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From Coal Fields to Clean Energy: Russ Bates' Journey

on • 24 min. read

Overview

#Cleantechers - 

My most recent Scaling Clean guest has a compelling background. You might say he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. 

Russ Bates grew up in the southern Indiana coal fields, starting his career as a union electrician, then moving up the ladder to foreman, and eventually VP. At the 26-year mark, he moved into company ownership, and he's now the founder of the Cleveland-area NXTGEN Clean Energy Solutions. NXTGEN is a one-stop shop for solar, wind, battery storage, and EV charging station projects.

Here are Russ’s B3P’s:

5:08 - Clean energy is drawing people to it because it seems every day brings a new breakthrough. 

14:34 - As a CEO, ask yourself: “Is this decision going to be sustainable? Is this decision going to lead us to do enough business” to take care of your family and employees. There’s so much going on in this sector, especially with an election approaching, that could derail a business plan. It’s important to be mindful of those questions so you are best prepared for future changes. 

25:35 - When you need to make the tough decision to fire someone, make sure you are confident in your reasoning as to why. Then, do it quickly. The employee might not have done something wrong but just weren’t the right fit. In those situations, sometimes the best thing for them is for you to part ways with them.

Thanks for coming on the show, Russ.

 

Also listen on Apple, Spotify, Radio Public, Amazon Music, iHeart, and Google Podcasts.

Introduction

Mike Casey:
Hey, cleantechers, welcome back to another edition of Scaling Clean. This is the podcast for Clean Economy CEOs, investors, and the people who advise them. My guest today has a compelling background, and I think you're going to find his perspective on company leadership in the clean economy different and highly valuable. You might say that he is someone who's not afraid to get his hands dirty. Russ Bates grew up in the Southern Indiana coal fields, starting his career as a union electrician, then moving up the ladder to foreman and eventually VP.

At the 18-year mark, he moved into company ownership and he's now the founder of the Cleveland area NXTGEN Clean Energy Solutions. NXTGEN is a one-stop shop for solar, wind, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging station projects. And of course, you get special props for being a fellow Ohioan. Russ, welcome to the show.

Russ Bates:
Hey, thanks for having me, Mike. Love what you guys are doing.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Mike Casey:
Thank you. So first question as always, let me start with your background. Looking back, what did you do or experience as you were growing up and early in your career that set you up for your current role as NXTGEN's founder?

Russ Bates:
Let's see, I grew up in Southern Indiana, so there's a lot of coalfield. In fact, the small house I grew up in, was built on a former coal mine site. So a lot of coal actually that we were rolling around in as kids and out and playing and doing our thing. As I got older and started my career, I got into the IBEW electrical apprenticeship and started working in coal-fired power generation. And there's a lot of coal fire power generation in that Southern Indiana region. Just a ton of them. Actually, in Petersburg, Indiana, there are two coal fire plants right there next to each other on the river. So that's how condensed it was. 

As time went on, I started moving into natural gas generation cycles and stuff and that's what actually brought me to Ohio back in 2015 from there after I finished a project for a 750-megawatt combined cycle generation station in Ohio, I started looking really hard at solar and wind and I started understanding more about battery storage and what that was all about so that's really what got me in. I've always been in power generation. I guess that just exploring these different technologies is what I've been doing for the last 30 years.

Mentorship and Family Influence

Mike Casey:
Looking back, are there one to three important mentors that you remember and what did you learn from each of them?

Russ Bates:
There have been a lot of great mentors I've worked with over the years in my career. There's Steve Lamberto, from Bechtel. There's John Vaninsky, Sterling Industrial, formerly Sterling Boiler & Mechanical. But I tell you the real mentor, whenever I think back, and what helped shape me and, kind of take me down the path as far as just work in general. And that was my father.

Just the work ethic, watching him as a kid growing up. And I mean, the guy was always doing something, right? So seeing him just the way he would attack work and do it the right way the first time, just really motivated me to develop a great work ethic.

Mike Casey:
What did your father do for a living?

Russ Bates:
Worked on the railroad. So he was in the bridge department. They would build bridges and maintain bridges So he would bring old railroad ties. That's something they could do bring those home and if a neighbor needed him for something we'd help, we take him around it and stuff. But I mean my dad he would go out there on Saturday afternoons and I guess bored and this was his workout. But he would just move these railroad ties from one pile to the other No reason. I think it was his workout. 

Mike Casey:
Something like David Goggins would do.

Russ Bates:
Yeah. I remember asking him, I don't know, I was probably 12 and went out there, Dad, why are you moving these? They need moving. All right. So that's what he did, just a big strong guy.

Transitioning Through Various Roles to Clean Energy

Mike Casey:
Gotcha. Why were you attracted to clean energy and why do you stay in clean energy?

Russ Bates:
Well, what attracted me to clean energy was just the different type of generation. I'd been in these coal plants, from the coal pile where the big trucks dump the coal and it goes up to conveyors and the pulverizers and all that, all the way to the stacks, where the emissions come out. And I knew a lot about that. That's very complex. I mean, there's a lot going on there. Same with natural gas.

That's all pretty intense. And then being able to see, there's a field and we can put solar panels out there. We can put a wind turbine - you can do this on your house, on your business, on a school. That was really just a different view for me. And as technology has advanced and continues to advance. It hasn’t stopped. I mean, there are things coming around. It seems like every day some new breakthrough happens.

It's just a really exciting time. So it reminds me of the the Industrial Revolution. I like reading history about all of that type of Change in the United States and across the globe and I feel we're doing the same thing in the clean energy sector right now.

Leadership Philosophy and Approach

Mike Casey:
If you and I sat down, found footage of you the first time you managed other people, you were responsible for what they did, and then we took footage of you yesterday managing or leading people, what's the difference we would see in those split screens?

Russ Bates:
That's a good question, Mike. I would say just the confidence as far as the experience. Experience brings a lot because you screw up, you learn from it. So I would say that's it. My style really has never changed. I just treat people the way I want to be treated. So it's one of those deals where I'll ask people to do something.

That's just my style. I'm not going to get in their face and point a finger and say, go over here and do this. I'm going to say, Hey, Mike, would you mind taking a look at this for me? And I had a funny story. I don't know. This is like 2008, 2009. I had a more experienced gentleman working with me. He was a general foreman for me. I was a superintendent, a project manager, or something at the time. 

Mike Casey: 
Can I ask how old you were, just to put context on this?

Russ Bates:
Let's see, I'm gonna be 50 here in November. So 2009 so I don't know whatever the math does. And this gentleman was in his early 60s and he'd been working with us for a while and he was the general foreman for us like I said and I don't remember what it was I asked him to do but his name was Steve Knight, just a great guy.

He's gotten more about the electrical trade than I'll ever know. He's just a world of knowledge. And I asked him to do something. Hey Steve, could you go in and talk to so-and-so and see about this? And he says, sure. And he started to walk away and I remember he stopped. I'll never forget. And he turned around and said, why are you always asking me to do stuff? And I said I was a little confused about the question. It puzzled me. And I said, Steve, what do you mean? We have these things to do.

And he says, no, why do you always ask me? He goes, why don't you just tell me? And I said, Oh. I knew what he was getting at that point. And I said that's not my style. That's how I was brought up, to be courteous and treat people the way you want to be treated. And I always liked it better whenever people would ask me to do something instead of telling me, that's just something for me. And he says, okay. He said, so what if I ever say no? I said, well, then we'll have a different conversation, Steve. And he just smiled real big and he goes, that's what I thought. So my style is the same from 25, 30 years ago till today.

Treating People With Respect

Mike Casey:
I think very few of your counterparts, in fact, none that I know of that we've interviewed. We're approaching 40 episodes now. I don't think any of them have been tradesmen or have managed them. Have you found advantages in your role as founder, of running this company? Have you found advantages from being somebody who started doing the work for years, not just like a couple of summers, but for years, then managing tradesmen, now you're running a whole company? Did that background give you an advantage that you see and experience?

Russ Bates:
Yeah, I would say it has. Similar to clean energy, I've seen behind the curtain of traditional fossil fuel generation and I feel I've got a pretty good advantage there. And I would say, coming up actually, I've worked with my tools, I'm an IBEW member, and I still have my ticket, even though I haven't worked in the trade for 20 years, I guess. But again, I think it goes back to treating people the way you want to be treated and understanding that, these folks in the field.

I mean, they're the ones that are putting it in. And sometimes, in a boardroom, people don't really kind of equate that. They don't see the people out there and it's not against them. It's not like they're evil people in the boardroom by any means. It's just whenever you bring up a few key points that seem to resonate and say, Hey, would you want to be out there doing this? It's 98 degrees out there. Do you want to do this or Hey, it's raining, would you be out there? It's just having those types of conversations and, I'll say putting a face to the folks that are out there. So, yeah, I would say it has.

Empathy From Hands-on Experience

Mike Casey:
So it sounds like in your experience it's made you a more empathetic manager. You can put yourself in their shoes much more easily.

Russ Bates:
Yeah. And I'll say this too because again, I don't want to demonize anybody that's never been out in the field because that's not fair at all. It's just kind of a painting the picture of what this looks like. Some people are running companies that have never been on a job site, right? That's okay. It's just explaining that to them. So yeah, I've walked the walk. I've got the respect of the tradespeople because they know me. 

I've done labor relations for big companies like Bechtel and stuff like that as part of my role. And just being very fair, that's what I want to do. The workers need to do what they need to do and the company needs to do what it needs to do. So just, I think, fair all the way around. And just treating people the way, again, that a person wants to be treated themselves.

Strategic Decision-Making Informed by Field Experience

Mike Casey:
Do you think you make more strategic or better long-term decisions because of that experience?

Russ Bates:
I would like to think so. I try to put myself in the situation of everybody who's in a particular group and see all sides. So I'm not going to say I'm a chess player, but I do try to see down the road if we do this, then, this is going to happen. If you do this and this is going to happen down the road. Sometimes it's right. Sometimes it's wrong, but I'd say we're pretty close on being right a lot of the time, a good percentage of the time on trying to be strategic and fair.

Challenges and Confidence in the Clean Energy Sector

Mike Casey:
Interesting. As we've been discussing, you had little hands-on roles in traditional industries. You now lead a company in the energy transition. From what you've seen, are there differences in a company like yours that's in clean energy versus those in traditional energy or more mature sectors?

Russ Bates:
That's a great question, Mike. I was talking to someone about this in a meeting yesterday and to me, there's a big difference. I was in PA. region and there are a lot of established players in there, right? There are a lot of companies that have been around long time. They've got a great track record or maybe a mediocre track record or something, but you can look at it and say, all right, we know what we're going to get with this. 

Whenever I got into the clean energy sector where these more mature companies weren't really, I began to notice, all right, there're some iffy folks out there or there're some folks that are doing some work that maybe I'm sure they've all got good intentions. Let me take that back. I'm gonna say most have good intentions and then there're some that do not and even the ones with good intentions can have problems. And it's being able to work through those problems whether it's understanding cash flow, the solarcoaster, as a lot of people call it, that can be hard to manage. 

So in these more mature industries, there's a huge difference. And that's a big reason that I started NXTGEN - we don't do the installation work, we go out for competitive bids and work with these companies and vet and make sure that the client is going to get the right provider at the right time. Because a provider that may be good today may not be good for a project in a week. So it's helping to kind of give that insurance and make sure that the client's going to get what they've asked for, what they need, and what they're paying for.

Mike Casey:
You mentioned confidence, and I want to ask you two related questions on the topic of confidence. So the first is, looking back at NXTGEN’s history, was there a moment that you remember as the equivalent of what John of the Cross called Dark Night of the Soul? It's like a time when you weren't down in the depths of your brain. You're like, I don't know if this is going to make it or not. And whatever you want to say about that, was there one? Can you give it any description at all? And most importantly, what did you think about it? What did you talk to yourself about it? How did you turn that around?

Russ Bates:
And you've got great questions, Mike. I would say, yeah, there're times now that I'm like, Is this gonna be sustainable and I'm throwing that word in there for a reason, right? Is this sustainable, are we gonna be able to continue to do enough business that I can take care of my family and we can take care of the folks that work with us and all that kind of stuff? Because wow, there's so much going on whether it's supply chain stuff whether it's an election year, and a lot of people, I think, are really scared of what's going to happen or possibly could happen with the election. Is that going to slow things down? There are just so many things out there that can really derail a business plan. With that said, Mike, I'll say this. I've never lost confidence in the idea of what we do. It's just those outside factors.

How much is that going to play a part, you control what you can control, but there are certain things that you cannot control, you just do the best you can. So that's the ability, in the market, so to speak, if you know what the rules are, it's that's cool, but man, so many times we don't know what the rules are, especially when you're looking at IRA and the IRS guidelines and all that kind of stuff. So it makes for a bit of a tricky road.

So yeah, I've had some kicks in the confidence, so to speak. And you just have to kind of bounce back. You have to have a great idea that you believe in and you're passionate about. I think that's key. To me, this isn't a job. This is a passion. This is something I go to bed thinking about. It's something I wake up in the morning thinking about and I'm ready to go on Saturday and Sunday, it's the same to me as Monday. Let's get in there and do it. Cause it's something I love. I have a work-life balance. Don't get me wrong, but I really enjoy what I'm doing. So I don't know if that answered your question or not.

The Moment of Validation: NXTGEN’s Big Break

Mike Casey:
Okay, was there looking backward or a moment, maybe early on, when something happened, you went, this is gonna work. And what was it, and what told you that the business was gonna work?

Russ Bates:
Yeah. I'm going to say it was a little over two years ago. So 2022, we had just started the business, been going for roughly a year. I was asked to speak on the electric vehicle charging panel, there were two panels they asked me to speak on. This was at Kent State, here in Ohio. And I remember going to this thing and I was pretty nervous. I saw the lineup. And I'm sitting on a couple of panels with people and they've got a bunch of letters behind their name. I don't even know what that means. These people are really, really smart. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I'm like, is that more of their name, or is that that's another, I don't know. There's so much. 

So I remember the very first panel I sat on, I was nervous this could be, Mike, and there were some really smart people on this first panel. As we started going through and getting questions, I realized really quickly that I deserved to be there, that I had a lot of knowledge that some of these other folks didn't. And it's that real-world knowledge, right? To me, if you're going to be talking about electric vehicle charging stations and your company is deploying that type of thing, you should probably drive an EV and experience that. 

And two have actually plugged one in and there was a couple of people that had, there was a few people in the audience that had, but that's a question I asked. Probably, midway through that panel, I said, Hey, show of hands, how many people in here actually have ever driven or rode in an electric vehicle? And there's just a few hands that came up. Now it's going to be a lot different. You asked that question today because it's really exploded.


But the point is these people that I thought, wow, they're going to be so much smarter. They're going to outwit. I'm going to look stupid. That didn't happen at all. I was like, okay, I've got something I can contribute. I felt very, very confident in that. And ironically, that same day, Mike, you asked about when I knew this was going to work. We got our first kind of big contract notification that day. And we were sitting in the audience waiting on another panel to get started and looking at our phones. Hey, we got another one. Great. Hey, this is a big one. This is the one we were really hoping to get. And so I was overwhelmed with confidence, not cocky, but definitely confident, going into that next panel.

Workforce Development in Clean Energy

Mike Casey:
Nice. All right, there's a lot of conversation in clean energy about workforce development, including helping workers from traditional industries make the switch to ours. And I've got to figure out a figure that you've got thoughts on recruitment. In your view, how is this industry doing right now recruiting skilled tradespeople and what should it be doing differently or better?

Russ Bates:
You hear a lot of talk about we need workers, right? And that's great, but what are we doing about it? So I think there needs to be an emphasis on explaining what this work is, exposing younger folks to this. To me, a great opportunity, this is something we're pushing really hard is to work with schools to put these systems in, to save these schools a lot of money. And whenever you do that, obviously you're going to have some education opportunities with the students themselves. 

So we got a contract with the San Antonio Independent School District. That's a hundred schools to develop projects. We're really excited about that because one, the projects are great, but imagine being able to bring the kids out and let them see what's going on. High schoolers who maybe want to go to college, maybe they want to get into a trade as opposed to taking that traditional college route. I love college, I think that's fantastic, but that's not for everybody. And I think it's pushed so hard now that clean energy and any of the skilled trades are left out quite often. And we need skilled people in this. And there's a transition too for folks that have been in fossil fuels. And you'll hear me say it all the time. If I can transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, anybody can do it. And I truly believe that you just have to have the right attitude.

Building a Successful Clean Energy Company

Mike Casey:
Broadly speaking, hiring and interviewing, are almost always cited by the people who've been interviewed on the show as one of the most challenging parts of leading companies. What have you learned about hiring?

Russ Bates:
For me resumes are great, and having an outstanding pedigree, I mean if you've got college, graduates and the like with, again, all kinds of letters behind their name, they put in their time, right? They put in the work to get those degrees. And I respect that so much. But to me, that doesn't mean as much as the person themselves.

And how they are going to interview. And I would honestly take someone who just has the right attitude and wants to grow and learn and has a passion and the right work ethic and all those kinds of things. I'll call them the general types of traits over someone who has vast experience or let me say vast education. Let me change it there. Cause experience is important, but having an education is fantastic, I'm not gonna disqualify that, but if I've gotta choose between someone with a big degree and someone who really wants to come in and do something and has that drive, I'm gonna take the person with the drive. That's just my view.

Hiring and Firing Practices

Mike Casey:
And how in the process of interviewing somebody are you scouting for that drive? What tells you that someone's got the work ethic and they've got the passion for it?

Russ Bates:
There's really not one question that is going to expose that, right? It's really sitting there and getting to know the person and understanding. I mean, we want to know what they want from their life. What do they see in their day-to-day? Those kinds of questions, I think, help us, to get there. And maybe it's a couple of interviews, to really get there. It's hard to say in one interview of an hour or half-hour, that this is the right candidate. But a lot of times it's a gut call. 

Hey, I think, you know, this or this, and, you know, you can talk to referrals, the references, and stuff that's going to help as well. But to me, I'll give someone a chance if it seems they really want to do it. And then that's their opportunity they can run with it or not. So I don't have a magic question to ask to find out if this is the right hire. Cause it's going to vary. Personalities are so different. Somebody could be really quiet and, maybe not open up until they get to know you a little bit. And they turn out to be just an amazing addition to the team. So it's really hard. It's each individual one, I would say, the key is getting to know them.

Mike Casey:
Are you doing a remote interviewing or is it all in person?

Russ Bates:
We do a lot of remote. I mean, we don't see too many in-person things unless it's something that, all right, we're going to fly out because we're across the country. So we fly out to meet someone or if it's somebody local and we're driving to meet them, but man, even I was in some big meetings in the same building and they were virtual. So that face-to-face thing is not as common as it probably should be because I think there's a value in that.

Mike Casey:
What did you learn about firing people?

Russ Bates:
I'd say two things. Number one, make sure that it's what needs to happen. If you're not sure if someone should be fired, then they shouldn't be fired. And you have to know what's the reason. Is it a legitimate reason to fire somebody? And then when you do it, do it quickly because as much as people want to say, Hey, it's just business. It's nothing personal. Well, you get fired. I think that's probably pretty personal to the person being fired. So, we take that very seriously and we've done it. I mean, you have to do that. I've fired a lot of people over my career and I've never got any pleasure or satisfaction out of it. It's just one of those things you have to do. It's unfortunate but sometimes, and whenever I say fire, sometimes just letting go, maybe they haven't done something wrong. Maybe they're just not a good fit. Maybe you've tried to find another seat for them and that doesn't work out. But sometimes it's the best thing for them is to part ways too.

Personal Habits and Performance

Mike Casey:
Have you found that success at NXTGEN relies more on what you choose to do or what you choose not to do?

Russ Bates:
That's tough to answer. I'm going to say it leans pretty much on what we choose to do. If we choose to pursue an opportunity or work with a client or we choose not to, I mean, that's obviously pretty important. But yeah, the choices we make, I mean, whether it's choosing to do something or not, that's going to guide what you do. So I don't know if it's probably more of what we choose to do, I guess. I've never been asked that before. So that's a unique question, but again, I guess it goes to control what you can control and those choices you make, obviously you control those.

Mike Casey:
Running a company is kind of like being a performer. In other words, you have to put out at a certain level if you're gonna succeed. Are there things you do during the workday or on your own time that you find beneficial or that you deliberately do to keep Russ Bates' performance high in your role as founder?

Russ Bates:
Yeah, for me, I've been hitting the gym for about as long as I've been in power generation, I guess a little bit longer because I started right out of high school, really serious about it. So that helps me. That used to be my passion - hitting the gym and work was just something I did. And now it's kind of flip-flopped where work is what I'm really passionate about and I still hit the gym but it's to keep myself healthy and stay in somewhat decent shape. It's flip-flopped out in that regard. 

I would definitely say the gym, spending time with my wife are very important. And we've got three kids, they're stepchildren to me, but being able to go to their ball games, we've got one here this evening to go to. So really looking forward to that and kind of stepping away from the screen and trying not to do too many calls or anything while you're at the ball field. And spending time with my man, I got a little miniature Pinscher. It's been with me forever. And he brings me a lot of joy. Just kind of separate, cause work-life balance is something we hear a lot about, it seems. And well, I think that's important, it really just depends on what you're passionate about. Again, I don't feel like what I do is a job. It's something I would do if I wasn't getting paid, I guess.

Connection to Roots and Family Perspectives

Mike Casey:
When you go back to your hometown, what do people think about what you're doing these days?

Russ Bates:
It's about a seven-and-a-half-hour drive and there are no direct flights to where I grew up. I get there from time to time. It's less now, unfortunately, but right now I'm getting there once, maybe twice a year. And whenever I'm in, I pretty much just see family. I grew up in a really small town. We had a post office.

Mike Casey:
How many people?

Russ Bates:
There was my family and a few others. So, I mean, really small. I don't know if there were 200, I'm not sure, but very small. It was a poor part of Southern Indiana for sure. I've not been there for a long time. I don't know if the town would recognize me, I'm not sure if I would recognize the town anymore. So whenever I get back into that area, I'm usually talking to family.

Mike Casey:
What do they think about what you doing?

Russ Bates:
So I've got three younger brothers and, one of them is very supportive. In fact, he helps with what we're doing these days already. So he jumps in, he's retired from the military. He started learning about what I was doing and he got really intrigued and started reading. He texted me at 5.30 in the morning. And they are an hour behind, so it's 4.30 his time.

He's just into it and just so excited about it. So he's cool with it. He loves it. I've got another brother that's he's like, yeah, that's cool. He doesn't really understand it. And I've got another brother who I'm going to say he's a little bit more conservative. I don't think he gets it. And I'm not sure if he's a fan or not, but he's still my brother. I still love him, whether he likes what I do for a living or not.

Climate Optimism and the Future of Clean Energy

Mike Casey:
All right, last question. Your journey has taken you from the coal fields to running a clean energy company. Has that journey left you a climate optimist or a climate pessimist, and why?

Russ Bates:
I'm an optimistic person by nature and I always try to see the best in every situation, in every person. Again, that's just how my nature is. So I'm going to say I'm an optimist about it, but at the same time, I think we have to be realistic and understand that there's a lot of work to do.

And there's a lot of resistance, I'll say, and we got to keep moving. We've got to keep moving. So that's why whenever we're talking to folks in businesses, we're not really preaching so much on sustainability. And we're looking at, Hey, you can save a lot of money and you can control your own power. And it's a lot easier to forecast your electricity costs when you're in ownership of that, as opposed to just buying it off the grid from the utilities. So it isn't that easy to kind of get into that predictability. And if you know what it is, it's a lot easier it seems, especially in business. So, yeah, I'm an optimistic person. I'm going to lean that way, but man, we still have a lot of work to do.

Conclusion

Mike Casey:
Russ Bates, I have thoroughly enjoyed talking to you and I think it's a really cool perspective you're bringing. I think there's a lot of insight and wisdom that comes from doing the work in the field and I appreciate the work you're doing at NXTGEN and I'm really glad you came on the show. Thanks.

Russ Bates:
Thank you for having me, Mike. It was a pleasure.