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Kimberlee Centera relied on intelligence and ambition to blaze an impressive, three-decade career in the renewable energy industry. As President and CEO of San Diego-based TerraPro Solutions, she's one of the only female CEOs of a privately held, privately funded utility-scale renewable energy consulting practice.
In 10 years, she has taken the company from a one-person start-up to an industry leader and earned an enviable reputation as a risk management expert for developing and financing large-scale generator energy projects. She and her team have financed more than 12 gigawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage projects valued at more than $6 billion.
She credits her success to the love of the land she gained in her childhood and a father who taught her to think — and views people as the priority in renewable energy project development.
"I strongly believe that renewables are about communities, and sometimes we don't do a good enough job of really making it personal for people," she said.
Suitable, appropriately zoned land and procuring the relevant permits are critical to every wind, solar, storage or transmission project. Yet she said land agents only finalize about 10% of land lease or purchase agreements for renewable energy projects.
"People are sometimes surprised when they hear renewable projects are so difficult. They're like, 'Well, you guys are green, you should be the good guys, and it should be easy.' But it takes a lot of fortitude and perseverance to get these projects through because there's one barrier after another," she said.
Developers have to overcome landowner and community opposition — obstacles Kimberlee said can be defeated by building trust and listening to local stakeholders' concerns. Many of those trusting relationships have endured decades across generations of families!
"One landowner called me for 25 years whenever she had questions, and we had long since sold the projects and moved on. Eventually, I was dealing with her daughter and then her granddaughter. Unfortunately, she's now passed away. But it's always been about relationships, which have always been compelling [motivation] for me," she said.
She suggested that developers can present projects with empathy and concern instead of just data by getting to know the people potentially affected by a project — along with their values and the local economy — and defining areas of mutual interest.
Kimberlee and her four siblings grew up in Mountain View, California, "when there were still lots of farms and before it turned into the environment that it is today. "We picked strawberries and cut and dried apricots and gained an appreciation for the land," she recalled."
Her father was a teacher. "There was a challenge, an encouragement, to learn and to grow. That was foundational regarding my thinking, approach to my business, and life. I still always want to be learning," she said.
In today's podcast, Kimberlee explores her nearly 30 years in the still male-dominated renewables industry. From starting in 1993 at SeaWest WindPower, which AES Corp. acquired in 2005, to deciding in 2012 to "leap off the cliff and trust" her abilities to start her own business.
"You don't have all the answers, and you're not going to have all the answers. But you have to be willing to take the first step — and I think this is where my focus on learning became so important," she said.
"You need that entrepreneurial, willing-to-learn spirit when starting a business. There isn't a rule book. Nobody hands you a book and says, 'okay, just check all these boxes, and you'll be a fabulous success.' You have to sling it out."
Join us as we explore ways to mitigate risk in your projects and learn from Kimberlee's decades-long experience. You'll benefit from her deep knowledge and understanding of how solar projects come together and how the renewables industry has developed over the past 30 years. She also gives practical examples of how her team helps remove the common obstacles to getting these projects permitted and financed, often being a key contributor in her clients’ meeting project completion deadlines!
You'll also learn how her roles as a mother and grandmother — and her commitment to the environment and society — influences her business.
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Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 16-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
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