Our Team2021-04-15T14:38:57+00:00

Our Team

Martin Hermann

Martin Hermann
CEO

Paul Caudill

Paul Caudill
Chief Officer of Utility Solutions

Mark Herrmann

Mark Herrmann
Chief Commercial Officer

Ramkumar Krishnan

Ramkumar Krishnan
Chief Technology Officer

Jerome Ortiz

Jerome Ortiz
Managing Director, Asia

Ron Kiecana

Ron Kiecana
Senior Vice President, Development

Anders Glader

Anders Glader
Senior Vice President, Origination

Cory Magnuson

Cory Magnuson
VP Finance

Advisory Board

Martin Hermann

Martin Hermann
Chair

Bob Hicks

Bob Hicks

Paul Caudill

Paul Caudill

Karin Hermann

Karin Hermann

Michael Sonnenfeldt

Michael Sonnenfeldt

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Contact Info

1600 Amphitheatre Parkway New York WC1 1BA

Phone: 1.800.458.556 / 1.800.532.2112

Fax: 458 761-9562

Web: ThemeFusion

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  • Martin Hermann

    CEO

    As both an operating executive and serial entrepreneur, Martin has spent his career identifying fast-growing market opportunities where market fundamentals have enabled him to create significant value across a company’s key constituents including customers, shareholders and team.

    As a catalyst for founding and subsequently investing in BrightNight, Martin saw a clear inflection point and strong need in the energy market for firm renewable energy. To capitalize on this enormous market opportunity, he built the company with a team of true energy experts. BrightNight differentiates through its focus on customer value, research and development, and an unparalleled understanding of sector dynamics using a quant-based approach.

    Prior to BrightNight, Martin founded 8minutenergy and as CEO built it over 10 years into the largest independent solar developer in North America. With its 10+ GW portfolio, Martin delivered several industry firsts, including setting industry PPA price-point records in some of the world’s most competitive markets.

    Before 8minutenergy, Martin helped grow Advent Solar, a manufacturer of solar cells and solar modules. He also held an executive management position in Intel’s wireless group, delivering the most innovative processors for wireless communication devices serving the burgeoning smartphone market; and founded CAD-UL a semiconductor programming tools company that he sold to Intel.

    Martin received his degree in computer science in Germany, in 1990. In his free time, Martin loves to read, specifically with a keen interest in technology. Also, he enjoys water sports, yoga and running. He lives in California, is married, and has two children.

  • Paul Caudill

    Chief Officer of Utility Solutions

    Paul Caudill serves as part of the Advisory Board. In addition to his role at BrightNight, Paul serves on the National Advisory Board for Centuri Construction Group, Inc, a greater than $1 billion annual construction services enterprise serving energy, utility and industrial markets in U.S and Canada. Centuri Construction Group, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. He continues to serve the Nevada community as the two-term Chairman of the Western Folklife Center and National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Board of Trustees. The Western Folklife Center, headquartered in Elko, Nevada, was founded in 1980 with mission to use cultural expression and stories to connect the American West with the world.

    Prior to BrightNight, Paul was CEO of NV Energy, Inc., one of the Berkshire Hathaway Energy family of companies, following a career in the power and energy industry spanning over four decades. He began his leadership work with Berkshire Hathaway Energy in January 2012 as President of a startup, non-regulated renewable energy venture, MidAmerican Solar, LLC. With the financial backing of the parent company, he led $6 billion of investment in development, construction and operation of three of the world’s largest, at the time, grid-tied solar photovoltaic power plants.

    Paul graduated in 1976 from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Public Management and began his career in earnest with Bechtel Power Corporation, where he was assigned to commercial nuclear power plant commissioning projects across the U.S. In 1988, he transitioned to nuclear power plant operations and management and progressed through increasingly responsible leadership positions until 2002, when he returned to graduate school at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 2004 he graduated with an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Graduate Management and was honored to be selected by 70 executive program classmates as the student commencement speaker.

    Paul and his wife Jane have three children and reside in Arizona and Nebraska along with a cattle dog and three team roping quarter horses. They enjoy hiking, fitness activities and spending time with their kids and two grandchildren, one in Arizona and one in Nebraska. As their next “big” project, they look to build a cabin along the Snake River in the Sand Hills of western Nebraska, some of the finest ranch land in the United States.

  • Mark Herrmann

    Chief Commercial Officer

    Mark leads BrightNight’s Commercial Operations including Sales, Origination, Development, and Strategic efforts. He brings 25 years of industry experience across roles in Commercial Operations, Trading, Finance, M&A, and Business Development.

    Prior to BrightNight, Mark was most recently Vice President, Commercial Operations at NRG Energy Inc., leading portfolio management of a $2B EBITDA, 23 GW power generation, 63 TWh retail electricity portfolio while being responsible for valuations and transaction structuring for renewables, storage, thermal generation, and distributed solutions. Mark has acted as commercial lead on over $15B of M&A initiatives and assisted several renewable and clean tech start-up ventures with successful exits to infrastructure companies.

    He holds a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Cornell University’s Johnson School of Business. Outside the office, he is actively engaged in the community organizations of HomeFront, assisting families in breaking the cycle of poverty; and Eden Autism, helping improve the lives of children and adults with autism.

  • Ramkumar Krishnan

    Chief Technology Officer

    Ram leads the technology and engineering group at BrightNight and brings over two decades of education, leadership and expertise in the areas of renewable energy generation, energy storage, and conversion technologies. Prior to joining BrightNight, Ram was President and CTO at NantEnergy (formerly Fluidic), where he led the product and R&D teams for over 11 years in the development of the game-changing rechargeable and long duration metal air energy storage technology. During his time, the company shipped and operated more than 3,000 battery systems around the world as well as launched hybrid energy storage products combining Li-ion with long duration energy storage solutions. Before NantEnergy, Ram worked on technology development at the Motorola Energy Labs developing portable fuel cells, solid state batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells. Ram has built diverse teams and launched products involving thermal, mechanical, electronics and software systems. He has helped raise capital, build strategic partnerships as well as acquisitions in the clean energy space.

    Ram recently served as a board member of the California Energy Storage Association and also has been on the advisory boards of multiple energy companies. Ram has been recognized as one of the “Top 50 Leaders in Energy Storage and Microgrids” by India Energy Storage Association in 2017. His leadership has helped to receive numerous awards including 2015 Global Cleantech 100, 2013 IEEE Small Company of the Year, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance “New Energy Pioneers 2017.” He has also published a variety of journal articles on topics including nanotechnology and electrochemistry.

    Ram holds a Ph.D in Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida. In his spare time, Ram loves to travel, hike, bike, play piano and jam music with his two kids.

  • Jerome Ortiz

    Managing Director, Asia

    Jerome leads BrightNight’s position and growth in Asia, and brings more than 15 years of development and financing experience in the power and renewables sector across a number of emerging markets.

    Prior to joining BrightNight, Jerome was Vice President at 8minutenergy, where he spearheaded the firm’s expansion into high-growth markets in Asia, with a focus on development and capital raising activities. He was instrumental in developing one of the first utility-scale solar projects in Bangladesh.

    Previously, Jerome held several senior banking project finance roles. He was Sr. Vice President and acted as Asia Head of Power and Renewables at MUFG, the largest project finance bank globally. He ran a team that arranged and advised several billion dollars’ worth of conventional power and renewable energy project finance transactions across Asia. Prior to that, Jerome was Senior Director at Standard Chartered Bank in London and Singapore, where he led multiple advisory, project finance and capital raising transactions in Asia and Africa. He directed the bank’s successful efforts into the renewable energy market in India, which would become one of the largest renewable markets in Asia.

    Jerome holds a master’s degree in finance from Grenoble Graduate School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from University of Nantes. He currently lives in Singapore with his wife Sandra and two children, Anna and Max. He loves traveling with his family and enjoys running.

  • Ron J. Kiecana

    Senior Vice President, Development

    Ron oversees development, strategy and business origination at BrightNight. During his 28-year energy career, he has participated in more than $3.6 billion of completed power generation projects.

    Prior to joining BrightNight, Ron was with IMG Midstream, which he co-founded and served in various C-level and board roles. While at IMG Midstream, he developed a portfolio of distributed, gas-fired generation projects to take advantage of the shale gas revolution and to address the growing need of strategically located fast-start, load following generation resources in the Northeast United States. IMG Midstream was the first company to develop and construct a 126 MW portfolio comprised of six distributed generation projects located near gas production areas. It also made use of existing infrastructure to convert locally produced gas to power in rural areas.

    Previously Ron was Vice President for Terra-Gen Power, where he led business and project development in the Western United States. As a senior team member, he was responsible for developing and advancing market and technology strategy, identifying preferred equipment and construction vendors, managing the development of more than 1 GW of solar capacity and negotiating the sale of a 120 MW solar project.

    Earlier in his career, Ron held senior roles with IBM Corporation, where he managed global energy requirements for more than 100 worldwide locations. He also held positions with Cogentrix Energy overseeing project development and fuel supply strategies supporting 3.4 GW of constructed projects, and with Indeck Energy acting as asset manager for seven cogeneration power projects.

    Outside of his work, Ron has been actively involved in various community organizations including the 3 Rivers Venture Fair, Coaches vs. Cancer, The Miracle League and several industry organizations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and finance from Bradley University.

  • Anders Glader

    Senior Vice President, Origination

    Anders has more than 25 years of renewable energy experience, focused primarily on creating value from project development assets. Prior to joining BrightNight, Anders led origination efforts for several leading renewable energy developers securing offtake and asset sale agreements for thousands of MW of operational wind, solar and storage projects. Since 2013, Anders has run his own company providing development, origination, and consulting services in the clean energy space.

  • Cory Magnuson

    Vice President

    Cory leads the corporate accounting and finance group at BrightNight. He brings 15 years of experience building world-class finance and accounting operations for some of the leading global investment firms.

    Prior to BrightNight, Cory acted as Vice President of Investment Operations of BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure Funds. The investment portfolio included a wide range of international energy infrastructure assets. Cory was responsible for reporting, compliance and portfolio valuations.

    Previous to his role at BlackRock, Cory held other senior roles in the renewable energy industry. As Controller at Novatus Energy, Cory was responsible for oversight of the accounting and finance processes across an organization which operates a portfolio of renewable energy assets across the United States. Cory was also Controller for Sithe Global Energy, a Blackstone Capital portfolio company focused on development and construction of thermal and hydro power projects across the globe. Cory joined the firm in its early formation and created a leading accounting and finance department that sustained Sithe Global Energy through the successful completion of 2 GW of generation assets.

    Cory graduated from the University of Colorado with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting. He is a certified public accountant, earned the chartered financial analyst designation, the financial risk manager designation and holds a certificate in quantitative finance.

  • Martin Hermann

    CEO

    As both an operating executive and serial entrepreneur, Martin has spent his career identifying fast-growing market opportunities where market fundamentals have enabled him to create significant value across a company’s key constituents including customers, shareholders and team.

    As a catalyst for founding and subsequently investing in BrightNight, Martin saw a clear inflection point and strong need in the energy market for firm renewable energy. To capitalize on this enormous market opportunity, he built the company with a team of true energy experts. BrightNight differentiates through its focus on customer value, research and development, and an unparalleled understanding of sector dynamics using a quant-based approach.

    Prior to BrightNight, Martin founded 8minutenergy and as CEO built it over 10 years into the largest independent solar developer in North America. With its 10+ GW portfolio, Martin delivered several industry firsts, including setting industry PPA price-point records in some of the world’s most competitive markets.

    Before 8minutenergy, Martin helped grow Advent Solar, a manufacturer of solar cells and solar modules. He also held an executive management position in Intel’s wireless group, delivering the most innovative processors for wireless communication devices serving the burgeoning smartphone market; and founded CAD-UL a semiconductor programming tools company that he sold to Intel.

    Martin received his degree in computer science in Germany, in 1990. In his free time, Martin loves to read, specifically with a keen interest in technology. Also, he enjoys water sports, yoga and running. He lives in California, is married, and has two children.

  • Bob Hicks

    Bob serves as part of BrightNight’s Advisory Board. He also serves Chairman of the Executive Committee and Managing Partner of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. Together with his core team of seasoned transactional attorneys, Bob focuses his practice on complex business and commercial transactions, private equity and venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, structured financings, business advisory services, and structural tax matters. He serves as outside counsel for the largest private equity fund in Indiana, along with several other substantial and successful businesses.

    For an attorney in private practice, Bob has a unique perspective and experience to offer his clients in their business decisions and transactions. He took a hiatus from the private practice of law from 1996 through 2001 (working in Chicago, Toronto and Manhattan) and gained substantial experience in Wall Street transactional work and as a corporate executive. During that period, Bob served as Executive Vice President of Strategic Development for the CIT Group, the second largest finance company in the United States, and was one of the principal dealmakers and senior executives responsible for over $25 billion of Wall Street asset-backed securitizations, senior and structured debt financings, and acquisition transactions. He also served as the General Manager of the largest U.S. financing division of Newcourt Credit Group, CIT’s predecessor. Bob also managed a venture capital and private equity portfolio of approximately $100
    million for CIT and ultimately led its largest portfolio company, RealMed Corporation, as its Chairman and CEO. Bob began his career with Arthur Anderson as a tax professional and passed the CPA examination (first sitting).

    Bob is a 1986 graduate of the William and Mary Law School, Williamsburg, Va., where he was Order of the Coif and a member of the William and Mary Law Review. He is a 1984 graduate of Butler University in accounting with high honors.

  • Paul Caudill

    Chief Officer of Utility Solutions

    Paul Caudill serves as part of the Advisory Board. In addition to his role at BrightNight, Paul serves on the National Advisory Board for Centuri Construction Group, Inc, a greater than $1 billion annual construction services enterprise serving energy, utility and industrial markets in U.S and Canada. Centuri Construction Group, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. He continues to serve the Nevada community as the two-term Chairman of the Western Folklife Center and National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Board of Trustees. The Western Folklife Center, headquartered in Elko, Nevada, was founded in 1980 with mission to use cultural expression and stories to connect the American West with the world.

    Prior to BrightNight, Paul was CEO of NV Energy, Inc., one of the Berkshire Hathaway Energy family of companies, following a career in the power and energy industry spanning over four decades. He began his leadership work with Berkshire Hathaway Energy in January 2012 as President of a startup, non-regulated renewable energy venture, MidAmerican Solar, LLC. With the financial backing of the parent company, he led $6 billion of investment in development, construction and operation of three of the world’s largest, at the time, grid-tied solar photovoltaic power plants.

    Paul graduated in 1976 from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Public Management and began his career in earnest with Bechtel Power Corporation, where he was assigned to commercial nuclear power plant commissioning projects across the U.S. In 1988, he transitioned to nuclear power plant operations and management and progressed through increasingly responsible leadership positions until 2002, when he returned to graduate school at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 2004 he graduated with an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Graduate Management and was honored to be selected by 70 executive program classmates as the student commencement speaker.

    Paul and his wife Jane have three children and reside in Arizona and Nebraska along with a cattle dog and three team roping quarter horses. They enjoy hiking, fitness activities and spending time with their kids and two grandchildren, one in Arizona and one in Nebraska. As their next “big” project, they look to build a cabin along the Snake River in the Sand Hills of western Nebraska, some of the finest ranch land in the United States.

  • Karin Hermann

    Karin is an experienced leader in driving talent acquisition and strategy, performance management and organizational development tailored for the continued success of growth companies in dynamic industries. She is passionate about building an amazing team dynamic at BrightNight. She facilitates the creation of a distinctive culture such as the definition of principles that guide the decision making of the team members. Assessing how to support the Company’s mission best and building the team continues to be a focus area for Karin.

    Karin has worked with Martin in growing start-ups for over 20 years. At CAD-UL, she managed diverse programs in operations, sales, customer service and HR. At Intel, she acted as an integration leader, working with Intel‘s functional leaders in key areas as HR, Employee Service, Operations and communications. At 8minutenergy, Karin supported the growth and development of the team.

  • Michael Sonnenfeldt

    Michael W. Sonnenfeldt is the founder of TIGER 21, the nation’s premier network of learning groups for high net worth investors. He is the former Chairman of Carmanah Technologies Corp., a (then) publicly traded Canadian company that designs, manufactures and distributes solar powered lighting and systems for industrial applications globally. Through his private investment company, MUUS & Company, Mr. Sonnenefeldt has holdings in technologies related to alternative energy infrastructure applications. From 1991 to 1998, Mr. Sonnenfeldt founded and led Emmes & Company, a real estate investment boutique that was a major buyer of distressed portfolios in the early 90’s and grew to over a billion dollars in assets by the time he sold his interest in 1998. In 1981, Mr. Sonnenfeldt conceived and initiated the then world’s largest commercial renovation, commencing the transformation of the 2.4 million sq. ft. Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. Mr. Sonnenfeldt received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was inducted to Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Sonnenfeldt has been actively involved over the last 25 years at senior levels in numerous nonprofit organizations focused on the environment, national security, Middle East peace, international peacekeeping, the US/UN relationship, the removal of land mines and communal development. Mr. Sonnenfeldt was named a senior lecturer at the Sloan School of Business at MIT for the 2003/4 school year, to co-teach “Business and the Nation’s Security” which he spent a year developing with a team he assembled. Currently, he is highly focused on fighting climate change through his philanthropic, financial and political activities. Mr. Sonnenfeldt is also a clothing designer and usually can be found wearing clothes of his own design. Mr. Sonnenfeldt lives in New York City.