California Ethanol + Power

Christopher J. Doyle is the founder and managing director of 1099 Energy Consultants, LLC. He has over thirty-five years in the energy industry. Prior to founding this company, Mr. Doyle was Vice President of Business Operations for AltaGas’ U.S. Power Group, responsible for over twelve hundred megawatts of generation across the country. He received his bachelor’s degree in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and his Masters in Business Administration from Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Mr. Drews (Astronave, LLC) serves as a financial advisor to CE+P.  For over 20 years, Mr. Drews has provided consulting services for domestic and international clients owning, developing, acquiring, or financing electric generation projects and portfolios ranging in size from distributed-generation to utility-scale.  He has also supported clients in ethanol production, natural gas, and oil & gas industries.  Astronave services include valuation, asset management, financial structuring, and transaction support.

Prior to founding Astronave, Mr. Drews was Chief Financial Officer of Arkenol, Inc., an ethanol plant development company, Vice President of Finance for ARK Energy, a utility-scale power plant developer, and senior consultant for Sterling Energy Management.

His educational background includes an MBA from the Wharton School, an MSAA (engineering) from Stanford University, and a BAE (engineering) from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mr. Helmes, HSD Advisors, LLC, brings extensive project management expertise, honed through his involvement in a broad range of projects both domestically and internationally. His experience spans construction management, real estate development, public and private infrastructure advisory, and expert testimony on project management and root cause analysis for over 350 project disputes. A licensed professional engineer in 12 states and a Senior Principal at SOCOTEC US, Mr. Helmes specializes in enhancing project performance.

Hank has a broad background in bio-products, bioethanol, power, emission control, and process industries in the development and implementation of technologies into commercial applications summarized as follows:

At Arbiom, Hank was responsible for the management of the engineering/projects group. The group’s key accomplishments were to develop and implement a plan for demonstration of Arbiom’s technology, identify main technical risk area and unit operations and conduct testing to minimize risk of commercial scale-up of operations, and develop and exercise a Techno Economic Model (TEA) used as an effective tool in assessing the CAPEX/OPEX impacts of technology and unit operations into commercial application.

At Solazyme, Hank had the leadership role in the deployment of Solazyme’s disruptive algal technology into its first commercial plant in Brazil as well as providing a management role of Solazyme’s engineering group. In addition, he provided the project management lead for Solazyme’s Integrated Biorefinery technology demonstration program.

Prior to Solazyme, Hank was responsible for the implementation of Delta-T bioethanol technology in international applications throughout the world including business development activities and contract execution. His role there also included managing technology exchange efforts and agreements with several firms including projects for sugar cane to ethanol with collaborative partners.

In his working career, Hank had effectively held engineering group management of design engineering groups of 40-60 people, product management, and project engineering/management responsibilities for companies providing flue gas desulfurization, gasification, municipal & hazardous waste incineration, small power projects, gypsum wallboard manufacturing, and other industrial processing. Hank received his B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Youngstown State University and is a registered engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Rick Weyen is an experienced leader in the downstream energy industry with over 38 years experience in a variety of senior roles with leading US energy companies. He began his career with Amoco and over the following 20 years held key management positions in refining and supply operations. In 2001 he joined Tesoro and held several senior positions in Tesoro’s refining, marketing, and midstream businesses until Tesoro (renamed Andeavor) was acquired by Marathon Petroleum Corporation in 2018. His most recent responsibilities in Andeavor’s Strategy and Business Development function included coordination of corporate compliance with the Federal Renewable Fuels Standard and California Low Carbon Fuels Standard, and leadership of Tesoro’s renewables strategy, incorporating initiatives related to the development of the company's biocrude processing strategy, acquisition of Virent, and conversion of the Dickinson Refinery to renewable diesel production.  Mr. Weyen serves on the Board of Directors of Ensyn Corporation.  He has a BS Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from University of Houston – Clear Lake.

Black & Veatch will act as the Independent Engineer to review the entire Project, including the EPC agreement(s), construction schedule/costs, financial model, agricultural schedule/costs, offtake agreements, and O&M expenses. They will also remain with the project during construction to provide monthly construction updates to the project owner(s).

Black & Veatch brings global consulting, engineering and construction expertise in critical energy, water, and communications infrastructure safely, on-time and on-budget. 

Booker Tate is a global leader in the provision of development, management and technical services to the world of sugar, ethanol, bio-energy and other agribusiness projects, having successfully completed some 1,500 assignments in 120 countries over the past 50 years.

For over 200 years, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) has provided innovative financial solutions for consumers, small businesses, corporations, governments and institutions around the world. Today, we're a leading global financial services firm with operations servicing clients in more than 100 countries. Whether we are serving customers, helping small businesses, or putting our skills to work with partners, we strive to identify issues and propose solutions that will propel the future and strengthen both our clients and our communities.

KNN Public Finance, LLC provides comprehensive municipal advisory services to cities, counties, school districts, higher education agencies, special districts and state agencies in California and other western states. We have a staff of 20 professionals operating from three offices in California. For more information, visit: KNN Public Finance.

CE&P has retained Marsh USA, Inc., one of the world's largest risk manager and insurance brokers, to structure a comprehensive Owner-Controlled Insurance Program that will encompass conventional insurance coverage as well as risk mitigation devices in support of project financing. The Marsh team is led by David Myhre and Dan Dunnigan, who have collectively more than fifty years of highly sophisticated insurance and risk management experience.

Milbank is a premier international law firm handling high-profile, complex cases and business transactions through 12 offices worldwide. Our offices work together on an integrated basis, giving us an extraordinary global presence and allowing us to serve a client base that includes the world's leading companies and financial institutions. Milbank is internationally recognized as a leader in major corporate/finance transactions (such as M&A, structured finance, banking, capital markets and project and transportation finance), litigation (including complex commercial, intellectual property, securities and white collar), financial restructuring, and trusts and estates.

We see 21st-century law as a tool to help shape our clients’ futures. We are constantly thinking about what is important to our clients now and next so we can foresee obstacles and opportunities in their space and smooth their way. We ensure they are equipped with winning legal strategies as they navigate the exciting and challenging times we live in. Our ability to do this comes from these working principles: We’re curious and extremely focused on understanding our clients’ businesses and industries. We tap the collective intelligence of Nixon Peabody to deliver the best thinking and create value for our clients throughout the world. We lean forward into the future, together with our clients, to see and prepare for what’s ahead. Working together, we handle complex challenges in litigation, real estate, corporate law, intellectual property, and finance anywhere in the world.

Orrick is a global law firm focused on serving the Technology, Energy & Infrastructure and Finance sectors. Leading companies, and new entrants, call on our teams in 25 markets worldwide for forward-looking, pragmatic advice on transactions, litigation and compliance matters. We bring distinctive quality, teamwork and value to the table – and innovate in everything we do. We’re especially focused on attracting and inspiring the best legal talent – and we’re proud to be named one of the 2016 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.

The most significant corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms, and governments around the globe recognize RBC Capital Markets, LLC as an innovative, trusted partner with an in-depth expertise in capital markets, banking, and finance. We are well-established in the largest, most mature capital markets across North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region, which collectively encompasses 80% of the global investment banking fee pool.

RBC Capital Markets is part of a leading provider of financial services, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Operating since 1869, RBC is one of the largest banks in the world and the fifth largest in North America, as measured by market capitalization. With a strong capital base and consistent financial performance, RBC is among a small group of highly rated global banks.

Secretariat is a leading independent expert services and litigation consulting firm serving a wide range of clients globally. We specialize in international arbitration and litigation; large-scale construction disputes, including delay and quantum analysis; forensic accounting; economic damages; and government contracting.

Stradling represents companies and entities who seek a sophisticated law firm with experienced counsel to guide critical transactions and disputes. Originally founded in 1975 to represent Southern California’s most innovative emerging growth companies, today Stradling is known as a leading full-service corporate and securities, litigation, and government finance law firm representing high growth and established organizations across a wide range of industries. We’ve built our practice around our clients’ core needs and believe they should only be charged for services and offices they require. Our size, structure, and culture allow us to provide big-firm representation with small-firm flexibility and responsiveness. Today we serve high growth companies, the Fortune 500, and global organizations using that very premise. 

TerraNova Capital, a 25-year-old investment bank, focuses on the small-to-middle market and provides equity and debt solutions to its clients.  TerraNova’s renewables focus includes solar, food waste, plastic and battery recycling technologies, and clean energy technologies, with a recent initiative in clean power (solar, geothermal and hydro) data centers.

TerraNova Capital Equities, Inc. (member FINRA/SIPC) is the investment banking arm of TerraNova Capital, a 25-year-old financial advisory firm focused on the small-to-middle market.  TerraNova Capital is comprised of two companies; TerraNova Capital Equities, Inc. which provides financial and capital solutions to its clients, and TerraNova Capital Partners, Inc. which focuses on merger and acquisition (M&A) advice, consulting and merchant banking.  Learn more at www.terracap.com

Uni-systems, Inc. is performing sugarcane -to-ethanol, electricity and bio-methane specialty process engineering and design services, and will procure and supply most of the equipment as well as perform construction management services. Uni-systems is a recognized global supplier of sugarcane processing-related advanced technologies, integrated process solutions, engineering design, and state-of-the-art equipment.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati is the premier legal advisor to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide. They represent companies at every stage of development, from entrepreneurial start-ups to multibillion-dollar global corporations, as well as the venture firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that finance and advise them. The firm's broad range of services and practice areas are focused on addressing the principal challenges faced by the management, boards of directors, shareholders, and in-house counsel of our clients. The firm is nationally recognized for providing high-quality services to address the legal solutions required by its enterprise and financial institution clients. Their services include corporate law and governance, public and private offerings of equity and debt securities, mergers and acquisitions, securities class action litigation, intellectual property litigation, antitrust counseling and litigation, joint ventures and strategic alliances, technology licensing and other intellectual property transactions, tax, and employee benefits and employment law, among other areas. Their distinguished international roster of clients span a wide variety of industries, including information technology, life sciences, energy and clean technology, media and entertainment, communications, retail, and financial services.