About AltaRock

AltaRock develops and commercializes geothermal technology to produce clean, renewable power

AltaRock Energy is a renewable energy development company focused on the research and development of Engineered Geothermal Systems ("EGS"). AltaRock has filed patent applications for a portfolio of patents in the EGS area and holds exclusive licenses for related intellectual property.

AltaRock's current activities include an EGS project in Oregon, an innovative exploration project in Nevada as well as development of approximately 300,000 acres of land in Washington and Oregon for Weyerhaeuser.

The company has its corporate headquarters in Seattle, WA and its business office in Sausalito, CA. AltaRock was founded by Susan Petty who is also President/Chief Technology Officer.

 

Susan Petty - President & Chief Technology Officer

Susan Petty is the Chief Technology Officer, President, and Founder of AltaRock Energy, Inc.  She has over 34 years of experience in the geothermal industry in electrical and direct use project economics, optimizing of power plants to meet resource conditions, reservoir evaluation, reservoir modeling, well, plant and wellfield performance data analysis, well testing and test data analysis.  She has also assisted in negotiation of geothermal lease agreements, power sales agreements, geothermal project financing agreements and geothermal property sales and purchases, and policy studies for state and federal agencies.  Ms. Petty has done work on geothermal electrical generation projects in Nevada at Steamboat, Dixie Valley, Rye Patch, Soda Lake, Fallon, Desert Peak, Brady Hot springs and direct use projects at Brady, Elko and Moana.  In California she has worked on the Coso, Salton Sea, East Mesa, Heber, Brawley, Wendell-Amedee, Mt. Lassen and Medicine Lake resources.  She has worked on geothermal projects overseas in Indonesia, the Philippines and Central America.  For a number of years, Ms. Petty assisted the Department of Energy in performing policy studies for geothermal energy research including economic modeling of geothermal pricing and the impact of technology improvement on the cost of geothermal power.  She has been instrumental in developing information, planning and designing software for use in developing public policy in geothermal energy.

Ms. Petty founded AltaRock Energy in 2007, following participation in the MIT study of "The Future of Geothermal Energy".   AltaRock Energy is focused on development and commercialization of innovative technology to improve geothermal economics and mitigate risk. Prior to founding AltaRock Energy, Ms. Petty was the senior partner in Black Mountain Technology, a consulting firm specializing in providing expert assistance to the geothermal business particularly in reservoir economics and stimulation.

Ms. Petty holds a BA from Princeton University in Geology and an MS in Groundwater Hydrology from the University of Hawaii.

Lynn Sapadin, CPA. - SVP/ Finance

Lynn Sapadin, Vice President Finance for AltaRock has over 25 years of accounting and finance experience, and 16 years in senior management positions primarily with startup and mid-size companies. She has extensive experience in establishing and managing finance and accounting functions including investor and board reporting, cash management, financial modeling and systems implementation. Starting her career at Coopers and Lybrand, Lynn has worked in a wide variety of industries including real estate, alternative energy and on-line game development.

Ted De Rocher - SVP/Operations

Mr. De Rocher has over 22 years of domestic and international experience in geothermal project development, operations, resource management, exploration, regulatory affairs, environmental permitting and research.  He has expertise in the development and application of innovative technologies that improve the efficiency and reliability of geothermal, wind and concentrated solar power generation. He authored and obtained several million dollars in grants, financial assistance and research assistance awards. He also maintains an active role in the geothermal community and served on multiple research committees, geothermal energy and wind energy industrial research peer reviews, GRC annual meeting Technical and Session Chairs. He authored/ co-authored papers on various subjects associated with geothermal and environmental science. Mr. De Rocher earned a PhD Candidacy in Hydrogeology, MS degrees in both Hydrology and Natural Resource Management, and BS Environmental Science from the University of Nevada, Reno.

While serving as R&D Director/EH&S Manager for Caithness Operating Company, Mr. De Rocher managed a team of environmental professionals that developed and implemented a corporate program emphasizing environmental stewardship and enhanced safety culture - over their geothermal (300 MW), wind (350 MW), concentrated-solar power (160 MW) and natural gas facilities (900 MW) resulting in multiple years of operation with zero NOV’s and significantly reduced RIIR.

Prior to coming on board with Alta Rock Energy, Mr. De Rocher was EVP Resource Development with Oski Energy, and designed and implemented their portfolio geothermal exploration and development programs.
 

Trenton Cladouhos, PhD -  SVP-Research & Development

Trenton Cladouhos is Senior Vice President of Research and Development at AltaRock Energy.  He holds a B.Sc. degree in Geology from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Cornell University.  His research specialty, both in academia and industry, has been the mechanics and fluid flow in fractured and faulted rock through field work and modeling.

His doctoral thesis included kinematic analysis of Neogene faulting in the high Andes of Argentina and Bolivia, and new numerical techniques for quantifying brittle deformation. After graduate school, Trenton did postdoctoral research at the University of Washington where he studied the mechanical behavior of fault gouge from Death Valley, CA, and then worked as a consulting geologist at Golder Associates, where he created 3D discrete fracture network and fluid flow models for clients in the petroleum industry in the North and South America, and Asia, and nuclear waste isolation industries in Japan, Sweden, and Finland.

At AltaRock manages the geologic and geophysical aspects of AltaRock EGS projects including the high profile Newberry Volcano EGS Demonstration on which he is Lead Geoscientist. Trenton was the primary author on the Newberry Induced Seismicity Mitigation Plan, and has led the sharing of Demonstration project information with the geothermal community and with the public through social media and meetings. Trenton has managed the design, procurement, installation and operation of AltaRock’s microseismic arrays for monitoring EGS reservoir growth at various projects, including a 15 station array at Newberry that required drilling 300 m deep monitoring holes.

Michael Moore - Large Projects Manager

Michael Moore is a Sr. Mechanical Engineer and Registered Professional Mechanical Engineer in the State of CA with 30+ years of experience in renewable and conventional power project engineering, design, construction and operations.

Mr. Moore has served as Project Manager and Plant Engineer on IPP turbine fleets (geothermal steam and SCGT) including projects that encompass multiple generating units.

Early in his career, Michael served for 8 years in the engineering design, construction management, and start up role. He has design experience with multi-disciplinary architectural/engineering firm.

Mr. Moore has direct experience with key Geothermal Project Sites in the Western US  including Coso Geothermal; NCPA and Calistoga Geothermal in the Geysers, CA; Imperial Valley East Mesa Geothermal.  Mr. Moore has also worked extensively on several Nevada Geothermal Projects including Dixie Valley and Beowawe and Steamboat Geothermal.  For three years in the early 2000’s, Michael served as Caithness Energy’s Lead Project Manager and Lead Mechanical Engineer for the Coso Geothermal Operations.

At AltaRock, Mr. Moore manages the Newberry EGS Demonstration, a complex project involving extensive collaboration with the US Department of Energy, Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management.

 

Joe Iovenitti  - VP/Resource

Joe Iovenitti is a professional Geologist in California with over 34 years of experience in applied geoscience. Mr. Lovenitti has expertise in geothermal energy, environmental investigations and in-situ remediation, water resources, innovative environmental, geothermal, and enhanced oil production technologies. He held a patent on the use of acoustic energy to enhance matrix permeability and fluid mobility. He was a minority co-owner in a small environmental consulting firm doing technical and business development work. Mr. Lovenitti has 17 years of experience in conducting geothermal hydrothermal exploration, development, and/or production projects in Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii in the US, and Indonesia, The Philippines, Honduras, and Guatemala. He has developed, evaluated, and/or implemented innovative technologies for the environmental, geothermal, and oil industries, and conducted, lead, and managed research, development, and/or deployment efforts in thermal and physical/chemical technologies.

Mr. Iovenitti has conducted exploration and development for Engineered Geothermal Systems in western US with AltaRock Energy Inc. as VP Resource for the last 3.5 years. He is managing and leading a US DOE project on the development of a calibrated EGS exploration methodology using the Dixie Valley Geothermal District as the laboratory test site for the last 2 years. He is highly experienced in integrating geoscientific data, developing conceptual geoscientific models, collaborating with academic and scientific community, and working with regulatory agencies.

Guy Simmons  - VP/Project Management

Guy Simmons has more than 17 years of experience with international power, civil and environmental construction projects at all levels, including project management, construction management, managing teams, community relations programs, environmental compliance, government and military liaison and information systems management. He started several international offices in various countries from the ground up. He managed construction, geothermal exploration and production drilling, and operating budgets in excess of $400 million for three large geothermal projects in Indonesia; Dieng, Patuha, and Bedugal. In addition to the power plant construction activities, he oversaw the budgets and operations for three (3) corehole rigs and three (3) production rigs simultaneously.

Mr. Simmons managed critical path, QA/QC, safety programs, budgets, environmental and community relations issues in addition to maintaining good working relations with high level and local government officials. He handled multiple multimillion-dollar Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) projects simultaneously using multinational and local labor forces in developing economies in Asia and the Middle East, including Indonesia. He directed the construction, commissioning and operations of a $550 million hydro power plant in the Philippines. His management skills focus on obtaining optimal results by means of positive leadership, short and long term planning, schedule control, budget/cash flow management, active communication, and team building. Mr. Simmons’ project experience includes power plants, tunnels, dams, bridges, pipelines, roadways, military facilities, various design-build projects, and large scale disaster relief work.

Bill Livesay, PhD - Senior Drilling Advisor

Bill Livesay has over 40 years experience in all aspects of the drilling engineering for oil, gas and geothermal resources. He is experienced in the design of equipment and the technology of drilling gained through consulting as drilling engineer, builder and researcher of equipment, development of instrumentation and technical operations development. Recent work includes Multi-Year DOE Plan, EGS Feasibility, GETEM cost modeling, Roadmapping for DOE Geothermal Program and Risk Analysis of DOE Geothermal Program results. He has worked as a drilling engineer, a researcher and developer of drilling technology and a builder of drilling equipment.  Other experiences include offshore operations and offshore platform analysis and design for Exxon Production Research.  Livesay also was Managing Director of the Kennecott Ocean Mining Lab.  His clients have included Sandia National Laboratories and for industrial clients such as Unocal Geothermal, Constellation Power Inc, Caithness, Philippine National Oil Company Energy Development Company (geothermal) and Mesquite Group. He has developed and taught numerous courses in drilling engineering and technology. Livesay has some 30 plus publications covering most aspects of drilling equipment, techniques and procedures. He has BS in Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University.

Geoffrey Garrison, PhD, LG - Senior Geologist/ Geochemist

Geoff Garrison is an earth scientist with 19 years’ experience in industrial research and development, academic research, and technical consulting. Geoff holds a B.S. in Geology and an M.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Hawaii.  His technical and research expertise lies in understanding water/rock geochemistry, especially major and minor cation-anion chemistry and stable isotope chemistry. He also has extensive experience in environmental regulatory and permitting issues and environmental project management. His duties at AltaRock include geochemical assessment of geothermal fluids, chemical tracers, chemical geothermometry, and feasibility study and cost estimation of innovative proposed EGS projects.

Geoff joined AltaRock after working as a geochemist with clean technology company Calera Corporation, where he supported research and development of innovative CO2-sequestering building materials. He was also responsible for determining the suitability of various natural and industrial materials as viable feedstocks and assay of those materials regarding their reactivity and availability at pilot, demo, and commercial scales.