Most energy debates focus on the loudest question.This conversation focused on the one that actually matters.

In my latest episode of Project Vanguard, I sat down with Ken Young to talk about how the grid really works when it’s under pressure. Not the headlines. Not the culture war version. The systems underneath it all.

We talked about why grid failures don’t come from one bad decision or one bad energy source. They come from stacked stress. Demand growth. Weather. Planning gaps. Timing. Human choices made years earlier.

That’s the part most people miss.

Reliability isn’t something you declare. It’s something you design for long before the crisis shows up.

Ken breaks down how energy systems are actually built to handle risk, why “either/or” thinking breaks down fast in the real world, and how today’s load growth is forcing hard conversations that can’t be postponed anymore.

This episode connects dots between:

* Why veterans tend to see energy differently

* Why all-of-the-above isn’t a slogan, it’s a system requirement

* Why the unglamorous work (planning, transmission, margins) decides outcomes

* And why energy security underpins everything else we care about

The grid doesn’t care about ideology.It responds to physics, preparation, and execution.

If you want to understand what’s actually at stake as demand grows and systems get tighter, this is a conversation worth your time.

Give it a listen. And if it sharpens how you think about energy, share it with someone who needs a clearer picture.

Timestamps

* 00:00 – Intro, Ken Young

* 02:05 – Apex role, project pipeline

* 04:26 – Why vets help vets

* 06:28 – San Angelo site visit

* 08:32 – Community pushback

* 10:41 – Permitting, misinformation

* 13:53 – Construction realities

* 15:34 – Leadership under uncertainty

* 16:48 – West Point, infantry path

* 18:25 – Post-Army transition

* 20:21 – Breaking into wind

* 27:42 – Scaling gigawatts of energy

* 29:50 – Tax equity, runway to 2030

* 38:39 – Load growth, building megawatts

* 40:45 – Career advice for vets

Resources

Guest & Company

* Ken Young - LinkedIn

* Apex Clean Energy - LinkedIn - Jobs Openings

* Kevin Doffing - LinkedIn

* Project Vanguard - LinkedIn

Transcript

Kevin Doffing (00:17.587)

That kind of honesty is all over this conversation and it’s why it works. Welcome to Project Vanguard podcast, home of the community of veterans in energy. Where we explore the journeys of veterans leading in energy. We’re building American energy dominance through an all-the-above approach where energy security is national security. And our mission is to double the number of veterans working in the energy industry. I’m your host, Kevin Doffin.

Kevin Doffing (00:46.008)

Today’s guest is Ken Young, a West Point graduate and former infantry officer. Ken is the CEO of Apex Clean Energy, a national independent power producer headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia. Apex operates a portfolio of wind, solar, and storage projects that they have a deep development pipeline of, focused on getting these projects into long-term operations.

Ken Young (01:08.559)

office.

Kevin Doffing (01:09.346)

Kevin Doffing (01:09.87)

In this episode, we dig into what it actually takes to put projects online. Not in theory, but in real life. We also get into Ken’s transition story, how he initially chose the infantry and how he navigated the years after the Army when he fell a little untethered and how renewable energy gave him something familiar again. A team, a mission, and a place where he had purpose. Then we zoom out to this year. What is Apex focused on?

Kevin Doffing (01:37.686)

and why Ken sees this industry as nonpartisan, practical, and at the heart of American energy dominance. You’ll walk away with a clearer picture of what CEOs are optimizing for in this space, plus real, implementable advice for veterans who want to grow into senior leadership by learning the industry language, picking a functional lane, and earning the credibility they need to move up the career ladder. Let’s get into it.

Ken Young (01:53.774)

you

Kevin Doffing (02:05.25)

Ken, thanks for being here today. Really appreciate you making the time. I know you’re a busy man.

Ken Young (02:09.794)

Great to be with you, Kevin. Really happy to be here and potentially give some messages for veterans, cause near and dear to my heart and look forward to being with you. Thanks for having me.

Kevin Doffing (02:19.566)

Absolutely. Anytime I can get more infantrymen on here, it just makes the infantry in my heart a little bit happier, which means angry, but that’s happy in infantry.

Ken Young (02:30.008)

Good. I love it.

Kevin Doffing (02:32.194)

Well, so for everybody who doesn’t know already and they may not have read the bio, what would you say you do these days?

Ken Young (02:39.402)

I’m the CEO of Apex Clean Energy. We’re a national independent power producer, headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia. We’re about 400 people in all phases of the business and all functional areas. We operate a portfolio of about three gigawatts of wind, solar, and storage. And we have a very large development pipeline focused on continuing to put assets into operations. And we’re doing that across all phases of technology and all markets across the U S. So.

Ken Young (03:09.044)

I am extremely proud of our team and humbled to represent them here and elsewhere as we go about accelerating the shift to clean energy.

Kevin Doffing (03:18.178)

Yeah, no, mean, Apex has been such a great partner. I mean, I was just talking yesterday with Barrett and Lourdes from your team there in our inaugural community leader fellowship. So Barrett’s in Austin, Lourdes is there, y’all’s main office in Virginia. And those are two big states for us, you know, for the industry and for vis-a-vis our organization. Luckily, unluckily, Texas doesn’t have a legislative session this year, but it kind of feels like it, but Lourdes will be busy with the Virginia legislative session coming up here. So.

Kevin Doffing (03:47.928)

You know, thanks for letting me, know, second a little bit of their time and getting out and being the faces of veterans and energy.

Ken Young (03:56.128)

Yeah, our pleasure. Those two folks are great representatives of APEX, of veterans making a successful transition, coming from varied backgrounds, you know, from Navy enlisted on one side and then from a battalion commander in the infantry on the other side and both finding their way to renewable energy in very different scopes of work. And they’ve been extremely valuable members of our team. And we’re happy to support folks like that here at APEX and continue to push forward in concert with them.

Kevin Doffing (04:26.838)

Yeah, you know, the thing I’ve always found interesting in this work is that it’s not a hard sell for veterans, you know, in any industry, but especially in industry that they’re passionate about to say, Hey, how would you like to take a lot of extra time to help other veterans? know you’re not busy with your full-time job, family life, faith, community, other engagements, but it’s never been a really hard thing. Even you and I, when we first talked, talked about

Kevin Doffing (04:52.93)

you know, taking cold calls on LinkedIn to just, I’m a vet and I’m interested in the space. Great, let’s find a time.

Ken Young (04:59.042)

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think, I mean, that’s part of probably what some of us were looking for leaving the military. We left this community and one where we had a lot of shared purpose with other people. And I think some of us maybe at times have struggled. Obviously some have struggled more than others trying to recreate and find that community. I was lucky enough to find it about 19 years ago when I got into what was then the wind business. know, solar was not really a thing then it was used to heat your pools.

Ken Young (05:28.674)

So we’ve come a long way, but I knew as soon as I found renewable energy, I found a team. This is very much a team sport and we’re at a really cool intersection of business and purpose. So we’re not the Red Cross. know, we’re certainly not the military by any means, but what we do bring so much good with it. And so the fact that we get to do that with other high quality individuals really gave me something I was looking for is that that teamwork and purpose to do big things.

Ken Young (05:58.766)

with other good people. And that’s something that is extremely motivating and underscores really everything we do. I mentioned it earlier, you know, our purpose here since 2009, when Apex was founded, is to accelerate the shift to clean energy. And that sounds very simple, but I think it’s quite elegant. And when you get in there into the trenches and you’re, you’re out in the field doing the work and you’re bringing all these various functional areas together to put on a, you know, $500 million project, a billion dollar project.

Ken Young (06:28.202)

It’s incredibly rewarding to do that with smart, engaged, and driven people. And then to wring out all the good that comes with our business, decarbonizing the grid, helping the local community, creating jobs, creating a future for people, and then investing back into the local community with tax benefits, landowner benefits, et cetera. That’s very rewarding for us and allows us to do some good with our business.

Kevin Doffing (06:53.752)

Yeah, I mean, y’all were part of the Texas tour that we did in that pilot program in Q4 last year. And we were out your St. Angelo location and, you know, meeting Manny and the team that were out there, just getting to see all the cool tech with the batteries on site with, you know, the substation and the solar arrays. I mean, it was just really cool, you know, but then seeing what that’s doing in the local community and the community partners that are a part of that.

Kevin Doffing (07:23.158)

It’s just a great way to see how these energy and infrastructure organizations are embedded into, you know, it’s embedded into the organizations and the communities that they serve, but also like just how active they are. They don’t have to be, but they, choose to be.

Ken Young (07:39.168)

Yeah, we had the business development lead from the chamber of commerce come and speak at our fall meeting, our all hands meeting here in Charlottesville. And we’ve been able to establish a relationship very strongly with that community and the nearby larger city of San Angelo. And it is incredible what our tax benefits are doing for that local community. It was really rewarding for our team to hear how excited folks are about our projects. Now, I will say as you drive into the project, you might’ve seen their big

Ken Young (08:08.526)

piece of the plywood up that say, you know, apex sucks and things like that. I started my remarks there when we cut the ribbon on the facility by saying, Hey, I know what the neighbor says here. We’re far from apex sucking and here’s all the good we have with it. So yeah, there are detractors. There’s a national narrative going on. We work really hard to explain the benefits of what we’re doing, but also be transparent in the impacts.

Ken Young (08:32.843)

which are quite minimal relative to the opportunity for the local folks there. And if you could talk to our landowners, that’s generational land and the fact that they were able to make something out of there and do some good with what was passed down to them and move that on. had the great grandchildren there. It’s a legacy and it is incredibly rewarding to be part of that, see our team putting in multi hundred million dollars of facilities in order to enable all this.

Kevin Doffing (09:00.546)

Yeah, no, I think y’all have done a really good job there. I mean, I, the signs weren’t there when I was there in October. That would have been an extreme talking point if I’d seen that. But you know, we were in sweet water that same week and it’s so interesting to just see how these things are different. It’s one of the big drivers I see is like, not everybody’s doing the same job you are on community engagement. Not every company is doing the same job on workforce development, veteran talent funneling. So, I mean, it’s really great to shine a spotlight.

Kevin Doffing (09:29.774)

on the companies that are doing different aspects well, and then just building it, you know, it’s just TTPs, right? Tactics, techniques, and procedures. Like what are the best practices we can all adopt? Cause somebody’s doing it better than each of us in some other domain. Let’s aspire to be that. You know, we’ll be back out in 2026 doing this, kicking off with a gravel grind, which is a off-road bike. You can do like 20 or 50 miles through a wind farm up in Sweetwater on a Mesa, which is pretty cool. But there’s all these really cool things.

Kevin Doffing (09:59.52)

inside of these project areas that we just want to like aggregate the same way we’re bringing the veterans together, but landowners, energy workers, veterans, and you know, local officials just to build that community because I think that’s so powerful.

Ken Young (10:14.038)

Yeah, maybe just a few things there. So one is we are pretty intentional about getting our existing landowners and community stakeholders out to projects, but also our future landowners. those that are in the development phase of projects, having yet started construction, we try to tour them on adjacent or nearby projects so they can see and understand the scale of these projects. And then ideally they can see.

Ken Young (10:41.538)

While there’s a lot of vitriol and a lot of misinformation, and I’ll come back to that. work very hard on that. They can see that once these projects are installed, they do largely blend into the community. So if it’s a solar project, we try to be thoughtful about setbacks, edge rows, and you know, not being extremely visible wherever we, possibly can be. If it’s a wind project, I always point out there’s a reason that these turbines are painted white. They’re supposed to blend in with the blue gray sky.

Ken Young (11:11.434)

And they’re like old soldiers. fade away as General MacArthur said. And I’ve worked in dozens of wind facilities around the world and been associated with them. And 99 point something percent of the time, once you’re a year into operations, everything calms down, everything fades away. it’s as long as you’re a prudent operator, which most everybody in our spaces these days as the industry has matured.

Ken Young (11:38.188)

these projects blend in and they’re part of the community. And then the benefits start to flow. The tax benefits, the landowner payments. Maybe I’ll swing back though to the, to how hard we work on community engagement. And this is something we started, you know, around the time I joined the company, it was a big emphasis and it’s one of the two largest constraints to putting new capacity online. And that is getting a licensed stop rate in the local community, getting a permit either from the state or local authorities.

Ken Young (12:05.71)

And then all the things that go with it. are a bunch of other approvals that we need along the way. And so we think the best approach to do that is educate, demystify, and be transparent. And as much as we can, we try to blend in and be part of the community. There’s another aspect that is heated up over the last 10 years, and that’s the advent or the proliferation of social media. And so the speed at which misinformation can travel.

Ken Young (12:31.22)

is just increases every day, not to mention the national landscape of vitriol and all these things that are happening. So we think it’s important to stay the course, try to be calm, try to get our message out there, try to lead and influence where we can to what we know as managers and executors of this business is a very good thing for most of these communities. We also try to take signals from communities when it’s just not something they’re going to have. We try to be thoughtful about that. How can we adjust? How can we move?

Ken Young (12:59.298)

We’re also cognizant of not giving up and being resilient and trying to win the day. So that is, I think a very important part of our work, being local of the community, by the community, for the community has helped us gain permits and approvals to move forward with construction, which is admittedly a difficult period for that community. There’s a lot going on, but once we get through it, you know, then we’re, on into the other side.

Kevin Doffing (13:25.142)

Yeah, that was one of the things when we were doing the tour, we looked at one site that was currently under construction and it was just so hot to kind of go in and start talking about how great things were. Yeah. I mean, it was with anything. mean, like you look at, know, exploration production. mean, when you’re first drilling and you’re, you know, laying the civil work and you’ve got trucks and frac trucks going up and down the water trucks up and down, up and down. mean, like it’s, it’s disrupting if you haven’t had that in.

Ken Young (13:35.911)

It’s a tough environment. Yeah.

Kevin Doffing (13:53.804)

that small rural town that or you know, you’re not even in the town, you’re outside of the small rural town. It’s a lot of traffic that you’re not used to. And so, you know, it’s something you got to get through or, you know, get used to in some ways.

Ken Young (14:07.544)

Yeah. The good thing about renewable energy for the most part, these projects go up very quickly. know, they are taking longer now than they used to. think that’s the scale of what we’re doing, but also the supply chain and trade issues of the day. But more than not, we can build these projects kind of in one season or one full year, spring to fall. And then so a little bit of rip the bandaid off, know, suck it down. If you will get through it, we do compensate, you know, all folks, all the impacts directly to construction and then move forward. So.

Ken Young (14:37.39)

Yeah, I think the same thing goes on with the permitting. The longer that communities linger and allow for, you know, this kind of negativity to seep in, it’s only harder. Right. If you’ve kind of decided the right thing to do for the community is move forward on a wind or solar storage facility, you know, allow for voices. That’s leadership allow for dissent. That’s what we expect of our elected officials. But when you’ve decided.

Ken Young (15:03.51)

and the board is going to make that decision. Certainly they need to be educated. They need to learn about what renewable energy is and how it’s going to impact their community. But once they’ve decided, move it forward, that’s a leadership lesson we all have from our time in various positions.

Kevin Doffing (15:17.57)

Yeah, I remember being in sector and, you know, battalion commander can’t see what we’re doing and just getting yelled at on the radio. I don’t know what you’re seeing, but you need to make a decision right now. No decision is unacceptable. You need to do something.

Ken Young (15:34.678)

Yeah. I always liked the, and there’s probably not a great phrase, but I always liked the one of in the absence of further orders attack. Yeah. You know, if you’re sitting still, you’re going to suffer. So, you know, just move and then you can regroup at the next opportunity.

Kevin Doffing (15:48.94)

Yeah, what was the thing, know, like, violently executed plan will beat a perfect plan any day.

Ken Young (15:54.804)

Right. That is exactly right. Yeah. And that’s a little bit of development. The development is there’s some science to it. No question, you know, around sighting and engineering and how we manage wildlife and environmental impacts. No question about that, but there’s a lot of art to it and there’s a lot of leadership and influencing. And I’ll take it back to Barrett, who you mentioned earlier. That’s no, no coincidence that he’s found success in the development world coming out of a place where he had a very senior leadership position in the army.

Ken Young (16:22.68)

He’s been at this for a couple of years now. He’s finding success because of that, you know, art and science blend, you know, from his previous leadership experiences.

Kevin Doffing (16:30.702)

So when you were thinking about going into the military, mean, what was it that you wanted to get at this? Was this a forever career? Was this a good for now? I you went West Point. So that wasn’t a, I’m 19, just got out of high school, and I think I want to do something. Like that required some forethought.

Ken Young (16:48.288)

It did. I figured out in about eighth grade that I thought I wanted to go to one of the service academies and I ended up at West Point and about 30 minutes into being there, I was questioning that long decision-making process. And maybe up until two and a half years there, I was still questioning that. I did get a chance one of the summers to spend some time out in the army. That really changed my mindset. spent a fair amount of time with a bunch of high quality non-commissioned officers.

Ken Young (17:17.358)

And a lot of them happened to be in the infantry branch and said, these are the people I want to be around. And this is what I want to do. And if the main effort of the army is the infantry, I want to be, you know, main effort. So, you know, kind of last year and a half or so shot for that, saw it as, you know, maybe not a road less traveled, but a harder path. And, you know, I’m grateful for those formative years, certainly looking back only with a perspective of nostalgia.

Ken Young (17:46.124)

Not all complaining I did back a long time ago.

Kevin Doffing (17:51.224)

You know, you told me something one time. I remember it because your dad was in the military, wasn’t he?

Ken Young (17:56.47)

My dad was in Germany in 1960 to 62 during the crisis there and the closing of checkpoint Charlie and heightened tensions. He was only in two years. He was drafted, did not necessarily want to be in the army and then had a lifetime of stories to tell. you know, I picked up on those as a kid and I had a little uniform and it would march around the house. And so it wasn’t surprising that the military was going to be part of my go-forward.

Ken Young (18:25.326)

I think maybe back to your question, once I kind of matured through, okay, this is going to be my life’s work. And as I got closer to graduation and was a young Lieutenant, platoon leader, it was for me about the experiences I was having. know, am I continuing to have growing experiences? And, you know, it was really a spot in time. There was never a grand plan to be this or that, or, you know, this rank or this position. I, like, if I’m going have a great experience and it’s going to be something that’s fulfilling.

Ken Young (18:54.326)

rewarding and one where I can help others. I’ll continue to drive on. So maybe to put a pin on it, the longer I saw and the more I saw of the majors that I interacted with, I said, I don’t know if that’s where I want to be longer term. And it looks like more of the same now, unlike you and many others listening to this, I’m a bit older. And so I was in the pre nine 11 army. And I think, you know, in fairness, I certainly didn’t have any desire to, I’m not a warmonger or anything like that, but

Ken Young (19:23.008)

I was in graduate school. got out of the army in 2000. I was in business school in 2001. And for me, it was an impact. I kind of felt a little, a little lost. Like what am I supposed to be doing? I was in the Indiana national guard, tip of the spear there, keeping up the Michiganders and Ohioans out of Indiana, but a little bit of remiss and things I had trained for through school and five years active duty of I’m kind of missing my purpose here. I don’t think that was satisfied.

Ken Young (19:51.434)

I worked through some, I’ll call the lost years, five years of jobs that were good, good jobs. I learned a lot about business, but not really finding a home. And I don’t think that kind of purpose and the things I was missing were found until I got into the renewable energy business. And then it just smacked me in the face. Like, this is it. This is what I was looking for. I didn’t know what I was looking for. And I was super grateful that I had found the power business and specifically renewable energy.

Kevin Doffing (20:18.286)

How did that come up on your radar?

Ken Young (20:21.09)

So interestingly enough, it was one of these military recruiting folks who had placed me somewhere else. And the CEO of a small startup wind company had a long background. was a Navy ROTC surface warfare officer and had been in the wind business previous, but it was also a long time GE power person. these leadership programs that they have. In fact, if you go back in time, his first call to the recruiter, said, I want a Navy nuke with an MBA.

Ken Young (20:49.134)

So I want somebody that knows power systems, but it isn’t a complete nerd and can function. so they hired somebody like that. They hired a couple more people. I didn’t really fit that mode. I’m dumb infantryman, but could do a lot of different things. And there were a couple more guys like me that had some experience, maybe business school. They hired a number of officers, mostly straight out of, most of them are coming from Iraq and Afghanistan right out. And they went right into our development business.

Ken Young (21:18.374)

And I’ll call it forward deployed to the project areas and did a really great job. And most of those folks are still around the industry and have found success. You know, this is going back 18, 20 years ago. And so still in touch with many of those folks. And, you know, they just did a really good, where do need me boss? Okay. We need you out in Western New York, upstate New York, Texas. And off they went and blended in and led and influenced, you know, signing up landowners, getting permits, learning the business. So.

Ken Young (21:47.82)

Yeah, I came in and was a jack of all trades, master of none, and had the opportunity to kind of jump in. So I’m extremely grateful. Somebody that had an eye on knowing that military talent could transition if given an opportunity and some time and a proper scope. So I had that opportunity.

Kevin Doffing (22:03.918)

Nice. Yeah, I remember you and I talking about previously, what are your thoughts on veterans either getting their MBA during their time in or after?

Ken Young (22:15.566)

Yeah. I mean, either way I went full time. didn’t know what I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I wanted to jump into. So I felt it was a very rewarding time for me. went to university at Notre Dame and I’ve said, you know, I went to West Point duty on our country. went to Notre Dame, God country, Notre Dame. So again, institutions, there’s probably a lot of Notre Dame haters out there, but I think institutions that are about something bigger than themselves. And that’s something I’m attracted to. And so.

Ken Young (22:44.482)

I had a great experience, kind of got the basics while I was there and kind of figured out what I was maybe going to do. But again, I didn’t quite find it. But I think also part-time is a fine way to go, either while you’re in the military or while you’re in your first job out, if you can manage it around other demands, no problem. And looking back, that could have been something for me. I don’t regret my time at all. It was very much a good transition for me and the right move.

Ken Young (23:11.04)

Honestly, I never thought I’d go back to school again. I wasn’t the best student at West Point. I like to joke that my first semester there, I made the Dean’s list, but it was the wrong one. It was the one where he knew me by my first name and asked Ken, what are you still doing here? thought we took care of that at the semester. again, maturity, time, learning the value of the good education I was receiving kind of eventually plugged into that. But yeah, really grateful for the full-time opportunity.

Ken Young (23:38.68)

but part-time is a good viable option. do think for folks that can, it’s a good spot to go because, you know, we’re coming at things from a more leadership perspective, you know, this very large military organization, getting a grounding in the language of business and the various areas, you know, is just adding to your toolkit as you move forward. Not necessary by any means, you know, several folks will be successful going out, but.

Ken Young (24:06.356)

If there’s opportunity there, would encourage folks to take a look at that.

Kevin Doffing (24:10.114)

Yeah, I kind of dismissed it when I got out and, you know, took over a business that I’d kind of grown up working with my dad and an oil field spy company. And a couple of years ago, I went back and got my executive MBA and the whole time I was thinking like, yeah, this is okay. mean, like I went to the hospital one time for stress because I didn’t understand this aspect of like and A and yeah. And well, there’s this time I almost like blew up the company doing this stupid thing. And luckily I survived. I’m like,

Kevin Doffing (24:37.902)

I learned those things really the hard way. There could have been an easier way to learn some of these things and then applied them a little bit more rationally. So yeah, now I, I’ve rewritten my opinion that was very outspoken for over a decade on that. Yeah. Should have used those benefits to go take a knee, get some of that doctrine that, you know, I always heard as an officer, that’s why I’m here. I’ve got a little bit of doctrine. Now let’s get some practical experience with the NCOs and this makes a really great fighting force.

Kevin Doffing (25:07.928)

And that’s one thing I do wish now that I had taken advantage of.

Ken Young (25:10.956)

Yeah. And I mentioned my age before, so I didn’t have the benefit of the GI bill. It was, we’re going to pay once. then the 9-11 GI bill affords opportunity. And so maybe just this point on community and team, that’s something I found in business school, still in contact with those folks. I graduated 2002, so 24 years ago and still in contact with a great set of colleagues, really enjoyed the kind of broad brush of folks I met there that were, you know, in a similar transition, albeit different.

Ken Young (25:40.494)

from mine, but also met some folks from the military there. And I know even at Notre Dame and elsewhere, the military veterans groups within the business schools are very well organized now, much more than they were back then, obviously given the global war on terror. And then in just advancing to some folks we have at Apex that are taking part-time or executive MBA courses and degree programs, I hear from them all the time, like, I met this peer group that they’re coming from all walks of life. And that’s probably the most beneficial.

Ken Young (26:08.44)

thing in and around the curriculum is having mature discussions about various cases and applying those back to your home station or to the work that’s at hand.

Kevin Doffing (26:18.574)

Yeah. My advice to MBA still is your job is to get familiar with concepts, not fluent. Yeah. Your real job is to build your network because you will never have this time to do this again. And your job is to find someone in your class that’s going to change your life. And you don’t know if that’s going to be a staff member or a professor, someone in your year, someone out of your year, out of your program and in the full-time or part-time or executive. And you just need to go network your butt off.

Kevin Doffing (26:47.116)

without falling behind on the team assignment or, you know, getting yourself kicked out. That’s kind of what we’ve done in Project Vanguard, right? It’s a peer network of veterans that work in this industry and it’s there to help people get in. If they haven’t already find new pathways, if they get laid off, they find they want to get into operations from finance or vice versa, whatever that is. You know, I try to describe our impact models basically.

Kevin Doffing (27:12.77)

The conversation we’re having is all the messaging and explaining to people so they understand more, you know, which leads to building that network and bringing people together. That leads to jobs. And now we have this big bench. We go turn them out to speak up for our industry, which leads to, you know, conversations like this, which leads to a bigger network, which helps people get jobs, which means we can get more people out and it just keeps going and going.

Ken Young (27:37.698)

That’s great. I love it. Great advice and really appreciate what you’re doing here. Let’s keep it.

Kevin Doffing (27:42.222)

Kevin Doffing (27:43.063)

Thanks. Yeah. So what are you looking forward to? You know, we’re at the start of 2026 right now as we’re recording this. What does this year look like for you? What do you have to get done to be successful a year from now?

Ken Young (27:56.792)

Yeah. So for Apex, it’s really clear. Accelerating the shift to clean energy means putting projects online. And so, you know, we’re not accelerating the shift until we receive that first megawatt hour out the door. And then we get these projects into long-term operations. That is the best thing we can do to drive the value of this company. And so we’re focused on that. So we have never had a portfolio of assets ready to go as we do this year. So.

Ken Young (28:25.92)

A mix of wind and solar and a little bit of storage that’s emerging. our aim is to put on about two gigawatts of projects this year. We try to do that every year. So this is a scaling business. How do we best scale ourselves into long-term operations? So that sounds like a two gigawatts. What does that mean? That means about eight projects all across the country, diversity of technology, different regions, big projects, is scale.

Ken Young (28:54.664)

And it takes a village. takes every single person pulling their own weight, coordinating with their left and right flank internally, and then influencing externally with vendors, lenders, partners, local community, key stakeholders to bring these projects across the line. So massive, capitally intensive business. And then we’re poised to execute. So we finished a good year last year and around all the things that went on in 2025.

Ken Young (29:23.042)

And all the announcements and true socials and tweets. I think we’re even more poised to continue to deliver this year across the board. So our teams at the ready, their focus, I like to say to them, this is the go to war team. You know, let’s, let’s lean in and get after it. So we have a number of projects that are already in the closing shoot and by closing shoot for us, that means closing our project financing. need to bring financing partners along with us to help carry the load on the investments into these projects. So that’s.

Ken Young (29:50.766)

You know, for those that are less familiar, that’s tax equity, part of our business. And then just straight debt lenders. And then we have some projects that’ll be folding out over the course of the year, try to smooth out our operations, smooth out our delivery of projects, but add to our operating base.

Kevin Doffing (30:06.126)

So I remember, gosh, I mean, it was six years ago. I remember one of my friends who’s a CEO for a developer was lamenting the tax equity because they’re like, listen, we can still get capital from the same providers, JP Morgan, whoever, at lower cost of capital. If we didn’t have this complex debt equity structure that looks like equity but walks like debt, that’s kind of going away because of the OBBB. And I think the industry’s kind of rated.

Kevin Doffing (30:36.106)

see the tax credits and tax equity sunset, maybe not the cliff that was imposed. What do you see like in the second half of the year and next year? I mean, is it still going to be the same ramp up and it’s just going to be go, go, go and underneath the hood, the financing pieces will look different or do you think projects will look different in a year, year and a half?

Ken Young (30:59.786)

Now for the time being, they’re going to look very much the same. so as an industry through the American Clean Power Association, we participated, I participated personally on Capitol Hill for months and months, bringing stakeholders along. We participated after the legislation was passed. And during that period where there was guidance in question from treasury to come out with the same guidance. So the premise of is there life after tax credits? Yes. We subscribe to that. yeah.

Ken Young (31:29.01)

And I think the industry is there and for the reasons you mentioned, it’s, it’s complex and it’s not as simple. And, know, it is time for us to stand on our own two legs and we’re well ready for that. But given the complexity of the day and how long it takes to put these projects together, moving the business case to something that was different right in the middle of contracts that already signed, it would have been chaotic. It would have cost more projects than we’re already.

Ken Young (31:56.14)

you know, that had already been caused last year around permitting and other issues. So that’s why we fought for stability. We’ve been working on these projects for years and years and years. In certain cases, we’ve signed contracts. The business case is either baked or half baked. So as I look at the reconciliation or the one big, beautiful bill, as it related to clean energy, it was let us finish what we started. And I think that’s what Congress voted on. Let’s finish what we started without pulling the rug out.

Ken Young (32:21.568)

And that was actually signed into law and then underscored by the treasury guidance and how we qualify for the tax incentives. So for us, that meant, okay, we have stability in the short run. That’s going to take us out through the end of 2030. Let’s execute under that paradigm. Because that’s where everybody is. And as we get closer to the end of 2030 and the tax credit sunset, then let’s start to adjust our cost paradigm and our, our price paradigm. So how do we all contribute to profitable projects?

Ken Young (32:51.552)

where all the key stakeholders, the off-takers, the vendors on the service side, the engineering, procurement, construction companies, along with our original equipment manufacturers, those making turbines, modules, battery systems, lenders, all can participate and can all share in the growth of renewable energy. And that’s, that’ll have to adjust over time, but doing that in a moment with, you know, these large institutions could have been really detrimental to the business. So.

Ken Young (33:19.892)

We were good to see the short term and short term is three or four years in our world. Yeah. You know, and stretch it out to 2030 and then we’re off in a new paradigm. So I think you’ll see more of the same. You’ll see people trying to execute what they have at the ready. These projects they’ve honed in the development phase for years and years. I think what you’ll also see is where we’ve been is being cautious about large capital allocation. So when do we buy wind turbines? When do we start services?

Ken Young (33:48.726)

And that goes to all the announcements we’ve seen around, you know, really lack of support on the permitting side or other federal actions to impact our business. Thankfully, we don’t need a lot from the federal government. know, offshore is its own thing. We don’t work in that, that area. So they’re managing that. I appreciate what the actions they’re taking in the short run here to get back on to executing the projects that they’re already out there. But when you talk about private lands.

Ken Young (34:17.525)

which is for Apex, 100 % of our projects, we hardly need anything from the federal government. And for me, what you do on private lands and what you do in a local community is very much American. know, let the local community decide. And that’s a very conservative principle. And if local community decides that, know, wind or solar storage are good for their community and we’re on private lands and we’re being thoughtful around neighbors and all the things that would go into a local ordinance or into

Ken Young (34:46.606)

You know, just good prudent practices. I don’t see any problem with that. see that as growth and capitalism and you know, American. So that’s where we are, but it does impact our business from a capital perspective. We need to pause and make sure, you know, there’s not a gotcha. And in most cases, we don’t need a whole lot. So if there’s not a gotcha, we will allocate the capital when we’re fully de-risked and we’ll, move into that. And maybe I’ll just add, look, we’re developers at heart. We’re going to take the most risk. So we’re going to invest.

Ken Young (35:16.538)

And we’re going to continue to invest in developing projects because this renewable business over my 20 years, really cyclical, we’re up, we’re down, and we’re getting to a place where we’re really mature. Yeah. But we need to bring lenders along with us and we need to bring manufacturers along with us. And those are people that have different, a different set of investment criteria, a little bit more conservative in certain parts, but we also need manufacturers making investments years ahead of when we need to call on that demand. So, you know, they need some stability.

Ken Young (35:46.336)

And so that’s what we’re after as much as we can. think we can, we can do our part by bringing projects that are at the ready and continuing to prove that it’d be nice to have some, some help from the government to settle things down. But you know, this is where we are.

Kevin Doffing (35:59.502)

Yeah, no, I mean, I think a lot about, you know, when I was in Iraq, you know, I remember I was talking to Seale, you know, we were attached with and we were doing some stuff and, know, speed is their form of security, right? They’re silent. My guys were more like young puppies with paws too big. Like we’re kicking over everything, you know, great guys, but, you know, they’re like, ah, man, what are we going to do? I’m like, going take that guy who’s a poor meth head. That guy’s a former gangbanger. You know, this guy like, you know, ate a box of rocks before we got out here.

Kevin Doffing (36:28.046)

And we’re going to put down security and we’ve got this whole thing locked down and we can do whatever we need to inside this perimeter that we’ve just set up in city. And you know, stability and certainty and patrolling is a great form of security. And it’s a great way to run an economy and have a business. Like once you know the rules of the game, that’s why I love like split administration and Congress. Like where one party does not have full control because they kind of get locked up and it’s like, okay.

Kevin Doffing (36:57.666)

I may not like all the rules, but I know the rules aren’t going to change anytime soon. Now I can just get to work, maximizing profitability on whatever it is I’m doing inside the constraints of the rules that are set for the next X years. And I think that’s, that’s going to benefit this industry. Cause the thing I love about our industry is it’s the fastest growing segment of the energy industry. I just love energy and spent my first 10 years in oil and gas, which if anyone who thinks the solar coaster is a crazy ride to be on,

Kevin Doffing (37:27.224)

Try being in the boom bust cycle of oil and gas where they almost want to roll up the sidewalks in Houston during a bust. mean, just imagine the fourth largest city in America going, we’re screwed. Like, it’s a whole different feeling.

Ken Young (37:42.574)

Well, maybe just to kind of tell you where we are and you think about Apex started in 2009, right after the financial crisis, that seemingly was a terrible time to start a wind business. were walking away from development at a quick pace. And so we decided to start and looking back over history, that was a great time to start a wind business. And so we see this is a great time to run into development assets. so, you know, obviously from the execution and deploying our capital, obviously certainty is what.

Ken Young (38:10.83)

we are after as an industry, as a business community. Maybe I’ll just add one more point too. I, and I was back to the Americanism and, you know, good for the local community and all those things, but I don’t know this notion and maybe there’s some fault on our industry for, you know, swinging a little too far to the democratic side or what have you. Look, we sell electrons. We’re in the power business. This is not a partisan issue. This is about economic growth.

Ken Young (38:39.328)

It happens to be in the form of renewable energy, which has some other nice side benefits that we talked about earlier. And one way I mentioned it to my friends or family is like, this is not the face of woke. You know, I am not, that’s not who I am. I want to be a thoughtful, considerate leader. want to be respectful of everybody. I want to be respectful in our local communities in which we’re working and we want to try to find a match wherever we can. But you know, I think the industry and through American Clean Power Association has tacked more to the middle.

Ken Young (39:08.63)

of trying to be non-partisan, non-political. And so I think we need to continue to do that. We also need to stand up for what is right and how we can best move forward this industry. So I’m happy to plug into it. And we just have so much, this demand from these hyperscalers for the moment is seeing us through and it is incredible and just an insatiable appetite for power. And the good news for us is we’ve invested into it.

Ken Young (39:35.882)

And 93 % of all new power coming online the last couple of years is coming from renewables because we have built out our supply chain. We’ve invested in these projects and we’re at the ready to deliver. So let’s get on with delivering it. And so that’s what we’re excited about this year at Apex in 2026.

Kevin Doffing (39:51.788)

I think that’s great. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t take the time, you know, while you’re here, Ken, to really talk about before you have to go, because I know you’re busy, is, you know, what kind of advice you have for veterans that are dialing into this, right? Like, so you’re the first CEO we’ve had on here. I guarantee you there’s somebody sitting in their barracks, looking at getting out, looking at this industry and going, okay, how do I become a CEO? I mean, like, I remember I was that, you know,

Kevin Doffing (40:19.768)

person who didn’t understand what it meant to be a CEO and just had this like stars in your eyes of like, I’ll get into the private sector. And of course I want to be CEO. Who wouldn’t want to be CEO? Not really thinking through the practicalities, the commitments, these kinds of things. I always ask, what’s your advice for veterans? But more specifically for the people that have that really top of the mountain aspiration, what is your advice for those veterans?

Ken Young (40:45.514)

Yeah, I’ll start a little earlier than that. When you’re thinking about making a transition into this industry or really any other, you need to put in the work. I’m a worker. So that’s what I know. But to think that you’re going to transition and all these leadership skills, which I fully subscribe to and I fully underwrite are just going to immediately transition. Yeah. You got to get people on board with that. You got to come in and prove your metal. So first is as you’re thinking about making a transition, put in the work.

Ken Young (41:15.198)

Learn, read, listen, you know, connect with people and come to those meetings prepared as much as you can. And you might be way off base, but for me, when I meet someone that’s like, have put in the work, I’ve talked to this person, I’ve talked, I’ve read this book, I’m in this journal. And they might be wildly off base because you don’t know until you’re in the arena, but it shows that there’s a want. And this is something they want to be a part of that. think that’s critically important. You’ve got to put in the work. Second is nothing’s going to be handed to you.

Ken Young (41:45.122)

So, you know, continue to network, find people, find openings. always said like, renewable energy is much easier as a profession than it is to get into renewable energy. You know, while we’re creating jobs and doing all these things, the jobs are at times hard to come by. There’s somebody already doing that job. You got to look for growing enterprises and be willing to, I hate to say it this way, but be willing to take a step back to take a step forward. And I have moments in my career where I’ve done that, but you know,

Ken Young (42:13.932)

You’ve got to get, to speak, the civilian population on board with what you’re going to bring as soon as you learn the language and the tools and techniques and procedures of the business. very specific advice, pick a functional area. know, learn the business from an aspect. So most of us that come out as, as officers are coming out as generalists. So we sell general management and I was lucky enough early in my career to get a functional area. It’s called asset management.

Ken Young (42:42.574)

for us, means business management of our operating projects. But really it meant I could jump into lots of things given the formative state of the company I was with. But my strong advice is don’t come out and be a generalist because you don’t know the general nature of our business. You know, you don’t know if the turbine blades go in the air or they go in the ground. And so pick a functional area and learn everything you can about that. And then be willing to come in and right seat right, if you will.

Ken Young (43:09.784)

connect, learn, know, Barrett coming out at a very senior level position. I think I’ll just speak about some of our private conversations. The future is very bright for him. He’s a very smart, capable leader. I told him early in his time here, said, the future is bright for you. You need to go get your badges and tabs. You need to go to the schools. You need to learn the language. You need to put in the work. You’re not going to be credible as a senior development leader. If you haven’t carried the bag.

Ken Young (43:37.582)

You know, and so, you know, we have the benefit as, as young officers of going to schools and, know, getting out there with the platoon and doing, you know, rolling up the sleeves and that creates credibility and leadership. You don’t just pop out to be a senior muckety muck of development by not having been out there and learning business. And that gives you some credibility. You have to do that for 10 years. You know, you need to be able to show, okay, I have this leadership experience, but I’ve also gotten this practical experience. Now I’m measuring the two together.

Ken Young (44:07.086)

And that’s a pretty powerful combination. So, you know, he’s, he’s on his path of badges and tabs and schooling and carrying the bag and tracking through the woods, you know, a couple of deployments in there, if you will. And, uh, you know, he’ll come out the other side as a, as a very senior leader. I trust that’s for us, you know, down the line, but if it’s not for us, it’ll be, it’ll be somewhere else, you know, no question about it. So that’s my advice, put in the work, pick a functional area, learn all about it, kind of find your direction, find your purpose. And then.

Ken Young (44:36.674)

work like hell to find a match.

Kevin Doffing (44:39.318)

Yeah. And to another thing to just, you know, get Baird to work. is our Austin chapter lead. So if you happen to be in the Austin Texas region, he’s putting together happy hours and different meetups while we’re there.

Ken Young (44:50.222)

He’s a great guy too. And yeah, he’ll really tell you about his transition and where he is on his journey. Yeah. Future is very bright for him and he would be a great person to connect with.

Kevin Doffing (45:00.512)

Or you could be like he and I yesterday and we just were talking about kids for 20 minutes, our own kids, not other people’s kids. That would have been weird. Well, Ken, listen, I really appreciate you making the time for this. You know, I appreciate your support of the mission here with Project Vanguard and look forward to, you know, just collaborating more and seeing this industry grow. And, you know, our mission is to double the number of veterans in the industry. We want to get to where one in five energy workers are veterans. And I think this is a good step in that direction.

Ken Young (45:28.13)

I love it, Kevin. Thanks for all you’re doing to support the industry and veterans alike and trying to find this match. And to all those veterans out there, welcome, come on in. I mentioned, this is a place where I found purpose and I found a home and it hasn’t been without challenge. We’ve moved all across the country and back again, but you know, I’m so proud to work in this industry. I’m very proud to work here at Apex and represent our wonderful team. And I would love to have more veterans in our space for all the quality attributes they bring.

Ken Young (45:57.612)

and all the go forward that it can help our industry continue to grow and thrive. So thanks for what you’re doing and thanks for having me today.

Kevin Doffing (46:03.552)

Awesome. Thanks, Ken. I appreciate it. Thanks for tuning into the Project Vanguard podcast. If this episode sparked something for you, share it with someone who’s ready to think differently, whether it’s about an all-the-above energy approach, how energy security is national security or the veteran workforce in our industry. If you believe what we’re building, a quick review goes a long way. You can do that wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, keep up the fire.

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