The seven founding members have direct experience successfully managing challenges of bringing projects from concept to construction. Prior to forming the company, the group collectively helped to develop more than 2,500 MW of constructed wind power projects around the country, now owned by major renewable energy companies.
Leading Pioneer Green is Andy Bowman, wind energy industry executive with 15 years experience in different aspects of the business. Previously Bowman was founder and president of Renewable Generation Inc., an Austin wind power company acquired by Irish company Airtricity in 2005. At Airtricity he oversaw US and Canadian development efforts, and subsequently became Chief Development Officer for E.On Climate & Renewables North America following its acquisition of Airtricity in 2007.
"Despite current challenges owing to the financial crisis and transmission constraints, all signs point to continuing growth in green energy sectors, particularly 3 to 5 years down the road," said Bowman. "At the same time, the market is more competitive and complex than ever and puts a premium on experience and track record. Pioneer’s founding team is one of the strongest and we are taking creative approaches to meet the demand for new projects."
According to the US Energy Information Administration, wind energy was at just 1.25% of US electricity generation in 2008 and projected to reach 5% as soon as 2012. US EIA also predicts wind will grow from about 25 GW installed in 2008 to 66 GW installed in 2014. Solar generation is also poised to increase sharply in the next few years as demand from existing solar energy requirements will mean 9,000 MW of solar capacity installed by 2025, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Pioneer Green Energy is fast at work on new projects in the first stage of development in key regions of the US, and quickly gaining momentum and growth. "In addition to pursuing positions in historically proven areas," said Bowman, "this also means targeting untraditional, complex, challenging sites to make the most of our development experience."
There’s no question there’s more demand than ever for renewables. Wind energy and solar power are abundant, and they’re everywhere. They’re non-polluting and they’re becoming cheaper all the time. They’re a good fit for many existing land uses, such as ranching, farming and industrial sites. They even can fit in populated areas. Renewables are also big business. Under the Obama administration’s pledge of 10% renewables by 2012, wind will double all megawatts installed to date over the next three years, and projections over 2009-2020 call for an average of 12GW per year to be built. This is more than one and a half times the number of wind projects that were built in all of 2008, the busiest year ever for the U.S. wind industry.
There are myriad factors to consider when choosing an energy partner for your property. When you work with Pioneer Green Energy we use our experience and knowledge to create smart projects that serve the varied interests of property owners, the greater community, our financial partners and our company. We’ve built our reputation on projects that give property owners good deals, enforceable rights and market payments. Our projects produce power at prices that work in energy markets and have adequate transmission to reach those markets. And we always strive to make our projects fit strict environmental, regulatory and community standards.
We’re proud to say we’ve got one of the most experienced renewable project development teams in the industry today. Over the years, we’ve learned the hard way how good projects come together, and how they can fail. We work collaboratively with property owners, solving the project’s challenges together. We also pick our projects carefully and work hard to make each one of them successful, something larger companies may not always do.
