Our Team

Jeff Jenner

Chief Executive Officer

Mr. Jenner has founded, built and successfully sold or merged three renewable energy development companies in the past ten years.

From 2009 to 2013 Mr. Jenner founded and was the CEO and Director of Renewable Energy Developers Inc., which was also traded on the TSX under the symbol RDZ. During this time, he led acquisitions aiming to achieve 144 MW of operating assets and 137 MW contracted development prior to a merger with Capstone Infrastructure (TSX:CSE) for ~ $235 Million Enterprise Value. From 2007 to 2009 Mr. Jenner was Senior VP and Canadian Country Senior Officer for the largest IPP in the world. Prior to 2007, he was the co-founder, CFO and Secretary of Ventus Energy Inc. before its sale to GDF Suez for ~$200 Million Enterprise Value.

Mr. Jenner has an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo and has obtained the Chartered Accountants designation in 1985, as well as the Chartered Business Valuators designation in 1990. He has been on the executive committee for the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) for three years ended 2014, serving as Vice Chair and Treasurer. He rejoined the CanWEA Board in January 2019 as a non-voting member and was re-elected to the Board as a voting member in September 2019.

Jeremy Jagt

President

Mr. Jeremy Jagt leads Potentia’s Finance, Operations and Regulatory Affairs Departments and has a long career as a senior financial professional with extensive experience in the renewable energy industry over the past 15 years.  During his 24 years with Grant Thornton LLP, including 14 years as a Partner in the Audit practice, Mr. Jagt held leadership roles locally and nationally and advised public and private businesses across a variety of sectors.   He has extensive knowledge of finance, accounting and operations management.  He holds an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (2000) and CPA (Illinois) (Certification) (2001).

Ron Diduch

Senior Vice President, Engineering & Construction

Mr. Diduch joined Sequoia Energy Inc. in 2003 and led the day‐to‐day operation and management of the company as President and CEO prior to the acquisition by Potentia. He has strategically and financially designed the company’s growth as the pre‐eminent Manitoba‐based wind energy firm. Bringing over 20 years of energy and manufacturing business leadership to Sequoia, Mr. Diduch maintains the company’s focus on asset growth, financial performance, and its partner relationships. Sequoia under Mr. Diduch’s management has had a total of 83 active renewable power projects that were under development and planning across five Canadian provinces and four US states with a total estimated capacity of over 7,500 MW.

Mr. Diduch’s energy sector background is extensive. He served as Westcoast Energy’s Director of Commercial Markets in its Western Canadian Energy Services division following a career at ATCO Utilities where he led an Energy Technology and Market Development division. Mr. Diduch also brings a publicly traded corporate management and manufacturing attribute having served as CEO of Jazz Golf (restructuring finances and operations), and President of Kraus Industries Inc. (a private international energy technology manufacturing company with sales of $22 million).

Mr. Diduch is a Professional Engineer (Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba) and holds an MBA from the University of Alberta.

Ben Greenhouse

Senior Vice President, Business Development

Mr. Greenhouse has a long history in the Canadian energy industry. Prior to joining Potentia in 2016, he was the Executive Director of Development at NextEra Energy Canada. During his nine years at NextEra, the company’s presence in Canada grew from a company of 2 people with no assets in the ground to an organization of over 100 people with 800 MW of wind and 40 MW of solar operating across the country, representing an investment of more than $2 Billion dollars into the Canadian economy. Prior to his role at NextEra Mr. Greenhouse was at the Centre for Energy at the Ontario Centres of Excellence. He holds a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo.

In October of 2018 Mr. Greenhouse will finish his second 3-year term on the board of the Canadian Wind Energy Association, where he has served as chair and treasurer

Andrew Hope

General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

Mr. Hope leads Potentia’s Legal Department and is a legal professional with extensive corporate and renewable energy industry experience. Mr. Hope spent nine years as an attorney in private practice with two law firms in Manhattan where he advised public and private businesses in M&A and securities transactions across a variety of sectors. Prior to joining Potentia he acted as in-house counsel to NextEra Energy Canada for five years. Mr. Hope holds an a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of British Columbia (2000) and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Toronto (2004). He is licensed to practice law in New York State and the Province of Ontario.

Eric Gauthier

Vice President, Acquisitions & Corporate Planning

Mr. Eric Gauthier leads Potentia’s project acquisition, financing and corporate planning activities. Prior to joining Potentia in 2020, Mr. Gauthier spent over six years with Power Corporation of Canada working across different investment and M&A functions, including as Director of Corporate Development at Lumenpulse, as well as Director of Investments with Power Energy Corporation. He has been directly involved in Power Energy’s investments in Lumenpulse, Potentia Renewables, Nautilus Solar Energy, Lion Electric Company, and Eagle Creek Renewable Energy. Mr. Gauthier holds a Bachelor of Commerce from HEC Montréal, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Nautilus Solar Energy.

Jayamali Kasige

Vice President, Operations

Ms. Jayamali Kasige has been active in the energy industry for more than 20 years. Before heading the Operations department at Potentia, Ms. Kasige has led the engineering teams and occupied top management roles in various organizations across the world. She has extensive knowledge of power generation, transmission and distribution, having worked with utilities, as well as with large industrial customers.

Ms. Kasige holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University of Beijing. She obtained a Charted Engineer designation in 2002 and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Ontario.

Kirk Lloyd

Vice President, Finance

Mr. Kirk Lloyd has been with Potentia since inception and has over 30 years experience in senior management roles with leading public and private real estate companies. He oversees Finance, Reporting, Treasury and Tax functions and has led Potentia in securing all of its project finance debt. Prior to entering into industry, Mr. Lloyd spent 13 years with Deloitte in Toronto in the Audit and Corporate Finance Practice. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and obtained the Chartered Accountants designation in 1985.

Michele Smith

Vice President, Regulatory Affairs

Ms. Michele Smith has been with Potentia since inception and oversees all Feed-in Tariff contract management, administration and Feed-in Tariff application submissions as well as all coordination with the utilities for Connection Impact Assessment approval, Connection Agreements and the connection to the utility grid. She has over 14 years’ experience in the renewable energy field and prior to joining Potentia, she was part of the Deep Lake Water Cooling project team at Enwave Energy Corporation. Ms. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Anthropology Major from Trent University.