About | ESS, Inc.

About

Our mission

At ESS Inc., our mission is to bring to market the cleanest, lowest-cost long-duration energy storage systems. We are the catalyst for a sustainable energy future.

Our history

Established in 2011, ESS Inc. manufactures low-cost, long-duration iron flow batteries for commercial and utility-scale energy storage applications requiring 4+ hours of flexible energy capacity. Our long-duration energy storage platforms, the Energy Warehouse™ (EW) and Energy Center™(EC), use iron, salt, and water for the electrolyte, and deliver an environmentally safe, long-life energy storage solution for the world’s renewable energy infrastructure.

2011

Company formed. Developed lab scale battery
Craig evans portrait Dr. Julia song portrait

2012

Awarded ARPA-e grant for development of iron-based battery

2014

Demonstrated 10,000+ operating cycles in the lab

2015

First commercial deployment

2017

Gen I Energy Warehouse™ product line launched
Gen 1 energy warehouse image

2019

S200 commercial battery module launched
S200 commercial battery image

2020

Installed S200 automated assembly line
Energy Center™ product line launched
Energy warehouse at sunset image

Based in Wilsonville, Oregon, ESS Inc. was founded by a team with deep experience in fuel cells, electrochemistry, advanced material science and renewable energy. After five years of intensive innovation, engineering development and rigorous testing and validation, with the backing of ARPA-E and others, the company began shipping turnkey energy storage solutions that allowed companies and municipalities to control their own energy future in 2015.

Our technology delivers environmental and cost advantages. Specifically, our non-corrosive, non-toxic chemistry enables use of off-the-shelf materials. Its non-flammable composition eliminates costly fire suppression systems. Combined with an innovative cell design, our customers benefit from increased power density and reduced O&M cost over our platform’s 20+ year lifespan.

With its safe, earth-abundant, all-iron flow battery technology, ESS is helping project developers, utilities, and EPCs make the transition to more flexible non-lithium-ion storage that is better suited for the grid and the environment.

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Executive team

Eric dresselhuys portrait

Eric Dresselhuys

Chief Executive Officer

Profile

Mr. Dresselhuys is the CEO of ESS Inc. and joined the company in March 2021. Mr. Dresselhuys has over 25 years of leadership experience and is an accomplished technology and market development pioneer with a demonstrated background in growing both public and private companies. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Dresselhuys founded Silver Spring Networks, which became the leading provider of smart grid networking and data solutions, leading to an IPO in 2013 (NYSE: SSNI) and an eventual sale to Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI). Other experience includes a variety of leadership positions at Procter and Gamble and Smart Energy Water, where he helped build up the companies on a global scale. As an active member of the energy industry, he currently serves as the Chairman of Enian, LTD. in London and on the board of directors of Autogrid, Inc. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events and author on issues related to the energy transition. Mr. Dresselhuys holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and earned an Executive Certificate from the Sloan School at MIT.

Craig evans portrait

Craig E. Evans

President & Founder

Profile

Mr. Evans is the President and founder of ESS Inc. Having started ESS from his garage in 2011, he has led the company through the commercialization of the iron flow battery system in 2016 and multiple rounds of successful investment to build the company. Prior to ESS Inc., Mr. Evans was the Director of Design & Product Development at ClearEdge Power Inc. His team designed the ClearEdge5, a 5 kW combine-heat-and-power fuel cell system, which was successfully commercialized in 2010. This product received both CSA International certification in North America and KNREC certification in Asia. Mr. Evans began his career at United Technologies Corporation (UTC) where he held technical leadership positions in their Fuel Cell business and, prior to that, as a project engineer in the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine business. In 2006, Mr. Evans was awarded the distinguished George Mead Award, the highest honor for individual engineering achievement at UTC. Mr. Evans has authored over 15 patents and patent applications. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, an MS in Finance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.B.A from Carnegie Mellon University.

Julia song portrait

Dr. Julia Song

Chief Technology Officer & Founder

Profile

Dr. Song is the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of ESS Inc. In this position, she has spearheaded the transition of the iron flow battery technology to becoming a commercial energy storage system. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Dr. Song was the Vice President of Research and Development at ClearEdge Power Inc., where she led over 20 cross-functional scientists and engineers on all corporate R&D projects and the commercialization of the 5 kW Combined Heat and Power Fuel Cell system. Dr. Song started her career at Milliken & Co. as an Industrial Research Chemist. Dr. Song has authored approximately 20 peer-reviewed publications and over 10 patents and patent applications. Dr. Song holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Peking University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She specializes in fuel cells, batteries, electrochemistry and the catalysis properties of nanoparticles.

Amir moftakhar portrait

Amir Moftakhar

Chief Financial Officer

Profile

Mr. Moftakhar is the Chief Financial Officer for ESS Inc. Mr. Moftakhar is an accomplished finance executive with experience in energy, banking, technology, real estate, and consumer products specializing in strategy and finance. Mr. Moftakhar has significant corporate experience in finance, business development, strategy, and M&A with companies including Bank of America, Sempra Energy, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Cox Communications. He has been a lecturer and adjunct professor in the areas of economics, finance, statistics, and business, including his latest experience as an Adjunct Professor of Finance with the University of San Diego. Mr. Moftakhar received his Bachelor’s of Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis, his Master’s in Business Administration from the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University, and his Executive Master of Leadership degree from the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California.

Jeff bolder portrait

Jeff Bodner

Chief Accounting Officer

Profile

Mr. Bodner is the Chief Accounting Officer for ESS Inc. Mr. Bodner is an experienced financial leader with extensive experience in corporate finance, accounting, auditing, financial reporting, compliance and governance. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Bodner spent almost 17 years at Intel Corporation in a variety of finance leadership roles including External Reporting Controller, Planning and Reporting Controller as well as Vice President of Finance, Director of Internal Audit. Mr. Bodner also spent nearly 12 years at PwC in their assurance practice serving a variety of public companies ranging from start-ups to mature organizations. Mr. Bodner holds a B.S. in Business with an Accounting Option from Montana State University. Mr. Bodner is licensed in Oregon as a Certified Public Accountant.

Hugh mcdermott portrait

Hugh McDermott

Senior Vice President Business Development & Sales

Profile

Mr. McDermott is the Senior Vice President Business Development & Sales for ESS Inc. An energy sector executive focused on growing energy infrastructure and advanced energy technology businesses primarily addressing utility, industrial and commercial sectors, Mr. McDermott has served in numerous executive and leadership roles throughout his career in high-growth start-up companies as well as executive roles in public listed companies. Prior to joining ESS, Inc., Mr. McDermott was the Vice President Sales for Silver Spring Networks where he successfully led the company’s market-building presence and key partnership development for Smart Grid and Smart City business across the APAC region. As Global Head of Business Development at Better Place, Mr. McDermott created the world’s first smart charging commercial offering which leveraged networked electric vehicle charging infrastructure to provide dynamic load management and energy storage services to utilities, grid operators and energy traders. Mr. McDermott is a Hokie from VA Tech where he earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering in Power Systems.

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Brian Lisiecki

Vice President of Information & Business Systems

Profile

Mr. Lisiecki is the Vice President of Information & Business systems for ESS Inc. He has led the initiative to standardize cross functional business process, including enabling Oracle ERP to provide scalability and better decision insights. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Lisiecki spent 19 years at the Campbell Soup Company in various technology and finance leadership roles. These roles included Business Intelligence, SAP, Business Acquisition Integrations, Global FP&A and Financial Consolidation. Mr. Lisiecki holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from Clarkson University and a M.S. in Management Information Systems from Pennsylvania State University.

John wiltse portraig

John Wiltse

Vice President of Engineering

Profile

Dr. Wiltse is the Vice President of Engineering for ESS Inc. where he is responsible for leading the Energy Warehouse and Energy Center product engineering teams. Dr. Wiltse has a passion for solving difficult problems and bringing outstanding products to market. He has led successful product development and market introduction at companies as diverse as Tektronix (color printers), FLIR Systems (airborne imaging systems), and Lam Research (semiconductor capital equipment). Dr. Wiltse has been awarded more than 10 U.S. patents. Dr. Wiltse holds a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from Caltech and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Matt berkebile portrait

Matt Berkebile

Vice President of Manufacturing & Operations

Profile

Mr. Berkebile is the Vice President of Manufacturing & Operations for ESS Inc. Mr. Berkebile brings deep technical and operational background in engineering, R&D, product design, and manufacture of advanced technologies in the power generation and aviation sectors. Mr. Berkebile specializes in startup and acquisition restructuring, optimization, and operational growth and his experience includes serving in global and executive leadership roles in both public and privately-held companies including General Electric and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems. Mr. Berkebile has authored over 10 patents and patent applications and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of South Florida. He is a veteran of the US Navy where he served 5 years as an Aircrew Search and Rescue Swimmer.

Randy lewis portrait

Randy Lewis

Vice President of Quality Operations

Profile

Mr. Lewis is the Vice President of Quality for ESS Inc. An accomplished and dynamic leader, Mr. Lewis contributes extensive experience driving breakthrough performance in Manufacturing, Engineering and Quality Operations. Mr. Lewis has a passion for facilitating collaboration across the business to drive an understanding of product requirements and enable efficient development and production of high quality, reliable products. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Lewis led Quality teams at large publicly traded companies and most recently served in Operations and Engineering leadership roles including Vice President, Portland General Manager at FLIR Systems. He has an excellent track record for improving throughput and profitability by driving effective process controls and a continuous improvement mindset throughout an organization. Mr. Lewis holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and earned his MBA from Babson College.

Randy lewis portrait

Chris Montgomery

Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain

Profile

Mr. Montgomery is the Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain for ESS Inc., working across the full range of supply chain processes and planning to ensure the company can meet the growing demand for our energy storage solutions. He has over 25 years of leadership experience in supply chain and manufacturing operations, working across a variety of industries including aerospace, electronics, biotech, and smart grid networking. Mr. Montgomery has a passion for building integrated planning processes, streamlining new product introduction, and building supply chain capabilities to accelerate time-to-volume manufacturing. Prior to joining ESS, Mr. Montgomery spent 11 years with Silver Spring Networks and Itron in leadership positions across Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, S&OP, and Product Management. He most recently served as the Vice President of Manufacturing Engineering driving NPI performance and cost-down activities across a complex network of internal and external manufacturing sites. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.

Directors

Michael R. Niggli

Chairman

Profile

Mr. Michael R. Niggli brings to the ESS board a wealth of utility industry management experience. He most recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer at San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) until December 2013 and currently serves on the boards of several energy-related companies. Since beginning his career at SDG&E in 1971, Mr. Niggli held many positions within the electricity and gas operations, fuels acquisition, project management and customer service operations of SDG&E. Prior to rejoining SDG&E in 2006, Mr. Niggli served in positions with Entergy Corp., Nevada Power Company, Sierra Pacific Resources and Sempra Energy. Mr. Niggli has been closely involved in business and education partnerships in San Diego, New Orleans and Las Vegas. He served as Chairman of Sierra Pacific Power Company and Nevada Power Co. since July 1999. He served as a Director of San Diego Gas & Electric Company since December 7, 2012; Member of the Board of Directors of Esval S.A. since March 2015 and ESSBIO S.A. since March 2015. Mr. Niggli served as a Director of San Diego Gas & Electric Company and Southern California Gas Co. since February 23, 2007. He served as a Director of Pacific Enterprises Inc. from February 23, 2007, to April 3, 2010. He also has served on the boards of the Central Arkansas Radiation Institute, United Way of Southern Nevada, Great Basin National Park Foundation, UNLV Foundation, Electric Power Research Institute, Edison Electric Institute and the Nevada Development Authority. Mr. Niggli has authored at least a dozen articles on issues pertinent to the electric, gas and telecommunications industries. He has provided expert testimony on electric and gas utility matters before numerous legislative committees, public service commissions and city councils at the federal, state and local levels. He founded the graduate program in power engineering at San Diego State University and lectured part-time for five years. Mr. Niggli holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from California State University in Long Beach and a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from San Diego State University. Mr. Niggli participated in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.

Eric Dresselhuys

Profile

Mr. Dresselhuys is the CEO of ESS Inc. and joined the company in March 2021. Mr. Dresselhuys has over 25 years of leadership experience and is an accomplished technology and market development pioneer with a demonstrated background in growing both public and private companies. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Dresselhuys founded Silver Spring Networks, which became the leading provider of smart grid networking and data solutions, leading to an IPO in 2013 (NYSE: SSNI) and an eventual sale to Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI). Other experience includes a variety of leadership positions at Procter and Gamble and Smart Energy Water, where he helped build up the companies on a global scale. As an active member of the energy industry, he currently serves as the Chairman of Enian, LTD. in London and on the board of directors of Autogrid, Inc. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events and author on issues related to the energy transition. Mr. Dresselhuys holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and earned an Executive Certificate from the Sloan School at MIT.

Craig E. Evans

Profile

Mr. Evans is the President and founder of ESS Inc. Having started ESS from his garage in 2011, he has led the company through the commercialization of the iron flow battery system in 2016 and multiple rounds of successful investment to build the company. Prior to ESS Inc., Mr. Evans was the Director of Design & Product Development at ClearEdge Power Inc. His team designed the ClearEdge5, a 5 kW combine-heat-and-power fuel cell system, which was successfully commercialized in 2010. This product received both CSA International certification in North America and KNREC certification in Asia. Mr. Evans began his career at United Technologies Corporation (UTC) where he held technical leadership positions in their Fuel Cell business and, prior to that, as a project engineer in the Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine business. In 2006, Mr. Evans was awarded the distinguished George Mead Award, the highest honor for individual engineering achievement at UTC. Mr. Evans has authored over 15 patents and patent applications. He holds a BS in Aerospace Engineering and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, an MS in Finance from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.B.A from Carnegie Mellon University.

Raffi Garabedian

Profile

Mr. Raffi Garabedian was the Chief Technology Officer of First Solar, Inc. from 2012 through 2020. Mr. Garabedian joined First Solar in 2008. Before joining First Solar, he founded Touchdown Technologies, Inc. and served as its Chief Executive Officer. He worked in the semiconductor and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industries for over 15 years, developing and manufacturing new technology products ranging from automotive sensors to telecommunications switching systems. He holds over 20 issued patents and has deep experience in strategy, product development, engineering, manufacturing technology, management and team building. Mr. Garabedian holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic University and an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Davis.

Rich Hossfeld

Profile

Mr. Rich Hossfeld is SVP of Strategy and Investments at SoftBank Energy. Rich is an entrepreneurial and thesis driven investor and business executive, with expertise identifying emerging market and technology opportunities, building and executing business plans and commercial strategies for start-up through Fortune 500 companies, developing markets and conducting business in both emerging and developed markets, building infrastructure businesses to accelerate product sales and profitability, removing regulatory barriers to market expansion and launching new products.

Shirley Speakman

Profile

Ms. Shirley Speakman joined Cycle Capital as a Partner and is based in the Toronto office. Shirley was the Director of Investments for the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) a $40M+ venture capital fund established by the Ontario government to invest in seed and early stage technology oriented companies based in Ontario. As Director of Investments, Shirley was responsible for investment recommendations and decisions, portfolio management, sourcing and partnering. Shirley continues to contribute to the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund as an advisor on its cleantech investment committee. During her tenure at IAF, she oversaw investments in cleantech, successfully exited investments and assisted portfolio companies secure signficiant follow-on financing. Prior to joining the IAF, Shirley spent over 12 years acting as advising biotech, ag-biotech and advanced manufacturing and materials companies in areas such as strategy, finance, negotiations and fund raising. She spearheaded numerous financings and M&A transactions and participated in the creation of a $40M cross border life sciences fund and the close of a Canadian based $40M ag-biotech fund. Shirley holds her ICD.d (University of Toronto), a MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Waterloo.

Kyle Teamey

Profile

Kyle Teamey is an investor with Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) where he focuses on commercializing products and services that can have an outsized impact on climate change. He currently serves on the boards of several private corporations. Prior to joining BEV, Kyle was an investor with In-Q-Tel (IQT) where he concentrated on “deep technology” investments in energy, materials, advanced manufacturing, logistics, and computing hardware. Prior to IQT, Kyle was an executive with several start-up companies, to include serving as CEO of Liquid Light. He was also an Entrepreneur in Residence with Redpoint Ventures and Executive in Residence with Columbia Technology Ventures. Kyle is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served as an active duty officer from 1998 to 2004, and is currently a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Kyle holds a B.A. in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth College, a M.A. in International Finance and Energy Policy from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, a M.S. in Materials Science from Columbia University, and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Daryl Wilson

Profile

Mr. Daryl Wilson is a versatile leader with more than 35 years of progressive industrial management experience in environmental technology, operations, manufacturing, human resources, product development, and organisational change developed in world class organisations, including Dofasco, Toyota, and ZenonEnvironmental. For the last 14 years, Daryl Wilson served as CEO of Hydrogenics, a publicly listed leading provider of advanced hydrogen solutions. Mr. Wilson also served on the board of ATS Automation for 10 years and is a certified corporate director.

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