Earthrise Energy, an independent power producer, today announced a key executive appointment and leadership promotions to support the company’s rapid growth. Energy-industry veteran Jeff Hunter has joined the Company as Chief Financial Officer. In addition, Jonathan Pike has been promoted to Vice President of Development, and Rodrigo Gonzalez Arbizu has been promoted to Vice President of Procurement and Project Delivery.

“I am excited to welcome Jeff to the Earthrise team and to recognize Jonathan’s and Rodrigo’s contributions to the Company,” said Steve Vavrik, Chief Executive Officer of Earthrise Energy.

“Jeff brings deep financial and strategic expertise to the team, which will be invaluable as we build out more than 2 gigawatts of solar energy, grow our asset portfolio, and build on the momentum that we established during the past year,” said Vavrik. “Jonathan and Rodrigo have been instrumental in that success. They have helped Earthrise implement our strategy to acquire, own, and operate natural gas peaker plants, and then leverage the transmission infrastructure from those assets to connect renewable projects to the grid faster than traditional greenfield development.”

Hunter is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry. During his career, Hunter has co-founded and scaled energy companies, managed finance, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, strategy, and risk functions, and overseen private equity investments in thermal and renewable energy assets. Most recently, Hunter was a Senior Advisor, Infrastructure and Natural Resources at Apollo, one of the most active alternative investors in energy transition equity, debt, and hybrid investments.

Pike has led Earthrise Energy’s renewable project development efforts since joining the company in 2020 as Senior Director of Development. He also has been instrumental in the company’s thermal asset acquisition strategy.

Gonzalez Arbizu, who joined Earthrise Energy in 2022 as Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, transitioned his responsibilities to focus primarily on optimizing the company’s procurement strategy last year. He also oversees engineering and construction for Earthrise Energy’s renewable projects.