Jeff Eckel

Jeffrey Walter Eckel (born April 16, 1958) is an American investor and business executive. He is the Chairman and CEO of Hannon Armstrong, an American sustainable investment company providing capital primarily to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and companies and publicly-traded as a real estate investment trust (REIT).[1][2][3]

Jeff Eckel
Born
Jeffrey Walter Eckel

April 16, 1958
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationMiami University (BA)
Syracuse University (MPA)
OccupationInvestor, Business executive

Early life and education

Eckel was born in Syracuse NY, and grew up in Kent, Ohio. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in 1980, followed by a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse Unviersity's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, in 1981.[4][5]

Career

Eckel started work in 1982 joining Daverman Associates, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Time Energy Systems, the first US energy service company. In 1985, Eckel joined Hannon Armstrong, then a privately-held investment firm named Eden Hannon & Company.[4][6] Eckel took on the role of senior vice president and remained with the company until 1989.[4][7] He led the financing by Hannon Armstrong of the first third-party financed energy asset for the US Government at the DOE’s ETEC facility in 1987 as well as the Solar Electric Generating Systems “SEGS”.[8]

In 1989, Eckel testified to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on how to expand the use of third party financing for federal government energy efficiency projects.[9]

After leaving Hannon Armstrong, Eckel continued his executive career as CFO of Wartsila Diesel North America and the President of Wärtsilä Power Development, which became one of the leading Independent Power Producers in Latin America with ownership stakes in projects in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Jamaica, including the creation of  Jamaica Energy Partners, an IPP that commenced operations in 1995.[10][11] Eckel was recruited to start EnergyWorks, a joint venture of Bechtel Enterprises and PacifiCorp, focused on developing, financing, owning and operating small, renewable and distributed energy systems in developing countries.[12][5][8][13] In 2000, Eckel returned to Hannon Armstrong as CEO.[4][6]

In addition to his role as Chairman and CEO of Hannon Armstrong, Eckel is also a member of the board of directors of the Alliance to Save Energy and a member of the President’s Council of Ceres.[4][5][14] He is also on the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy of Maryland and D.C., and a member of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s Corporate Leaders program.[5][14] Between 2011 and 2016, Eckel served on the board of the Maryland Clean Energy Center, holding the role of the board’s chairman from 2012 to 2014.[14]

In 2019, Eckel was named the Responsible CEO of the Year in ESG Leadership by CR Magazine.[7] In 2018, he was named Clean Energy Champion of the Year by the Maryland Clean Energy Center.[15]

Investment philosophy

Eckel’s investment philosophy is centred around sustainability and increasing resilience to climate change. In a 2018 interview with Clean Edge, Eckel stated his belief that “in a world increasingly defined by climate change, better risk adjusted returns will be achieved by investing on the right side of the climate change line.”[16] He reiterated this description of his investment philosophy in 2019, in an interview with TriplePundit.[17]

Eckel’s emphasis on sustainability was also the focal point of his first appearance in CNBC’s Mad Money in April 2019, where he defined climate change as the systemic threat that will change investor risk and advocated for privatizing the cost of the impacts of carbon.[18] In May 2019, Eckel numbered among the 75 business leaders who lobbied U.S. Congress for carbon pricing.[19][20]

Eckel appeared on Mad Money again in March 2020 to discuss ways in which Wall Street can demonstrate its commitment to sustainable investments.[21]

Publications

Early in his career, Eckel published papers that still have relevance to his work today including in Financial Analyst’s Journal, The Electric Power Research Institute and the Sloan Foundation.[22]

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References
  1. Konrad, Tom. "A Clean Energy REIT: Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  2. Root, Al. "Honeywell Spells Out Just How Bad the Second Quarter Will Be. Stock Falls Despite Strong Earnings". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  3. "Meet ... Jeff Eckel, CEO, Hannon Armstrong". www.sri-connect.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  4. "Jeffrey W. Eckel". Alliance to Save Energy. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  5. "Eckel, Jeff". The Maxwell School of Syracuse University. 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  6. "Company Timeline". Hannon Armstrong. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  7. Kaye, Leon (October 30, 2019). "Responsible CEO of the Year: ESG Leadership" (PDF). CR Magazine.
  8. Energy Research Abstracts. U.S. Department of Energy, Technical Information Center. 1990.
  9. Conservation, United States Congress Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy Regulation and (1987). Federal Energy Management Improvement Act: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Energy Regulation and Conservation of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, First Session, on S. 1382 ... July 30, 1987. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  10. "Compañia De Electricidad De Puerto Plata, S A (Cepp)". www.1411.com.do (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  11. "Elcosa – IRESA". IRESA. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  12. "GIANT ENTERS REMOTE MARKET". Wind Power Monthly. November 1, 1995.
  13. Southerl, Daniel (October 18, 1995). "ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FIRM IS FORMED". The Washington Post.
  14. "Jeffrey W. Eckel". Ceres. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  15. "Energy Trailblazers Recognized at Maryland Clean Energy Summit". North American Clean Energy. October 11, 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  16. Pernick, Jeff Eckel with Ron (2018-09-28). "Five Questions with Jeff Eckel on Renewable Energy, Efficiency, and Sustainable Infrastructure Investments". Clean Edge. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  17. "Beyond Climate Week: Why Environmental Literacy Matters to Your Company". www.triplepundit.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  18. "Hannon Armstrong CEO: It's time we price carbon. It's never been done". CNBC. 2019-04-09. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  19. "75 Business Leaders Lobbied Congress for Carbon Pricing. Did Republicans Listen?". InsideClimate News. 2019-05-23. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  20. "Carbon Pricing Action Futile Now—but Not Forever, CEOs Predict". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  21. Cramer, Jim (Mar 3, 2020). "Hannon Armstrong CEO: Wall Street and Climate Change | Mad Money | CNBC". CNBC Television.
  22. "Electric Utilities: Assessing a Troubled Investment Environment". CFA Institute. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
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