Partnership with Crown Capital

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept.  01, 2020  (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SWITCH Power Corporation (“SWITCH”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a partnership with Crown Capital Partners Inc. (“Crown”) and Crown Power Fund (“the Fund”). Under the partnership, SWITCH and Crown have formed a joint entity to finance, own and operate multiple sustainable power generation assets across North America. Crown will provide project financing through its distributed power business and the Fund, with SWITCH originating, developing, constructing, managing and operating the assets.

“We are pleased to form this partnership and are excited for the future. Crown brings a pragmatic approach, which provides capital for smaller distributed projects, allows us to streamline the financing process and to focus on originating, executing and managing a diverse and meaningful pipeline of projects. This partnership further confirms our ability to execute our strategic plan and supports SWITCH’s business model of electricity as a service,” said Trevor White, Founder, President and CEO of SWITCH.

SWITCH has a current pipeline of 400MW of sustainable power projects and an initial capital deployment greater than $100 million over the next 18-months, across several diverse projects ranging from distributed solar, flare gas to power, cogeneration and hybrid generating facilities (solar and storage) across its target markets.

“SWITCH has a highly experienced team, with a strong commercial power background,” said Chris Johnson, President and CEO of Crown. “We look forward to working with them to build on their deep pipeline of sustainable energy projects.”

“Crown has a unique vision that aligns with ours in the sustainable and scalable development of power projects. The synergies between the two groups were apparent from our first meeting and have continued to align throughout the finalization of this partnership,” said Jarvis Nicoll, President of CARDON Group, SWITCH’s largest Shareholder.

“As a shareholder, we are excited for SWITCH to enter into this partnership. Crown brings vast experience in corporate and project finance, across several landscapes and has created a very innovative approach to project finance through their power fund,” added Doug Bedard, CEO of CARDON group.

Thunderstone Capital Inc. acted as financial advisor to SWITCH in this partnership.

Appointment of Officers

SWITCH is pleased to announce the appointment of Cory St. Croix as Vice President, Legal, Commercial and Community. Cory brings 20-years of broad commercial energy experience spanning multiple provinces and states. After practicing corporate commercial law privately and in-house for several years, he embarked on a 10-year career in business development with large cap electricity and oil and gas companies. During this time, he helped create the first Alberta power auction and negotiated uniquely structured commodity contracts. Cory holds a science degree in Applied Mathematics and a law degree from the University of New Brunswick. Cory’s primary accountabilities within SWITCH will include corporate secretary, commercial and legal structuring, management of the commercial team, overseeing the origination of electricity service and power offtake contracts, and managing community engagement and initiatives pertaining to ESG’s.

SWITCH is also pleased to announce the appointment of Marc Haugen as Vice President, Asset Delivery and Operations. Marc is a Professional Engineer with 25-years of experience in power generation, utilities and energy in three countries, with an even split between field operations and strategic leadership. His prior field work includes time at facilities in Canada, the United States and the Dominican Republic and he brings work experience from companies, including TransAlta, Enron and ENMAX, as well as his own consulting company. Marc’s key accountabilities will include managing the project delivery, technical services, engineering, asset operations teams and overseeing the assets throughout their lifetime.

Cory and Marc join Claude Mindorff, Vice President of Business and Project Development, on the executive team.

“The addition of Cory and Marc to our leadership team showcases the evolution of our business and projects. As we materialize ideas and opportunities into projects, engagements into definitive agreements, and project development through to construction, commissioning and operations, it is imperative we build our team and culture appropriately,” said Trevor White. “Their experience, leadership and strategic thinking will help SWITCH to ensure the success of our projects, partnerships, customers communities and teammates going forward,” he added.

About SWITCH Power Corporation

SWITCH Power is an Alberta-based sustainable power developer, asset manager and producer, focused on deploying meaningful megawatts through its electricity as a service business model, providing bespoke power solutions for customers and counterparties across multiple technology and market classes. SWITCH develops, builds, finances and operates sustainable energy power generation projects in utility, behind the meter and off-grid scenarios.

About Crown Capital Partners (TSX:CRWN)

Founded in 2000, Crown is a leading specialty finance company that provides growth capital to a diversified group of successful mid-market companies that are seeking alternatives to banks and private equity funds. In addition to deploying capital as a principal investor, Crown develops, manages and co-invests in alternative investment funds, including Crown Partners Fund and Crown Capital Power Fund.

For further information:

Trevor White, President & CEO

5774 10th Street NE 
Calgary, Alberta T2E 8W7 
(403) 999-8781