Our Mission
The Summit Ridge team is comprised of renewable energy veterans who have collectively built over a gigawatt of solar projects across the US.
Summit Ridge works directly with local governments to ensure a transparent permitting process that fosters collaboration between our team and your community.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Steve Raeder is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Summit Ridge Energy (SRE), one of the nation’s largest owner/operators of community solar assets. As the leader of the firm and its Executive Committee, Steve sets the direction for the organization, leading strategic corporate operations as well as driving the development and execution of the company’s revenue generation strategies. Prior to launching SRE in 2017, Steve served in multiple roles at SunEdison including Managing Director of Sales and General Manager of its East Coast C&I business unit where his teams developed hundreds of MWs across multiple solar markets, including pioneering work with off-site “virtual” systems that transformed the company’s business model. Steve holds a B.A. in History and Business Administration from Gettysburg College.
Chief Operating Officer
Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Joyce Chang is the General Counsel for Summit Ridge Energy. A member of the company’s Executive Committee, Joyce oversees all aspects of SRE’s legal affairs. Joyce brings extensive project finance and legal compliance experience to the team. Prior to joining Summit Ridge, Joyce was acting General Counsel at Ygrene Energy Fund Inc., one of the leading providers of residential and commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. Prior to that, Joyce was the legal head of the structured and project finance team for North America at SunEdison, a global renewable energy company. Joyce started her legal career in New York and Washington, D.C. at Milbank LLP in the global project finance group. Joyce has a B.A. in both Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Cornell University Law School.
Executive Vice President of Operations
Raja Soi is the Executive Vice President of Operations for Summit Ridge Energy. A member of the company’s Executive Committee, Raj oversees Summit Ridge Energy’s growing portfolio of distributed generation solar and energy storage projects across the United States. His role is to lead the team that ensures optimal power generation performance of the company’s solar photovoltaic (PV) plant portfolio as well as energy storage facilities. Prior to joining Summit Ridge Energy, Raj served at Goldman Sachs Renewable Power Group as Vice President, and Head of the Project Management Office. Before joining Goldman, Raj was the Vice President of Asset Management at Soltage, with earlier roles at NRG, Perera Construction and Bechtel Power Corporation. Raj holds an M.A. in Theology from Fuller Seminary, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University.
Executive Vice President of Business Development
Jason Spreyer serves as Executive Vice President of Business Development for Summit Ridge Energy. A member of the company’s Executive Committee, Jason leads the team responsible for all new business pursuits at Summit Ridge Energy, including Project Acquisition, Power Marketing (offtake), and Project Development of both solar power and energy storage. Prior to joining Summit Ridge Energy, Jason had multiple leadership roles in a thirteen-year tenure with Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, including SVP Business and Commercial Development, SVP Development and Construction, and SVP/Chief Financial Officer for Brookfield Utilities. Jason has also held financial leadership roles at Veolia Energy, Intergen Services, and Calpine Corporation. Jason holds an M.B.A. in Corporate Finance from Boston University, and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
Senior Vice President, Project Management
Thomas Payne serves as Senior Vice President of Project Management for Summit Ridge Energy. A member of the company’s Executive Committee, Thomas oversees all construction and contracting activities across Summit Ridge Energy’s solar and storage project portfolios. Prior to joining Summit Ridge Energy, Tom spent nine years at EDF Renewables, managing all preconstruction and construction activities across a sixty MW solar project portfolio including both roof and ground mount projects. Prior to EDF, Tom spent several years managing estimating, purchasing, and project management with Clark Construction Group. Tom holds a B.A. in Engineering and Business/Economics from Lafayette College.
Vice President of Engineering
Principal
Mark Raeder is a Principal at Summit Ridge Energy based in Chicago, IL. Mark leads project origination and acquisition efforts in the Midwest region for Summit Ridge. In this capacity, Mark is involved in all aspects of the project development lifecycle, from policy-shaping efforts and market strategy to financial modeling, land acquisition, power sales, and design. Previously, Mark was a senior consultant for SunEdison, where he performed financial, policy, and business development services. In this role, Mark led the first large-scale participation of distributed generation solar in a regional wholesale capacity market. As a co-founder and Principal of New Grid Energy Solutions, Mark also has direct experience with the design and installation of commercial PV, solar thermal, and PV-thermal hybrid systems. Mark holds a B.A. in Computer Science from Washington & Lee University and is a NABCEP Certified PV Installation ProfessionalTM and former NABCEP Certified Solar Heating InstallerTM.
Principal
Jarryd Commerford is a Principal at Summit Ridge where he focuses on project acquisitions. Prior to Summit Ridge Energy, Jarryd held various business development positions at SunEdison. Over his 5+ years there, he executed over 100MW of Power Purchase Agreements in Massachusetts and acquired multiple large project portfolios. Prior to SunEdison, Jarryd worked in the electric vehicle industry in Europe and North America. Jarryd holds an MSc in Sustainable Energy & Entrepreneurship from the University of Nottingham in the UK and a B.A. in International Affairs and Geography from The George Washington University.
Principal
Ty Holden is a co-founder of Summit Ridge Energy and serves as its Principal in charge of Risk Management and Assessment. In this capacity, Ty manages all security and insurance requirements for the organization and the portfolio of projects operating and in development throughout the United States. Prior to Summit Ridge Energy, Ty worked at SunEdison where he supported the company’s East Coast commercial business unit as Chief of Staff to its General Manager. Ty earned his B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar and minored in Chinese Languages.
Senior Vice President, Corporate Administration
Matthew Dickey serves as the Senior Vice President of Corporate Administration for Summit Ridge Energy. A member of the company’s Executive Committee, Matthew coordinates the company’s efforts in making Summit Ridge Energy staff the highest achieving teams and individuals in the renewable industry. Prior to joining Summit Ridge Energy, Matthew created and led very successful Business Development teams at then start-up SunEdison for its first nine years, where his teams grew the business from less than 10 MW to more than 1000 MW of commercial scale solar backlog and installations. Earlier, at Johnson Controls where he served for fifteen years, Matthew led the Asia Pacific sales organization, and multiple other business leadership roles. Matthew holds a B.S. in Business Administration, with a focus on Industrial Distribution Management from the University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign.