WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition 2019

Michael Skelly
Senior Advisor
Lazard Ltd.


Michael Skelly is a renewable energy entrepreneur and pioneers in the US wind industry. Skelly is a Senior Advisor at the investment bank Lazard where he advises companies and investors on renewable energy and sustainability. Michael was the founder and president of Clean Line Energy, a company that developed interstate transmission lines which successfully permitted the largest transmission line in the U.S. in the last 50 years. Prior to Clean Line, Skelly led the growth of Horizon Wind Energy, now one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world, from family ownership through acquisition by Goldman Sachs and ultimately ownership by EDP. His other entrepreneurial ventures include founding partner and general manager of the Rain Forest Aerial Tram in the early ’90’s, where Skelly led the development, construction and operations of the first canopy tourism project in the world. In addition to the Board of Directors of LINK Houston, Skelly sits on the boards of the Houston Bike Share, the Houston Parks Board, TXRX Labs, and the American Wind Energy Association. He is an active angel investor in the sustainability field, supporting innovating ventures in lithium production, shared electric scooters, energy storage, smart grids, and ride share. Skelly serves on the US Department of Energy’s External Advisory Board for the “Beyond LCOE”, which studies high renewable energy scenarios for the United States. Skelly’s public service includes working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Central America and a run for the US Congress in 2008, where he was the Democratic nominee for the 7th Congressional District of Texas. Skelly holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He speaks fluent Spanish. Skelly and his wife Anne Whitlock have three children in their twenties. They live in Firehouse No. 2, a 110 year old brick fire station which they restored in the East End of Houston.

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