Julie Blunden and Howard Wenger further strengthen Board’s expertise in global business executive management, operations and energy infrastructure
FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 2, 2024 – Nextracker Inc. (Nasdaq: NXT), a leading global provider of intelligent solar tracker and software solutions, today announced the appointment of Julie Blunden and Howard Wenger to its Board of Directors, effective January 2, 2024. Blunden is an accomplished executive leader and strategic advisor currently serving on the Board of four organizations in the energy sector. Wenger is a solar industry pioneer and has served as president of Nextracker since February 2022 with former roles as president and Board member for Solaria Corporation, president and CEO of SunPower Corporation Systems, and EVP and Board member for PowerLight Corporation.
In conjunction with the successful completion of its separation from Flex, Nextracker also announced all Flex employee members of the Nextracker Board of Directors stepped down from the Board and any Board committees on which they were serving effective January 2, 2024, including Christian Bauwens, Michael Hartung, Paul Lundstrom, Scott Offer, Rebecca Sidelinger, and Kyra Whitten. With these changes, Nextracker’s Board will consist of nine directors.
“Julie Blunden and Howard Wenger bring deep energy sector expertise, strong global commercial and operations backgrounds, and valuable executive management experience further strengthening our Board at Nextracker,” said Dan Shugar, Nextracker founder and CEO. “We’re excited to incorporate their vision and business leadership as we scale Nextracker to the next level as an independent public company.”
“On behalf of the Board and the entire Nextracker team, we sincerely thank the outgoing six Board members for their stewardship and contributions to Nextracker,” said Shugar.
Julie Blunden
Julie Blunden has held executive roles at seven organizations over her distinguished 35-year career in the energy sector. Many of her strategic advisory roles have included P&L responsibility including chief commercial officer at EVgo through completion of its sale to LS Power in 2020. Blunden brings extensive Board leadership and is currently an active Board member for American Battery Technology Company, ZincFive, Plus Power, LLC as well as Board chair for New Energy Nexus. Blunden earned her engineering and environmental studies degree from Dartmouth College and a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University.
Howard Wenger
Howard Wenger has worked for more than 35 years in the solar and utility power field and is an accomplished business leader and executive Board member, including serving as president of Nextracker since February 2022. Wenger brings executive leadership and global product, commercial, and operations management expertise to Nextracker, including prior roles as president and Board member of Solaria Corporation, president and chief executive officer of SunPower Corporation Systems, and executive vice president and member of the Board of Directors for PowerLight Corporation. Wenger earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in environmental studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
About Nextracker
Nextracker is a leading provider of intelligent, integrated solar tracker and software solutions used in utility-scale and distributed generation solar projects around the world. Nextracker’s products enable solar panels in utility-scale power plants to follow the sun’s movement across the sky and optimize plant performance. With an operating fleet in over thirty countries, Nextracker leads the solar industry with solar tracker technologies that increase energy production while reducing costs for significant plant ROI. For more information, please visit www.www.nextracker.com.