our company
Development Path
hep Peak Clean Energy is a local developer and owner of utility scale solar energy projects. We are the utility scale development arm of hep energy in the U.S. Born and bred in the U.S., we are focused on creating new sources of clean renewable energy at the local level. We partner with landowners, electric cooperatives, regional and investor-owned utilities, municipalities, commercial and industrial electricity consumers, and the community at large to build economic and environmentally responsible projects. Our team’s successes in renewable energy include:
- 250+ MW of solar Projects in 12 states
- 1.7 GW of wind Projects in 11 states
- 80 MW South Peak Wind Project, MT, COD 2020
- 15 MW Anderson Wind Project, NM, COD 2014
- 40 MW Spion Kop Wind Project, MT, COD 2012
Peak’s management team has been substantially involved in the development and financing of both conventional (coal and gas fired) and renewable power generation projects. Specifically in the solar and wind sectors, the core team has considerable experience and has led multiple deals.
Our Development Portfolio
Sites are uniquely developed in multiple phases to take advantage of existing transmission capacity.
Core Development Team
Ilan Caplan, Senior Vice President
Ilan was a co-founder of Peak, who’s experience covers over 20 years in the conventional and renewable energy sectors. Previously, Ilan was a Vice President at Compass Wind, LLC, where he focused on finance, analytical and operational aspects of the development company.
Prior to joining Peak, Ilan served as a Finance Director selling over $260+M (160 MW) of solar and (280 MW) of wind projects. He also served as key roles at Clipper Windpower as well as at GE Wind and Enron Wind, resulting in a total of 1+ GW of installed project capacity.
llan has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Masters in Professional Accounting, both from the University of Texas at Austin.
Kyle Paulson, Director Legal
Kyle has been involved in the renewable energy sector for over 14 years. He provides counsel and also leads project land acquisition, government affairs, public relations, permitting, and environmental assessment efforts.
Kyle previously worked at SunShare Compass Wind, and Clipper Windpower in various roles providing counsel regarding solar project development, finance, and corporate matters as well as leading the company’s launch into new markets.
Kyle’s prior experience includes advancing recycling policies and practices with the Container Recycling Institute in Washington, DC and implementing sustainable forestry initiatives with the Peace Corps in Ghana.
Kyle holds a BA in Political Science from St. Olaf College and a JD from Vermont Law School, a nationally top-ranked environmental law program.
Lorin Crandall, GIS Manager
Before spearheading mapping and site evaluation efforts at Peak, Lorin built his cartographic expertise working on water quality issues at a small non-profit in Missouri. Lorin started as a draftsman and designer at a leading landscape architecture firm in St.Louis.
Lorin's focus at Peak has been on building locational knowledge that is critical to site evaluation, in addition, he helps manage various tasks specific to environmental permitting, data collection and project management.
Lorin has a bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning & Design from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Masters in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of Colorado-Denver.
Tyson Taylor, Development Manager
Tyson comes to Peak with a broad range of experience most recently consulting with numerous developers on siting, due diligence and permitting site matters. Tyson will provide similar services in- house with Peak.
Tyson started out in city planning and has since played key roles in a number of various real estate development entities least of which included the Denver Union Station redevelopment, large and small scale home development and management as well as land acquisition for various wind and solar projects.
Tyson graduated from New Mexico State University with two degrees in Urban and Regional Planning as well as in Government.
Gary Hurse, Senior External Advisor
Gary serves as a Senior External Advisor to Peak and previously served as Executive Vice President and General Manager of Lea County Electric Cooperative, Inc. for over thirteen years serving Southeastern New Mexico and West Texas.
During his at the coop, he transformed LCEC’s strategic power supply portfolio well before national trends followed by renegotiating their SPS contracts and shifting to Western Farmers, building a Wartsila gen set and coupling all this with purchasing wind power, all to better service the needs of his members.
Gary has an Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. Gary graduated from Texas A&M University at Commerce with a degree in Industrial Engineering Technology