Our Team

Eric Cherniss is the founder of Elevate and has nearly two decades of energy development experience. Eric is responsible for developing and executing Elevate’s long-term corporate strategy, including developing strategic growth opportunities across the country to support the company’s vision and future growth. Prior to forming Elevate, Eric was part of the Corporate Development and Strategy team of Vistra Corp. and was instrumental in the growth of the Vistra Zero platform and specifically the redevelopment and hybridization of existing fossil assets with renewables and energy storage. Eric earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. 

As the Vice President of Project Development for Elevate, Corey is responsible for spearheading all battery storage project development activities including permitting, real estate, interconnection, and more.  With over 20 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, Corey has been directly involved with the origination, development, financing, construction and operation of several thousand megawatts of utility scale wind, solar, and battery storage projects throughout the United States; totaling over $1B of capital deployment.

Prior to joining the Elevate team, Corey served as the Vice President of Development & Corporate Strategy for the nation’s largest competitive energy generator and retail electric provider, Vistra Corp. In this role helped craft and implement a plan to accelerate the company’s transition to clean power generation and led the development efforts of over 30 utility scale renewable energy projects. Corey has also previously served as the Senior Director of Project Development at ConEdison Development, and as VP of Project Development at Juhl Energy, Inc. Corey is a graduate of South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota.

Robert serves as the Vice President of Capital Expenditures for Elevate. Prior to his role, Robert served as a Senior Director & Development Manager at Vistra Energy Corporation. In this role, he served as program director for development and construction of 400MW of utility-scale solar and 1GW of storage facilities. Robert held prior roles during his 15 years at Vistra, including  in M&A, Asset Management, Financial Planning, Project Controls, and Project Services.  Robert earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an MBA from Texas A&M university, and a PMP Certification from the Project Management Institute.

Ms. Wicks is the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs for Elevate Renewables where she provides leadership, strategy, vision, and direction to identify, develop and implement best practices and an industry framework to advance the corporation’s regulatory and clean energy policy goals. Ms. Wicks has 20 years’ experience in the utility industry developing regulatory, corporate, and political strategies for some of the largest electric, natural gas, and water corporations in the US. Prior to joining Elevate Renewables, Ms. Wicks was the National Director of Regulatory Affairs for American Water where she developed regulatory strategies around emerging water and energy regulation at the state and federal level for American Water’s 12 regulated state subsidiaries. Before American Water, Ms. Wicks held several executive and management positions with Duquesne Light Company, Florida Power & Light/NextEra Energy and the Edison Electric Institute. Ms. Wicks was also Founder and CEO of TLW Legal and Government Support Services, a regulatory and government Affairs consulting firm, where she provided clients with regulatory engagement and regulatory advocacy and regulatory risk strategies supporting renewable energy, electric and natural gas policies, and cost recovery regulations.  Ms. Wicks has an MBA from American University Kogod School of Business, a Master’s degree in Public Policy, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Howard University. She resides in Pittsburgh, PA.  

Gregory Esteban is Vice President of Finance at Elevate Renewables, where he is responsible for the financial oversight and analysis of Elevate’s battery storage portfolio and the evaluation of capital structuring decisions on a project-, portfolio-, and corporate-basis. Greg maintains Elevate’s point of view on key aspects of the storage business case, including on the near-to-long-term market value of storage participation, and leads economic analysis supporting responses to revenue firming contract opportunities.  

Before joining Elevate, Greg worked in project finance and M&A at Recurrent Energy, where he led equity and debt transactions that enabled the buildout of more than a gigawatt of utility-scale solar and battery storage. Greg joined Recurrent after four years with Deloitte, where he helped Fortune 50 clients manage the financial, construction, and operational risks associated with their major capital projects.  Greg holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Gonzaga University. 

Jocelyn Blier is the General Counsel of Elevate. Prior to her role, Jocelyn served as Senior Counsel at Pine Gate Renewables supporting the company’s solar and storage development and financing opportunities in ERCOT, MISO, PJM and SPP. Jocelyn started her career at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP in their Project Finance group representing public and private entities in domestic and international project finance and renewable energy projects. Jocelyn earned a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School.

Adi Bakaya is the Head of M&A and Capital Markets at Elevate Renewables and has over 15 years of energy, M&A, and capital markets experience representing over $36 billion in aggregate transaction value. In his current role, Adi is responsible for leading Elevate’s M&A and capital market efforts across all levels of the organization, in line with the company’s strategic vision and future growth plans. Adi earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Mumbai University and a Master of Engineering Management from Duke University, and has previously worked with Royal Bank of Canada, Guggenheim Partners, and Macquarie, in their power, renewables, and utilities investment banking teams.

Cristina Drivas is the Vice President of Structuring & Origination, overseeing the execution of offtake agreements for Elevate projects. Before her current position, Cristina led the Short-Term Power Marketing & Analytics team at Lightsource bp, where she managed the US merchant portfolio and the co-located BESS strategy and origination. Prior to that, she held roles in structuring, portfolio management, and origination at Constellation Energy. Cristina holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law.