Ken Neal is the Director of Solar Project Development. Working with the Market Development and Energy Deployment team, he works through technical and logistical details to bring Groundswell’s solar and resilience hub projects to completion and on through to operation.
Before joining Groundswell, Ken worked for 12 years in the clean energy business. He directed the grid operations of a wind energy company in the West with 400 MW of wind projects in Montana, including leading the 24/7 operations center. After moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee, Ken worked as director of business development for solar developer Origis Energy. He specialized in distribution-connected solar projects in the Tennessee Valley, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Virginia. He is also experienced in the evolving grid and just how it works, especially with reliability and resilience, and is a former North American Electric Reliability Corporation-certified system operator. Ken is dedicated to working on the front lines of building a clean energy future and working within a grid that wasn’t originally built for it.
Ken graduated from Lawrence University and had an early career as a mariner. He also worked extensively in the nonprofit sector and was co-founder of a maritime education nonprofit named Call of the Sea. He is a dad to three kids and lives in the very inland town of Chattanooga, Tennessee.