Specialists in New York solar and storage development
Our team has developed over 250 MW of solar and storage projects in the State of New York.
Emilie Flanagan, Chief Executive Officer
Emilie Flanagan is the Chief Executive Officer at Carson Power where she leads the day-to-day operations of the business and guides the overall vision of the business. Prior to founding Carson Power in March 2021, she was the Director of Project Development for Emerging Markets at Borrego Solar, where she led the incubation of new solar and storage development businesses across the US, primarily DG in the Mid-Atlantic and utility-scale in New York. Prior to this role, Emilie was a community solar project developer for Borrego and originated over 200 MW (DC) of solar projects that have now reached PTO. Prior to joining Borrego, Emilie founded and led a business in Indonesia that focused on the development of small scale waste-to-energy assets. Emilie has an MBA in Finance from HEC Paris and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University.
Elizabeth Driscoll, Chief Operating Officer
Liz Driscoll is the Chief Operating Officer at Carson Power, where she leads the Development Operations team, including engineering, operations, estimating, and project execution. Before joining Carson Power, Liz was the Director of Engineering and Construction at Advanced Power. She led the development engineers team managing Utility Scale greenfield development projects through to financial close, including EPC negotiations. Liz primarily worked in ERCOT-TX (Solar and solar + storage), NM, AZ, MD, VA, and OH markets, managing a 1GW+ portfolio. Before joining Advanced Power, Liz worked at Borrego Solar for 7 years in development and operations as the Director of Products and Director of Pre-Construction focused on researching and evaluating a new technology as well as estimating and securing over 400 MWs of EPC Distributed Generation projects in MA, ME, NY, NY and OH. Liz is a Wentworth Institute of Technology graduate with a master’s degree in Construction Management and a bachelor’s in Construction Management and Fine Arts. Liz is passionate about the renewables industry and excited to deploy MWs of PV and storage across the USA.
Belinda Knapp, Director of Real Estate
Belinda Knapp is our Director of Real Estate at Carson Power. She provides direction for the team in Real Estate matters of all development activity as it relates to title and real estate agreements. Her Real Estate guidance includes direction on early-stage development, site control, interconnection easement agreements, and permitting through Notice to Proceed. Before joining Carson Power, Belinda was a Real Estate Manager at Boralex where she managed teams for site acquisition and early-stage development of over 900 MWs of New York solar projects ranging in size within the Utility Scale Market. Belinda was also a project manager at a prestigious land consulting company representing large-scale energy developers involved in the planning and development of energy projects, rights of way, resource management, and infrastructure across the United States. In Belinda's 8+ years in the renewable energy sector, she has accumulated broad experience in project management, land acquisition, geospatial mapping, data management, community relations, land feasibility studies, and permitting services.
Stephen Simko, Director of Valuation & Finance
Stephen Simko is Director of Valuation and Finance, where he oversees valuation, modeling, and business development efforts. Prior to joining Carson, Stephen worked for New Leaf Energy's Project Valuation Group, where he participated in valuing and marketing DG-scale solar and storage assets across multiple markets. Stephen also worked for NYSERDA's Large-Scale Renewables group, where he led internal forecasting and valuation efforts for the authority's land-based and offshore wind programs. Before beginning his career in renewable energy, Stephen was Director of Energy Research at Morningstar, where he worked for more than 9 years. Stephen is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Gayle Alpert, Director of Human Resources
Gayle Alpert is the Human Resource Director overseeing all functions of HR, including recruitment, employee relations, benefits administration, and training and development. Gayle came to Carson Power with over 20 years of experience in all aspects of Operations and Human Resource management working for a variety of organizations both in New York and Connecticut, from startups to publicly traded companies. Most recently, Gayle was the Human Resources Business Partner at Global Partners, a publicly traded company, where she supported leaders in driving organizational change through HR process improvements and influencing executives through strong business partnerships. Prior to Global, Gayle was the Talent Acquisition Manager for Loureiro Engineering Associates where she successfully created the recruiting and talent development departments. Gayle graduated from the University of Bridgeport and holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Christian Bertram, Director of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Christian Bertram, PE is the Director of Civil and Environmental Engineering where he provides the direction for the team in all civil and environmental matters. Chris has two decades of management, leadership, and design in Commercial, Residential, institutional, Renewables, and industrial projects. Prior to working at Carson Power, Christian worked for Labella Associates where he managed developed and permitting, and construction plans including stormwater designing for community and utility-scale solar projects. Prior to Labella Associates, Christian worked for Hart Engineering on several commercial and industrial land development projects that involved site designs, stormwater, water and sanitary layouts, and SWPP. Christian is a Certified Inspector with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Christian graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Civil Engineering and is a PE in the state of New York.
Michelle Lemery, Director of Finance and Accounting
Michelle Lemery is the Director of Finance and Accounting at Carson Power where she leads the accounting functions including the preparation of our tax filings, accounts payable and receivables, and managing the process to ensure a robust budgeting and planning function. Prior to Carson, Michelle spent the past 15 years in progressing roles in accounting and finance, most recently as the Vice President of Finance for a property management company. There, she oversaw all aspects of finance and accounting including leading and managing the budgeting process, process control and development, cash management and forecasting, and monthly financial reporting for 20+ companies. Michelle is a graduate of Siena College.
Vardaan Gurung, Development Operations Manager
Vardaan Gurung is a Development Operations Manager at Carson Power where he oversees project development execution, working hand-in-hand with the development team to manage consultants and contractors involved in system design, civil and environmental permitting, interconnection, and real estate. He is the son of Nepali immigrants, born and raised in Northern Virginia, and has a technical background in both nuclear and mechanical engineering. Prior to joining Carson Power, Vardaan served in the US Navy for five years, leading nuclear power plant construction and maintenance projects. He led cross-functional teams focused on a broad range of topics including decommissioning system development, radioactive waste shipment, nuclear facility design, and heavy equipment disposal solutions. In addition to his project management roles, he supported day-to-day power plant field operations and was the departmental lead on nuclear criticality safety philosophy and implementation. Vardaan has a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School and a BS in Aerospace Engineering from MIT. He also holds a Professional Engineer license in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In his free time, he enjoys watching and playing soccer and taking his motorcycle to the track.
Owen Hooper, Development Operations Manager
Prior to Joining Carson Power, Owen worked the last five years as an Operations Manager at Brookfield Renewable. In this role, Owen managed an operation and maintenance team for multiple hydroelectric plants throughout New York and Pennsylvania. Along with operations responsibilities, he managed multiple major repair projects and developed several projects to improve annual generation at the facilities he managed. Prior to Brookfield Renewable, Owen worked for GE Power for five years. At GE Power, Owen held various roles, including Operations Leader and Center of Excellence Leader, where he led several teams in the manufacturing and service of utility-scale steam turbines and generators. For the previous 11 years, Owen was a Nuclear Operator and Supervisor in the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Owen was stationed on the submarine USS Tucson and at the Naval Nuclear Training Unit in Ballston Spa, NY, Pearl Harbor, Hi, and Norfolk, VA. During Owen’s Naval service, he held roles from Mechanical Systems Technician to Propulsion Plant Supervisor and Division Leading Chief Petty Officer. When not at work, Owen enjoys running, hiking, coaching soccer, and spending time with his family.
Andrew Gordon, Senior Project Developer
Andrew Gordon is a Senior Project Developer at Carson Power where he leads the execution of all development activity including project origination, site control, interconnection, and permitting through Notice to Proceed. Before joining Carson Power, Andrew was a Development Manager at AES Clean Energy where he led the development of over 600 MWs of New York solar projects ranging in size from Community Solar through Utility Scale. Prior to his career in Solar Development, Andrew worked in Management Consulting supporting process improvement implementations for global financial institutions. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree from Penn State University with a minor in International Business.
Kayleigh Furth, Junior Project Developer
Kayleigh Furth is a Junior Project Developer at Carson Power where she leads project site discovery, preliminary desktop due diligence, initial landowner contact, site control, completion of interconnection applications, management of company events and relationships, as well as works with fellow developers on various tasks to assist in large scale solar development. Kayleigh recently graduated from Cornell University where she majored in Environmental Engineering and minored in Business. At Cornell, Kayleigh was captain of their Division I Women’s Track and Field team, where she primarily competed in the 400 meter dash. Prior to joining Carson, Kayleigh interned for Galehead Development, where she had a project developing role focused on researching commercial strategies for the West Coast solar and wind energy market. In her free time, Kayleigh enjoys hiking mountains and visiting national parks to enjoy nature’s beauty.
Hannah Marchefka, Junior Project Developer
Hannah Marchefka is a Junior Project Developer at Carson Power where she leads project site discovery, preliminary desktop due diligence, initial landowner contact, site control, completion of interconnection applications, as well as works with fellow developers on various tasks to assist in large scale solar development. Hannah was introduced to the industry at a young age, handwriting letters to landowners with promising sites, for her dad’s company LandSolution. After learning more about the industry, she interned for LandSolution where she managed site acquisition projects for development clients in various states including New York to help co-develop a 600+ megawatt solar PV project portfolio across ten states, while studying engineering. Through her internship, she began working closely with Carson Power. In her free time, Hannah enjoys hiking, traveling, and all things outdoors.
