Our Team

Henry Burkhalter - Chairman
hburkhalter@firstchargeenergy.com

Henry Burkhalter serves as the Chairman of a Private Equity Group specializing in Alternative Energy and Healthcare. He presently serves as the Chairman of FirstCharge Energy. Mr. Burkhalter was the managing director of the acquiring company that purchased the Horizon technology in 2000.  Over the past fifteen years, he has been instrumental in the development of new and innovative energy-storage applications.  Henry is a founder and past Chairman of a healthcare company that recently elected to go public. The company developed a proprietary data network system designed to streamline work flow and improve value-added services for healthcare facility patients.  Prior to his experience in Private Equity, Henry was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of two public wireless technology companies that were eventually sold to an International Telecommunications Company. Henry is a CPA and served as a founder and managing partner of a large CPA and Consulting firm specializing in Utilities and Healthcare. Prior to starting his own firm he was employed by Ernst & Young.  He graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a degree in Accounting and Finance.  Henry has served on or presently serves on numerous Boards of Directors of National and local non-profit organizations.

Phillip Gennarelli - Chief Executive Officer
pgennarelli@firstchargeenergy.com

Phillip Gennarelli is a successful entrepreneur with a track record of meeting financial and employee commitments. In the renewable energy and storage space, Phil has engineered several solar and wind systems in California, Ohio, New Jersey, and Texas designed for off-grid development. Since 2000,  Phil has originated and closed over $400 million in equity, debt, and credit energy infrastructure investments in exploration and production, natural gas storage, power generation, power transmission, retail electricity services, and renewable energy (wind and solar).  In addition to his domestic US experience,  He was Vice President Business Development for the international business units of NRG/Reliant/HL&P’s Europe region and Unocal’s Europe/Middle East regions.  Mr. Gennarelli received his Professional Engineer license in Illinois, an MBA from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University.   

Phil is a Board Member and founder of Cavallo Energy LLC, a Houston-based energy development company with primary assets in merchant electric cable transmission, and FirstPower Energy Texas, LLC, an Austin-based energy holding company. Phil is an avid believer in storage technology and active utility involvement and ownership via PUC incentives. 

Phil was born in the Abruzzo region of Central Italy, and attempts to spend his free time updating a 200-year old family home.

Benny Jay - Chief Technology Officer, President Grove Manufacturing
benny.jay@firstchargeenergy.com

Educated in the natural sciences and engineering at Abilene Christian University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Texas at Austin, Benny E. Jay,  (B. S. Physics-magna cum laude; M. S. Engineering Mechanics –Tau Beta Pi) has accumulated over forty years’ experience in research, product development and manufacturing, project management, commercial and military, domestic and international business development, SBU (i.e., P & L) management, and Corporate management  in public companies, having allocated roughly equal amounts of his experience to each of these business disciplines.

During a twenty-two year tenure at a NYSE Fortune 250 Company, his responsibilities ranged from engineer-scientist to Systems Engineering Manager in the research and development disciplines, Division Vice President for Business Development to Group Vice President for the $240 million Aerospace Group, and Corporate Vice President for Strategic Planning and Special Projects for the $700 million Corporation.  His management experience includes SBU project, line and general management, acquisitions, turn-around management and corporate-management.

During his tenure as President and CEO of a new public Corporation founded by Jay in 1988 and listed on NASDAQ in 1992, the Company market capitalization appreciated 2200% within two years after listing and was recognized as one of the 100 fastest growing U.S. public companies in 1994. The Company’s first advanced-battery product was recognized in 1996 by R & D Magazine as one of the 100 most Technologically Significant New Products of the year. Under Jay’s leadership, the newly capitalized Company was acquired by Eagle Picher Horizon Batteries, LLC, and built new manufacturing facilities in China and the US in response to renewed, international demand for its advanced energy storage products.

Howard Kuo, Vice President – International Development
 
Howard manages our international operations and is based in Mountain View, California. He is also the General Manager of our Chinese licensee, HAODE HORIZON BATTERY, of Baotou, China. He has held senior positions in the US, China, and Taiwan and is fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese languages and cultures. Some of his career highlights include: (i) turning around a battery manufacturing startup in China through a full-scale overhaul of business strategy, production, supply chain, training, and government relations, (ii) launching a $100M production facility for Haode, delivered $25M business for Maxim, achieved #1 market share for STMicroelectronics in various power segments; and captured high-profile accounts: IBM, Logitech, Sony, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia-Siemens, Ericsson, ZTE, Huawei, GE, Samsung, Dell.
Industry Advisory Board

Rich Radini, Principal, Abatis Capital - New York, NYC

Mr. Radini provides financial advisory services to several companies. Prior to Abatis, he was Senior Partner at Abatis Capital and Managing Director at AllCapital USA. While at AllCapital, he was responsible for the creation and growth of its USA energy portfolio, resulting in the closing over $2 Bn of invested capital in wind and natural gas-fired generation in California and New York. Prior to AllCapital, Mr. Radini was the President of Sigma Energy Solutions Inc. (formerly ABB, Framatone and Duke Engineering & Services), a leading energy industry advisory business. Mr. Radini had responsibility for over 300 Sigma professionals that provided engineering design, asset optimization, operating and construction management advise and services to the utility, financial, commercial and industrial markets in the energy sector throughout the U.S, , Europe, Asia, and South America. In that capacity, Mr. Radini oversaw 152 completed projects involving energy sector assets with a combined enterprise value in excess of $77 billion. Additionally, Mr. Radini, through 30 plus years in the energy sector, has developed close relationships at the senior level at many utilities, independent power producers and financial institutions. Mr. Radini graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Manhattan College and a Master of Business Administration from C.W. Post College.

Tim Unger - Partner, Andews & Kurth LLP - Houston, TX

Mr. Unger is a member of the Policy Committee and co-chair of the Business Transactions practice. Tim represents a variety of corporate and institutional clients. In recent years, his practice has focused on mergers and acquisitions and project development and financing, including project finance and structured finance as well as mergers and acquisitions primarily in the energy (both upstream, midstream and downstream) and chemical business both domestic and international. He has worked on numerous energy transactions in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Projects include acquisition and financing of oil and gas properties, pipelines, electric transmission, power generation, petrochemical, LNG, and renewable generation.  Tim has been recognized as The Best Lawyers in America, Energy and Project Finance Law (2006-2010); Texas Super Lawyer in Securities and Corporate Finance and Energy & Natural Resources, Texas Monthly (2003-2009);Profiled as one of the leading Projects and Energy & Natural Resources lawyers in Texas and the United States, Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers(2005-2010); Profiled as one of the leading Project Finance lawyers, The US Legal 500 (2010); Who’s Who in the Project Finance Industry, International Who’s Who of Oil & Gas Lawyers (2005).