Longroad Energy

Longroad Energy

Longroad Energy was founded in 2015 when Paul Gaynor, previously CEO of First Solar's project development unit, led a carve-out of that team into an independent platform. The firm's wealth origin is a blend of institutional equity (from J.P. Morgan Asset Management) and management ownership, not a single-family fortune — placing it structurally as a manager-operator rather than a family office. The firm develops, finances, and operates utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects. Its activity spans the full project lifecycle: greenfield development, construction, tax-equity partnership, long-term asset management, and eventual sale to institutional owners. Longroad partners with tax-equity investors such as Bank of America and leverages back-leverage financing from J.P. Morgan (per public filings, 2023). Its portfolio exceeds 4 GW of operating and under-construction projects, concentrated in the US sunbelt and mid-Atlantic regions. Named holdings include the 320 MW Manatee Solar Energy Center in Florida and the 200 MW Buckeye Wind Project in Kansas. Longroad manages roughly $3.5 billion in project assets (per the firm's 2023 communications), though total AUM is not publicly tabulated. The team is based primarily in Boston and Cincinnati, with additional field offices near project sites. In 2022, the firm closed its first in-house tax-equity fund, a structure that allows it to better recycle capital from sold projects into new development. Longroad's structural differentiator is its hybrid model: it operates as both a pure developer selling finished projects and a long-term owner of a retained portfolio. This dual mandate — common among leading renewable platforms — lets it spread fixed cost across a larger capital base and keep projects on its books when terms are favorable.