Michael Peter Skelly

Michael Skelly
Personal details
Born	(1961-10-19) October 19, 1961 (age 63)
Residence(s)	Houston, Texas
Alma mater	University of Notre Dame, Harvard Business School
Occupation	Transmission infrastructure and renewable energy entrepreneur
Profession	2009–2019 President and co-founder, Clean Line Energy Partners 2021–present CEO and co-founder, Grid United

Family and Personal Life

Early life and education

Michael Skelly was born in England in 1961 to Irish parents. At the age of two, Skelly sailed with his family aboard the SS America from Ireland to the United States, where they settled in Roanoke, Virginia.^[2] He went on to earn his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.

After college, Skelly joined the Peace Corps and served in Costa Rica, where he helped local fishermen develop a microcredit market to increase their economic viability after the Latin American economic crisis of the 1980s.^[4] Following the Peace Corps, Skelly enrolled in Harvard Business School, where he earned his M.B.A.^[4]

Adult life

Skelly married Anne Whitlock in 1991. The couple has three grown children: two boys and a girl. In 2013 Skelly and Whitlock purchased the hundred year old Houston Firehouse No. 2, which had fallen into disrepair since its decommissioning in the 1980s.^[5] The couple renovated the firehouse, turning the downstairs into a community and events space and the upstairs into their residence.^[5] Skelly and Whitlock were named as one of Houston's 29 most powerful couples by the Houston Chronicle in 2021.^[6]

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Business Career

Summarize

Perspective

Aerial tram

In 1992, Skelly and his partners began the development of an aerial tram adjacent to the Braulio Carrillo National Park of Costa Rica to promote ecotourism.^[2] Skelly navigated logistical, financial, and bureaucratic challenges, completing the project in 1994.^[2] The open-air tram – purchased from a U.S. ski resort – is a mile long and rises to the rainforest canopy to immerse guests in an up-close view of the biodiverse ecosystem. The tram is still operational today.

Energia Global

Skelly joined Energia Global in 1996, developing small energy projects in Central America.^[7]^[8] Skelly led Energia Global's efforts for Tierras Morenas, a proposed wind farm. Energia Global needed a financial partner to invest capital for purchasing the wind farm site. To do so, Skelly forged a partnership with Michael Zilkha, Texan investor and co-owner of International Wind. They purchased the land and developed the proejct; by 1999, the project was completed and contributing electricity to the Costa Rican grid. It became the largest wind farm in Costa Rica, and at the time was one of the largest in Latin America. In 2001, Tierras Morenas and two other smaller wind farms generated 4% of Costa Rica's power.

Horizon Wind Energy

In 1999, after his time at Energia Global in Costa Rica, Skelly moved to Houston to work as Chief Development Officer for International Wind, the company that had partnered with Energia Global on the Tierras Morenas wind farm.^[7] Michael Zilkha and his father, Selim Zilkha, owned 50% of International Wind until 2000, when they bought out the other 50% interest and renamed the company Zilkha Renewable Energy under their full ownership.^[9] Zilkha Renewable developed wind farms across the United States, including the 75 megawatt (MW) Blue Canyon Wind Farm in Oklahoma and 320 MW Maple Ridge Wind Farm in New York.^[10]

In 2005, Goldman Sachs purchased Zilkha Renewable and the company was rebranded Horizon Wind Energy.^[10] At the time of acquisition, Zilkha Renewables had 4,000 MW of wind-energy projects under development in 12 states.^[11]

Goldman Sachs sold Horizon in 2007 to EDP Renewables for $2.2 billion^[12] for a reported gain of nearly $1 billion.^[13] By then Horizon had grown to the third largest wind company in the United States.

Clean Line Energy

In 2009, Skelly founded Clean Line Energy Partners. Clean Line was an independent developer of long-distance, high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission lines, aiming to provide transmission solutions to connect renewable energy resources in North America to communities and cities that lacked access to new, low-cost renewable power.^[14] His work at Clean Line Energy Partners and Horizon Wind Energy is described in detail in the book Superpower by Russell Gold.^[15]

The company had four proposed projects: Plains & Eastern Clean Line, Grain Belt Express Clean Line, Western Spirit Clean Line, and Mesa Canyons Wind Farm.^[14] The Plains and Eastern Clean Line came the closest to being developed. Plains & Eastern was to deliver up to 4,000 MW from Oklahoma Panhandle wind farms to a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) substation outside of Memphis, to then offload power onto the TVA grid and for sale to southeastern utilities.^[16]

Clean Line faced numerous bureaucratic challenges while attempting to develop its HVDC transmission lines. After ten years of development work, Skelly sold the Clean Line projects to other energy developers in 2018.

Grid United

In 2021, Skelly co-founded Grid United with Houston-based philanthropist John D. Arnold.^[17] Skelly serves as CEO.^[18] Grid United is an independent transmission company developing high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission lines. The goals of the company are to tie regional grids together to improve grid resiliency and efficiency nationwide, deliver long-term economic benefits to communities, and provide electricity customers with access to low-cost resources.^[1]

Professional Recognitions and Advisory Positions

In 2008, the American Wind Energy Association named Skelly "Wind Energy Person of the Year" at the WindPower 2008 Conference.

In October 2021, Skelly was appointed to a two-year term on the United States Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) by former U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.^[19] The SEAB "provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Energy on the Administration's energy policies, the Department's basic and applied research and development activities, economic and national security policy, and on any other activities and operations of the Department of Energy, as the Secretary may direct."^[19]

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2008 Congressional Campaign

In November 2008, Skelly ran as the Democratic candidate for Texas's 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives against three-term Republican incumbent John Culberson. Skelly's campaign received national attention for its fundraising efforts.^[20] Ultimately, Skelly lost the election to Culberson by 42% to 56%.^[21]