Interview with Jean Nelson-Houpert from Volt Energy Utility | Partnering w/Microsoft & EDPR on the First Ever Environmental Justice PPAs
What was it like to partner with Microsoft & EDP Renewables on the first ever Environmental Justice PPAs? Catherine spoke with Jean Nelson-Houpert from Volt Energy Utility at the WRISE Leadership Forum about this & how the industry can better enable new developers to enter the space. Jean also shared about the Sharing the Power Foundation & some of the successes it has had with its growing HBCU Clean Energy & Environmental Justice Fellowship Classes.
Transcript
Catherine: Hi, I’m Catherine McLean, Founder and CEO of Dylan Green. Today I’m filming from the WRISE Leadership Forum, which is currently being hosted in Washington, D.C. So we just had to deal with the traffic, that’s all. Today I’m here with Jean Nelson-Houpert, CFO at Volt Energy Utility. Thank you for joining me.
Jean: Thank you, Catherine. It’s an honor to be here. And this WRISE Leadership Forum is amazing, so I’m happy to be part of it.
Catherine: Yeah, me too. For those of the audience who may not know, can you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?
Jean: Absolutely. Again, my name is Jean Nelson-Houpert. I am the CFO for Volt Energy Utility. I started out in the financial sector straight out of college. I went to work for a public accounting firm, Granthorpe International, auditing financial institutions, mostly publicly traded institutions. I’ve worked there, worked in the field for 20 years, and then in 2020, I decided there has to be more to life. I needed to make an impact. I keep thinking, what is going to be my legacy? Financial institutions are inherently difficult, especially around the minority community, and I wanted to make a difference. So I quit my job and decided to take some time off and figure out what my next step will be. And someone called me and said, the mayor just enacted or started the D.C. Green Bank, and they’re looking for a CFO. And I applied and I got the job.
Catherine: Amazing.
Jean: And so in 2020 Eli Oppsen started the Green Bank during COVID. And I was a CFO there until 2023 and also interim CEO for 11 months when he resigned and went to start CGC. And so during my tenure at the Green Bank, I was fortunate enough to meet Gilbert Campbell, who is the CEO of Volt Energy. And so when I decided, again, that this is great, but I want to be on the ground yet doing more impactful work. I spoke to Gilbert that I was transitioning and he made me the offer. And here I am. The team is amazing. I’m having a great time working with him and the team there.
Catherine: You’re raising a great team. Utility-scale solar projects require significant upfront capital, as we all know, and involve long-term financial commitment. What are some of the key challenges for new developers coming into the space?
Jean: That is such a loaded question, Catherine, but I’m glad you asked. I think one of the things that we have to do as an industry and with having you here before I do, is there is a really big challenge for new developers coming into the field because capital is hard to acquire. A lot of them don’t, are not inherently rich or even have personal capital to put into the business, but they have the ambition, they have the drive, they’re looking out for their community. So I think as an industry, how do we make sure that these new developers have the opportunity to finance the projects that they have in mind? And so with the GGRF, everyone is really excited because when you look at $27 billion, it’s a lot of money. But how do we allocate a place within that for a small developer? One of the things that I think we should be doing is to change the traditional underwriting structure. Whether it’s the commercial banks that are doing, now getting into the markets, or even some of the lending from the recipients of the GGRF.
Catherine: Can you explain what the GGRF is for people who might not know?
Jean: Yes, it’s the Biden administration allocated funding for the clean energy economy. The GGRF is the Greenhouse Reduction Fund. And so $27 billion was allocated to the EPA and the EPA put out RFP, which is a request for proposal on these non-for-profit organizations that were the recipients. And the money has been allocated since September 30th of this year. So the money is out there and they’re ready to be deployed to their building developers. It is really exciting. But I think what I would like to see is more community-based financing for new developers in communities or on the ground who see the need and how do we accommodate them so they can be impactful in their community. And then the public-private partnership is also good. I think we need to sort of use that vehicle a little bit more.
So how can the government, whether it’s state or federal, organize themselves with community-based organization and go into partnership, refund the needs, whether it’s Solar for All or any other project, and to make sure that the community is getting the needs. Because at the end of the day, it’s the community leaders who knows what the needs of the communities are. So how do we make that transition so I can get a piece of the pie?
Catherine: Right. I want to talk next about this huge partnership that you all at Volt have done, which is the Microsoft-EDP partnership. Can you share a bit more about the Environmental Justice PPAs that you all are doing and how this particular partnership came about?
Jean: Well, what we’re doing is very exciting and it’s very… I said to someone, if I could bottle this idea and get other developers to get into the space, not like we’re looking for competition, but it’s such a worthwhile initiative. And so the EJPPA is a system or what the PPA looks like at the Power Purchase Agreement. But with that, environmental justice is attached to it. So what we’ve done with the EDPR and the Microsoft arrangement is EDPR with the Power Purchase Agreement signed the EJPP Power Purchase Agreement that allows a portion of the funding, the revenue that’s generated through that project to go to our 501c3 organization that we formed called Sharing the Power. And what Sharing the Power which is an independent 501c from Volt, although we started the foundation, it operated as a 501c under the IRS. So there’s strict guidance about what we can and cannot do because we’re a 501c3. And what that organization does with the revenue generated is to sponsor NextGen. I heard that word before when you were talking to Abby.
We sponsor, we work really close to HBCUs. And so what we’ve done is we’ve created a fellowship program for students in the HBCUs. And every summer we provide them with a scholarship of $10,000 each through the EJPPA. And then on top of that they get an internship with major organizations. Like this year we had Microsoft. Someone just received a full-time offer from Microsoft through our EJPPA scholarship program. And someone was at NASA, Google, Meta. Just a very, very large organization who has the same sort of environmental ideas and impact that we do. So in 2022 when this program started we had six fellows. In 2023 we had 14. And this year in 2024 we had 21 students. And so our name is out there. The work that we’re doing is growing. The impact is amazing. And so we’re really proud of the partnership with these large organizations and large developers.
What I gather, I’ve only been with Volt for a year, is just a tireless impactful work that Gilbert Campbell, the CEO, and Volt partner Eric Lentz have done to just form these relationships, nurture these relationships with these large organizations to make sure that our work is getting to the community that we’ve raised.
Catherine: Yeah, it’s like we were saying earlier today. I mean it’s impactful. We’re not just talking about it; here are people, like actual people that are benefiting from this. It’s very tangible, the work.
Jean: Absolutely, absolutely. I had the same questions when I navigated from disagreements. Why? But just to be on the ground with the Sharing the Power Foundation and Volt Energy, not only do we have a fellowship, we also give to small organizations with the communities that are doing the work every year. And last year we did coal fielding. We donated $15,000 for them to continue the work. We do organizations that are trying to solve the food desert in the district. There are places in the district that just don’t have food. So the foundation is just really, really focused. And Volt as well is just really focused on how we make an impactful contribution to environmental justice.
Catherine: And I love that name, Sharing the Power. It’s great. What’s some advice you received earlier on in your career that helped you with your current position in clean energy?
Jean: Wow, that’s a great question. I’ve had so much advices, good, bad, and indifferent. And I think the one that I tried to focus on when I was in college, I had a professor who just, we became good friends. He’s still someone that I keep in touch with. And he was just really encouraging. And he said my first goal when I was growing up was to become a lawyer. And then he was like, no, you’re on the right path in accounting because you’re so good at math. I’m so good at seeing things. He goes, well, don’t give up on your dream. Go to law school. Here’s the thing. I had that years ago. Oh, 2021. So I went back and just get a master’s in labor and employment law. And you know, so that, so it goes back to the advice that I take very seriously. One of the things he said to me or continually says to me is make sure you put tools in your toolbox every day.
Catherine: I love that.
Jean: And it’s how, what can I do? What can I learn? What can I, what can I gather to build myself up? So I’m able to contribute to my community, my family, everyone around. And so when I talk to my mentees, I mentor a couple and a couple of ladies actually. And one of the things I said to them is when I was going back to law school, people are like, and I said, because most of the position that I, positions that I’ve had as CFO or even in the inter-CEO position, which I’ve had two so far, you get involved in HR issues and I would have to go out and hire an external attorney to just get me a base of knowledge about that. So going back to school to get that MJ, I’m able to be a more effective CFO.
Catherine: Absolutely.
Jean: And then getting into, when I was at the Green Bank, for instance one of the things that we started to look into was, where is our money getting invested? Are we, is our money sitting at a financial institution that is investing in foster care? How do I differentiate us starting by connecting with organizations that where our money is sitting is not funding, is not going contradictory to what our goals are.
Catherine: It’s so funny you say that. I’ve been having this conversation about my 401k, like with my accountant, like manager advisor, I’m just like, what am I investing in? Like, where is it like good funds? Like, where are those funds? And where are they investing it? Like, where? Because we only had a big small list to pay for that.
Jean: That is such a fundamental point because we’re here fighting the fight. But then our pension and our 401k could be going contradictory to how we’re doing. So what I did then was Columbia Business School had a program I signed up for ESG investing on and I took that certification and then I partnered with Amalgamated Bank right through the DC Green Bank because they are walking the walk.
Catherine: Well, it’s Nicole Steele there now.
Jean: Yeah. And she and I were, yeah, Nicole is amazing. She and I were at the Infocast in California a couple of weeks ago. It’s those things that I think helps me when I think about what are the tools that I need? To be a more effective CFO or be a more effective human. So especially exactly putting those tools in your toolbox. I just got certified as a sustainable manager. It’s helpful to me to know that I’m seeing what I’m supposed to see. Doing what I’m supposed to do. Not just professionally, but personal. If I’m reaching the sustainable. Do I know you’ll never know all of it. But do I know enough to just make an impact? And that’s what it’s all about.
Catherine: Yes. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us.
Jean: Thank you so much for having me.
Catherine: You’re such a big supporter of Dylan Green and the work that we’re doing. You know, you’re always sharing and liking things and I, it just means a lot to me.
Jean: I think you’re a rock star. I was just thinking, I see, I see you and I go, where does she get the energy? You’re doing the panels, you’re doing the podcast, you’re doing everything. And I hope to be like you when I grow up. Because it’s so impactful. And I remember in 2020, when I started at the Green Bank, I see the name Dylan Green because you’re like, it’s Dylan Green, but I’m paying. Yeah, exactly. And so to follow you with just, I’m very impressed.
Thank you so much for having me.
Catherine: Thank you.
Jean: This is great.