Month: October 2024

Welcome to the Leadership Spotlight Series, which includes a quick Q&A with members of Compass leadership team.

Cameron manages Compass Energy Consulting’s Engineering Services team to provide feasibility analysis, engineering design, and commissioning services to clients.

Growing up, Cam’s interest in skiing and the outdoors sparked a lifelong interest in climate change and sustainability.

This naturally evolved into a career focused on renewable energy, where Cam has spent over 10 years working in everything from Feed-in Tariff solar, to Global Adjustment battery energy storage, to behind-the-meter solar. He was an obvious fit when he was hired to the Compass team in 2023.

Q&A

How long have you been with the company?

I joined Compass last year in 2023, having worked in the renewables industry for nearly a decade; from Feed-in Tariff solar, to Global Adjustment battery energy storage, to behind-the-meter solar.

What does your job entail?

Our engineering team provides feasibility analysis, engineering design, and commissioning services for clients across Canada. Currently we’re working on a few portfolios of net-metering solar projects across Ontario as well as assisting in the feasibility analysis and preliminary designs for multiple distribution connected battery storage opportunities in Canada.

As the Manager of Engineer Services, I review the designs for each project, oversee the deliverables required for permitting and construction, and verify the commissioning results of each of the systems.

Who inspired you to pursue the career you have today?

Climate change was always a large focus of mine growing up, I knew early on that I wanted to do whatever I could to help in the transition to a more sustainable future, if for no other reason than to keep winters alive for the ski season.

After graduating university, I was able to get a job for a solar installation company (Solsmart Energy Solutions) where I was entirely unfamiliar with the solar industry in Ontario (and as a whole), but the whole team was so welcoming and passionate about the work being done it was hard not to become invested. I started out designing residential and commercial roof-top solar projects getting feedback from the engineers and the construction crews and continued on that path taking those experiences with me. I attribute my enduring interest and experience in renewables to the whole Solsmart team when I first started out.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I hope to continue to grow the engineering team and offer more services across Canada and the US, continuing to develop distributed energy resources. As energy demand continues to grow in urban centers more distributed resources and creativity will be required to meet this demand. I hope to continue to implement innovative solutions for motivated clients as the industry continues to grow and distributed energy resources become more critical for the grid.

Who are some of your biggest inspirations within the company?

Biggest inspirations in the company are Jon and Rachelle.

Jon has worked hard to grow the company and continues to raise the bar of success for the company because of his experience in the industry. There’s always something interesting to learn when talking to him.

Rachelle has been a persistent force at Compass since she joined, always impressively detail oriented and continuing to manage enormous workloads using her organization and calm demeanor. I can always look to her to break down complex bid packages.

What’s the best advice you can give to someone who just started their career?

You get out what you put into your work.

If you find something you’re interested in, then continue to work at it and learn as much as you can in order to reach even higher levels of success.

What are the toughest challenges you’ve had at work?

Working to organize and balance priorities as multiple projects or proposals pop up on short notice, ensuring to still be thorough even when things need to be expedited.

When you are at work, how do you motivate yourself?

Sometimes things can get overwhelming, so sometimes I’ll create a checklist and itemize tasks for the day, then break up each task with a walk to help keep focus.

In terms of successes, which accomplishments are you most proud of?

It always feels good to complete a particularly long project or fix a longstanding issue but I’m most proud to be participating in and contributing to an industry that I feel so strongly about.

How have you grown professionally while on our team?

I feel like I’ve grown more confident in what can be done by an individual or a small team. I’ve learned that more can be accomplished than I expect by simply having the appropriate plan and working hard to stay the course.

Tell me something about you that most people don’t know.

I love kiteboarding, on windy days I try to get out to Cherry Beach in Toronto whenever I can, well into the freezing temperatures.

Welcome to the first post in a Leadership Spotlight Series, which includes a quick Q&A with members of Compass leadership team.

Rachelle Lynne-Davies, P.Eng. leads Compass Energy Consulting which encompasses our compliance consulting and engineering consulting teams. Her attention to detail, extreme organizational skills, and love for renewables has gotten her where she is today. 

Rachelle’s favourite colour happened to be the “Compass green”, so it was quite eye catching when her resume was submitted back in 2013 with its green accents. It was a no brainer to bring her onto the Compass team. 

Q&A

How long have you been with the company? 

I’ve been with Compass for just over 11 years. I was hired soon after completing my undergrad at the University of Toronto in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Sustainable Energy.  

I began my career at Compass in 2013, around the time when Feed-in-Tariff Round 1 (FIT 1) projects were nearing construction. I dove right into Domestic Content Compliance and was a lead Domestic Content compliance auditing consultant on several portfolios in Ontario. 

What does your job entail? 

My time is generally split between our two service offerings under Compliance Consulting, which are ITC Labour Compliance support and Bid Management support.  

We are actively supporting clients with ITC Labour Compliance planning, monitoring, and evidencing for renewable energy projects. We are currently supporting clients under construction for utility scale wind in Nova Scotia, battery energy storage in Ontario, and rooftop solar in Ontario. 

Additionally, we regularly provide compliance related consulting in support of major renewable procurements in Canada and the U.S. Northeast. Over the last decade, I have been directly involved in supporting over 5 GW of renewable energy bid submissions on behalf of large-scale renewable developers across Canada and Northeastern US, including New York, Maine, New England, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. 

Who inspired you to pursue the career you have today? 

Not a specific person, but rather a series of events.  

I was part of the Ontario Ranger program in 2007, where 17-year-olds live and work at a ranger camp in a provincial park for the summer. The intention is to place you far away from home. As they say, you have to get out of your comfort zone to grow. So as a GTA teenager, I was placed at Esker Lakes Provincial Park near Timmins. That summer was a blast meeting new people and learning new skills. This experience set me down the path of taking my love for the outdoors and pursuing a career in that space.  

That following year, I recall my grade 12 physics teacher pulling a few of us aside to encourage us to consider engineering programs when deciding which university to go to. I attribute that conversation to leading me to an engineering program in university.  

I went on to attend the University of Toronto, Chemical Engineering program. Initially with the hopes of completing the Environmental Engineering minor, however when it came time to choose courses, I found myself choosing the courses that were ear marked for the Sustainable Energy minor.  

Upon graduation I knew I wanted to work in the renewable energy field, but I wasn’t sure where a Chemical Engineer was supposed to fit in. Luckily, I stumbled across Compass Energy Consulting and the rest is history.  

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 

I would love to grow the team of consultants at Compass to be able to continue to offer our services to our existing clients on their new projects and to new clients as well. The ITC Labour Compliance is an opportunity that will be available across Canada for the next decade. That represents an amazing amount of renewable energy developers/owners that would benefit from our compliance services. 

Additionally, as governments continue to mandate and incentivize renewable energy, there will be more renewable energy procurements across North America. We have seen these procurements get increasingly complex year over year to include more factors in the non-price evaluation including, project maturity, community engagement, and economic benefits especially those that benefit disadvantaged or minority groups/areas.   

Who are some of your biggest inspirations within the company? 

Jonathan Cheszes, who is now officially the President of Compass Greenfield Development, and is a board member for Compass Energy Consulting, is dedicated, hardworking, and a great wealth of knowledge. 

Jim MacDougall, the Founder of Compass, saw my potential and supported my professional growth. Jim provided endless insight for a young professional like myself and did the best job at humanizing the workplace.   

What’s the best advice you can give to someone who just started their career? 

Figure out what you don’t like.  

Try new things, try different roles. It’s probably easier to discover what you don’t like rather than what you do like, but those discoveries are getting you closer to finding what you love. That being said, there are going to be aspects of every job that you won’t love. If it’s not detrimental to your mental health or wellbeing, it is likely helping you get uncomfortable to expand and grow professionally and personally as well.  

What are the toughest challenges you’ve had at work? 

As per the above, doing different tasks long enough to really understand if it’s something I don’t enjoy or just part of the learning curve. 

When you are at work, how do you motivate yourself? 

Disney music playlists. 

In terms of successes, which accomplishments are you most proud of? 

It’s a great feeling when our clients have big wins on projects that we have supported. To know that your support played a part in their success is quite rewarding.  

However, for me it’s the professional relationships I’ve built over the last decade that I’m most proud of.  

How have you grown professionally while on our team? 

I have grown an incredible amount since joining the Compass team. I have had opportunities to learn new skills on different types of projects over the years, meet new people in the industry through networking events, I have discovered what I love to do, and now I get to navigate our path forward and support our clients as we advance renewable energy in North America. 

Tell me something about you that most people don’t know. 

I’d love to own and operate a microbrewery one day.