Cypress Creek Energy

10/02/2026

For this week's , we're featuring this fluffy little bunch that moved in on the racking at one of our solar sites. The speckled feathers are classic for young American robins. 🪺

American robins lay three to five sky-blue eggs that hatch after 12 to 14 days. The nestlings leave the nest about two weeks after hatching, so these little ones are likely less than two weeks old.

Robins nest in trees, gutters, eaves, light fixtures, and apparently solar racking too! The elevated structure provides a protected spot beneath the panels to build a cozy nest and raise a family.

With an estimated 370 million breeding robins across the globe, we're happy a few chose to get their start with us.

10/01/2026

Growth doesn't always start with feeling ready.

For El Mendoza, it has often started with saying yes anyway.

El is Director of Compliance at Cypress Creek Energy, and has built a career around solving complicated problems, building better processes and helping the people around her grow.

But some of the experiences that have shaped her most happened far outside her comfort zone.

English is her third language. Public speaking makes her nervous. She grew up in the Philippines with limited access to many of the things most of us take for granted. And in 2023, she founded Pay It Forward for the Kids to help children in underserved communities access educational resources and opportunities.

Her philosophy today is: “Growth is always on the other side of my comfort zone.”

Meet El and learn more about the experiences that have shaped the leader, colleague and person she is today.

09/30/2026

What does scuba diving have to do with renewable energy? For Lilly Jackson, quite a lot! 🪼🌊🐬🪸

Lilly, a recent graduate of Manila High School in Mississippi County, Arkansas, is the inaugural winner of Cypress Creek Energy’s Team Choice Award, recognizing a standout video submitted through our Energizing Tomorrow’s Leaders Scholarship program. 🏆

Each year, the program awards scholarships to graduating seniors in the communities where we develop and operate projects. As part of the application, students submit a short video about how they believe renewable energy will affect their futures. This year, Cypress Creek team members voted for their favorite.
Lilly, a master scuba diver, took us underwater in her video, explaining how renewable energy can help protect the oceans and aquatic ecosystems she explores. Needless to say, it made quite the "splash" with our team! 🌊

As the winner, Lilly earned a $5,000 donation in her name to Manila High School, located near our Steel River Energy Center. She chose to direct 20% to the school's Future Business Leaders of America club and 80% to its STEM education department, giving the students coming up behind her more resources to explore their own interests. Lilly also received a few Cypress Creek goodies, along with a certificate and letter from our CEO Kevin Smith.

This fall, Lilly heads to Tulane University with an interest in political economy and finance. Congratulations, Lilly! We can't wait to see what you do next. 🎉

Watch Lilly's winning video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/y0hq5r-W6k0

09/24/2026

Solar panels are made primarily of glass, aluminum, copper, and semiconductor materials, the kind commonly found in household appliances and electronics. Those materials sit sealed within layers of tempered glass built to hold up to decades of outdoor exposure. Even if a panel is damaged, the glass stays bonded to its internal layers, which helps keep it intact and limits debris.

Research has consistently shown that solar panels do not release harmful materials. We still believe in verifying that science ourselves, in the communities where we operate.

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Soil project, led by Argonne National Laboratory, Cypress Creek Energy participated in soil sampling at one of our operational sites in Warren County, North Carolina, running since 2016. After nearly a decade of operation, the sampling found no elevated concentrations of metals in the surrounding soil.

Operating projects tell us the most about how solar interacts with the land beneath it. Argonne's work is building a national soil database so the industry, regulators, and communities can rely on years of operating data to confirm their soil remains clean.

We're glad one of our sites is contributing to that record.

Learn more about Argonne’s Solar Soil project here: https://solarsoil.evs.anl.gov/sites/

09/17/2026

Breakfast burritos and a check for more than $30,000 made for a good morning in Kiowa, Colorado.

Cypress Creek Energy and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. , our EPC partner on our 75 MWac Sundance Solar project with 200 MWh of battery energy storage in Elbert County, CO, teamed up to donate new training equipment to the Kiowa Fire Department. The gear will support the department’s ongoing battery storage training capabilities, both for our Sundance project today and for future projects and training needs across neighboring departments.

The training equipment is part of a broader effort to invest in the Elbert County community. Cypress Creek also established a Community Working Group that brings residents and local stakeholders together each year to help guide how the Sundance project’s $300,000 total community investment commitment over three years can best support Elbert County’s local priorities.

Last month, the Community Working Group reconvened at a local favorite, Doug's Diner, with many of last year's stakeholders returning to help shape this year's proposed allocation. Together, the group talked through what the community needs most right now and where the next round of funding could go the furthest, from schools and food banks to senior services, first responders, and other community organizations across the county.

This approach has become a model for how Cypress Creek builds meaningful local engagement wherever we develop, own, and operate projects. Congratulations to the Kiowa Fire Department on the new equipment, and thank you to McCarthy for partnering with us as we look forward to continuing this collaboration through the project's completion. 🚒

09/16/2026

Cypress Creek Energy is committed to building the reliable, affordable energy America needs, and doing it in a way that creates lasting value for the communities and environments where we operate.

Today, we released our 2025 Sustainability Report, highlighting the progress we made last year:

- $950 million invested in new energy infrastructure
- 2.7 million+ MWh of electricity generated
- 1,700+ construction jobs created
- 1.84 million metric tons of CO2e emissions avoided
- $848,000+ invested directly in communities
- $21 million+ in local tax and lease payments
- 2 million+ safe working hours

Behind those numbers are the people, partnerships and practices that shape how we work and the impact we have.

“As America’s need for electricity grows, how we build new energy infrastructure matters just as much as how much we build,” said Kevin Smith, CEO of Cypress Creek Energy. “This report provides details on how we are building projects that power America’s future while doing so in a thoughtful, sustainable and community-focused way. That means taking care of the land, listening to and investing in the communities where we operate, putting safety first and building projects that create value for decades.”

See highlights from our 2025 Sustainability Report and real-world examples of how we put our values into action: https://cypresscreekenergy.com/news/cypress-creek-energy-releases-2025-sustainability-report/

Measurable progress in responsible energy development, land stewardship, community investment and industry-leading safety performance DURHAM, N.C. (9/16/2026) – Cypress Creek Energy, an independent power producer that develops, builds, owns and...

03/05/2026

Today we would like to thank Sarah Slusser for her incredible leadership over the last seven years. Under her guidance our company has grown from a development-focused business into a leading independent power producer, strengthening the energy transition and continuing to make a difference in the communities where we live and work.

We wish her the best in her future endeavors and look forward to the next chapter of Cypress Creek with Kevin Smith at the helm.

Washington, DC, March 5, 2026 – Cypress Creek Renewables (“Cypress Creek” or the “Company”) today announced the departure of Sarah Slusser as Chief Executive Officer and the appointment of Kevin...

01/26/2026

Today we are so grateful to the incredible line crews and utility workers that spent the weekend braving the winter storm to keep our communities powered and safe. Your dedication, long hours, and willingness to work in the harshest conditions don’t go unnoticed. Thank you for everything you do to keep the lights on when we need it most.

11/19/2025

We are thrilled to be officially announcing another exciting project milestone today. Our transformative 505MWdc Hanson Solar project has reached financial close and construction is underway!

This project is already contributing to the community’s economy, creating construction jobs and, when complete, will provide more than $80 million in local tax revenue while delivering much-needed power to the ERCOT grid.

Thank you to our financing partners, MUFG, SMBC, our EPC partner, TIC - The Industrial Company, and our offtaker, Meta for helping us bring this incredible project to the state of Texas.

Nov. 19, 2025 – Coleman County, Texas – Cypress Creek Renewables today announced financial close and the start of construction on the 505-megawatt (MWdc) (396MWac) Hanson Solar facility in Coleman...

11/05/2025

We were honored to host a wonderful group of veterans yesterday for a networking event at our Durham, North Carolina office in partnership with Project Vanguard.

“Seeing all these veterans together reminded me why I’m a proud member of Project Vanguard. It’s about more than jobs or networking. It’s about community, purpose, and service after service. The same grit and teamwork that carried us in uniform are the same traits driving the clean energy future,” said Greg Gebhardt, Director of Government Affairs at Cypress Creek and Lieutenant Colonel, US Army Reserve. “I’m proud that Cypress Creek Renewables is helping create a space where veterans can continue to lead, build, and power what’s next.”

Nov. 5, 2025 – DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Veterans gathered this week to network, swap stories, and advance career opportunities at an event sponsored by Project Vanguard and Cypress...