The Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES) announced the election of three new members to its board of directors, as well as the full slate of officers.
Joining TXSES’s board of directors are Louis Petrik, CEO Longhorn Solar; John Pouland, consultant; and Eiman Siddiqui, Director of State and Local Government Affairs, American Express.
“We are honored to welcome this impressive group of individuals to our board,” said TXSES Executive Director Patrice ‘Pete’ Parsons. “They bring enormous talent, insight and dedication to clean energy and are committed to helping TXSES carry out our mission as an independent, statewide not-for-profit organization accelerating the clean energy transformation through quality educational materials, outreach and policy that will lay the foundation for an equitable 100% clean energy Texas.”
The new TXSES board members are:
Louis Petrik, CEO Longhorn Solar, considers himself an accidental environmentalist. Before adding solar to the business offerings, he knew nothing about the environment or climate change. Louis has been an entrepreneur for 26 years and has run Longhorn Solar for 13 years. He is NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) certified in PV Technical Sales and PV Installation Professional. Louis has lived in Texas his entire life. He is an avid soccer supporter and follows Austin FC and Liverpool FC. Louis holds a B.A. in marketing from Southwest Texas State University.
John Pouland is currently a consultant based in Austin. He previously served as Vice President for Government Affairs and Solutions at Philips where he worked with a team across federal, state and local governments on public policy issues and procurement opportunities. Prior to joining Philips, John held a similar position at Siemens where he helped start their public sector business development program. He served as Regional Administrator of the Southwest for the US GSA during the Clinton administration and was Executive Director of the Texas General Services Commission under then Governor Ann Richards. John began his career as an attorney in private practice in Dallas. He received his J.D. from the University of Houston, and his B.A. from the University of Texas.
Eiman Siddiqui is a legislative and public policy professional with 8+ years of experience in state legislative politics. Currently, he is the Director of State and Local Government Affairs for American Express, responsible for policy and legislation in all 50 states. Previously, Eiman was a lobbyist with Davis Kaufman where he represented more than 25 clients including a solar generation company with major investments located throughout Texas. Before joining the private sector, Eiman was a legislative staffer for three Texas House of Representatives members serving as Chief of Staff, Committee Policy Director, and Capitol Director. His broad knowledge of policy includes experience in financial services, energy, insurance, and healthcare. He is also well-versed in policy impacting land use, technology, and taxation.
With the election of Petrik, Pouland and Siddiqui, TXSES’s board includes Chair Dr. Ariane L. Beck, Research Fellow, LBJ School of Public Affairs/University of Texas at Austin; Vice Chair Louis Petrik, Longhorn Solar; Secretary Laura Doll, long time public and private energy expert; and Treasurer Dub Taylor, WDT Consulting LLC; Ramsey Cripe, senior consultant at Schneider Engineering; Amy Heart, vice president of public policy at Sunrun; Karl Rábago, Rábago Energy LLC; Kenneth Thompson, director of the All American Mentoring Project.
According to TXSES by-laws, each TXSES chapter has a seat on the TXSES board. The five TXSES chapter representatives are: Mark Witte, North Texas Renewable Energy Group; Theresa Hoesl, Houston Renewable Energy Group; Leslie Libby, Solar Austin; Kaylyn Randolph, Build San Antonio Green; and Shelby Ruff, Eco El Paso.