Matt believes the greatest challenge of the 21st century is for humanity to find a way to live in equilibrium with planet Earth, and he knows that achieving a transition away from fossil fuels will be the most difficult part of the solution. As a career entrepreneur, executive, and principal investor in the energy industry with experience across the whole energy value chain, he understands the sheer scale of the energy transition challenge, the limitations of available technology, and the unyielding constraints of the laws of thermodynamics. But he is also optimistic about human ingenuity, and wants to dedicate his career and extensive experience and expertise to finding zero-emission-energy solutions. Matt is fascinated with energy storage systems, and he recognizes that grid-scale electricity storage is the key enabler of reliable renewable energy.
Matt has served as the founder and CEO of Poplar Resources, and previously worked for Magellan Petroleum, Mubadala, Arcapita, and Compass Partners. He graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in Classics and is a CFA charterholder. He currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas, with his family and is active on several non-profit boards.
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Paul has spent his career developing energy sources. He is a firm believer in the need for cheap and reliable energy to promote social development. With the growth in renewable energy around the globe, he is enthused by the prospect of using the earth as a storage medium to maximize the efficiency of renewable energy from wind and solar. As a specialist in reservoir engineering and geology, Paul is using his 20-years of unique expertise towards building scalable and sustainable underground grid-scale storage systems to enable a faster renewable energy transition.
Paul co-founded Poplar Resources and has worked at SM Energy, Kinder Morgan, and Marathon Oil Corporation. He graduated from Montana Tech with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering. Paul lives in the elevated mountains of Butte, Montana, surrounded by a year-round sportsman’s paradise--he grew up hiking, skiing, and hunting in the national forests of Montana.
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Fred Reed has 34 years of experience in direct investments, finance, project origination, development, construction, operations, asset management, project restructuring, risk management, energy management and asset optimization in the power and infrastructure sectors. Mr. Reed served as a senior advisor to Oaktree Capital since 2014 and Highstar Capital since 2003 and assisted with the diligence, finance, acquisition, and management of Northern Star Generation, InterGen, Star West Generation, GWF Energy, Linden Cogen and the Salem Harbor Power Station. At Linden Cogen, Mr. Reed developed the seventh combustion turbine as a 234 MW expansion of the cogeneration facility. Prior to joining Highstar in 2003, he worked for Cogentrix Energy, Inc. in business development and finance for 14 years where Cogentrix grew from a six-plant portfolio in 1989 to a 28-plant portfolio in 2003 before being sold to Goldman Sachs. At Cogentrix Energy, Inc., Mr. Reed developed, financed, constructed, and operated over 3,200 MW of gas-fired combined cycle powerplants in the USA. All 3,200 MW included operation of utility scale high pressure air compressors and steam turbine generators. Mr. Reed served as a senior advisor to Highstar Capital, Star West Generation, and Footprint Development Company as well as served on the Board of Directors of Linden Cogen and served as an observer on the Board of Directors of Star West Generation and Salem Harbor Power Station.
Mr. Reed received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from the University of Rochester. Mr. Reed is a Registered Professional Engineer in New York and North Carolina. He served as a nuclear trained United States naval officer on the fast attack submarine, USS Grayling (SSN 646).
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