I was pretty excited. And it’s one of the projects I worked on the offtake as well for it. So for this deal, you’re right, it is focused on recycling. So all of our solar panels will be recycled per our global commitment. And that’s standard practice for us. And then as mentioned, the EPC is recycling 90% of the remaining construction components and waste. So that’s a really great model. It’s what we have as an expectation as part of our overall mission of responsible solar. It’s also pretty exciting because we have a lot of labor on the site. It’s a large project. More than 75% of that labor is local labor. So that’s 200 jobs that’s going to be local and giving back to Indiana. So that’s pretty awesome. From a habitat perspective, it’s also exciting because it has bees and butterfly habitat, and it has this really cool seed mix. And so we’re excited for that to come to fruition. The project is going to be operating soon in early 2024. So we’re pretty much wrapping up the project right now. And so it’ll be exciting to see it operating and all the things come together. And then from a local economy perspective, it’s really impactful. This is $30 million in tax revenue for this local community. And it’s overall $3 million in economic development for St. Joseph County. And just in general, it’s what I would call our true responsible solar example from the people in the local community to the jobs, to the bees, to the local habitat, giving back from a revenue perspective to really great partnership and a long-term contract. So I’m just really excited about this project, and I’m excited that it’s going to provide affordable clean energy to Indiana. And I look forward to seeing it operate. So it’s pretty exciting that something’s there.

Catherine: The other project that you’ve been working on just more about sort of agriculture is an agrivoltaic elm branch solar project in Texas, which was recently featured on CNBC due to its focus on honey production and sheep grazing. I feel like this has Alyssa Edwards written all over it. Is that right? Is she involved in this? I know she’s really passionate about this stuff.

Emily: Yes, she leads the environmental and sustainability for the US, but also Light Source bp fundamentally has always been really focused on agrivoltaics. We’ve had sheep on site for the last 10 years plus in our UK sites. And then we have, we actually have three gigawatts of projects with solar grazing across our sites with, we have currently 2.3 gigawatts operating.
We have 14,000 sheep and we have 16 farm families. And so that’s really important to mention because we’re their local families that are supporting the projects and supplementing their income through the farm, the sheep grazing on our sites. And we also have 750 pounds of honey, which we purchased from the local beekeepers. So yeah, there’s an elm branch that is pretty impressive. It’s one of the great examples of agrivoltaics. As you mentioned, it was mentioned on CNBC. It’s really exciting to see the local farmer and the grazer engaging in the conversations, not just with us, but demonstrating as a global example of agrivoltaics. And so if you ever check out any of our sites or on the CNBC website, it’s just fun to see how engaged that family is. I mean, you see it’s actually a family affair. And so it’s one of those great projects that has the benefits of keeping farming going while also benefiting from clean energy.

Catherine: Yeah. That’s wonderful. And I mean, farmers need all the help they can get these days, especially with all the crazy climate changes and prices and so forth. So you all recently entered into a virtual PPA with Verizon on a 152 megawatt solar project in Indiana, which will help reduce Verizon’s carbon footprint and contribute to the pollinator habitat research. McDonald’s also recently signed a PPA for the entire production of 180 megawatt solar project in Louisiana, which you all will finance, build, own and operate. Can you talk a little bit more about these partnerships?

Emily: So Verizon, the project that we’re working on with Verizon is called Bellflower Solar. It’s been operating for some time now. It’s a great example of a collaboration with Verizon where they’re getting the benefits of the clean energy, but also they’re getting the benefits of the broader environmental impact. And in that case, this particular project was actually just nominated for solar ecosystem of the year. So hopefully we win that one, but either way, it’s a good example of how we’re moving beyond just providing the clean energy to our customers and to the grid, but also providing an exceptional advancement in clean energy generation and ecosystem services. So that project I’m really proud of. Again, that’s one of the first projects I worked on at Lightsource. It’s interesting to see. It’s one of the first projects I actually found an offtake for. Also named that project. I see them operating now because before, they’re all theoretical, right? You’re talking about, you’re going, you’re seeing this field and now it’s actually an operating asset, giving back to the community and giving back to addressing climate change. So it’s really fun to see that one.
And then you also mentioned our project called Oxbow Solar in Louisiana. That’s the partnership with McDonald’s and eBay. That project is coming online this year and it’s actually already partially online and delivering under the eBay PPA. So this project is a great example of a very large site. It’s over 8,000 acres of land. The vegetation is native species. And so what’s really exciting about that is that it’s pollinator friendly, but it’s also native. And so we care more about the ecosystem when we evaluate every project. To your point Alyssa, Alyssa’s team makes sure that we have environmental management plans for every project and their detail. They look at what are the different flowering plants, what can support the site, but what is also local. And then we also have a research study for this particular project. And so we’ll see how that one works out and see how agro-voltaics and agricultural production during the life of the asset plays out. So it’ll be exciting.

Catherine: You also have projects in many other states. We discussed Indiana, Texas, Louisiana. You recently announced another project in Louisiana. Is this because Janelle is in Louisiana?

Emily: It’s been a good growth region for us. It’s one of the reasons we hired people in that area. I think which comes first is probably our portfolio. It’s been a growth market for us. I know you’d say, I think you think back and you say, wow, I didn’t expect to have so much solar in the South, but actually it’s a really good fit for our portfolio because it’s sunny and it’s an area that needs a lot of new generation. And it’s also retiring a lot of new generation. So it’s an opportunity to swap out that dirtier power for clean energy. And so we have a big portfolio in that area. It’s definitely different. People are always saying they’re surprised they’re hearing about us being in Indiana and Arkansas and Texas, but actually a lot of the growth for us has been in that area. In that case, we will continue to see growth. We have a project, for instance, that we’re building right now to support energy and Big River Steel, which is a subsidiary of US Steel. And that project is another big example of a project that we’re building half of energy and then we’re handing it over to them. And some people would say, wow, I didn’t expect any projects in this area, but we found the local community has been incredibly supportive of it. And so we’re really looking forward to that coming to operations this year as well.

Catherine: Switching topics a bit, Lightsource BP has always prioritized diversity, equity and inclusion, which is something I know you and I are really passionate about. Are you able to share any updates about the progress Lightsource bp has made on its DEIJ initiative since we last spoke?

Emily: Definitely. So since we last spoke and actually one of the reasons I have been in touch with you for so long is that you advocate for DEIJ and that’s something that I care a lot about personally. I’ve also been moving into Bayer leadership roles and really continue to advocate for the importance of it. And it’s really shown, it took us three to four years to develop a very diverse organization. It doesn’t happen overnight, but fundamentally starts with really solid recruiting with people like you. And so that’s been one of our missions is to make sure every time we hire a candidate, we’re looking at a diverse pool of candidates. And I’m not just talking about from a gender perspective or looking overall from a minority perspective. This is looking at everything we look at from someone who is bringing in something new to the organization.
So for instance, if we’re hiring for project management, have we considered someone that has come from a different field? Have they come from oil and gas, for instance? Have they gone from other parts of industries that you can tap that same experience, but they might not have a direct solar experience. We also get things like, is this person extroverted or introverted? How are they going to fit in within the organization? Are they going to bring something unique to the table with their expertise? And so it’s really gone beyond once you really focus on it, you can go beyond the initial references to diversity and really focus on inclusion. So more recently, that’s what we’ve been focusing on is a lot more about inclusion, making sure all of our conversations are inclusive, that people feel welcome, that when we have discussions, it’s a flat organization.
And so it’s not hierarchical where only the most senior people talk. Everyone is willing to speak up. Most of my initiatives in the last six to eight months have been focused on getting people comfortable speaking up, because fundamentally the best ideas and the people that are going to flag issues quickly are the people that are there on site, on the ground, doing the work.
And if they’re willing to speak up, no matter how tough the topic is, the more likely we’re going to be a better organization as a result.

Catherine: I just want to add two things to that. One is, I mean, we have placed a lot of women at Lightsource over the years, and just going back to that inclusion piece, the retention of those women is just phenomenal. And I don’t think that comes easily. That is intentional that they feel included in that organization.

Emily: Agreed. When you’re considering inclusion, it’s not just about women, but it’s also about how do the men feel about the conversations we’re having when we have tough conversations that we’re considering everyone’s perspective, right? So does this person feel left out because the topic isn’t inclusive enough? So we look at that even from a regional perspective, so from a global perspective, sometimes a topic might fit really well for one region that just doesn’t fit very well for another region. So we make sure we also discuss regional topics. We have a group called Vibes, which handles our overall diversity and inclusion initiatives. And that’s some of the things that we’re doing now is becoming more regional. In the US, we have a really strong presence, but it’s becoming a broader engagement of how are we making sure that each region provides a structured opportunity for people to engage and feel included, even when you have 19 countries, you’re going to have varying cultures and expectations. So in the US, the other thing we’ve done is we’ve achieved silver status of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice with SIA. And we’re on our way to gold status for 2024.
And I think that’s really important to mention, because you’re demonstrating proof of consistency over years of what you’ve worked on and what you’ve proven through programs and through people engagement, like you’re talking about from retention perspective, and with your engagement with your community. So I think it’s a combination. It’s initial recruitment, and to your point, it’s retention. How are you keeping people motivated? And it’s not necessarily looking at it from, again, from a diversity perspective, we don’t have any specific targets or anything like that. It’s just making sure that when we are talking to people, we’re focusing on all of our people feel included. And then when we look at who are our highest performers, making sure those performers are still getting new opportunities to grow, even if it isn’t like a promotion up, it’s a lateral experience. And so they’re feeling like they’re getting experience and growing still without being stifled. And that’s one of the ways we retain them. And another way we retain people is giving them an opportunity to move laterally, like, okay, maybe they’re interested. Originally, we have a junior employee that was started in the construction group. And she was really interested in staying involved in development.
That’s an example of when we might have lost a high performer that we could have lost to an outside company. But instead, she stayed because she was able to move into development instead. She’s growing her career at Lightsource, which is really exciting. And she was a high performer coming out of construction, which is historically a more challenging organization to find women. So it was tough. It was like, well, we’re losing a woman in the construction organization, but we’re not losing her as a company. And hopefully she can then have skills on the development side and the construction side. And who knows, maybe she’ll go back to construction once she has a development time period, time and experience.

Catherine: And then I just wanted to give a shout out, if that’s okay, to Aaron Chavez. Because I’ve just been hearing, I hear from so many people that he’s just so instrumental in a lot of what’s going on within that business from an HR talent development point of view.

Emily: Definitely. He’s been a key partner for me throughout my career at Lightsource. When we originally, when I originally started, we didn’t have a local HR representative. And it was one of the things that I really pushed for because it’s really critical to have someone that understands not only the people and the culture, but also the regulation and the expectations from a total compensation perspective. And he has that blend of knowledge. It is unique to see someone that has both the knowledge of the total compensation package, the knowledge of the structure and organizational design, as well as the people side and really managing the overall employee relations issues. So he has a really nice blend of that. He’s also built out a really strong team to support him. To compensation, to employee relations. And so it’s been nice to see him grow in his role and continue to flourish at Lightsource. So he’s been an amazing partner for me. And I don’t think we would be where we are today if he hadn’t driven a lot of those initiatives himself.

Catherine: And one of the things I think that’s really interesting that I don’t always see in other companies is a real focus on learning and development. So by having that learning and development, like people like Taryn, you’re able to then get people maybe from another industry and help with some of that training because you have that function in-house.

Emily: Definitely. It’s actually something I’m really impressed with, with Lightsource. Pretty small company still. It’s 1,300 globally, 300 in the US, but we have some pretty strong, to your point, learning and development programs. And especially on the leadership development programs that start from the very beginning where you can have, there’s a self-taught program. So you can go in and there’s hundreds of different training sessions that you can go to on your own and learn. And that’s the kind of initial leadership. And then you move into facilitated programs, which include one-on-one coaching, peer coaching, as well as overall training with your own peers and your subject and your own team. And so you get 360 feedback and things like that. So even in an early stage, a new manager is getting actual leadership coaching. And I’ve seen in past companies, even big ones that I’ve worked at in the past, where really people don’t get that leadership experience until they’ve been a leader for five, 10 years. It’s like, okay, well, what about those five, 10 years?

Catherine: We’re just like, what about all those people that you just, they were winging it.

Emily: Exactly, exactly. And so it’s been really nice to make sure that anyone that becomes a new manager, they’re getting that fundamental experience first before they can become a supervisor. And then as they move through their careers, they move into programs that give them more of an experience. And as we move up to a program called Brilliant Leaders, which I recently actually probably took about three or four years ago, it’s an example of getting you ready to become an executive. And so it’s structured, it’s thoughtful. We nominate every quarter, different participants in it. And it gives people an example of stretching into a larger leadership role and getting to know a broader part of the organization. Their cohorts are from all 19 countries. And so they’re exposed to different work product. And really what they find out, what I found the most interesting is we all have similar experiences and you’re able to share best practices globally that not everybody gets. When you talk about, a lot of times, solar development is locally made. There’s not as many global companies, but for us, it’s been nice to talk to somebody from Singapore or someone from Australia or Spain or Italy. And you realize you have similar issues, but you’re all taking it from a different look. And it’s fun to share those best practices with each other.

Catherine: Well, thank you so much, Emily, for taking the time to speak with me again. And I wish you all the success in the world, as you know.

Emily: Thank you, Catherine. It’s been great chatting with you. And thanks for your continued advocacy for DEI&J.