Who Owns Summit Ridge Energy?

Table of Contents

Introducing Summit Ridge Energy

Summit Ridge Energy is a leading clean energy company based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2009 by Steve Raeder, Summit Ridge specializes in solar energy and operates commercial solar installations across 25 states (Smith, 2021).

The company designs, engineers, constructs, owns, and operates solar systems, partnering with businesses to provide affordable clean energy. Summit Ridge has installed over 500 megawatts of solar capacity on rooftops, carports and ground-mount systems. Their portfolio includes retail stores, warehouses, schools and corporate campuses (Jackson, 2022).

With their unique develop-own-operate model, Summit Ridge handles the entire process of bringing solar energy to commercial sites. They have grown into one of the top owner-operators of distributed generation solar assets in the country (Design in DC, 2023).

History and Founding

Summit Ridge Energy was founded in 2017 by Steve Raeder and Brian Dunn in Arlington, Virginia. According to the company’s About Us page, “Steve Raeder is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Ridge Energy, the nation’s leading commercial solar company.”

According to Crunchbase, “Summit Ridge Energy was established in 2017 by Steve Raeder in Arlington, Virginia.” The company started off focusing on community solar projects before expanding into commercial solar as well.

Current Ownership Structure

Summit Ridge Energy is a privately held company. The major shareholders are funds managed by private equity firm Apollo Global Management. In July 2022, Apollo announced a $175 million strategic investment in Summit Ridge Energy to support the company’s growth [1]. This investment made Apollo the lead institutional investor in Summit Ridge.

Prior to the Apollo investment, Summit Ridge had raised over $1 billion in capital from leading institutional investors to support its growth. The company continues to operate as a private company with Apollo and other private funds as its primary shareholders.

Board of Directors

Summit Ridge Energy’s Board of Directors includes the following members:

Steve Raeder – Raeder has served as Chairman of Summit Ridge Energy’s Board since the company’s founding in 2017. He previously worked at RES (Renewable Energy Systems) where he led the development of over 1 GW of solar projects across the U.S. Raeder holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin (Source 1).

Corinne Still – Still joined the Summit Ridge Board in July 2022 when Apollo Funds made a strategic investment in the company. She is a Partner at Apollo with over 15 years of experience in renewable energy private equity. Still also serves on the board of directors of Drive Shack. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School (Source 2).

Wilson Handler – Handler joined Summit Ridge’s board alongside Still in July 2022. He is a Principal at Apollo with prior experience at SunEdison and Deutsche Bank. Handler focuses on investments in sustainability and holds a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (Source 2).

Executive Team

The executive team at Summit Ridge Energy is led by CEO Steve Raeder, who founded the company in 2009 (About Us – Summit Ridge Energy). Raeder has over 20 years of experience in renewable energy and previously served as CEO of Regrid Power and VP of Business Development at PPM Energy.

Brian Dunn serves as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the company’s solar project development and operations. Dunn has been with Summit Ridge since its founding in 2009 (Summit Ridge Energy Management Team | Org Chart).

Other key executives include Leslie Elder, VP of Political and Regulatory Affairs (Leslie Elder Joins Summit Ridge Energy as VP of Political and Regulatory Affairs), and CFO Jeff Wetzel.

Parent or Subsidiary

Summit Ridge Energy is an independent company and not a subsidiary of any larger corporation. According to their About Us page on the Summit Ridge Energy website (https://srenergy.com/about/), Summit Ridge Energy was founded in 2014 by Tyler J. Holden and Stephen C. Kircher and remains privately held. There is no mention of Summit Ridge Energy being owned or operated by a parent company.

As an independent private company, Summit Ridge Energy has been able to attract major investors and partners to help finance its renewable energy projects. In November 2023, Summit Ridge Energy announced a $275 million financing agreement with MUFG to support continued solar energy project development (https://srenergy.com/news/summit-ridge-energy-closes-275m-financing-facilities-with-mufg/). This built on an earlier $100 million financing partnership between the companies.

The available evidence indicates Summit Ridge Energy operates autonomously as a private independent company focused on renewable energy project development and operations.

Recent Leadership Changes

There have been a few recent leadership changes at Summit Ridge Energy that are worth noting. In April 2023, Summit Ridge Energy and Qcells announced a 1.2 GW partnership and supply agreement. As part of this deal, Qcells executive Jaewoo Lee was appointed to a senior leadership role at Summit Ridge Energy overseeing the partnership and supply chain. This shows an increasing influence of Qcells over Summit Ridge Energy through shared leadership roles (https://taiyangnews.info/north-america-solar-pv-news-snippets-3/).

Additionally, in September 2022, MUFG announced some changes within its Asset-Based Finance leadership team. As MUFG is a major lender to Summit Ridge Energy, changes within MUFG could impact the financing relationship and ownership structure at Summit Ridge. However, specifics on how these MUFG leadership changes have impacted Summit Ridge are not clear (https://www.abladvisor.com/news/tags/3/11382/mufg).

While the details are limited, these recent partnership and lender leadership changes suggest that the ownership and influence within Summit Ridge Energy may be gradually shifting over time.

Investors and Funding

Summit Ridge Energy has received significant funding from major investment firms and partners over the years. In July 2022, funds managed by Apollo affiliates announced a $175 million strategic investment in Summit Ridge Energy. This investment from Apollo Global Management, a leading global investment manager, provided growth capital to expand Summit Ridge Energy’s position as the largest community solar provider in the U.S.

In March 2023, Summit Ridge Energy announced an additional $67 million tax equity commitment from Foss & Company, an infrastructure-focused investment firm. This increased Summit Ridge Energy’s total tax equity commitments to over $575 million.

Other major investors in Summit Ridge Energy include Crestline Investors, Inc. and NGP Energy Capital Management. The company has secured over $1 billion in capital commitments from leading financial institutions and strategic partners.

Acquisitions and Mergers

Summit Ridge Energy has grown substantially in recent years through strategic acquisitions and mergers. Most recently, in November 2023, Summit Ridge acquired a portfolio of 19 community solar projects in Virginia totaling 100 MW in capacity (https://www.pv-tech.org/summit-ridge-energy-acquires-100mw-community-solar-portfolio-in-virginia/). This acquisition made Summit Ridge the leading community solar provider in the state of Virginia.

Some of Summit Ridge’s other major acquisitions and mergers include:

Acquiring a 250 MW portfolio of community solar projects from developer NS Energy in 2022

Merging with Skyview Ventures in 2021, which brought 60 MW of operating solar projects
Acquiring a portfolio of commercial solar projects in Maine and Vermont from BrightNight in 2020

Through strategic mergers and acquisitions, Summit Ridge has grown its project portfolio substantially across over a dozen states, cementing its position as a leading national commercial solar provider.

Ownership Controversies

Summit Ridge Energy has faced some controversies related to its ownership and leadership. In 2021, there were concerns raised about SRE’s acquisition of projects from Revision Energy in Maine, with critics arguing that out-of-state companies were taking over local renewable energy projects (Source). Some felt this was detrimental to Maine’s renewable energy industry.

Additionally, when Apex Clean Energy sold four Virginia solar projects to SRE in 2022, there were questions about Apex’s motives and whether the sale was driven by profit rather than sustainability (Source). However, SRE maintained the projects would be built as planned.

While there have been some concerns, SRE has defended its leadership and acquisitions as beneficial for advancing renewable energy nationwide through its portfolio of projects.