John Cooper
Director
Cooper was a founding member and CFO of the PG&E National Energy Group, where he oversaw all aspects of structuring and arranging financing for electric generating and gas pipeline projects and energy trading operations. Previously, Cooper led a group at Bechtel that assisted clients with structuring and arranging financing for large infrastructure and energy projects. Mr. Cooper holds a BA from Trinity College, an MA in Development Economics and International Studies from the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and an MBA in Finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
John Miner
Director
Mr. Miner is a Managing Director at Pivotal Investments, a cleantech-focused venture capital firm in Portland Oregon. Previously, Mr. Miner was the President of Intel Capital and an Intel Corporate Vice President. Mr. Miner was central to new opportunity formation in many markets around the world. Prior to Intel Capital, Mr. Miner had been instrumental in leading Intel's entry into new market segments as an Intel Vice President and General Manager of the Communications Products Group, the Enterprise Server Group, and General Manager of Intel's desktop motherboard and PC building-blocks business. Mr. Miner joined Intel in 1983. He is also an investor in and advisor to numerous early stage enterprises, including SeQuential Biofuels, and a Trustee for the Providence St. Vincent Medical Foundation.
Mark Liffmann
Advisor
Mark Liffmann is the CEO and Founder of Omnidian, a stealth startup working in the area of residential solar asset management. Prior to Omnidian, he held senior roles at Clean Power Research and EnerG2. Earlier in his career, he co-founded the largest business unit at SunPower and led business development to grow sales from inception to over $500 million in annual revenue. Liffmann holds a BS in Physics and a BA in Public Policy from Stanford University and a J.D. and an MS in Economics from Harvard University.
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Byron Crawford
Director of Development, Mid-Atlantic Market
Byron is the Director of Development of the Mid-Atlantic Market at TUUSSO Energy. Byron is responsible for over-seeing all land acquisition activities for the broader TUUSSO portfolio and has managed the complete development cycle of 50MW of projects on the Delmarva Peninsula. Since 2015, Byron has also managed all of TUUSSO’s new business development on the East Coast. Prior to co-founding TUUSSO, Byron spent ten years in corporate finance and business operations consulting. Byron has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MLER from Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations and a BA in Economics from Rutgers College.
Jason Evans
Vice President of Business Development & General Counsel
Jason is the VP of Business Development and General Counsel of TUUSSO Energy. His functional responsibilities include developing new project opportunities and managing environmental and regulatory permitting. Jason has also managed several of TUUSSO’s projects in California, Georgia and Arizona. Prior to co-founding Tuusso, Jason managed a portfolio of 200+ patents at Western Digital, and represented early-stage and mature companies in IP and contract issues at Seed IP and Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear. Jason has a JD from the University of Chicago and a BA in Physics from Pomona College.
Owen Hurd
Chief Executive Officer
Owen is the CEO of TUUSSO Energy. His functional responsibilities include fundraising, project divestments, financial governance, and corporate strategy. Prior to co-founding TUUSSO, Owen worked for McKinsey & Company, where he advised technology firms on corporate strategy and operations. His professional experience also includes time at Intel Corporation and Booz Allen Hamilton’s Energy Practice. Owen has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a BSc in Finance from Santa Clara University, and is a Chairman of the Board of Directors for TUUSSO Energy.
Vivek Nayak
Vice President of Operations
Vivek is the VP of Operations of TUUSSO Energy. His primary responsibilities include operations, plant design, EPC contracting, and all transmission and interconnection-related activities. In addition, Vivek also works on power marketing and new product development such as behind-the-meter distributed solar projects. Prior to co-founding TUUSSO Energy, Vivek worked in business development and operations at Intellectual Ventures, as a management consultant at Bain & Company, and at Dassault Systemes in software development. Vivek has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, and a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
OUR APPROACH.
IS WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
COMPANY OVERVIEW
TUUSSO ENERGY IS A DEVELOPER OF
UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR PLANTS
TUUSSO Energy is focused on the dual goals of minimizing development risk and developing only the most competitive solar projects. We believe in rigorous site selection, hands-on management of the entire development process, thoughtfully optimized system design, and the use of technologies that are both commercially proven and financeable.
Starting early in its development process, TUUSSO Energy works closely with all stakeholders to understand any local concerns and assess key risks impacting project feasibility and timelines. As the project advances, we leverage our relationships with industry-leading service providers that consult on civil engineering, environmental permitting, and system design, allowing us to consistently deliver state-of-the-art solar plants that will reliably generate clean electricity for 40 years or longer.
TUUSSO Energy was founded in 2008 with a belief that mid-sized (5-50MW) ground-mounted systems plants are the ideal form factor for solar. At this size, plants can be sited on agriculturally disturbed land with limited alternative uses, avoiding environmentally sensitive areas, and sites within a stone’s throw of existing transmission infrastructure to avoid costly network upgrades.
Using this approach, TUUSSO’s projects supply utilities with the lowest cost renewable power for periods of 15 years or longer.