Industry Veterans Debut New Community Solar Venture – Solar Industry

Go to Source September 12, 2023

Three industry veterans – Matthew Kozey, Geoff Johnson and Patrick Grumley – recently launched Arena Renewables, a new distributed solar and storage development venture, to focus on saving money for customers through community solar.

Arena unites a founding team with three decades of experience in renewables, utilities and real estate who saw an unprecedented opportunity to help accelerate the energy transition.

“We are thrilled to unveil Arena Renewables and join the work of reshaping how energy is generated, stored and shared,” says Kozey, company co-founder and CEO. “Our vision goes beyond developing solar and storage projects. We want to empower communities to take control of their energy future while protecting our planet.”

Arena combines policy-led market selection and an agile development approach to create sustainable, rapid growth.

“Strategic partnerships with communities, landowners and suppliers will be critical to the next wave of distributed solar development,” says Johnson, co-founder, president and CDO. “We see policy-driven market changes as an opportunity to create even more value for customers, and our target of 1 GW of pipeline in the next 24 months reflects that.”

Policies at the state and federal levels increasingly recognize the unique value distributed solar and storage provide to the grid and to customers as climate change drives more frequent and severe weather and fire events.

“With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act last year, the growth opportunity in the distributed renewable energy sector is at an all-time high,” says Grumley, company co-founder and COO. “We are seeing new capital eager to invest in community solar projects and accelerate the transition to clean and renewable energy sources.”

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