Gary Coppedge
CEO
Gary Coppedge has over 30 years of experience in energy project development and feasibility analysis. With a focus on the natural gas sector, Gary has assessed and developed large liquefied natural gas facilities, natural gas pipelines, renewable energy projects, and local gas distribution companies. He has also served as project manager for a number of greenfield projects ranging from $10m to $1.5b USD and managed teams of design engineers, construction contractors, equipment vendors, and facility operators. These project development efforts involve business plans, design, financial structuring, and EPC negotiation and implementation in the US and numerous developing countries. Gary also has agricultural, ranching, and livestock background. This experience came together with the co-founding of Promus Energy in 2010 by Gary and partner Dan Evans, with a focus on the development of dairy digester-based projects producing ultra-low carbon intensity renewable natural gas (RNG). Gary has been CEO of Promus since its launch.
Dan Evans
PRESIDENT
Dan has been involved in energy projects, policy, and permitting for more than 30 years. He served 20 years as a senior advisor to members of the Washington Congressional delegation, seven years with a NW law firm, and as an independent consultant on energy, water, and other resource initiatives. Dan has a legal, policy, and sciences background, which he has used to mediate and resolve contentious regional resource issues, navigate complex regulatory and legislative processes, and develop conceptual project plans. Examples include efforts to develop renewable energy resources (wind, wave, hydro, methane fuels – CNG, LNG, RNG), reform resource mitigation programs, and mediate community disputes. Dan was co-lead investigator of a 2012 federal and state funded study of the feasibility of converting dairy digester operations from the production of power to RNG. He earned degrees in environmental sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a law degree from George Washington University. He is co-founder, with Gary Coppedge, and President of Promus.
Brandon Coppedge
VP of ENGINEERING
Brandon Coppedge is a mechanical engineer and has served as Promus’ technical lead from its initial forays into project development. In this role, Brandon has engaged in technical assessment of candidate project sites, project design, management of engineers and design team, technical plans, equipment selection and vendor vetting, EPC requirements and agreements, construction, permitting and reporting, and facility operations and remote monitoring. He has also completed multiple feasibility studies for multimillion-dollar projects and has worked closely with local governments on preliminary designs and infrastructure plans for economic and industrial development of small communities. He owns and operates a mechanical shop where he has designed, built, and prototyped many products. Brandon is an experienced welder and fabricator. He is proficient in SolidWorks, Autodesk, and GIS software to design, evaluate, and complete projects.
Dane Grubaugh
PROJECT ENGINEER
Dane Grubaugh is a mechanical engineer who provides end-to-end design, process engineering, and technical support. Dane brings experience navigating and implementing cutting edge technologies from his background in advanced composites manufacturing, aerospace assembly automation, and severe environment power transmission. His breadth of design scope has included complete ownership of projects from concept through detailed analysis, design, manufacture, testing, installation, commissioning, warranty, and monitoring. Dane is known for the ability to deep dive into complex problems. He performs detailed investigation and analysis to understand performance and deviations from expectations, and then derives and evaluates solutions to create a path to a successful design that satisfies the essential needs of all parties in a project. Dane is also a private real estate investor, overseeing acquisition, improvements, ongoing ownership, and management of $2M in assets.
Alex Banbury
SENIOR ANALYST and DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Alex Banbury is Promus Energy’s “utility infielder” – bringing an array of skills, diligence, and a can-do attitude to project development. He has an inter-disciplinary (economics, science, pre-law) academic background and worked for a major NW logistics company, helping to increase operational efficiencies in remote Alaska and demonstrating cost-effective sustainability measures. At Promus, Alex develops and revises complex project financial models, researches new technologies and opportunities to improve efficiency, and manages data and reporting, among other tasks. Alex is a Washington State native who went “back east” for school, graduating from Bowdoin College with degrees in Environmental Studies and German.
Johnny Coppedge
TECHNICAL and DATA MANAGER
Johnny Coppedge has over 30 years of professional Information Technology experience in project management, requirements analysis, design, redesign, development/coding, testing, implementation, support and training of business applications. Responsible for bridging the gap between IT and the business using data analytics to access processes, determine requirements, and deliver data-driven recommendations and reports to executives and stakeholders. Johnny engages with business leaders and users to understand how data-driven changes to process, products, services, software, and hardware can improve efficiencies and add value and is able to articulate those ideas but also balance them against what’s technologically feasible and financially and functionally reasonable.