SYRACUSE — BlueRock Energy, Inc., a Syracuse–based provider of electricity, natural gas, and green-energy products, recently created the position of CFO to help spearhead its growth and expansion efforts.

On Aug. 21, BlueRock announced the appointment of Jason Klaben as vice president and CFO. He started with the firm on Aug. 12.

Klaben sees BlueRock Energy as a firm that’s “growing” and believes the relationship with the Buffalo Bills has helped it expand into a wider market with a bigger footprint.

“I think the expansion and growth of the company was very attractive for me,” Klaben says.

Klaben will oversee BlueRock’s corporate finance and accounting functions. He’ll report to Philip Van Horne, president and CEO.

Klaben learned about the opening through a “business connection” in the energy industry that he did not name.

BlueRock Energy created the CFO position based on the needs Van Horne was hoping to address, according to Klaben.

“Trying to expand some lines of business for the company and some other business relationships, specifically the banking side,” he adds.

Klaben also works with the firm’s existing accounting and finance group to optimize some of the internal processes, he says.

As vice president and CFO, Klaben will attempt to position the company for continued growth and help expand its lines of businesses into new areas, including energy services.

Customers’ needs stretch beyond electric and gas supply, Klaben says.

They might need “optimization,” in terms of meter-monitoring systems, light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs, or anything the company can use to help customers save energy in their businesses and other services that BlueRock consultants can provide, Klaben says.

“We secure them through partnerships with other vendors,” Klaben adds.

Additionally, Klaben will continue BlueRock’s efforts to enhance its relationship with its lender.

BlueRock works with M&T Bank, and by optimizing some savings on that relationship, the firm can keep its customer prices low.

“Obviously, if we keep our internal costs as low as [we] can, then it’s going to allow us to continue pass along those savings to our customers,” he says.

BlueRock seeks financing from M&T Bank so it can acquire commodities, such as natural gas and electricity, for its customers. With the wholesale providers, BlueRock gives them credit so it can supply the energy to its customers.

“Those banking relationships allow us to do that, whether it be a letter of credit, cash, or other financial instruments,” Klaben says. 

Background

Klaben brings to BlueRock Energy more than 20 years experience in finance, accounting, audit, treasury, and reporting roles for utilities and independent-power producers, according to the company.

Prior to joining BlueRock Energy, Klaben served as CFO for several energy companies. They included Lansing, N.Y.–based Upstate New York Power Producers and Ithaca–based AES Eastern Energy, a unit of AES Corp. (NYSE: AES).

The bondholders of AES Eastern Energy formed Upstate New York Power Producers to take ownership of two power plants after AES Eastern Energy filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 20, 2011, according to a document the Upstate group filed in response to a request for information from the New York Energy Highway, a statewide effort to rebuild the electric-power system.

Klaben began his career in finance and accounting with Coopers & Lybrand, which eventually merged with Price Waterhouse in 1998 to form London–based PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a global professional-services firm.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

SYRACUSE — Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) has reduced its energy usage and environmental impact by implementing energy-efficient interior and exterior lighting upgrades at 28 facilities throughout its four-county water-service area in Central New York.

The lighting upgrades, completed by SmartWatt Energy, Inc. via the National Grid Small Business Services Program, have reduced OCWA’s energy consumption by 167,807 kWh, according to a news release from SmartWatt Energy, an energy-efficiency firm headquartered in the Albany area. That’s equivalent to removing an estimated 261,019 pounds of carbon dioxide from the environment per year, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency calculations.

SmartWatt said it performed a complimentary energy analysis of all interior and exterior lighting and proposed a plan to replace the existing inefficient lighting systems with energy-efficient fluorescent and LED lighting fixtures at 28 of OCWA’s facilities. In addition to substantial energy and maintenance-cost savings, the lighting upgrades resulted in a National Grid rebate of $40,036 and are expected to pay for themselves in about 20 months, SmartWatt said, citing National Grid estimates.

SmartWatt said it is the administrator and implementation contractor for National Grid’s Small Business Services Program in Central and Northern New York. The Small Business Services Program helps businesses with an average peak demand of 100 kW or less per month conduct energy-efficient upgrade measures, according to the news release. 

Through this program, SmartWatt said it will provide a free energy analysis, and National Grid will pay up to 70 percent of the installation costs completed by SmartWatt and finance the remaining amount interest-free for up to two years.

SmartWatt Energy said it provides “turnkey solutions for utilities, commercial, industrial, and institutional clients and also develops proprietary software that streamlines internal workflow processes and provides comprehensive program reporting.”

SmartWatt has three divisions: a commercial, industrial and institutional division; a utility unit; and a software-development division.