ED PLINER

Partner & Chief Financial Officer

As Partner and Chief Financial Officer, Ed is responsible for managing business and deal finance-related activities.

Ed’s background in renewable energy finance encompasses structured deals and project financing, including equity, debt, and other vehicles. His past experiences include being CFO of GeoPeak Energy for the past 12 years, Partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and global CFO at Raytheon (NYSE: RTX).

Ed earned his BA at Tufts University and his MBA at Harvard Business School.

AJ JAVAN

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

As Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AJ oversees its management and  direction.

AJ previously co-founded and was the Managing Partner of GeoPeak Energy, which develops, deploys, and operates renewable energy systems. With a multi-disciplinary skillset that includes Finance, Energy, Sustainability, Technology, and Project Development and Construction, AJ  has earned industry recognition while successfully implementing sustainability strategies for global private and publicly traded companies.

AJ is a PMI Project Management Professional, NABCEP certified, and has studied at Wharton Business School for sustainability and Harvard Business School for business.

JON TEBOL

Partner & EVP, Corporate Development

As Partner and EVP, Corporate Development, Jon is responsible for developing strategies and spearheading business opportunities, strategic alignments, partnerships, joint ventures, and acquisitions.

Jon’s 25+ year career in corporate development and investment banking includes executive roles at various large and middle market investment banking firms. Jon has executed over 250 investment transactions across a broad range of industry sectors and transaction types. He has extensive experience working on behalf of a variety of leading private equity firms, from the $300 billion The Carlyle Group (NASD: CG) to $3 billion Main Street Capital (NYSE: MAIN).

Jon holds a BS in Finance and Accounting from Susquehanna University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Graduate School of Business.

BENJAMIN CHURCH

Chief Operating Officer – APR Green Assets

As the Chief Operating Officer of APR Green Assets, Benjamin leads the IPP division of American Power Resources.

Benjamin previously led US and global power companies serving to expand their renewable power generation portfolios including Independent Power Producers such as NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), AES Corporation (NYSE: AES), ACWA Power, and Enercon Wind. Benjamin has been responsible for building and growing the IPP businesses, and has over 20 years of experience with developing, financing, and managing more than 30GWs of power generating assets. With expertise in founding and growing businesses, he has developed long-term investment programs and built sustainable portfolios of clean energy assets. 

Benjamin earned his MBA from Claremont Graduate University, a BSc in Industrial Engineering from Principia College, and holds a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

STEPHEN GIBELLI

Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs

As Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Stephen is responsible for managing the company’s regulatory and legislative team.

Stephen has over 26 years of experience in the energy industry, previously serving as Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs and Policy at NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), Assistant General Counsel with Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES), and General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Liberty Power, and Administrative Law Judge with the State of Arizona. 

Stephen holds a Doctor of Law with Honors from New England Law – Boston. He also earned a BS in Finance from the Boston College Carroll School of Management. 

ANDREW THURSTON

Vice President of Distributed Generation – APR Renewables

As the Vice President of Distributed Generation, Andrew heads the overall strategic direction and growth of APR Renewables’ Distributed Generation development business.

Andrew’s renewable energy career began at NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE: NEP), where he worked on structuring large-scale equity, convertible preferred equity and convertible debt offerings to fund utility scale wind and solar project acquisitions. He then moved to NextEra Energy’s (NYSE: NEE) Distributed Generation team, where he led M&A for DG projects. Andrew’s career experience also includes M&A lead in Distributed Generation for BlackRock’s Real Assets company Distributed Solar Development. Andrew specializes in leading teams of developers from origination through due diligence, deal structuring and negotiating sale contracts and definitive transaction documents. 

Andrew graduated Magna Cum Laude from Siena College with a BS in Accounting and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder.

DAVID BALFREY

Chief Operating Officer – APR Renewables

As Chief Operating Officer, David oversees general business operations and APR Renewables’ Utility Scale project origination, development, and execution across the portfolio.

David has had a long career in renewable energy development and operations. Prior to joining APR, David was the Senior Vice President of Technology at Apex Clean Energy, leading technical services, project design and energy assessment, and strategic procurement for wind, solar, storage, and hydrogen portfolios. He also led the Asset Management team during his time at Apex and managed Energy Assessment at Acciona Energy prior to his tenure at Apex. 

David has a bachelor’s degree from Pfieffer University, a master’s degree in Geography from Appalachian State University, and an MBA from Darden at the University of Virginia.