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Senior Management
Barry E. Welch President & CEO, Director
Mr. Welch has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Power since October 2004 and a Director of the Company since June 2007. Prior to joining Atlantic Power Corporation, Mr. Welch was the Senior Vice President and co-head of the Bond & Corporate Finance Group of John Hancock Financial services, Boston, Massachusetts, from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Welch served on several committees at John Hancock, including its Pension Investment Advisory Committee and Investment Operating Committee. Mr. Welch was Chairman of John Hancock’s Bond Investment Committee and reported monthly on investment portfolio, strategy and activity to the Committee of Finance of John Hancock’s board of directors. Mr. Welch also led the development and approval of Hancock’s involvement with ArcLight Capital Partners' Fund I and served as a member of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund I’s Investment Committee. Previously at John Hancock, Mr. Welch headed the Bond and Corporate Finance Group’s Power and Energy investment team. From 1989 to 2004, he was involved directly or oversaw $25 billion of investments in more than 1,000 utility, project finance and oil and gas transactions. Prior to joining John Hancock, Mr. Welch spent more than three years as a developer of power projects at Thermo Electron Corporation’s Energy Systems Division (later known as Thermo Ecotek). There, he was involved in greenfield development of natural gas, wood and waste-to-energy projects, as well as asset management roles for operating plants. Mr. Welch received a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, and an M.B.A. from Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Welch serves on the Board of Directors of the Walker Home and School in Needham, Massachusetts.
Patrick J. Welch Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Welch, who is not related to Barry Welch, has been the Chief Financial Officer of Atlantic Power since May 2006. He has an extensive background in the energy and independent power industries. Before joining Atlantic Power, Mr. Welch was Vice President and Controller of DCP Midstream, (DCP) and DCP Midstream Partners, LP (DCPLP) headquartered in Denver, Colorado. DCP is a private midstream natural gas company owned by Spectra Energy and ConocoPhillips and DCPLP is a public master limited partnership sponsored by DCP. In these roles, Mr. Welch was responsible for all accounting, budgeting, SEC and financial reporting and compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 for DCP and DCPLP. Prior to that he held various positions at Dynegy Inc. in Houston, Texas, including Vice President and Controller for Dynegy Generation, and Assistant Corporate Controller. Prior to Dynegy, Mr. Welch was a Senior Audit Manager in the Energy, Utilities and Mining Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, predominantly in Houston, Texas, where he served several major energy clients. He received his bachelors degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Paul Rapisarda Managing Director
Mr. Rapisarda has 25 years of experience in energy, utility and independent power investment banking. From 2001 to early 2008 he was a Principal with Compass Advisors, a boutique M&A advisory firm in New York, where he was involved in numerous strategic advisory, restructuring and principal transactions in the energy and power sectors. Prior to Compass Advisors, Mr. Rapisarda held senior positions with the energy and utilities investment banking teams at Schroders, Merrill Lynch and BT Securities. Prior to that he was a Managing Director and Co-Head, Utilities and Structured Finance, at Drexel Burnham Lambert. While at Drexel, he also worked with the firm’s chief financial officer in making direct tax-oriented investments on the firm’s behalf. Over the course of his career, Mr. Rapisarda has worked on a broad range of capital markets and advisory transactions including substantial experience in cross-border and emerging markets. He earned his Bachelors degree from Amherst College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Board of Directors
Irving Gerstein Chairman
Senator Irving R. Gerstein has been a director of the Company since October 2004. Mr. Gerstein is a retired executive. He is a director of Economic Investment Trust Limited, and previously served as a director of other public issuers, including CTV Inc., Traders Group Limited, Guaranty Trust Company of Canada, Confederation Life Insurance Company and Scott's Hospitality Inc., and as an officer and director of Peoples Jewellers Limited. Mr. Gerstein is a Member of the Order of Canada and a Member of the Order of Ontario. He is an honorary director of Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto), having previously served as Chairman of the Board, Chairman Emeritus and a director over a period of twenty-five years, and is currently a member of its Research Committee. Mr. Gerstein received his BSc. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School of Finance and Commerce).
Kenneth Hartwick Audit Committee Chairman
Mr. Hartwick has been a director of the Company since October 2004. Ken Hartwick has over 13 years of management experience in the energy sector, and 20 years experience in the financial sector. Mr. Hartwick’s experience in the energy industry spans several markets having played an integral role as Energy Savings’ Chief Financial Officer since April 2004 launching Energy Savings’ businesses in Alberta, British Columbia, Indiana, and Texas as well as growing the businesses already established in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Illinois, and New York. As well as serving as the current President and CEO for Energy Savings, an integrated retailer of commodity products, Mr. Hartwick understand the issues facing generation businesses through his role on the Board of the Atlantic Power Corporation. He has been engaged in the energy industry with one of the largest distribution companies in North America, Hydro One Inc, gaining increasing executive-level responsibility throughout his career there, and providing strategic direction as Ontario transitions towards a competitive energy marketplace.
John McNeil Director
Mr. McNeil has been a director of the Company since October 2004. Mr. McNeil is President of BDR NorthAmerica Inc. (“BDR”) an energy consulting company based in Toronto. Ontario. Prior to his appointment at BDR in 2000, Mr. McNeil was Managing Director Investment Banking with Scotia Capital Inc. from 1996 to 1999. Previously, he was a Senior Vice-President and Director of ScotiaMcLeod Inc. from 1991 to 1995. Mr. McNeil has extensive expertise in the areas of asset management models, capitalization, mergers and acquisitions, business and enterprise valuations, capital markets and market ratings and has worked extensively throughout North America and Europe. Mr McNeil has been a member of the Electricity Task Force of The Toronto Board of Trade since 1996. Mr. McNeil specializes in the electric power sector and his major focus in recent years has been in the field of corporate and enterprise unbundling and reconstitution resulting from the restructuring of the electricity sector in North America. Mr. McNeil received a B.A. (Honours) from Queens University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the University of British Columbia.
William Whitman Director
Mr. Whitman has been a director of the Company since December 2006. Mr. Whitman is currently an independent consultant advising and representing clients on energy-from-waste matters. Prior to April, 2008, he was Senior Vice President of NW Financial Group, LLC (“NW”), an investment bank specializing in municipal finance. Mr. Whitman has over twenty years of experience in structuring and managing waste-to-energy projects. At NW, Mr. Whitman helps clients structure and finance projects, providing essential public services such as waste disposal and water treatment. From July 2003 to March 2004, Mr. Whitman was a contract employee of MSW Energy Holdings LLC (“MSW”), where he fulfilled the duties of Chief Financial Officer. MSW owns a 50% indirect membership interest in Ref-Fuel Holdings LLC, which is one of the largest owners and operators of waste-to-energy projects in the United States. Prior to joining MSW, Mr. Whitman played a leading role in the start-up and management of Covanta’s (formerly Ogden Corporation) waste-to-energy business from 1987 to 2002. At Covanta, Mr. Whitman directed financial operations, resolved contract and client issues and generally helped to manage day-to-day operations. He was also involved in the structuring and financing of several of the waste-to-energy projects and led the restructuring of distressed projects. Mr. Whitman served as Chief Financial Officer of Ogden Energy Group from 1990 to 2001 and Senior Vice-President of Covanta from 2001 to 2002. During Mr. Whitman’s service as a senior officer of Covanta, Covanta filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. On March 10, 2004, Covanta and 79 of its affiliates, comprising Covanta’s energy and water businesses, were acquired by Danielson Holding Corporation. With the closing of this transaction, Covanta and these affiliates emerged from bankruptcy protection. Mr. Whitman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from Syracuse University and a Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.
Barry E. Welch
Mr. Welch has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Atlantic Power since October 2004 and a Director of the Company since June 2007. Prior to joining Atlantic Power Corporation, Mr. Welch was the Senior Vice President and co-head of the Bond & Corporate Finance Group of John Hancock Financial services, Boston, Massachusetts, from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Welch served on several committees at John Hancock, including its Pension Investment Advisory Committee and Investment Operating Committee. Mr. Welch was Chairman of John Hancock’s Bond Investment Committee and reported monthly on investment portfolio, strategy and activity to the Committee of Finance of John Hancock’s board of directors. Mr. Welch also led the development and approval of Hancock’s involvement with ArcLight Capital Partners' Fund I and served as a member of ArcLight Energy Partners Fund I’s Investment Committee. Previously at John Hancock, Mr. Welch headed the Bond and Corporate Finance Group’s Power and Energy investment team. From 1989 to 2004, he was involved directly or oversaw $25 billion of investments in more than 1,000 utility, project finance and oil and gas transactions. Prior to joining John Hancock, Mr. Welch spent more than three years as a developer of power projects at Thermo Electron Corporation’s Energy Systems Division (later known as Thermo Ecotek). There, he was involved in greenfield development of natural gas, wood and waste-to-energy projects, as well as asset management roles for operating plants. Mr. Welch received a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, and an M.B.A. from Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Welch serves on the Board of Directors of the Walker Home and School in Needham, Massachusetts.
