money moves

Houston startup secures $22 million for ERCOT energy storage projects

Houston's GoodPeak is breaking ground on its first energy storage projects. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based GoodPeak has nailed down $22 million in construction debt financing to help build its first two 10-megawatt battery energy storage projects, both of which are expected to come online in the Houston area at the end of 2025.

GoodPeak secured the debt financing from financial services company Pathward and renewable energy lender BridgePeak Energy Capital.

GoodPeak says an undisclosed amount of funding from private equity firm Current Equity Partners and other investors will further spur growth. That growth starts with the construction of the two Houston-area battery energy storage projects, which will serve the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), whose power grid serves most of the state.

Aside from Current Equity Partners, investors in GoodPeak include executives, family offices, and energy industry advisers.

“GoodPeak plans to expand and diversify its development pipeline to include larger projects, integrated power generation, and data center development opportunities,” the company says in a news release.

GoodPeak’s initial development pipeline includes 10 ERCOT projects in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, and 14 projects in Northern California. The combined capacity of the projects will be 1 gigawatt.

Founded in 2022 by Trent Kososki and Hayden Stanley, GoodPeak develops, owns, and operates utility-scale battery storage and solar power assets for “high-value, capacity-constrained locations.”

“Breaking ground on our first energy storage projects marks a major milestone for GoodPeak in helping to solve Texas’ grid challenges,” says Kososki, CEO of GoodPeak. “These projects will provide much-needed resilience to the grid, storing excess power during times of low demand and delivering it when it’s needed most — helping to stabilize energy prices, support renewable integration, and enhance overall reliability.”

In a 2024 LinkedIn post, Kososki wrote that he was “embarking upon a new adventure in establishing GoodPeak — a battery energy storage platform with a mission to aggressively pursue descent from the world’s mountain of carbon emissions.”

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A View From HETI

Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard and HPE, has joined the Fervo board as lead independent director. Photo courtesy of U.S. State Department

As it prepares for a highly anticipated IPO, Houston-based geothermal power provider Fervo Energy has added four heavyweights to its board of directors.

The most notable new board member is Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Spring-based HPE, and former U.S. ambassador to Kenya. She joined the Fervo board as lead independent director.

One of the other high-profile new board members at Fervo is Jessica Uhl. She was chief financial officer of Shell from 2017 to 2022 and spent a little over a year as president of GE Vernova, a GE energy spinoff. She is a former board member of GE, Goldman Sachs and Shell. Today, Uhl advises investment firms on energy matters.

Another energy industry veteran, Trey Lowe, also joined the Fervo board. Lowe is senior vice president and chief technology officer at oil and gas producer Devon Energy, a Fervo investor that’s moving its headquarters from Oklahoma City to Houston. Before Devon, Lowe worked in the U.S. and Norway for Houston-based energy technology company SLB.

The fourth new director at Fervo is Robert Keehan, who spent 37 years at professional services firm PwC. He most recently was PwC’s chief global auditor and earlier was a partner in the firm’s energy practice.

Keehan and Uhl will serve as independent directors, which are non-executive governance and oversight roles, while Lowe is a non-independent director, which is a more hands-on role.

With the four new directors, Fervo has seven board members.

The arrival of the four new board members comes at a monumental time for Fervo, a provider of utility-scale geothermal energy:

“Energy markets are demanding dependable, carbon-free power at an unprecedented scale, and Fervo is uniquely positioned to supply it,” Tim Latimer, co-founder and CEO of Fervo, said in December.

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