Rick Kuhn has over 22 years experience in the energy industry, with extensive experience in both the natural gas and electric power sectors. This experience includes: business origination, project development, negotiating and evaluating facility agreements for optimization and/or realignment with changing corporate objectives; due diligence and economic evaluation of owned or targeted assets; and the development and implementation of an energy portfolio trading book.

Most recently, as Director of Asset Management, for Duke Energy North America, Mr. Kuhn had the commercial responsibility for 3,020 MW of generation capacity. This responsibility required negotiation and managing facilities operational agreements, in additional to optimizing facilities economic dispatch. These operational agreements involved long term natural gas transportation, land lease and/or purchase, tax abatement or PILOT agreements, local zoning and operational permits, environmental permits, long term service agreements, and interconnection and facilities power agreements.

Prior to his asset management work, Mr. Kuhn served as Director of Project Development for Duke Energy North America and was responsible for the successful development of merchant generation facilities, including the McClain and Hot Spring generation plants. In addition, Mr. Kuhn fully permitted numerous combined cycle generation sites.

Mr. Kuhn's energy career began as a field engineer with Cities Service Gas Company, predecessor to The Williams Companies. As a field engineer, Mr. Kuhn acquired a working knowledge of the domestic natural gas infrastructure and operations. Mr. Kuhn progressed through Williams' engineering training program to a position as company Regulatory Compliance Coordinator. After a brief residence as Regulatory Coordinator, Mr. Kuhn joined Williams Power Company as a Senior Analyst. As a Senior Analyst, Mr. Kuhn developed project pro formas to evaluate power plant acquisition candidates. This work required the development and integration of natural gas and power pricing curves and transportation options.

Mr. Kuhn transitioned to Williams Derivatives and Trading as Natural Gas Options Manager. This trading responsibility embodied proprietary trading of natural gas options and locational price bases. Ancillary to trading responsibilities, Mr. Kuhn conducted trading and risk management seminars expanding corporate working knowledge of risk management products to facilitate risk management marketability. As part of Williams Energy Marketing & Trading, Mr. Kuhn led an interdisciplinary team challenged to provide a means to secure entry in merchant market in the Western System Coordination Council ("WSCC"). Mr. Kuhn responded to this challenge by developing relationships and structuring alliances that allowed Williams to secure control of 10% of California's generation capacity. An alliance with AES precipitated a structured tolling arrangement that eliminated marketing risk for AES and provided Williams dispatch control over 4,000 MW of generation and a substantial position as a WSCC merchant generator.

Mr. Kuhn holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Science from Kansas State University and a Masters in Business Administration from The University on Tulsa, with a concentration in finance.

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