Renewable Power Perspectives Q&A with Katie Garza, Co-Founder and COO, Lyssy Energy

By Constance ThompsonOctober 7, 2021

The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is pleased to share the next installment in our “Accelerating Renewables” blog series.
Each installment includes market leaders and topics related to accelerating an equitable and just transition to an eco-friendly energy economy. In acknowledgment of National Hispanic Heritage Month, ACORE is highlighting 3 Hispanic-owned member business that are growing in the renewable resource sector.
Today, we are featuring Lyssy Energy Enterprises, a utility-scale sustainable energy designer in Texas. The following is a Q&A with Lyssy Energy Co-Founder and COO Katie Garza and Constance Thompson, ACOREs Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Programs.
What inspired you to begin Lyssy Energy?
Lyssy Energy Enterprises all started with a favor to my dad. He asked me to assemble an energy lease that would protect his land for ranching and farming while offering an extra income source. Prior to we knew it, my partner and I were helping others in the very same situation. So, we made it official, started a service and got to work.
A couple years later, we started partnering with renewable resource developers. There were certainly drawbacks and challenges, closed doors and unequal collaborations, however we used this time to really refine our craft. If we desired our business to grow and succeed then we would need to take a risk, we realized that. In 2020, when the world was required to slow down due to the pandemic, we decided to take that risk. We utilized 2020 to rebrand Lyssy Energy into the business we had constantly dreamed about. In 2021, we have reintroduced ourselves to the world– no longer as an energy service business, but as eco-friendly energy designers with the hope of owning and running utility-scale eco-friendly energy jobs.
Tell us about Lyssy Energy.
Lyssy Energy Enterprises is an innovative, privately held, utility-scale developer of solar, wind and battery energy solutions. Our prime regulation is to add to the acceleration of the energy markets transition to sustainable energy. We concentrate our operations in Texas, where growing population and service development imply a quickly growing need for energy. Lyssy Energy thinks that by deploying wind, solar and battery storage, we can optimize our efforts and provide all kinds of eco-friendly energy solutions. This state is our house, and the energy crisis unfolding in our yard is personal. We want to be a part of the solution and help our next-door neighbors throughout the state develop much-needed sources of tidy power. We are well on our method, with 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of tidy, reputable energy consisting of one wind and three solar jobs presently in development and a prospective portfolio of 15 GW.
What challenges do you face? Why?
Capital is one of the biggest obstacles we deal with at the moment. The wind and the sun provide electrical power, but capital is what moves everything and everyone else. We require capital for daily operations, and to establish, construct and operate our jobs.
Securing advancement capital early is necessary in providing land control and affiliation studies to get tasks off the ground. We are working hard to develop relationships with big investment firms that have a strong interest in renewables and can provide the capital essential to create a successful renewable resource project.
How can potential partners work with you?
Lyssy Energy Enterprises is open to collaborations or joint ventures. We are available to talk about the requirement for all types of capital stack with different equity, tax and financial obligation business that run in this market and those interested in investing in eco-friendly energy jobs and business.
How are you making an impact through Lyssy Energy?
Lyssy Energy Enterprises aims to continue building a diverse company. We intend to help stabilize the inequalities in our society by connecting to people that are historically neglected and passed over. Ladies and individuals of color are key to our success, and it is very important to promote their improvement to positions of management and leadership.
Lyssy Energy is working with bad neighborhoods in rural areas, and we hope to make a distinction by bringing renewable energy jobs to areas with high rates of hardship and other vulnerable neighborhoods. It is crucial for the energy shift to not only change how we produce energy, but to bring the disenfranchised to the center of this technological advancement so everyone shares the benefits.
How has your Accelerate subscription helped your company?
Being able to get involved in ACOREs Accelerate subscription program is a delight and a privilege. The Accelerate Program has actually connected us to some of the biggest and most prominent business in the world, and these connections assist give us the power to make a difference.
To read more about or contact Lyssy Energy Enterprises, go to https://www.lyssyenergy.com/.
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In 2021, we have actually reintroduced ourselves to the world– no longer as an energy service business, but as eco-friendly energy developers with the hope of owning and running utility-scale eco-friendly energy tasks.
Lyssy Energy Enterprises is an innovative, privately held, utility-scale designer of solar, wind and battery energy options. Lyssy Energy thinks that by releasing wind, solar and battery storage, we can optimize our efforts and offer all kinds of sustainable energy solutions. Lyssy Energy is working with bad neighborhoods in rural locations, and we hope to make a distinction by bringing renewable energy jobs to areas with high rates of poverty and other vulnerable neighborhoods. It is important for the energy transition to not only modification how we produce energy, but to bring the disenfranchised to the center of this technological development so everybody shares the benefits.