Financing firm says former Citigroup managing director will add experience to company.
Empower Energies Inc., a Troy, Michigan-based financial firm specializing in what it calls the clean energy sector, has announced that John Clapp has joined the organization as chief financial officer (CFO). Clapp has a combination of institutional investment experience and renewable energy expertise.
“Empower has the multi-technology approach that is critical to winning in the growing commercial and industrial distributed generation market,” Clapp says. “I was also impressed with the high quality of the management team and the support of the company’s institutional investors.”
Working with Empower CEO Len Jornlin, Clapp will oversee the company’s financial reporting, internal controls, project and corporate financing, as well as mergers and acquisitions. He also will take the lead in deploying development loans and construction financing for other developers and firms who partner with Empower to bring projects online.
“Having John join our leadership team raises the bar yet again,” says Jornlin. “With his investment banking and entrepreneurial experience, we are ideally positioned to further differentiate the Empower offer, and deliver more value for customers, partners, and investors alike.”
Clapp was a managing partner at Citigroup, serving as a power sector specialist in the Global Power Group where he advised on over 30 power industry financings across North and South America, Europe and Asia.
“Financial innovation continues to drive growth in renewable energy, domestically and internationally. Members of our board and management team have already developed solutions that changed the solar financing industry. Now we are applying many of those same solutions to cogeneration and other distributed generation technologies and seeing a transformative effect in the marketplace. John will help Empower lead the way as we continue to change the distributed generation landscape,” says Jornlin.