Our Team

James D. Bishop, Jr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Ross D. Ain
President

Barbara B. Gollan
Executive Vice President and Managing Director

David V. Casale
Chief Operating Officer

Derrel A. Grant, Jr.
Senior Vice President, Development

Andrew J. Savko
Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President

Gary S. Keevill
Senior Vice President, Business and Energy Management

Mitchell Garber
Senior Vice President, Engineering, Construction and Project Management

Tom Cuffaro
Vice President, Managing Director of Finance

Vincent Giglio
Vice President and Controller

John Wanalista
Vice President, Engineering and Project Management

Asavari Alvarez
Vice President, Energy Management

Thomas Grace
Director of Environmental, Health and Safety

Thomas Copus
Vice President of Operations

Brian Marszycki
Director of Finance

Jack Monahon
General Manager of Operations

Darel Stokes
Director of Information Technology Projects

Juan Alvarez
Senior Manager of Electrical Engineering 

Hamp Thornton
Engineering Manager

Maryelizabeth Duffy
Human Resource Manager

James D. Bishop, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, joined Caithness in 1988. Mr. Bishop holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Trinity College.

Ross D. Ain, President, joined Caithness in 2000 and was previously the Executive Vice President of Caithness Energy, and the President of Caithness Long Island, LLC. During his 19 years at Caithness, Mr. Ain successfully led the development of the Caithness Long Island project, a combined cycle natural gas plant in Yaphank, New York, and was integral in the success of the Caithness Shepherds Flat wind farm, the largest wind farm in the United States, and Caithness Moxie Freedom Generating Station, a green-field natural gas plant in Berwick, Pennsylvania. Mr. Ain has also been very active in the current projects Caithness is developing in Ohio, West Virginia and Montana. Before Mr. Ain joined Caithness, he was the Vice Chairman of Cogen Technologies Generating Group, the Senior Vice President of Cogen Technologies Energy Group, and was the President of East Coast Power. These companies developed, owned and operated natural gas fired generating plants throughout the United States, in particular, the Linden Cogeneration Plant, located in Linden, New Jersey. Mr. Ain began his career as a legislative counsel to the House of Representatives and then counsel to the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House during the passage of major energy legislation in the 70’s.  He worked as Associate General Counsel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission directing programs establishing the independent power industry. From 1980 to 1994, he was a partner at the Washington D.C. law firm of Van Ness Feldman, advising developers of renewable, cogeneration and other power projects. Mr. Ain holds a law degree from Columbia University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College.

Barbara B. Gollan, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, joined Caithness as Vice President in October 1990. Ms. Gollan was fuel manager for Caithness geothermal projects. Ms. Gollan has authored and co-authored a number of technical papers on geothermal systems, which were presented to the Geothermal Resources Council, the Geologic Society of America and the Stanford Geothermal Workshop. Ms. Gollan holds a Master of Science degree in Geology and Geochemistry from Stanford University and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College.

David V. Casale, Chief Operating Officer, joined Caithness in 1991 and was previously the Senior Vice President of Tax and Accounting for Caithness Energy and its affiliates. During his tenure he headed up the oversight and involvement with financing, taxation, and accounting matters. During his tenure with Caithness Mr. Casale started the tax department as the Tax Manager and quickly advanced to Controller then Vice President. During that time, he was involved with a variety of complex transactions including public debt offerings (144A transaction) and its related filings, private debt and equity financings and Production Tax Credit equity flip structures. Mr. Casale started his career as an auditor with KPMG Peat Marwick, L.L.P. in its Long Island office and subsequently moved to Arthur Anderson & Co.’s tax practice in New York City. There he specialized in complex partnership structures in the oil and gas industry. Mr. Casale graduated from Adelphi University in December of 1986 and holds a degree of Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting.

Derrel A. Grant, Jr., Senior Vice President, Development joined the Caithness platform in 2004. Mr. Grant has worked on the redevelopment of SEGS VIII and IX plants and now works on wind and fossil development. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Grant served as Vice President of FPL Energy, the non-regulated independent power company owned by FPL Group, Inc. From August 1990 to November 2004, Mr. Grant held various senior-level positions within several affiliates of FPL Group, Inc. Mr. Grant spent the first eleven years of his career working in Jamaica, England and the Bahamas. Mr. Grant holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami, Professional Certificate in Power Plants from the Central Electricity Generating Board in England, Master of Science, Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering from the University of the West Indies.

Andrew J. Savko, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, joined Caithness in 1998. Mr. Savko works on all financing activities at Caithness. He received a Master of Business Administration degree with specializations in Corporate Financing and Investment Analysis from Fordham University Graduate School of Business and Bachelor of Science degrees in Finance and Accounting from the University of Maryland.

Gary S. Keevill, Senior Vice President, Business and Energy Management joined Caithness platform in 2004. He is responsible for operations, asset and energy management. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Keevill was charged with managing El Paso Energy’s contractual responsibilities for its NYISO and PJM power projects. Mr. Keevill began his career with the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, where he held various positions in power generation, system operations, planning, and fuel management. Mr. Keevill received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Civil Engineering from the Cooper Union as well as a Master of Business Administration degree from St. John’s University.

Mitchell Garber, Senior Vice President, Engineering, Construction and Project Management, joined Caithness in 2005 and leads the company’s efforts in construction, engineering and permitting of power projects. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Garber worked as a Project Manager at Skanska, USA, a large construction company engaged in building power plants. Earlier in his career, Mr. Garber spent ten years at Cogen Technologies in increasingly responsible engineering, plant management, and project management roles. He began his career in operations and engineering at Consolidated Edison of New York. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Tom Cuffaro, Vice President, Managing Director of Finance, joined the Caithness platform in 1999 and has over 17 years of energy finance experience. Mr. Cuffaro has worked on transactions in excess of $5 billion. He was a key member of the debt and equity financing team for the Caithness Shepherds Flat project and has been part of the development team for the project since inception. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Cuffaro was a Staff Accountant at Salibello and Broder, LLP. Mr. Cuffaro holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Baruch College, a Bachelor of Science of Accounting from Brooklyn College and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of New York.

Vincent G. Giglio, Vice President and Controller, joined Caithness in 2004. He has held various positions within the Accounting and Tax department prior to being promoted to Controller in August 2015. He is a Certified Public Accountant, holds a Master’s of Science Taxation from St. John’s University and a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University.

John Wanalista, Vice President, Engineering and Project Management, joined Caithness in 2016. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Wanalista worked with Caithness on Projects for many years. Mr. Wanalista served as Senior Vice President of David Patillo & Associates, a construction consulting firm from June 2014 until October 2016. From March 2000 to June 2014, Mr. Wanalista held various positions with CH2M Engineers, Inc., including vice president in the Power Business Group. He started his career in 1982 with the United States Navy in the Nuclear Power Program. Mr. Wanalista holds a Juris Doctor degree from Walter F. George School of Law/ Mercer University, a Masters of Business Administration degree from Georgia State University and a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Asavari Alvarez, Vice President, Energy Management, joined Caithness in 2016. Ms. Alvarez has been in the energy industry over 25 years at PSEG, El Paso Corporation, and Con Edison, with varied experience spanning energy project development, asset management, finance/risk, major accounts, electric distribution operations, and energy trading. Ms. Alvarez holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University and an MBA from NYU Stern.

Thomas Grace, Director of Environmental, Health and Safety (E, H & S) has been with Caithness for over 12 years. In this position, he has been involved in the permitting and regulatory management required in the development, construction, and operation of numerous projects. His current responsibilities include E, H & S management for Caithness operations and he serves as part of the Caithness development team. Mr. Grace has more than 35 years of experience in the power industry, involving either development or operation of 36 power projects. This period has included working with numerous technologies, including gas/oil combined-cycle, nuclear, geothermal, wind and solar energy. Mr. Grace holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Environment Engineering from California State University (San Diego Campus); and a Master’s degree in Biology and Environmental Engineering from California State University (Hayward Campus) and the Pennsylvania State University (Capitol Campus).

Thomas Copus, Vice President of Operations, joined Caithness in July 2017 and is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Caithness natural gas fired power plants. Tom has over 30 years of experience in power plant operation and maintenance.  His career started in 1986 in the United States Navy, operating propulsion plants on numerous ships.  After completing his naval service, he began working for a major integrated electric utility as a power plant operator.  In 2000, Tom moved into management and has held ever-increasing roles of responsibility in the management of electric generating plants. His experience spans a variety of technologies and fuels.  He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s of Science degree in Leadership. He is a licensed Stationary Steam Engineer with the State of Ohio.

Brian Marszycki, Director of Finance, joined Caithness in 2023.  Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Marszycki was a project finance banker for almost 20 years in the power & renewables space, working for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, ABN AMRO, and Intesa Sanpaolo among others.  He began his career at Wells Fargo financing distress and turnaround companies.  Mr. Marszycki has a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College.

Jack Monahon, General Manager of Operations, joined Caithness in 2021. Prior to joining the Caithness team, Mr. Monahon was the General Manager of two combined cycle natural gas power plants in North Central Pennsylvania. Before becoming General Manager, Mr. Monahon was the Operations Manager and Plant Engineer for Panda Power Funds at the Liberty Facility. Mr. Monahon also worked for Calpine as Plant Engineer from 2009-2015 at various sites. Mr. Monahon brings over 12 years of relevant power plant experience to the team. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from SUNY Maritime College in Bronx, New York and is a Professional Engineer registered in the state of Delaware

Brian Marszycki, Director of Finance, joined Caithness in 2023. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Marszycki was a project finance banker for almost 20 years in the power & renewables space, working for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, ABN AMRO, and Intesa Sanpaolo among others. He began his career at Wells Fargo financing distress and turnaround companies. Mr. Marszycki has a Chartered Financial Analyst designation and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College.

Darel Stokes, Director of Information Technology Projects, joined Caithness in 2019. Darel leads the design, implementation and support of Caithness’ power plant computing environments for existing and new power plants. Darel previously directed the Information Technology department of Panda Power Funds where he oversaw the implementation and support of Panda’s overall computing infrastructure including the corporate data center, headquarters building and seven power plants. Darel has over 37 years of Information Technology experience that spans the energy, medical, security and aerospace industries where he has earned three US patents. Darel holds a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering Technology from the Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Juan Alvarez, Senior Director of Electrical Engineering, joined the Caithness platform in 2010. Mr. Alvarez is responsible for the electrical engineering aspects of the interconnection design, construction and maintenance of Caithness’ generator fleet and tie stations. Mr. Alvarez also serves as an active member on various NERC compliance teams. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Alvarez worked as a consultant at JCA Electrical Consulting which provides support for interconnection design, maintenance and construction of generators and substations. Earlier in his career, Mr. Alvarez spent 25 years at NextEra as a Superintendent, where he was responsible for maintenance, construction, and operations of 35 substations including one at a nuclear plant and 2 fossil plants. He began his career an Electrical Engineer at Bendix Field Engineering in Piney Point, Maryland. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Hamp Thornton, Engineering Manager, joined Caithness in 2019. Prior to joining Caithness, Mr. Thornton spent six years at Panda Power Funds as Engineering Manager. There he supported the permitting, development and execution of power projects as well as plant improvements for existing assets. From 2009-2013, Mr. Thornton worked at AREVA Renewables developing biomass projects and designing concentrated solar power plants. From 2000–2009, Mr. Thornton held various engineering and project roles with CH2M Hill. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Clemson University in Mechanical Engineering.

Maryelizabeth Duffy, Human Resource Manager, joined Caithness in 1986. Currently, she is responsible for the overall administration, coordination and evaluation of the human resource function. Throughout the course of her career with Caithness, she’s provided administrative support to numerous executives and partners, managed the accounts payable department and maintained office services by organizing office operations and procedures. Ms. Duffy holds a Bachelor of Science in Math from SUNY Geneseo.

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