Her Story
About Anne
My journey in renewable energy spans 20 years, though it hasn't always been a straight path. In 2011, when Xcel Energy pulled the rebates from solar and wind in Colorado, I was laid off from my position as a project manager at a wind and solar company in Denver. I went home that night and thought, what am I going to do with my life now? I decided to go back to school to study electrical engineering, and I worked in the field as an electrician to understand the practical side of electrical engineering. That combination of theory and practical experience has been the most instrumental aspect of my success, because I understood electrical in a more well-rounded manner than the average engineer. I'm now a master electrician licensed in 9 states and an electrical engineer. After finishing college, it was difficult to break back into the renewable energy industry, so I became an electrical superintendent, and then a position opened for an electrical sales engineer, and I moved up the ladder from there. What I'm most proud of is building a repower team from the ground up with my director Edward Trujillo. We had no budget, no marketing, no sales, but that vertical is very successful today, and the team is still together and has been through 3 different companies. I'm also on the board of Suncode, an incredible solar and battery storage IPP, and I've been helping them build their portfolio for 2026-2027.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Anne
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to my team. Without them, there was no way that I would be where I am today. The team I built with my director Edward Trujillo has been instrumental in everything we've accomplished. We built the repower vertical from the ground up with no budget, no marketing, no sales, and that team is still together and has been through 3 different companies. We're all still together, and that vertical is very successful today.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't count anything out, and be able to pivot. Not everything is based on title. Success is far more than that.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges that our industry faces at the moment, and it really impacts my ability to find new endeavors, is that we are struggling with the reductions in the ITC and the PTCs. Reducing the PTC and the ITC has been just catastrophic to our industry. That's why we started the repower vertical, because there's 63 gigawatts of active solar on the market generating power, and all of those facilities need to be repowered at some point, so we're focused there. The repower is the opportunity that has spun off from that reduction, because now we're focused on fixing them instead of building them.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say commitment and integrity are the values most important to me in my work and personal life.
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