Meet our leadership
action team
We are a partner, financier, engineer, builder, developer, owner and operator — all rolled into one national clean energy expert.
Even though we offer end-to-end solutions, our organization is flat which keeps our management close to our clients and their projects at all times.
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John Brand
• Chief Financial Officer, Zero6 Energy
• Head of Finance, Administration & Asset
Operations#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Chief Financial Officer of Juhl Energy since 2008.
Served as Chief Financial Officer for 20 years for other enterprises and subsidiaries of large public companies such as Comdisco or CMS Direct (now Merkle); over 14 years of audit experience as a certified public accountant with firms such as Grant Thornton.
Over 40 years of experience in capital raising, project finance, tax, audit, and risk management.
Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting from Saint Cloud State University.
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Anthony Chmielewski
President, Managing Principal, Engineering
#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
President of PEC Engineering Subsidiary; member of PEC leadership team since 2003 (Juhl acquired PEC in 2013).
Served as lead engineer on multiple large power generation projects across the US with PEC; began career as a project engineer for MWH Global (now Stantec).
Over 23 years of experience in mechanical engineering and engineering management; considered a national power engineering expert.
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University.
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John Mitola
• Chief Executive Officer, Zero6 Energy
• President, Zero6 Energy Development#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Chief Executive Officer; member of Juhl leadership team since 2008.
Former Chairman of the Illinois Tollway where he led over $6B in construction projects to update the system; VP and General Manager of Exelon Thermal a non-regulated subsidiary of Exelon that developed and built over 23 district energy, cogeneration and some of the world’s largest thermal storage projects across North America.
Over 30 years of experience developing, operating, managing and investing in energy projects.
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois — Champaign Urbana; Juris Doctor — DePaul University.
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Clay Norrbom
• President, Zero6 Energy
• Chief Investment Officer, Zero6 Energy
Capital Management#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
President and Chief Investment Officer; member of Juhl leadership team since 2016; investments with Juhl since 2011.
Former co-founder of the Geo Investors Funds (raised and invested capital in distributed scale renewable energy projects); former senior banker for Citigroup working on over $3 billion of complex financing and hedging for multinational clients in New York and London offices.
25 years experience in financial markets and credit; over 12 years of experience leading investments in renewable energy projects.
Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison; Masters of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
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Gene Poletto
Managing Principal, Engineering
#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Managing Principal Engineer; President of Performance Power Services (PPS) since 2000; Juhl acquired and merged PPS into PEC in 2021.
Prior to founding PPS, served as a Site and Construction manager for large nuclear and fossil generation plants for Exelon’s ComEd utility; decades of experience being called on for highly complex electrical engineering assignments, including in the nuclear industry.
Over 40 years of experience — considered a national electrical engineering expert.
Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Howard Stern
Senior Managing Director, Zero6 Energy Capital Management
#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager; member of Juhl leadership team since 2021.
Served as Managing Director for over 20 years at Northwestern Mutual Capital, leading a team that invested in private debt, mezzanine, and equity focused on infrastructure and energy.
Over 35 years of experience in investment management, private equity, and project finance at firms such as Northwestern Mutual Capital, American General, and GE Capital.
Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University; MBA from University of Texas at Arlington.
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John Brand
• Chief Financial Officer, Zero6 Energy
• Head of Finance, Administration & Asset Operations#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Chief Financial Officer of Juhl Energy since 2008.
Served as Chief Financial Officer for 20 years for other enterprises and subsidiaries of large public companies such as Comdisco or CMS Direct (now Merkle); over 14 years of audit experience as a certified public accountant with firms such as Grant Thornton.
Over 40 years of experience in capital raising, project finance, tax, audit, and risk management.
Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting from Saint Cloud State University.
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Heidi Gertjejansen
Administrative Assistant — Asset Management and Accounting
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Jared Klapperich
Controller
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Jack Lahl
Controller
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Justin Luecke
Staff Accountant
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Karl Neset
Director of Asset Operations
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Gary Aron
Senior Project Manager, Vice President
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Michelle Cabrera
Office Manager, Admin
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Anthony Chmielewski
President, Managing Principal, Engineering
#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
President of PEC Engineering Subsidiary; member of PEC leadership team since 2003 (Juhl acquired PEC in 2013).
Served as lead engineer on multiple large power generation projects across the US with PEC; began career as a project engineer for MWH Global (now Stantec).
Over 23 years of experience in mechanical engineering and engineering management; considered a national power engineering expert.
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Marquette University.
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Michael Crocco
Electrical Designer
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Gary Fanning
Senior Electrical Project Engineer
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Robert Gavahan
Senior Project Engineer
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Michael Hartmann
Senior Electrical Consultant
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Jim Hausser
Senior Electrical Project Engineer
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Erin Kazel
Project Engineer
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Gary Lackie
Project Engineer
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Scott Munnings
Senior Electrical Consultant
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Gene Poletto
Managing Principal, Engineering
#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Managing Principal Engineer; President of Performance Power Services (PPS) since 2000; Juhl acquired and merged PPS into PEC in 2021.
Prior to founding PPS, served as a Site and Construction manager for large nuclear and fossil generation plants for Exelon’s ComEd utility; decades of experience being called on for highly complex electrical engineering assignments, including in the nuclear industry.
Over 40 years of experience — considered a national electrical engineering expert.
Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Shelly Reid
Project Manager
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Gary Schacht
Project Engineer
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Jason Selinko
Design Group Lead
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Joe Viglietta
Senior Designer
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Ian Warner
Senior Electrical Consultant
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John Mitola
• Chief Executive Officer, Zero6 Energy
• President, Zero6 Energy Development#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Chief Executive Officer; member of Juhl leadership team since 2008.
Former Chairman of the Illinois Tollway where he led over $6B in construction projects to update the system; VP and General Manager of Exelon Thermal a non-regulated subsidiary of Exelon that developed and built over 23 district energy, cogeneration and some of the world’s largest thermal storage projects across North America.
Over 30 years of experience developing, operating, managing and investing in energy projects.
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois — Champaign Urbana; Juris Doctor — DePaul University.
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Kevin Crossman
Development Consultant
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Bryan Eskra
Senior Development Consultant
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John Feldhausen
Business Analyst
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Jay Maudlin
Vice President — Project Manager
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John Van Der Geest
Vice President — Zero6 Energy Development
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Jared Klapperich
Vice President, Zero6 Energy Capital Management
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Clay Norrbom
• President, Zero6 Energy
• Chief Investment Officer, Zero6 Energy
Capital Management#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
President and Chief Investment Officer; member of Juhl leadership team since 2016; investments with Juhl since 2011.
Former co-founder of the Geo Investors Funds (raised and invested capital in distributed scale renewable energy projects); former senior banker for Citigroup working on over $3 billion of complex financing and hedging for multinational clients in New York and London offices.
25 years experience in financial markets and credit; over 12 years of experience leading investments in renewable energy projects.
Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison; Masters of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
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Howard Stern
Senior Managing Director, Zero6 Energy Capital Management
#fhtogglels/Read Full Bio/Close/ib
Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager; member of Juhl leadership team since 2021.
Served as Managing Director for over 20 years at Northwestern Mutual Capital, leading a team that invested in private debt, mezzanine, and equity focused on infrastructure and energy.
Over 35 years of experience in investment management, private equity, and project finance at firms such as Northwestern Mutual Capital, American General, and GE Capital.
Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University; MBA from University of Texas at Arlington.

“We can harness both the wind and the sun in one project to bring more renewable electricity to our members. It not only allows us to bring in renewable energy for our members, but it also actually saves us money on our power costs. So it’s more renewables, less cost for our members. And that’s what they are asking for.”
Tim Thompson, CEO, Lake Region Electric Cooperative
Get in touch
Since 2000 we have successfully completed over 30 projects.