13 - Debi Rednik

A conversation with Debi Rednik, Senior Director of Legal and Compliance at Solstice! 

Connect with Debi on LinkedIn. 

Terms mentioned: 

• Community solar
• PPA

Individuals mentioned and resources: 

• Career coach Beth Offenbacker
• TerraCycle snack & candy wrapper box

Transcript

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Aparna: [00:00:00] Hey, friends of the pod, welcome back. Today we have Debbie Redneck with us, and we're so excited to chat with her. Debbie is the senior Director of legal and compliance for Solstice and has spent her entire career in the energy industry. She's held a variety of previous roles as an attorney and private practice in house counsel at a local utility and regulatory affairs and sales operation for a third party natural gas and electricity provider. As someone passionate about clean energy and environmental justice, joining Solstice has been a full circle opportunity. As Debbie's goal in becoming a lawyer was to help improve and protect our environment. At home in South Orange, New Jersey, you can find Debbie spending time with her husband, two adult-ish children, and Labradoodle baking twisted into various yoga positions or writing her phlo on. She loves being outdoors, preferably near a lake, and is active in her local community and neighborhood Park Conservancy. Debbie, welcome to the pod. We're hyped. You're here.

Debi Rednik: Thank you so much, Aparna. I am [00:01:00] hyped to be here.

Aparna: Love to hear it. Love to hear it. Debbie, to start us off, you are an attorney by trade and we've listed a few of your past roles in this intro. So we're hoping you can tell us some more about where you started and how you found your way to this current role. I.

Debi Rednik: well, I got into energy law by accident. I initially went to law school with the goal of becoming an environmental attorney, and when I was graduating there really weren't a whole lot of jobs doing what I wanted to do, and I ended up dropping a resume in a public interest interviewing program and got invited to do an interview at a firm that had some environmental stuff on their website. But when I got to the interview, they're like, yeah, we don't really do that, but let me tell you what we do do. And you know, they were kind of an energy public interest firm. So it was the side of things that I wanted.

But [00:02:00] it's slightly different tack. So I was like, okay, I'd like to graduate law school with a job, so we're gonna go with it. And I've been in the energy industry ever since.

Kiersten: I can't say that I've heard of a public interest interview program. Is there anything else you can tell us about that for anyone that might also be interested?

Debi Rednik: Well, I won't tell you how many years ago that was, so maybe it's not a thing anymore. But it was, yeah, it was a very small you know, interviewing opportunity through my law school you just through your resume in the ring and if somebody wanted to talk to you, they invited you to do an interview on campus and this one small energy boutique invited me to come talk to them.

Kiersten: Fascinating. See, we learn about different niches every time we interview someone new. So now of course you're with Solstice, which works on community solar. we'd love to hear if you've been able to have conversations with community members around adoption of community solar, and as a fun little exercise.

Not to put you on the spot, but we thought it might be [00:03:00] fun if you had a 32nd pitch to sell community solar to us. And or our listeners, what would your pitch be?

Debi Rednik: Well, I have never actually had to do a sales call, so this could be fun. But actually we are hoping to work on some more projects in New Jersey and when we have a project in my service territory. I have lots of plans to get out amongst the community and introduce my neighbors to the concept of community solar which I'm really excited to do 'cause I would love to have solar on my roof.

But we have too many trees and I don't think we faced the right direction, and obviously I wanna support Solstice. So my pitch would be I would love to have the opportunity to introduce my neighbors and my community members to the concept of community solar, because if you have a roof that isn't quite adequate, or if you live in an apartment [00:04:00] building, which we have many of in my town Or you can't afford to put solar panels on your roof. Community solar is an option for entering the green economy and contributing to climate change mitigation, and also save money on your electricity bills.

Sign up for Community Solar. It's like being a part of a community garden. You tell us how much your electricity needs are for the year. And then we will assign you to a solar farm with a certain percentage of the capacity from the farm going to you to serve your needs. You can even go visit the farm if you want to actually see where your electricity is coming from.

And you'll receive bill credits that are produced by the Community Solar Farm. So ultimately, you will save money on your electricity bill. That was very long-winded, not a pithy sales pitch, but hopefully you got the [00:05:00] idea.

Aparna: A very informative one for sure. And I might even say now, knowing the definition of community solar and understanding more about how y'all work signing up for community solar is a power move. We're all about puns here, Debbie,

Debi Rednik: Love it.

Aparna: to

Debi Rednik: Love it.

Aparna: So that makes a lot of sense. I think it's a great sales pitch. I think it's a great idea and it makes it accessible for everybody, which we love.

Debi Rednik: And that's exactly what our goal is, to make green energy affordable. First and accessible to particularly communities that are more frequently ignored or they're the victims of environmental injustice. We do a lot of work with low and moderate income communities to ensure that they have access to green energy as well, and to those savings that can help them.

Aparna: Incredible. Yeah. So tying all that together, the focus on community solar, the focus on equity, and really serving [00:06:00] those who have been traditionally underserved in the past, can you tell us more about what a day in the life looks like for you? How are you able to work all of these into your nine to five.

Debi Rednik: I always laugh when people ask me what my day to day looks like, because. I have right in front of me, my notebook with my to-do list. And if I'm lucky, I get to cross a few of those off every day. But more often than not given I am the only legal person at Solstice, I am a team of one. lots of things can come up in the, context of a day. That being said, my primary responsibility is to help our business development team negotiate contracts with the developers who are going to hire us to find the subscribers to fill their solar farms. So that's primarily what Solstice does is we're a community solar subscriber acquisition and management company.

The developer hires us to make sure that they can fill their project, and then also we will manage the [00:07:00] subscriber throughout the life cycle of their agreement. that could be anything from billing to customer service, to providing reporting to the developer to see if their farm is full and, you know, Other services. I am working with the BD team to make those contracts happen to get them executed hopefully quickly. Though, you know, nothing is ever quick when it comes to the legal process. then I'm also responsible for things like our business insurance, any other customer issues that come up, customer complaints. A lot of people get confused by community solar especially in a dual billing market where they're getting a bill from the utility for their electricity transmission, and also a bill from us for their bill credits. So we do spend a lot of time talking to the customers about that and sometimes they're confused and they'll call in with a complaint and I'll have to get involved to help us deal with that.

Kiersten: Fascinating. Yeah. We haven't had [00:08:00] anyone with a law background or a role that has to do with law. So you're our first, and it is really interesting to hear about that intersection. When you were describing your day, you mentioned that the execution of contracts with developers is a large part of the business development team's work.

In your work with that team, do you have any concerns about the viability of solar in the future with the legislative rollbacks that are looming?

Debi Rednik: It is an existential concern for sure. We are definitely keeping a very close eye on the market and where things are going with developers right now because everything is still so up in the air and changeable on a day-to-day basis. We're seeing a lot of people kind of sit back and wait to see what happens.

We also have plenty of, of developer partners who are full steam ahead trying to get things done, trying to get their projects built. So, you know, it's kind of, it runs the gamut. But definitely the uncertainty that [00:09:00] exists right now and the again, sort of existential threat that exists as to for example, the IRA the investment tax credit.

These are, things that everyone's keeping a really close eye on to make sure that. community, solar is still viable going forward because it is such an important part of the green economy and jobs in general.

Aparna: Yeah, totally fair. And for folks listening, we are around the end of May, so just for some time context, I know things do so rapidly, especially given the times we're in right now. So I do think it's important just to highlight we're at the end of May, chatting about what we think is gonna happen and subject to change.

Debi Rednik: Yeah,

great point. I'll be interested to see where we are when this.

Aparna: Does W predict the future, So on the flip side of that, bringing in some light sunlight, of course. Debbie, as one of the higher level folks that we've had on our show so far, wondering if you have something that you'd say to other [00:10:00] folks who are very established in their careers, who are wanting to make a pivot or, you know, expand their role to include sustainability?

Debi Rednik: That is a great question and one I am pretty passionate about. At my, previous job where I was for, quite some time and held a variety of roles, both legal and non-legal. You know, I had kind of gotten into a rut but didn't really admit that to myself. And it was also, I had young kids at home and it was a good job.

It was, you know, I was paid well, it was an easy commute, you know, kind of all of those things. But I really wasn't happy in the job. it also, you know, I mentioned earlier that my goal in becoming a lawyer was to, work in the environmental space. And I didn't really feel like I was doing work that was consistent with my values.

When I left that company, I really took stock and I thought about what is important to [00:11:00] me for my next role. What are my values, what are my must-haves in my next job? And really focused my job search on that space. also, I have to give a shout out to Beth Offenbacher. Who I found on LinkedIn as I was doing my job search and she coached me kind of helping me see how the accumulation of my skills put me in a position to make the pivot and how to package that skillset so I could sell my experience.

As I was looking to, join an organization that focused on renewables so my words of wisdom would really be, you know, focus on the skills you've developed over the course of your career, especially if you're someone that that has a few years behind you. it's all about your capabilities and what you bring to the table, if you've gotten that far.

You can learn, you can learn a subject matter. I had never done renewables before, even though I had been in the energy space. [00:12:00] So I had that going for me. I had the legal background going for me. I had some process excellence, experience, some sales leadership experience. And when you, put those skills together, it leads you in a direction.

I encourage people to kind of look at their career that way, and not as necessarily a series of job titles, but as an accumulation of skills.

Kiersten: I think that's super helpful, thank you. You called out some specific skills that you were able to leverage and look at as sort of an accumulation and you've climbed quite high on the ladder. So if someone wanted to study law but end up kind of doing what you do, are there any particular skills or certifications you think they should focus on acquiring?

Debi Rednik: first of all, anyone out there who's thinking about going to law school, take a step, take a breather, make sure it's really what you wanna do. It's a long program. I. And it costs a lot of money. everybody I talk to who says they wanna go to law school I always encourage to [00:13:00] take at least a year or two in between college and law school and gain some real world experience also learn how to think and analyze a situation in a way that's not driven by.

A professor or a class and really only real world experience can, expose you to that. In terms of certifications, I mean obviously if you wanna be a lawyer, you need a jd. So you know, that's one. But I also really believe that, especially when it comes to the regulatory space, the renewable space, you don't necessarily need a JD to do the work. And unless you want to be a general counsel but you can, do really good work without having those certifications. And you know, it's really a matter of being able to understand the, regulatory environment. You know, community solar is subject to various levels of, regulation. There are state rules, program rules, [00:14:00] there are utility rules. They need to be able to read all of that and understand the legalese that gets put into those sorts of documents and be able to distill it down into a business strategy. as opposed to focusing on specific certifications, I think it's really important to understand the way the industry works and also understand the different players within it. I've had the good fortune to work for a third party energy supplier. I've been in a law firm where I had clients who were building natural gas pipelines.

And now, you know, I'm here at Solstice doing something completely different, but, the one thing that I've really learned is how to apply the regulatory knowledge to a business problem and help us manage risk while we try to accomplish our business objectives and our mission.

Aparna: Yeah, well put. You can't succeed as a company if you have [00:15:00] unattended to risk, and if that's putting the company itself at risk of not existing, of not being able to do the job that it's set out to do in the first place, it's unfortunately moot. Right. So. You do have to think about it holistically in the different categories of risk.

And yeah, you need a well-trained mind who can take all these things, distill it down to something that's easy to understand, easy to share with others, and really get your point across.

Debi Rednik: Absolutely.

Aparna: so if someone did that reflection that you mentioned earlier, the student or the professional who is thinking about a law degree, they've taken a step back, thought about it.

Debi Rednik: Hmm.

Aparna: decided they do want to pursue a jd. what opportunities do exist at this intersection of law and sustainability that you are at. maybe you could even share previous job titles that you've had so folks know like what kind of keywords there are

Debi Rednik: Sure. I, I have worked in law firms, so I've been an associate at a law firm. I've been counsel at a utility. those are obviously two very legally [00:16:00] specific job titles. At my previous company, I had multiple roles. my first title was Director of regulatory Affairs.

Then talk about your pivots. I decided I wasn't interested in doing regulatory or legal anymore, and took over leadership of our process excellence department. And that was really about looking at business problems, looking at process problems, and finding ways to do things better, more efficiently, more effectively using automation, making sure all stakeholders are included in the improvement of the process.

if you're into that sort of thing, that's more of an operations role and that's how I ended up my first job at Solstice was the director of Operations. And that, that was my title when I first started. I mean, it's interesting because you don't necessarily need a particular title in order to do the good work.

if you want to be in a legal realm, there's [00:17:00] obviously counsel, associate, general counsel, things like that. And if you're interested in how the business works and making sure that the businesses, like I said, running efficiently anything operations, process improvement, things like that.

And believe me, you know, there's so much need out there for people who have that mindset because there's always an opportunity to improve how you do things. Solstice is a very small company, so we're always looking at our processes and, and how we can do more with less.

Kiersten: That was so helpful. I think it's really important just to talk about what things are called and what it means, right. Was, and this is what I was doing. 'Cause a lot of times we don't get that kind of intimate insight into what folks are doing. So when we're trying to set up a path for ourselves, it can be a little bit difficult to kind of chart the way.

So thank you for that.

Debi Rednik: Yeah.

Kiersten: I think we do have a couple fun questions. So it's been very serious and informative thus far. [00:18:00] But, and this is perhaps so relevant as someone that has worked in the legal space, but let's say that we gave you magical powers and you were able to implement one law or policy. What law or policy would you want to implement?

Debi Rednik: Oh my, I don't know if I can just name one. Honestly, I, I, when I first learned about Community Solar, I was so excited about it and what I've learned since I've been at Solstice is not every state in the US has a community solar program. That doesn't mean developers aren't out there building solar farms but.

Having a community solar program that is designed by the state and regulated by the state also ensures that people in low and moderate income communities have access to communities solar, and most programs, every program that that Solstice is in right now there is a pretty high [00:19:00] percentage of the farm capacity that is required to go to low and moderate income communities.

like I said, not every state in the US has a community solar program. I'd love to see more states, develop programs open the markets to development and ensuring that people that don't normally get to access the green economy can do so. if we are going to make an impact in climate change mitigation, everyone needs to have access and.

Like I said at the beginning, solar panels are expensive and you have to own your roof to put them on so that that rules out a large segment of the population in the United States, and if we exclude that many people from participation, we will never get there.

Aparna: Mm-hmm. You've really found one of the most high impact areas to work in and. yourself this pillar, of trying to give the resources to everybody and have everyone have a equal [00:20:00] chance to play the game,

Debi Rednik: Yeah, absolutely. And even on my worst day, I have that as my guidepost and it, feels good in a way that, no offense to any of my previous employers, but feels good in a way that I did not experience prior to joining.

Aparna: This is a huge impact that you've already been able to have, but wanted to open the floor up to you. Is this the kind of legacy that you're hoping to leave behind?

Is there another part of it as well?

Debi Rednik: There is, there's more that I do personally. And I, really do feel strongly about, and this is gonna sound so super cheesy, but you know, leaving the world better than, than I found it. you can ask any member of my family. I am truly committed to recycling, to composting. I constantly taking things out of the garbage that belong in either the recycling bin or the compost bin.

I know that's really gross, but I have a 19-year-old son who, you know, doesn't really follow the [00:21:00] rules all the time. But I really do try to live my life in an environmentally responsible way.

I've even gone so far as I now participate in a recycling program for all of the other stuff that you can't put in your town recycling. And it actually costs me money to participate. But I get a big box and I put all that stuff in it, and then I ship it to them and they turn it into usable products, and that makes me so happy.

Kiersten: That's so cool. What company does that? Drop the link for sure. So a arno's favorite sunny day activity might be dumpster diving. Kidding, kidding. And this is coming from someone who does trash walks to calm down. So, I mean i'm with you.

Debi Rednik: You guys.

Kiersten: That is absolutely accurate. we did have a guest drop, an amazing joke that was, you guys should change the spelling of podcasts to PPOD. Ask me why. And when we asked him, he said, it's, 'cause [00:22:00] then you can be two peas in a pod. Which I don't know, we haven't changed any branding, but we do keep bringing it up.

Shout out to you Kiran, We love ya!

Debi Rednik: Lots of cool logo opportunities. I mean, you could go, could go pretty far with that.

Kiersten: So yes, we are at two peas in a podcast. Very interested in trash it all, it all lines up. But as a fun one, I was gonna say, what's your favorite solar powered activity? So what if you have a beautiful sunny day in New Jersey, what will we find w redneck doing?

Debi Rednik: Well, it depends on the season. But we have a beautiful 2000 acre reservation just up the hill from where I live and there's lots of hiking trails. There's a really pretty waterfall. I love to take my dog up there and go for a walk. She's behaving herself. She is allowed to run around a little bit and get super muddy.

And you know, as we were talking about at the beginning, I also really love being by water. New Jersey is right on the East coast, [00:23:00] so we have lots of beaches within like an hour of me. So It's really easy to get to a beach and go sit in the sun in the sand and read a book.

Aparna: And speaking of books,

Wondering if, if you have any favorite books about, sustainability, about solar, maybe just books you've enjoyed that have helped educate you about the space. But we always do like to ask our guests what kind of resources they'd recommend, whether they be books, documentaries. Podcasts. So you led yourself right into that very nicely, Debbie.

Debi Rednik: You're welcome. To be honest, I am not much of a nonfiction reader. so if I am reading a book, it is probably most definitely fiction, most definitely not related to what I do for work. So unfortunately I cannot recommend a sustainability focused book. Hope that doesn't make me sound anti-intellectual.

But listen, you know, girls gotta have some fun once in a while. There's tons of [00:24:00] resources just on the internet. Google community Solar and you'll find a ton of resources to learn more about the space and learn what's going on.

there's a lot happening in the political realm right now that people should be aware of and should be reaching out to their, senators and congresspeople to make sure they are heard on these issues. But yeah, it's honestly, sometimes it's hard to filter through all of the resources that are out there.

Aparna: Totally agreed, and honestly, you just need a break from it sometimes. So I also fall heavily back into the fiction novels. Just for fun. What are you reading right now?

Debi Rednik: Oh gosh. I'm in the middle of like three different books. I just finished a book called The Tell, which is actually a memoir, so not consistent with my no nonfiction rule. It's actually a pretty tough book. what this woman went through was some serious trauma, it was actually the book club book for the shared workspace where I go sometimes to get [00:25:00] out of my house.

I, I don't have the opportunity to go to the book club meetings very often, but every time they post a book I'm like, Ooh, new book. So there was that one. And then they also read Good Dirt, which was excellent.

Aparna: Sweet. Thanks for sharing.

to add to the TBR list.

Debi Rednik: Nothing to do with my work, which is how I escape,

Kiersten: That's totally fair. I can recommend some climate fiction novels though, if you're ever interested to do the crossover.

Debi Rednik: After we've destroyed the world and, yeah.

Kiersten: yeah, but some of them end up utopias. So, I mean, there's a, there's a variety. You can tell me your mood and I'll give you but yeah, no shame in escaping, reading some fiction from time to time or just watching some trash tv. That's one of my new outlets. Well, on that fun note. you so much for sparing some time to chat with us today.

I think this podcast is maybe part of how Parda and I escaped We love having these conversations. It was great to chat with you, learn a little bit more about your path and, and everything, solar, everything, Debbie. So thank you so much.

Debi Rednik: Thank you so much for inviting me. This was really fun.