Team
The Starwood Energy team combines extensive specialized and sophisticated experience in acquiring, financing, developing and optimizing energy infrastructure assets.
Executive team is deeply experienced in energy and infrastructure investing with more than eight decades of combined experience in the power sector and approx. $7 billion in principal transactions.Management Team
Himanshu Saxena, Chief Executive Officer
Himanshu Saxena is Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Energy and is responsible for supervision of the Firm’s investment program and strategy, as well as overall management of the Firm. Mr. Saxena sits on both the Investment Committee and the boards of portfolio companies. Mr. Saxena is also responsible for the development and management of the investment team. In addition, he maintains responsibilities for origination, structuring, execution, monitoring and exiting investments across the energy industry. Mr. Saxena has led the acquisition and development of numerous power generation and transmission projects and midstream and downstream assets in North America, with aggregate enterprise value of more than $13 billion.
Mr. Saxena currently serves on the Advisory Board at Cornell University’s Program in Infrastructure Policy (CPIP), as a Board Member for the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), and on the Advisory Council of Cornell Energy Systems Institute.
Mr. Saxena earned an MBA from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, and a Bachelor’s of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (“IIT”) in Bombay, India.
Madison F. Grose, Vice Chairman, Senior Managing Director and General Counsel
Madison Grose is Vice Chairman, Senior Managing Director and General Counsel of Starwood Energy Group. In addition, he serves as a Senior Managing Director and Co-General Counsel of Starwood Capital Group. In 2004, Mr. Grose led the structuring and underwriting of Starwood Energy’s first investment, Neptune, a 660 MW undersea transmission line connecting New Jersey (PJM grid) and Long Island. Mr. Grose has served as General Counsel or Co-General Counsel of Starwood Energy Group from its inception and as General Counsel or Co-General Counsel of Starwood Capital Group since 1992, as a Trustee or Director of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (formerly NYSE: HOT, since merged with Marriott Hotels) from 1994 until 2001, and as a Director of iStar Financial (NYSE: STAR), from 1999 until 2003.
Mr. Grose holds a B.A with distinction and highest departmental honors from Stanford University and a J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where he served as the Chief Comment Editor of the UCLA Law Review.
Professionals
Alex Daberko, Managing Director
Alex Daberko is a Managing Director of Starwood Energy Group. Since joining Starwood in 2007, he has played an active role in many of the firm’s M&A and development transactions, including conventional generation (Thermo Ft. Lupton, Starwood Power Midway, Richland-Stryker), solar (Starwood SSM), biomass (Gainesville Renewable Energy Center), and transmission (Neptune and Hudson). More recently, Mr. Daberko has led Starwood’s wind development efforts, successfully financing and constructing six projects totaling more than 1,100MW in four years. Mr. Daberko was also instrumental in the formation and financing of Compass Power in 2017.
Prior to Starwood, Mr. Daberko was a part of the Energy & Power Investment Banking team at Merrill Lynch where he specialized in commodity and commodity-linked transactions. Mr. Daberko holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in Mathematics & Economics from Yale University.
Philipp Pletka, Managing Director
Philipp Pletka is a Managing Director of Starwood Energy Group and plays an active role in the firm’s investment activities. Mr. Pletka joined the firm from BlackRock’s Energy & Power private equity team where he played an active role in implementing the division’s growth strategy within BlackRock’s Real Assets direct investment platform. Prior to BlackRock, Mr. Pletka was a director at Quantum Energy Partners where his primary responsibilities included structuring and executing of capital deployments across all active funds focused in the power, midstream and upstream sectors. Mr. Pletka started his career in JPMorgan’s Natural Resources Investment Banking team. He has 17 years of experience in the energy space.
Jeffrey Levy, Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel
Jeffrey Levy is Managing Director and Deputy General Counsel at Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he works closely with the team and advises from a legal perspective on all aspects of the business, including acquisitions, financing transactions, development and asset management, and fund structuring and governance.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy Group in 2021, Mr. Levy was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Atlantic Power Corporation, a cross-listed (NYSE and TSX) independent power producer, where he was responsible for all of the corporation’s legal affairs. Previously, he was Vice President and Associate General Counsel at First Wind Energy, LLC and before that Counsel at Ameresco, Inc.
Mr. Levy earned his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, magna cum laude, where he was Note Editor of the SULS Law Review, and his B.S. degree in civil engineering, with distinction, from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Levy is also a licensed professional civil engineer.
Jeffrey Delgado, Managing Director
Jeffrey Delgado is a Managing Director of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for the asset management and commercial optimization of Starwood’s operating assets. In addition, Mr. Delgado supports acquisition, development and construction activities. Mr. Delgado has over 28 years of experience in operations and management of power and transmission projects.
Mr. Delgado holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Polytechnic University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and Investments from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business.
Ali Amirali, Senior Vice President
Ali Amirali is a Senior Vice President of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for the expansion of Starwood Energy Group’s StarTrans high-voltage transmission assets, as well as for new business/project opportunities in the transmission and distribution arena in North America. He also supports the origination, development and acquisition activities associated with utility-scale power generation and storage projects.
Cheng Chang, Senior Vice President
Cheng Chang is a Senior Vice President of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he leads energy management, strategy and market analysis for Starwood’s energy portfolio. In addition, Mr. Chang supports due diligence, acquisition and development of investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy Group in 2017, Mr. Chang led the global commercial and development teams of Intergen where he was responsible for asset management, origination, structuring and operations oversight of eighteen gas, coal, wind, compression station and pipeline projects in Australia, Europe, Mexico and U.S. markets totaling over $4B.
Mr. Chang is a graduate of Tsinghua University and Stanford University.
Anik Gandhi, Principal
Anik Gandhi is Principal for Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for principal investing and asset management within the energy infrastructure sector.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy in 2014, Mr. Gandhi was an Associate at Goldman Sachs in the Global Natural Resources Investment Banking group. At Goldman Mr. Gandhi focused on transactions involving regulated utilities, merchant generators, and conventional generation assets.
Mr. Gandhi holds an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.
David Siegel, Principal
David Siegel is a Principal of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for principal investing and asset management in the power sector.
Prior to joining Starwood in June 2019, Mr. Siegel was a Vice President of Beowulf Energy, where he focused on opportunistic operational and distressed power investments. His responsibilities also included asset management functions, such as portfolio financings, asset redevelopment and power/capacity optimization.
Mr. Siegel holds a B.S., cum laude, with a concentration of Financial Analysis Honors from the State University of New York at Albany.
William Ouyang, Vice President
William Ouyang is a Vice President of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for principal investing and asset management in the power sector. He was actively involved in the acquisition and development of the Stephens Ranch I and II, Shannon, Horse Creek, Electra, and Northwest Ohio projects.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy in 2013, Mr. Ouyang was an Analyst in Citigroup’s Alternative Energy Finance group where he worked primarily on renewable energy transactions involving wind, solar PV, and solar CSP facilities.
Mr. Ouyang holds a B.S. in Economics, Statistics, and Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.
Timothy Gusick, Vice President
Tim Gusick is a Vice
President at Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for asset management and optimization, project development and market analysis for Starwood’s energy infrastructure portfolio. In addition, he supports acquisition and risk management activities.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy in 2021, Tim was a Vice President at Eastern Generation responsible for corporate strategy, M&A, market and financial analysis and commercial asset optimization for a 5,000 MW merchant power generation portfolio.
Tim holds a B.S. in Finance from Fordham University..
Wendy Gu, CFA, Vice President
Wendy Gu, CFA is a Vice President of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, she is responsible for asset and energy management of Starwood’s operating assets and supports acquisition and development opportunities.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy in 2017, Ms. Gu was an Analyst in ING’s Structured Finance group, where she worked in the Utilities, Power & Renewables team, covering project finance and leveraged finance transactions within the Power sector.
arnegie Mellon University.
Abraham Kepes, Vice President
Abraham Kepes is a Vice President of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for principal investing and asset management in the energy infrastructure sector.
Prior to joining Starwood in June 2018, Mr. Kepes was an Analyst in Macquarie Capital’s Infrastructure and Energy Group, where he focused on principal investment in the power and utilities space. His responsibilities included conducting due diligence on potential investment opportunities, asset management and development, and supporting asset sale processes. Prior to Macquarie, Mr. Kepes was part of the project finance group at CIT Bank, specializing in power and infrastructure projects.
Mr. Kepes holds a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College.
Finance and Accounting and Investor Relations
David Arbia, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer
David Arbia is a Managing Director and the Chief Financial Officer of Starwood Energy Group. In this role, he is responsible for financial reporting to investors, tax structuring and compliance, cash management and fundraising. Mr. Arbia is also member of Starwood Energy’s Valuation Committee and works closely with both the investment team and the asset management team as it relates to deal structuring, financial/tax diligence, and financial reporting/compliance for certain portfolio companies
Prior to joining Starwood Energy in 2013, Mr. Arbia served as the Controller of Credit Suisse USA subsidiary Asset Management Finance LLC, where he oversaw an investment portfolio consisting of $700 million in assets. Before that, Mr. Arbia was an Audit Manager in the financial services division at Deloitte & Touche.
Mr. Arbia received a B.S. degree with honors in accounting and finance from the State University of New York at New Paltz, where he graduated magna cum laude. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Olga Bruce, Investor Relations
Olga Bruce is responsible for investor relations, marketing, fundraising and public relations activities at Starwood Energy. Mrs. Bruce has over five years of experience in investor relations in Private Equity.
Prior to joining Starwood Energy in 2005, Mrs. Bruce worked in The Quantitative Analysis Group at Citigroup Asset Management. Mrs. Bruce holds a B.S. in Business Management from Albertus Magnus College and an MBA in Business Administration from Colorado State University.