Bowman is pleased to announce that Solomon Lee “Solly” Van Meter has joined Bowman as a Sr. Project Manager of Energy and Land Services. He will be responsible for managing land acquisition and other real estate matters on behalf of clients as well as community and governmental relations for renewable energy development projects.
“We are excited about growing our renewable energy practice with the addition of Solly and the renewable energy expertise that he brings,” said Spencer Francis, PE, Executive Vice President and Regional Manager. “He has been a trailblazer in the development of solar energy generation sites, particularly in Kentucky, as the Commonwealth moves away from fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy.”
Van Meter served as a consultant for the Carolina Solar Energy team, where his primary responsibilities included community and local government relations and project siting approval for several new solar generation developments in Kentucky – including the state’s first such facility.
As a consultant for BP Wind Energy North America, Inc., Van Meter negotiated wind lease, easements, and transmission right-of-way agreements and performed related title and due diligence field work on wind power projects in New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Virginia, and Michigan.
“Bowman’s push further into renewable energy checks all the boxes for me. It gives me the ability to bring a broad array of services and support to the solar developer clients I was already working with and to work with exciting new clients, all while getting to be on a team with a bunch of really smart people,” said Van Meter. “I find that doing early-stage solar development work requires me to use a distillation of almost all of my prior professional experience, not only in wind and solar development, but also in law, business, real estate development, even going all the way back to my undergrad study in agriculture.” Van Meter received his B.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Kentucky, his M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, and his J.D. from Washington and Lee University’s School of Law. He began his new Bowman position last month.