Leadership
Michael Robinson
President and CEO
Mr. Robinson has over 30 years of consulting experience in power and energy, and is a leading authority in independent engineering in support of project development, investment, and financing. His experience includes advisory services related to project development, contract development and negotiation, due diligence and independent engineering, mergers and acquisitions, emerging technologies, construction and commissioning, operations monitoring, economic evaluations, and environmental compliance and management throughout the United States and internationally. He has performed, managed or overseen advisory services and independent engineering reviews (IERs) of hundreds of utility-scale power and renewable energy projects, in addition to various other industrial processes and projects. In addition, he has led numerous environmental reviews, prepared economic pollution control studies, and utility-wide emission inventories. Mr. Robinson has headed consulting enterprises for over 15 years and provided advisory services at other nationally-recognized consulting firms, including R.W. Beck, following several years in design engineering. Mr. Robinson holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University.
Catherine Grover
Senior Vice President
Ms. Grover has over 25 years of experience serving the energy industry, including power, renewable energy, and oil and gas. She has substantial experience in managing and leading advisory and independent engineering services in support of the development and financing of a wide range of power and energy projects. As the head of Luminate’s solar energy practice, she is a leading authority in resource consulting and assessment, and independent engineering reviews of utility-scale and distributed generation (DG) solar power projects and portfolios. Her background includes profit center management of combustion equipment, research and development of combustion based technologies, and technical due diligence and independent engineering in support of financing, M&A, and emerging technologies, construction, commissioning and operations monitoring, and economic evaluations. Prior to joining Luminate, Ms. Grover held consulting positions with other firms including Jacobs Engineering, Pearl Development Company, ADA Technologies, and KOCH / John Zink. Ms. Grover holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tulsa, where she graduated with honors.
Adam Wilson
Senior Vice President
Mr. Wilson has been serving the energy industry in a variety of roles for over 15 years, with a focus on wind and solar technologies. His experience includes managing numerous due diligence reviews, advising clients on a breadth of project development and financing topics, and he leads Luminate’s wind power practice. He brings capabilities and expertise in power system design, construction management and logistics, resource assessment, project feasibility, and financial analysis in support of project financings and buy/sell-side transactions. Prior to joining Luminate, he was a Senior Implementation Consultant for McKinsey & Co. following seven years with Siemens Energy where he served as Technical Sales Manager, among other roles in traditional power generation and transmission. Mr. Wilson holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Duke University, Fuqua School of Business.
Derek Sanchez
Vice President
Mr. Sanchez has nearly 15 years in construction and consulting, bringing considerable experience on solar and storage projects from utility-scale to C&I and residential projects, comprising a diverse platform of standalone and portfolio-aggregated assets. He has managed numerous independent engineering reviews and advisory services including early development feasibility, construction revolvers, and tax equity financing structures, among others. He has held construction positions throughout the EPC spectrum that include oversight of technical, managerial, and quality-related responsibilities with commercial project values of $100M. He brings a broad understanding of project constructability, business practices, contract compliance, risk identification and mitigation, negotiations, and key indicators of overall project status. Prior to joining Luminate, Mr. Sanchez held various managerial roles for Tepa, LLC working with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Construction Management from Colorado State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver.
Robert Courtney
Senior Advisor
Mr. Courtney has 30 years of experience in the energy industry, including consulting and plant operations and maintenance. He has extensive experience in the development and financing of power and energy facilities, and led the development of a large gas-fired, combined-cycle power project. He has completed the technical due diligence of numerous power and ethanol projects across a range of fossil-fired and renewable technologies, biofuel projects, and other industrial projects in support of project lenders, and has been responsible for managing and performing technical and commercial reviews, economic evaluations, construction monitoring, performance testing and operations audits of new and existing power and energy facilities. Mr. Courtney was a founding member of PowerWorks (a private development company) and has held senior consulting positions with other nationally-recognized consulting firms, including PA Consulting Group and R.W. Beck, following nine years working in power for Kansas Gas and Electric, Stone & Webster, and Fluor Engineers and Constructors. Mr. Courtney holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University.
Jon Neff
Senior Advisor
Mr. Neff is a registered Professional Engineer with 30 years’ experience in power engineering. His background includes power plant operation, maintenance, and management; and consulting to utilities, private power companies and financial institutions. Mr. Neff has been responsible for managing and performing technical design reviews, economic evaluations, construction monitoring, performance testing, casualty analyses, and operations audits of new and existing power generating facilities, including nearly every type of conventional and renewable generation. He has managed engineering reviews in support of the financing of independent power and renewable energy projects where he is a leading authority in geothermal power totaling over 20 GW of generating capacity. Mr. Neff has held senior positions with other nationally-recognized consulting firms, including R.W. Beck, following 11 years in power plant operations, maintenance and management with Kansas Power & Light Company. Mr. Neff holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas.