One of the highlights of the National Summit on Combined Heat and Power is that we get to honor individuals and companies making an impact in the CHP industry. This year, we were thrilled to recognize the following individuals and projects:
Jeff Beiter — Lifetime Achievement Award
Jeff Beiter, Founder & CEO at E-Finity Distributed Generation, is a true pioneer in the CHP industry. For over two decades, Jeff has been a driving force behind the advancement of CHP technologies and sustainable energy solutions. He has guided E-Finity through more than 75 successful projects, each one a testament to his expertise and unwavering commitment to energy efficiency.
Jeff’s work has not only elevated E-Finity to a position of industry leadership, but it has also helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy reliability across the commercial and industrial sectors. His impact is felt far beyond his company: through his active involvement in advocacy groups and policy-shaping organizations, Jeff has helped pave the way for broader adoption of CHP systems nationwide.
What truly sets Jeff apart is his generosity of spirit. He’s a mentor, a collaborator, and a passionate advocate for sustainability. His willingness to share knowledge and foster the next generation of leaders has strengthened the entire CHP community.
“The true thank you needs to go out to my team” said Beiter, who offered reflections on a major data center/CHP project at the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union.” [The project] is a true testament that you could put one BTU in the machine and get an electron out and hot water and chilled water simultaneously, as well as reliability and redundancy,” he said. “Our job is to keep the units up and running 24/ 7 to continue to demonstrate the value of combined heat and power.”
Shelby Ahmann — Lifetime Achievement Award
Shelby Ahmann, Executive Vice President at Colusa Indian Energy has spent 30 years in the energy industry.
In 1998, he led construction of the largest landfill gas-to-energy project in the country, at the time, for NEPCO. He then founded Crown Engineering & Construction, which went on to engineer, construct, and operate more than 50 CHP plants across the country. Shelby sold Crown to Northern Power, where he became a VP with the mission of expanding Northern’s CHP business across the nation. He later served as Senior VP at Capstone Microturbines and was involved in the installation and operation of over 2500MW across 130+ countries. Since then, Shelby returned to his CHP roots as the EVP of Finance & Business Development for Colusa Indian Energy, the only tribally owned CHP developer in the country.
In a first for CHPA, Ahmann’s award was a complete surprise. Accepting the recognition, he spoke about a project he worked on with Colusa Indian Energy 22 years ago. “The power plant has been operational for 22 years. … No outages, no sags in voltage, off grid,” Ahmann said “I had a vision for Ken [Ahmann, Colusa co-founder] and the future. … I thought maybe he could do something with that and utilize that expertise, to help other tribes. And that’s the point of what we’re doing here—what I’m doing here today with Colusa is to help realize that vision.”
Marlon Cabrera — CHP Champion Award
Marlon Cabrera, Director of Energy & Cogeneration at Empire Gas Puerto Rico is the recipient of our CHP Champion Award. Marlon’s career has been defined by constant innovation and unwavering commitment to energy resilience, leading the design and optimization of over 30 CHP projects across Puerto Rico.
His impact spans from pharmaceutical giants like Haleon, Baxter, and Stryker to critical healthcare facilities. Hospital La Concepción, powered by Marlon’s CHP design, this was the only hospital in Puerto Rico that remained fully operational throughout Hurricane María. When the island faced its darkest hour during the most severe blackout in U.S. history, Marlon spearheaded emergency CHP deployments that restored energy to communities.
Under his leadership, Empire’s energy projects earned the 2024 Sustainability Excellence Decarbonization Leadership Award from the Puerto Rico Manufacturers Association. Marlon’s influence extends far beyond individual projects. He is co-author of two groundbreaking technical books that have spread awareness about CHP’s resiliency benefits.
“This award is not just on the individual recognition but a reflection of our collective commitment towards energy efficiency, sustainability, and resiliency,” Cabrera said. “In Puerto Rico, we know the value of reliable energy, especially before, during, and Hurricane Maria, when propane CHP systems became a lifeline, keeping hospitals saving lives, keeping industries saving jobs, and communities running while the grids were down to severe damage for 12 months.”
Jessie Gillis — Outstanding Young Professional Award
Jessie Gillis, Director of Projects at Vergent, an AtSite Energy company, was awarded our Outstanding Young Professional Award in recognition of his impressive portfolio of accomplishments, exceptional leadership, and vision in advancing CHP systems across North America.
Since 2018, Jessie has overseen the development and commissioning of dozens of CHP plants, representing over $200 million in project value. What sets Jessie apart is not just his impressive portfolio of accomplishments, but his ability to bridge complex technical concepts with operational realities. Under his leadership, operational fleets have expanded dramatically, adding over 150 microturbines across the United States and Canada. He is not just a technical leader, but an ambassador for our industry’s potential.
“My success isn’t a secret. It’s driven by a core principle,” Gillis said: “Always doing what is right for the customer. Integrity and ethics in this energy transformation are the true key to the future as industry leaders. Let’s commit to leading with both innovation and integrity. Let’s continue to build a cleaner, more resilient energy future by always putting the customer first.”
Caterpillar Inc. & U.S. DOE Flexible Natural Gas/Hydrogen 2MWe CHP System Development & Demonstration — Project of the Year Award
In downtown St. Paul, this 2-megawatt CHP genset is the culmination of over two years of intensive research and development. This project is the world’s first fuel-flexible CHP system capable of seamlessly operating on 100% hydrogen, 100% natural gas, or blended fuels. In downtown St. Paul, this system has been feeding both electricity and recovered waste heat into a district energy network.
Caterpillar worked on this project in with partnership with District Energy St. Paul and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and had support from the U.S. Department of Energy. As part of its demonstration phase, the system operated for 400 hours in live grid conditions—a real world demonstration of hydrogen’s commercial viability. The results speak to the future of CHP: maximum efficiency and seamless fuel switching as we transition to net-zero emissions.
“[This project] was a long journey…but it was an honor to be leading this first of a kind project for Caterpillar,” said Jas Singh, accepting the award on behalf of Caterpillar. “There were 50 plus people involved in this project to make it a big success.”