A Note from the Author
C&I Solar & Energy Strategy Advisor
Founder of Envision Energy Solutions. Vice President, C&I Energy Solutions at General Energy Corporation, a 40-year engineering-first C&I solar EPC with more than 900 completed projects.
Drew Mays
Chicago IL · Charlotte NC
The Work
Drew Mays builds multi-facility energy strategy for commercial and industrial enterprises whose largest customers are turning public 2030 climate commitments into supplier requirements.
His clients range from small and mid-sized manufacturers to multi-billion-dollar packaging, industrial, and electronics operators running portfolios of plants, distribution centers, and warehouses across multiple states and utility territories.
Portfolio Synthesis
It is which sites, in what sequence, under which capital structure, against which customer commitment, before which federal or state deadline.
Which facilities in the portfolio actually carry the roof, the interconnect, the load profile, and the customer-pressure exposure that justifies moving first.
Which facility goes first, which goes second, and how the schedule lines up against the closing federal incentive window.
Cash, MACRS-leveraged, lease, PPA, or hybrid, sized to the tax appetite, the balance sheet, and the customer-facing optics.
Which large customer commitment is closest to becoming a supplier requirement, and what evidence the customer’s procurement team will ask for.
The July 4, 2026 federal safe-harbor window, state incentive block timing, utility rebate cycles, and customer disclosure dates.
What That Looks Like
Facility-by-facility economic feasibility across a multi-state footprint, sized for the right utility territory, the right rate class, and the right incentive overlay. Built so a leadership team can compare twenty plants on one screen.
Executive-ready synthesis of customer-pressure timelines with federal and state incentive windows. Designed to be read in fifteen minutes and decided in thirty.
Section 48E mechanics, FEOC compliance, MACRS modeling, and capital sequencing translated into one-page sequencing calls a CFO can make in a single meeting.
Most solar advisors quote a single facility. Drew works the portfolio.
Reading the Signal
When a manufacturer's biggest customer publicly commits to a 50% Scope 3 reduction by 2030, that commitment becomes a supplier requirement 18 to 24 months later, usually before the supplier's account team hears about it formally.
Drew tracks the sustainability roadmaps of his clients' largest customers and uses those signals to get facility operators in front of the customer conversation rather than scrambling to respond to it.
A manufacturer with a credible on-site solar plan in hand when their customer's procurement team asks about it controls the conversation.
A manufacturer responding to a 90-day supplier questionnaire is already on the defensive.
Federal & Policy Fluency
Drew models Section 48E, the Energy Community 10% bonus, IL Shines SRECs, MACRS accelerated depreciation, ComEd and Ameren distributed generation rebates, and FEOC compliance under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
He has helped secure more than $5 million in USDA REAP funding for small and mid-sized manufacturers, a record built on understanding the competitive scoring criteria and the application positioning that wins funding.
Policy Standing
Drew worked alongside the Solar Energy Industries Association, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association on regulatory changes that expanded solar access for local businesses and communities.
Geographic Reach
Drew has advised companies across manufacturing, packaging, distribution, commercial real estate portfolios, electronics, and institutional facilities, from twenty-employee plants to multi-billion-dollar enterprise operators with multi-site U.S. footprints.
Areas of Expertise
Published Work
Articles forthcoming at generalenergycorp.com/blog.
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