Who we are

Bath & West Community Energy is governed by an experienced and highly skilled board of directors that includes Non Executive Directors elected by the membership and BWCE’s Managing Director, Pete Capener who is a non-elected Executive Director. We also co-opt Directors onto the board to provide additional expertise (e.g. on financial and legal issues). The board is supported by a growing staff team, with further expertise being drawn in when needed.

BWCE Board

Rupert Atkinson

Position: Chair, Finance Sub: Coopted Member Director

Rupert is a finance professional and private investor in startup / scale-up technology companies – many of which are pioneering examples of the positive environmental change being initiated by the private sector. Rupert complements his investing activities with support for a number of university enterprise / entrepreneurship initiatives, including the Launch Lab of City University (Mentor, and member of the Advisory Board) and SETsquared Bath (Mentor)

Rupert Atkinson

Chair, Finance Sub: Coopted Member Director

 

Sonya Bedford

Position: Deputy Chair, BWCE Board: Coopted Member Director

Sonya is a Partner with Spencer West solicitors; a non-executive director at Regen; a director at Exeter Community Energy and South Dartmoor Community Energy and vice chair of Green Wedmore with 20 years’ experience of energy issues. Her strengths lie in dealing with all aspects of renewables development from feasibility through to construction and funding. Sonya has a particular expertise in accessing grid, development of alternative connections and licensed and local supply.

Sonya Bedford

Deputy Chair, BWCE Board: Coopted Member Director

 

Chris Crookall-Fallon

Position: Chair, BWCE Board: Elected Member Director

Chris is presently Head of Climate Action at a district council in Gloucestershire. Previously he’s worked for a specialist co-operatives and social enterprise business consultancy, run his own renewable energy consultancy business, and for many years worked in Corsham for a specialist climate, energy and sustainability consultancy which he helped to transfer into employee ownership. Chris was a member-elected director of BWCE early in the Society’s life

Chris Crookall-Fallon

Chair, BWCE Board: Elected Member Director

 

Pete Capener

Position: Managing Director

Peter is co-founder and Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy, Deputy Chair of Community Energy England and a trustee of the Centre for Sustainable Energy. He is co-chair of the BEIS ministerial advisory group on community energy.

Peter has worked in the sustainable energy field and on community energy for over 35 years, having led the early development of the Centre for Sustainable Energy as Chief Executive, where he originally started in the mid eighties working with schools and communities. Since resigning from CSE in 2002 due to family illness, Peter has worked as an independent advisor on a range of energy efficiency, renewable energy and fuel poverty projects for various government, private and voluntary sector clients, with a strong focus on community action.

He has an MSc in Energy Resource Management.

Pete Capener

Managing Director

 

Louise Daniels

Position: Elected Member Director

Louise is Head of Communications and Marketing at Thrive Renewables, a renewable energy investment company which owns and operates a portfolio of onshore wind, hydro and battery storage projects across the UK. She is responsible for the company’s reputation and leads on communications with all stakeholders. Louise has been managing communications activity in renewables and not for profit sectors for more than ten years, including managing PR for Good Energy plc, the UK’s first dedicated 100% renewable electricity supply company.

Louise Daniels

Elected Member Director

 

Dr Dan Davies

Position: Elected Member Director

Dan has worked in the renewable energy sector for over 30 years. After completing his PhD in wind and solar technology he joined Halcrow’s energy team before helping to co-found Solarcentury where he was Chief Technology Officer. He set up Solarcentury Africa and built a team which delivered on grid and off grid hybrid power projects across the continent, and worked for SolarAid – a development charity supported by Solarcentury and other solar companies – helping them with product specifications and working with manufacturing partners in China.

Dr Dan Davies

Elected Member Director

 

Matt Harnack

Position: Elected Member Director

Matt provides strategic and operational management support to solar farm owners, asset managers and O&M providers through his business Harness Energy Consulting. His clients own, operate and develop around 5000MW of solar farms and battery storage facilities. Prior to consulting Matt was O&M Director at British Solar Renewables, held Interim Director positions within rooftop solar O&M and battery manufacture, has run Good Energy’s Feed-in Tariff payment business and was Associate Director at Ofgem where he ran the Renewables Obligation and set up the Feed-in Tariff scheme.

Matt Harnack

Elected Member Director

 

Fliss Jones

Position: Elected Member Director

Felicity (Fliss) is a partner at Everoze, a technical and commercial energy consultancy. She has a background in energy storage, flexibility and innovative business models. She brings a decade of experience in clean energy, including setting up Everoze’s battery storage business back in 2016. Felicity is a Trustee of the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) and is Director of LiveDiligence, a software-as-a-service business enabling radically better due diligence, to accelerate investment in renewables and storage.

Fliss Jones

Elected Member Director

 

Barney Rhys Jones

Position: Elected Member Director

Barney is the Asset Management Director for Octopus Renewables’ 1GW sSolar portfolio, having spent nearly 14 years in the clean tech sector. He previously worked as Portfolio Director at Oxford Capital, overseeing £350M of investments in solar, anaerobic digestion and grid response. Barney also worked in Telecoms before moving into the renewables sector with Low Carbon Investors and subsequently as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Good Energy PLC, the UK’s first dedicated 100% renewable electricity supplier.

Barney Rhys Jones

Elected Member Director

 

BWCE Staff

Catherine Adams

Position: Green Open Homes Engagement Coordinator

Catherine works with partners to organise Green Open Homes taking place in B&NES on the 4th and 5th of November. With a background in marketing, community engagement and business development specialising in engineering and the construction sector she has a keen interest in retrofit and the built environment. Experience to date includes working with the Cleveland Pools redevelopment project (Bath), being a regional leader for a marketing community, supporting built environment organisations with marketing and setting up a local canal-side tea shed.

Catherine Adams

Green Open Homes Engagement Coordinator

 

Eve Aston-Davies

Position: Renewable Energy Project Developer

Eve is a Renewable Energy Project Developer with BWCE and an Associate with the zero carbon consultancy, RenewEV. During her BSc Geography degree at university, she developed a love for geology, vegetation and sustainability, leading to her these roles where she develops community rooftop solar projects and advocates for onshore wind energy. Lastly, Eve has experience in project management and working in cross-cultural teams.

Eve Aston-Davies

Renewable Energy Project Developer

 

Nick Bird

Position: Community Engagement Manager

Nick manages BWCE’s community outreach and engagement work. He has over 30 years’ experience of managing community projects and events, promoting community engagement and delivering training. He has run community engagement projects in Wiltshire, London and Leeds, worked in a community arts centre and, in a voluntary capacity, helped to develop Larkhall Festival and Bath Co-operative Alliance. He has worked for Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation, Tenant Participation Advisory Service and London Voluntary Services Council.

Nick Bird

Community Engagement Manager

 

Pete Capener

Position: Managing Director

Peter is co-founder and Managing Director of Bath & West Community Energy, Deputy Chair of Community Energy England and a trustee of the Centre for Sustainable Energy. He is co-chair of the BEIS ministerial advisory group on community energy.

Peter has worked in the sustainable energy field and on community energy for over 35 years, having led the early development of the Centre for Sustainable Energy as Chief Executive, where he originally started in the mid eighties working with schools and communities. Since resigning from CSE in 2002 due to family illness, Peter has worked as an independent advisor on a range of energy efficiency, renewable energy and fuel poverty projects for various government, private and voluntary sector clients, with a strong focus on community action.

He has an MSc in Energy Resource Management.

Pete Capener

Managing Director

 

Steve Cross

Position: Flex Community Support Officer

Steve is responsible for mapping domestic rooftop solar installations in Bath and Shepton Mallet onto grid network maps to identify potential participants for our Flex Community Peer-to-Peer trading trial. His previous work in the Speciality Chemical Industry helped Aylesford Paper Mill in Kent to become the first major UK Newsprint Manufacturer to use 100% Recycled Paper and he also had a small part to play in the development of Quorn. Steve is a BWCE member and is involved in Go Green Widcombe, especially their group-buy solar scheme.

Steve Cross

Flex Community Support Officer

 

Cathy Crozier-Cole

Position: Home Energy Service Manager

Cathy is taking a lead on the development of BWCE’s new home energy retrofit service. Cathy has worked in sustainable energy for over 20 years and brings a wealth of expertise on home energy efficiency, having advised government, housing associations, local authorities, builders and householders on low energy retrofit policy and practice. She’s worked as a home energy surveyor with Parity Projects and the SuperHomes Network, and locally she co-founded Bath Green Homes to showcase energy efficient homes.

Cathy Crozier-Cole

Home Energy Service Manager

 

Dinah Darby

Position: Events & Networking Coordinator

Dinah is responsible for developing BWCE’s programme of events and outreach/networking activities. Dinah has a wealth of experience in administration and events coordination having worked in both the education and charity sectors for over thirty years, most recently for the Life Project in Bath and before that at the University of Bath.

Dinah Darby

Events & Networking Coordinator

 

Sara Grimes

Position: Head of Community Business Development

Sara is taking a lead on BWCE’s new business development with an early focus on home energy efficiency. She worked in local government for 13 years on climate initiatives, including the Cooperation Agreement between BWCE and B&NES Council and planning policies on renewable energy and net zero buildings. Prior to this, she worked in the USA as a community organiser and as regional director of an environmental and consumer advocacy group.

Sara Grimes

Head of Community Business Development

 

Joe Hurley

Position: Renewable Energy Project Developer

Joe is responsible for developing BWCE’s rooftop solar projects in collaboration with John Rawlins. He has 15 years’ experience working on large EPC projects, leading procurement teams and expediting complex projects through to timely completion, all underpinned by a BEng Hons in Computer Aided Engineering. After volunteering with BWCE’s rooftop solar program for 6 months he took on a more permanent position with RenewEV, where he continues to support BWCE’s rooftop solar offer

Joe Hurley

Renewable Energy Project Developer

 

Alex Jones

Position: Operations Manager

Alex has a decade of operations experience, and has managed complex projects for charitable and commercial organisations. Her background is in education, and she has worked in partnership with universities, embassies and cultural organisations to deliver academic courses in Latin America which explore the social impact of the conflict in Colombia and the recent peace process there. As well as a first class history degree from University of Bristol, Alex has also trained in data law, policy and regulation at LSE.

She currently serves as Non-Executive Director at One Housing Group, a G15 Housing Association with a strong social purpose and over 35,000 residents, and as a Trustee at Children Change Colombia, a charity that defends the rights of children through community-led programmes.

For BWCE, Alex will be helping us strengthen the operational systems and processes needed for this growing organisation.

Alex Jones

Operations Manager

 

Jenny Knight

Position: Administrator

Jenny is responsible for ensuring that all operational systems at BWCE operate smoothly and provides administrative support to the BWCE team across various projects. Jenny has a wealth of experience in various administration roles, working in both Charity and Education settings including Anti-Slavery International, Children on the Edge, Renewable World, Bristol University and West Dean College of Arts and Conservation. 

Jenny Knight

Administrator

 

Alex Lockton

Position: Renewable Energy Development Co-ordinator

Alex leads BWCE’s asset development team and provides supply chain and technical support to BWCE’s innovation project, Flex Community. He has wide experience of developing new projects including renewable energy and low carbon technologies as well as strategic consultancy. He has worked in the renewable energy industry for 14 years, owning and running businesses which design, install and operate all forms of renewable energy including Solar, Wind, Biomass, Heat Pumps. With John Rawlins, Alex has set up the zero carbon consultancy RenewEV.

Alex Lockton

Renewable Energy Development Co-ordinator

 

Jonathan Logsdon

Position: Retrofit Coordinator

Jonny is the technical lead on our grant-funded Green Heritage homes project. As Retrofit Coordinator he will be providing oversight and advice on selecting and implementing energy efficiency measures to improve the comfort, performance and resilience of existing homes, including listed & historic buildings.

He has over 20 years’ experience as an architect, and has run his own practice for 17 years. He is a certified passive house designer and qualified PAS 2035 retrofit coordinator. He has experience of working on new-build, retrofit and historic buildings of varying scale and complexity. He has worked on an extensive range of building types from homes, community centres, schools, offices, and commercial premises. Alongside the delivery of low-energy projects, he has hands-on experience of retrofit and self-build projects. His home and office featured in Bath Green Homes of 2013 as an example of simple measures taken to improve comfort and reduce energy need without compromising the feel or look of the spaces.

Jonathan Logsdon

Retrofit Coordinator

 

Sally Merrett

Position: Home Energy Lead Assessor

Sally is part of BWCE’s Home Energy team helping to lower carbon emissions and increase comfort in homes across Bath and surrounding areas. Sally has a MSc in Renewable Energy and a BSc in Energy Studies and 30 years business experience. She has managed carbon reduction projects for the Welsh Assembly Government and Birmingham City Council’s building stock, as well as numerous large and small scale renewable energy projects.

Sally is currently undertaking a deep retrofit of her own Victorian house to improve energy efficiency and end its reliance on gas.

Sally Merrett

Home Energy Lead Assessor

 

Julia O’Connor

Position: Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Julia is responsible for overseeing the internal and external communications across the organisation. She brings over 20 years experience of working in Marketing Communications both in the private sector, but more predominantly within charity and not for profit organisations. She has worked for national charities such as RNIB, Penny Brohn Cancer Care, as well as Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling and Places for People Leisure.

Julia O’Connor

Marketing & Communications Coordinator

 

John Rawlins

Position: Renewable Energy Project Developer - Lead Rooftop Solar

John is responsible for developing BWCE’s rooftop solar projects, in collaboration with Joe Hurley. He has worked for a variety of well known companies, completing training as a Chartered Management Accountant and then an Executive MBA at the University of Bath and was awarded 1st Prize in a cross-discipline renewable energy project by the Royal Academy of Engineering.. More recently he has spent 2 years as the Chief of Staff to the CEO of a FTSE 250 energy retailer. He is a partner with Alex Lockton in their zero carbon consultancy RenewEV.

John Rawlins

Renewable Energy Project Developer - Lead Rooftop Solar

 

Benny Talbot

Position: Technical Lead, Community Business Development

Benny is responsible for exploring and developing new areas of work for BWCE, and providing technical support to ongoing projects. Having recently returned to the area after 10 years working on community led energy innovation in Scotland, his previous experience includes work on flexibility services, local energy supply, low carbon transport, hydrogen electrolysis, and the education and capacity building required to enable communities to engage with these emerging technologies. He has worked for Community Energy Scotland, Skill Share Dundee, Demand Energy Equality, and SP Energy Networks.

Benny Talbot

Technical Lead, Community Business Development

 

Alison Turnbull

Position: Innovation Projects Coordinator

Alison manages BWCE’s innovation projects, with a current focus on Flex Community. She has worked in the renewable energy industry for 20 years at AEA Technology and at ESD as a renewable energy consultant. She has worked on the development of small-scale PV community schemes with BWCE, CoCoEnergy and Frome Renewable Energy Co, where she is on the Board and she managed BWCE’s first demand management programme, Empower.

Alison Turnbull

Innovation Projects Coordinator

 

Operational Partners

Bright Renewables are a community owned asset manager with 83MW of renewable electricity capacity under management. BWCE are one of Bright Renewables founding members and owners.

Bright Renewables manage BWCE’s renewable energy projects.

RenewEV is a zero carbon consultancy set up by Alex Lockton and John Rawlins, members of BWCE’s team. RenewEV is committed to the development of community energy projects and donates 5% of its profits to BWCE.

RenewEV provides BWCE with renewable energy project development services.

External services provides specialist support services to a number of sectors including the renewable energy sector.

External Services provides BWCE with accounting, payroll and HR support.

Neville Registrars provide share registration services for a wide range of clients.

Neville Registrars manage BWCE’s share register and bond register for all bonds issued in 2016.

Ethex provide an online marketplace for positive investment and specialise in community offers. BWCE has run multiple fundraises through Ethex in the past.

Currently Ethex is managing BWCE’s bond register for all bonds issued in 2017.