Our Story

Rich Hamilton, Director of Development

Rich Hamilton, Director of Development for Great Basin Wind LLC, has witnessed the devastating effects of global warming firsthand. During the past 20 years Rich has summited high peaks from Alaska to the Andes.  During this time he has watched some of the world’s most beautiful glaciers melt away. His decision to take action against this destructive climate change is what led him into the wind industry.  He chose wind energy because of its small land footprint and minimal environmental impacts.

Always a man to “walk his talk” Rich’s first step was to create Mountain Wind Energy. Mountain Wind Energy is an early stage wind developer that assembled wind leases across some of Nevada’s windiest land.

Rich understands Nevada’s winds. He spent 25 years in aviation medicine flying across the western United States.   This seat of the pants understanding of the air currents and weather patterns of the Great Basin has given him a unique understanding of wind as an energy resource. His mountaineer experience also taught him to respect the unique characteristics of wind in complex mountainous terrain such as that found in the Great Basin.

Rich’s second step was to partner with Oak Creek Energy Systems Inc (OCES), one of the country’s leading wind developers, to create Great Basin Wind. The OCES team has successfully developed over a thousand megawatts of wind energy projects in the United States and Europe.  OCES has developed wind projects for municipalities, water and sewer districts, as well as the mining industry with the nation’s largest behind-the-meter wind project at Cal-Portland Cement’s plant in Mojave, California. OCES is currently involved in the development of a 1550 megawatt wind energy project in the Tehachapi, California wind resource area.  The project will be built under one of the largest single wind energy power purchase agreements in the nation.

In addition to leading Great Basin Wind LLC, Rich is also actively involved in support of the wind industry. Rich is the State Wind Outreach Team leader for the Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program, a member of the Nevada Wind Working Group, Chairman of the Wind Working Group Sage Grouse Mitigation and Habitat Restoration Project and a member of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).  Rich is also involved with the “Renewable Energy Accelerator at 250 Bell” in downtown Reno.  The Accelerator exists to promote and develop renewable energy, urban infill, and healthy communities throughout Nevada.

Ed Duggan, Executive Vice President

Mr. Duggan is Executive Vice President of OCES, having re-joined OCES in 1998.  Ed is the OCES Team Leader for all Nevada wind energy development activities.

He is an engineering graduate of the University of Massachusetts and was part of the University’s famous Wind Energy Program in the early 1980’s.  In 1984, Mr. Duggan joined Cannon Wind Energy where he was responsible for project layout and permitting activities, as well as construction management during the early major growth days of the wind industry.

Mr. Duggan played a significant role in the turnaround program at OCES from 1988 to 1993.  He is an expert in assessing wind resources and siting turbines in complex terrain and gained extensive experience with permitting, zoning, and zone variances from his work with OCES and Cannon.  He setup and managed the Advanced Wind Turbine and FloWind Test Sites on Cameron Ridge, Tehachapi from 1993 to 1998 and was chosen AWEA Wind Smith of the year for 1996.

From 1998 through 2002, Mr. Duggan oversaw the re-powering of the OCES site which increased turbine reliability, capacity factors and production substantially while returning a large portion of the site previously occupied by smaller turbines to its natural state.  In recent years, he has been a major participant in the collaborative process between the wind industry and the military to develop the compromise “Red Yellow Green” map concept that has been adopted into Kern County Code and serves as a national model for coordinating the placement of wind turbines with the use of airspace by low level flying military aircraft.

Mr. Duggan has over 26 years of experience in all aspects of wind energy site development and management.  He is heavily involved in community outreach for OCES and was a featured speaker at the 2007 Tehachapi Business Outlook Conference.  He is Treasurer of the Kern Wind Energy Association, a Director of the Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce, and is a Board Member of the Tehachapi Resource Conservation District.

Ken A. Grismore, Executive Vice President

Mr. Grismore is Executive Vice President at OCES.  As a critical member of the Great Basin Wind LLC development team, Ken focuses on deal origination, project finance, and other project development activities. He joined OCES in 2005 after having been with Global Renewable Energy Partners (GREP) where he spent over three years managing analyses of prospective development opportunities, as well as project documentation and due diligence assessments and managing the development of economic models for GREP worldwide. His financial models are widely respected and used, producing excellent value modeling for a wide range of industry participants.

Prior to his time at GREP, Mr. Grismore spent over five years in the independent power industry in senior financial analysis positions at IPPs: Newport Generation, Edison Mission Energy and Entergy Power Group. Prior to that, Mr. Grismore spent five years in financial positions at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Mr. Grismore has extensive international experience and speaks fluent Spanish.  Bachelor in Business Administration from La Sierra University and a Master in Business Administration (International Finance) from The George Washington University.