About Us
Our Mission
Our mission is to transform our energy future by creating freedom to choose a smarter, cleaner, more flexible way forward.
We do this by investing in clients and our partners that create energy projects, technologies and companies to better the human condition, as well as the communities where our projects are located.
Our Values
Integrity:
We do business the right way, every time. Our personal integrity, our mission and our impact is more important than any monetary gain.
Our business is a collection of people that can do more together than any of us can do alone. We challenge and help improve each other. We search out clients who share our values and that we can genuinely and positively impact.
We are passionate about giving our customers the freedom to choose, solving our client’s challenges, the environment and getting the future of our energy economy actualized in a smart and clean way.
Our team demands a privilege of focus, only taking on projects and opportunities that we can execute at the highest level and with the greatest success. We turn down projects and opportunities that stretch our bandwidth or distract from our focus.
We enjoy the work we do, we enjoy our clients and we make sure to have fun along the way. Our mission is as much about creating happiness for us all as it is about transforming the energy industry.
Our team is a group of recovering, driven, corporate workaholics who understand the importance of balancing work and life in a meaningful way. Balance allows us to be present with our clients and also allows us to want to stay engaged with each other and our mission for the long term.
Our History
Formed in 2013, TurningPoint Energy is a privately held company with some of the lowest overhead and profit requirements in the energy industry. This lean approach gives TurningPoint Energy the ability to make decisions quickly, and to customize projects to the unique needs of each client.
Our team of seasoned energy industry professionals have collectively originated, developed, financed and/or built over 2 Gigawatts (GW) of the solar projects operating in the U.S. today.
Independent and Self-Funded
Adaptable Approach
Jared Schoch is the founder and president of TurningPoint Energy, and leads a team of veteran solar development executives focused on developing large-scale solar and related clean tech power plants, advising utility, clean tech and corporate clients and investing in unique clean tech project opportunities.
As executive vice president of development, Adam Beal oversees all real estate, land development and permitting activities for the company. Prior to joining TurningPoint Energy, Mr. Beal founded Lighthouse Advisers, a Colorado-based real estate development consultancy specializing in the renewable energy industry. In addition to its consultancy work, Lighthouse Advisers co-developed and maintained an equity stake in 19 operational solar facilities in the Northeast U.S. Before forming Lighthouse Advisers, Mr. Beal was employed by SunEdison, overseeing land development and site acquisition processes for 80+ distributed generation solar project sites throughout the U.S. and its island territories, and handling land acquisition functions for dozens of utility-scale solar projects in the desert Southwest. He has lent his expertise to over 1,500 MW of now-operational or under-development photovoltaic solar projects. Mr. Beal has also worked as a commercial real estate broker – licensed by the Colorado Real Estate Commission for over a decade – and has additional experience in retail and mixed-use development. He is an active real estate investor, and holds a Bachelor of Science from Western Michigan University.
As executive vice president of project operations, James Marshall is responsible for the full development, engineering, procurement and construction aspects of solar and related clean tech generation projects. Prior to joining TurningPoint Energy, Mr. Marshall founded and led an independent consulting business specializing in the engineering, procurement and construction of solar power plants where he worked with solar energy project investors, manufacturers, and utility companies. Mr. Marshall also spent nine years at SunEdison where he designed over 1GW of successful solar projects in the U.S., Canada, Spain and Italy as the lead engineer, director of the utility-scale engineering team, and then global director of engineering and global standards. Prior to that, he spent several years at both REC Solar and PG&E. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and holds CA General B Contractors license.
Salar Naini is responsible for origination and development of solar and related clean tech generation opportunities and supporting the development of project financing resources at TurningPoint Energy. Over his career, he has held various roles in business development and finance and has successfully developed 112MW ($381 million) in solar projects. Prior to joining TurningPoint Energy, Mr. Naini was the principal at SolCom Energy, LLC where he originated and developed California-specific customer-financed solar projects. Mr. Naini has also worked at NRG Energy where he was responsible for the origination and development of opportunities for the firm’s public and private sector customers. Before joining NRG, he worked for SOLON Corporation as a business and financial analyst, playing key roles in the analysis, development and execution of a 24MW project portfolio. Mr. Naini is a Provost Scholar from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business and holds a Masters in Finance from Creighton University’s Heider School of Business.
Elaine Schoch is vice president of marketing communications, and brings two decades of expertise in both business-to-consumer and business-to-business public relations, social media and marketing communications. She was previously the director of social media at 104 West. She has developed and implemented integrated public relations campaigns at leading public relations firms including Schenkein, Ogilvy Public Relations and Golin/Harris International for consumer and high-tech clients including Western Union, Home Depot, Qwest Communications, Texas Instruments and Amazon. Her programs have been recognized by the industry with multiple awards from the Public Relations Society of America.
As managing director of development for TurningPoint Energy, Franny Yuhas performs all aspects of solar project origination including site identification, energy off-take agreement negotiation and other due diligence activities to ensure project implementation success. She works closely with engineering, project finance, real estate for land acquisition, operations and the legal team to ensure project feasibility and that project economics align. Immediately prior to her role at TurningPoint Energy, Ms. Yuhas worked at WaterSmart Software to exercise her passion to learn more about water demand efficiency supported by data analytics, customer engagement and behavioral science. Prior to that, she worked at SunEdison for 10 years where she originated over 100 MW of commercial, municipal and utility-scale solar projects in the U.S. Prior to that, she worked in the public transportation industry. Ms. Yuhas holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Salisbury State University (part of the University System of Maryland).
As director of development, Jordan Belknap is responsible for project management and permitting of major projects. Prior to joining TurningPoint Energy, Mr. Belknap founded HelioAmp Energy LLC, which specialized in solar energy project development, permitting, and construction management. Mr. Belknap in an industry veteran with a wide breadth of experience and proven track record of successful project execution. He has designed and constructed over 100 ground and roof mounted solar projects for clients that include government entities, businesses, low income housing, schools, non-profits, and houses of worship. He is a co-developer and an equity owner of 19 operating solar farms in the northeast for which he managed EPC and O&M activities. Mr. Belknap holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics and Economics from Bowdoin College and is a Massachusetts Licensed Construction Supervisor.
Peggy Paas oversees TurningPoint Energy’s pipeline of real estate acquisitions and is responsible for negotiating a range of deal structures nationwide. She identifies, proposes and implements creative or alternative new market site selection approaches that reduce exposure to permitting and development risks. She develops and manages relationships with internal and external key stakeholders to influence and collaborate on ongoing transactions and project development. She also manages all legal entity portfolios to successfully identify, execute, and monitor necessary governance and compliance activities. Ms. Paas has 20 years of real estate experience, including five years within the renewable energy industry. She facilitated and assisted in loan and tax equity closings of more than 50MW in solar projects as well as real estate site control closings of more than 120MW in solar projects. Prior to her joining the renewable energy industry, she was involved in major real estate purchase and debt closings of up to $500MM. In addition, she brings legal research experience, including U.S. water and mineral rights. 
Sonja Word is the Director of Real Estate, Title for TurningPoint Energy where she directs title insurance services across the company’s multi-state portfolio and maintains executive-level relationships with select title insurers, agents and underwriters throughout the US. She identifies risks posed by encumbrances of all types, including mineral ownership, easements and surface rights. and additionally represents the firm’s interest in structuring, negotiating and drafting a variety of site control documents. She works closely with counsel, project developers, and surveyors to ensure that TurningPoint Energy’s projects meet all investor expectations and document requirements. Ms. Word has more than 25 years of title and title insurance experience, previously owned a title company, has been involved in multi-state, large-scale utility upgrade and replacement projects, major pipeline development, and title examination for permitting, acquisition, solar, water, oil/gas and surface ownership. She has many years of experience preparing title opinions on behalf of attorneys, and her title examination experience includes more than 13 U.S. states and knowledge of title insurance requirements for each.
As Engineering Manager, Mr. Sanchez is responsible for managing development engineering in various markets across the nation. Luis comes with vast experience in both the utility and DG markets, with knowledge of the entire process of a project from land selection and interconnection permitting and execution. Prior to joining TurningPoint Energy, Sanchez spent nearly four years as an Engineering Manager at EnterSolar, a corporate solar developer. He managed the engineering and execution of large ground-mount projects for corporate customers, as well as helped create the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) arm of the company focusing on the execution of projects for community solar developers. Prior to EnterSolar, Sanchez was an Engineering Manager at SunEdison’s Utility-Scale Division for nearly nine years, focusing on the development and execution of large-scale projects across the country; and an Operations Manager at GameChange Solar, an NYC-based racking company, managing the construction services.
As Real Estate Manager, Mr. Loranc handles real estate acquisitions, leasing and negotiation for a multitude of the company’s development projects. Prior to joining TurningPoint Energy, Mr. Loranc spent 14 years working as a land professional and consultant for the oil and gas industry. He provided land management, including land and contract negotiation, title review, due diligence, lease and mineral ownership analysis and right-of-way procurement for a variety of top independent oil and gas companies throughout the Denver area. Mr. Loranc has successfully managed and been highly involved in many large-scale leasing and land acquisition efforts throughout the U.S.