Meet the Team — Core Grid Partners

Wes Goodnight

Wes Goodnight, PE, founded Core Grid Partners after a 17-year career at Kiewit Power Engineers, where he held multiple leadership roles, including EPC Engineering Manager and EPC Estimate Department Manager, across power generation, power delivery, offshore wind, and oil, gas, and chemicals projects. That EPC background drives an execution-first approach: structuring each project from day one to succeed at construction, not treating development and execution as separate phases.

At Core Grid Partners, Wes has led generation interconnection for co-located solar and storage portfolios in ERCOT from application through financial close, including navigating ERCOT's adoption of IEEE 2800-2022 dynamic reactive power requirements, and has managed large-load interconnection for a +1 GW data center campus through ERCOT's first Batch 0 submission cycle. He has run OFE procurement from specification through award for battery storage, transformers, solar modules, and high-voltage breakers, and built a site selection and feasibility framework used to screen data center and natural gas generation sites for zoning, permitting, fiber, and gas availability ahead of capital commitment, serving throughout as the client's single point of oversight across every subcontracted workstream.

Wes holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Kansas State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer. That combination of EPC execution experience and hands-on development management is what Core Grid Partners brings to every client engagement.

Founder

Matthias Weigel

Matthias Weigel brings nearly two decades of energy project development leadership across the wind, solar, and storage sectors to Core Grid Partners. He most recently served as Senior Director of Development at Innergex Renewable Energy, leading development strategy across the Eastern U.S. and directing distributed teams delivering projects from greenfield through execution across MISO and PJM, following a similar role at Conifer Power managing the full lifecycle of wind, solar, and hybrid projects ranging from 10 MW to 220 MW.

Earlier in his career, Matthias built and led development teams as Chief Development Officer at National Wind, where he managed project budgets up to $600 million and directed site control, interconnection, and permitting for wind assets ranging from 40 MW to 300 MW, including oversight of system impact, short circuit, stability, and upgrade studies. As President of MN Wind Consultants, he personally developed a 150 MW wind project and greenfielded an additional 100 MW project. His background also includes PPA, EPC, and equipment procurement negotiations, M&A due diligence, and governmental and community engagement across multiple jurisdictions.

Matthias holds a degree in Economics and Marketing from the University of Minnesota. His breadth across development, interconnection, procurement, and M&A evaluation strengthens Core Grid Partners' ability to guide clients from greenfield through execution across multiple markets.

Development Director

Drew McMahon brings a background in business ownership, financial structuring, and operational systems-building to Core Grid Partners. As co-owner of Maven Thread, he led the acquisition of an e-commerce apparel brand through SBA-backed financing, conducting hands-on financial and operational due diligence and building the P&L, cash-flow, and balance-sheet projections used for lender review and post-acquisition planning. As co-founder of TwelveFive, a data and analytics consulting firm, he scoped client engagements and built the firm's entire operational backbone, invoicing, billing, bookkeeping, and proposal templates, from the ground up. He also founded and managed a $1M residential rental portfolio across eight units, handling everything from acquisition modeling through a successful exit.

Earlier in his career, Drew spent nearly a decade in software product management, most recently as Director of Custom Solutions at Proagrica, where he led concurrent development teams delivering projects for four of the top ten agricultural input manufacturers. That background, translating ambiguous business needs into clear requirements, leading cross-functional teams without formal authority, and driving agile process improvement, shapes how he builds and runs Core Grid Partners' internal systems today.

Drew holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from the University of Kansas. That combination of financial discipline and process rigor keeps Core Grid Partners' operations running smoothly as the firm grows.

Business Operations Manager

Drew McMahon

Jeremiah Carroll brings more than 14 years of experience delivering utility-scale solar and battery energy storage (BESS) projects to Core Grid Partners. Most recently, he led post-FNTP project execution for a world-class independent power producer (IPP), overseeing a 550 MW portfolio with responsibility for high-voltage scope management, change order negotiation, cost and schedule control, and project value optimization.

Previously, Jeremiah managed three phases of a 900 MW solar portfolio—collectively one of the largest utility-scale solar developments in the United States. Throughout his career, he has negotiated EPC contracts, managed owner-furnished equipment including main power transformers, high-voltage breakers, inverters, and PV modules, and partnered with development teams to reduce project risk through early permitting, site control, engineering, and interconnection coordination.

Earlier in his career, Jeremiah served as Executive Vice President of a renewable energy development startup, where he supported capital fundraising efforts and evaluated acquisition opportunities for technical and financial risk. He also provided independent engineering and owner's engineering services for utility-scale solar and BESS projects, led QA/QC and O&M activities throughout the western United States, and managed turnkey renewable energy construction projects for an EPC contractor.

Jeremiah's experience spans the full project lifecycle—from early-stage development and technical due diligence through engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and commercial operation. His unique blend of owner, developer, EPC, and engineering consulting experience enables Core Grid Partners to provide practical, commercially focused guidance that helps clients reduce risk, protect project value, and successfully execute complex renewable energy projects.

Execution Director