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Conservative texans for energy innovation

We are conservative Texans across the state leading the dialogue about the economic and national security benefits of clean energy. Clean and renewable energy sources represent the future of energy in Texas. As conservatives, we encourage competition and free markets, which allow for vibrant, sustainable economies. Texas inventors, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers are leaders in a global transformation toward cleaner, more secure energy choices that create American jobs and protect our environment.

CTEI is a proud partner of the Conservative Energy Network,  a national network of state-based organizations focused on promoting clean energy innovation in 24 states throughout the country.

Advisory Board

HARRY ANTHONY

Harry Anthony is one of America’s leading experts in the uranium industry and is recognized internationally for his technical and operating expertise in the field. He has been active in the energy arena for over 48 years and has been a Texas Registered Professional Engineer for over 37 years.

During his almost 40 years as a resident of Kingsville, Texas, Anthony, served in a variety of executive leadership roles with various alternative energy companies in Texas. He is a past Board Member and Chief Operating Officer of Uranium Energy Corp (UEC), a publicly traded uranium exploration and production company based in Corpus Christi, Texas. Prior to joining UEC, Mr. Anthony was a senior officer and director of Uranium Resources Inc. During his 20-year tenure at URI, he was responsible for all technical aspects of uranium mine development.

During his almost 40 years as a resident of Kingsville, Texas, Anthony, served in a variety of executive leadership roles with various alternative energy companies in Texas. He is a past Board Member and Chief Operating Officer of Uranium Energy Corp (UEC), a publicly traded uranium exploration and production company based in Corpus Christi, Texas. Prior to joining UEC, Mr. Anthony was a senior officer and director of Uranium Resources Inc. During his 20-year tenure at URI, he was responsible for all technical aspects of uranium mine development.

He has also provided technical consulting services for many international energy production companies and is a sought-after speaker on uranium and related issues, having written and presented numerous reference papers on behalf of leading internationally recognized bodies including the International Atomic Energy Agency.

His expertise is wide and varied including: all facets of ISR operations, technical support, and environmental permitting to achieve production goals, drilling, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, software development, and equipment design. Mr. Anthony’s duties also included oversight of construction, technical aspects, daily operations of plants and wellfields, budget planning and forecasting, property evaluations and reserve estimations.

Anthony also served as the President of the Uranium Producers of America (UPA), leading the industry’s efforts in Washington D.C. and at the state level in addressing proposed and existing legislation and regulations. He is the author of several technical publications and the recipient of the awards “Distinguished Member of the South Texas Mineral Section of AIME -1987” and “1999 Outstanding Citizen of the Year – Kingsville Chamber of Commerce.”

Mr. Anthony has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Engineering Mechanics from Pennsylvania State University. He is the Past President of the Kingsville Chamber of Commerce, the Kingsville United Way, the Kingsville Rotary Club and the Kingsville Navy League.

MARGO CARDWELL

Born and raised in Austin, Margo attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where she received her B.S. from the Walsh School of Foreign Service and majored in Science, Technology and International Affairs. While in Washington, Margo was an active member of the Georgetown University College Republicans, serving in multiple leadership roles. She was a frequent volunteer on the campaigns of Republican congressional and state candidates and interned on Capitol Hill for the then-senior U.S. Senator for Texas.

Cardwell returned to Austin to attend law school at the University of Texas. During this time, she worked for one of the state’s largest trade associations, where she drafted legal documents and policy memoranda that proved central to accomplishing the association’s key legislative priority during the 82nd Legislative Session.

After graduating law school, Margo served as General Counsel to a Republican Texas state senator. Following the 83rd Legislative Session, Margo joined Greg Abbott’s historic gubernatorial campaign during the 2014 election cycle, where she was the chief policy analyst. As a leading member of the policy team, Margo was instrumental in developing campaign policy on education, health care, natural resources, and criminal justice.

Prior to establishing Margo Cardwell, PLLC, Cardwell was employed at one of Austin’s top advocacy firms, where she represented the firm’s clients – spanning a myriad of industries – before the Texas legislature and the executive branch of state government.

In addition to her work as a legislative advocate, Margo is an accomplished attorney and one of the state’s few ethics lawyers. In this capacity, Margo advises legislators, statewide officeholders, and PACs on Texas election and campaign finance law.

Outside of the Capitol, Margo enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors with her husband and the couple’s two yellow labs, Tank and Deets.

RICHARD COLLINS

Richard (Dick) H. Collins was born in Dallas and is a sixth-generation Texan. He is a former chairman and majority shareholder of two banks and has been active in real estate, energy, and media investments.

Collins currently serves as Chairman and CEO of Istation, an interactive education company with more than five million students enrolled in its network across all fifty states.

He is actively involved in philanthropy, supporting many causes in the arts, in education and historic preservation. Collins has served on the board of various charitable and philanthropic organizations. He was appointed by the Governor to the Texas Historical Commission, and the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. He has two daughters and lives in Dallas, Texas.

REP. JOHN DAVIS

John Davis is a fifth generation Texan who today proudly carries the title of “Energy Rancher.”

Davis has built a lifetime of service to his family, his community, and the state of Texas. His hard-earned business experience coupled with his bedrock conservative Republican principles and a passion for public service provided him an opportunity to serve in the Texas House of Representatives from 1998 – 2015.

Davis served in a number of leadership positions on various committees ranging from Appropriations, Public Health, Public Education, Energy Resources. He also served as Chairman of the House Economic Development Committee.

The second phase of John Davis’ professional career led him to return to his family’s roots in ranching. Today, he proudly owns and operates Pecan Spring Ranch, the family ranch in West Texas founded in 1880 by his great-great-grandparents who emigrated from Germany. Pecan Spring Ranch has developed a strong reputation for quality cattle, sheep, and goats. Inspired by his family’s land stewardship heritage, John and his wife Jayne have also begun restoration work on many of the ranch’s historical structures. Davis is a member of the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.

In 2017, Davis and his family partnered with a wind energy developer to provide ranch acreage for part of the Cactus Flats Wind Farm, one of the state’s premier wind energy developments. In addition, they are also actively working to co-locate a solar farm on his family’s ranch. Investments from these forms of clean, renewable energy allow the Davis family to carry their nineteenth-century legacy of ranching into the twenty-first century.

In 2015, he founded the independent consulting firm Pecan Spring Consulting, with a mission to champion causes such as space research and development, construction industry advocacy, healthcare policy, and Texans with disabilities. John serves as an advisor to the Texas Silver-Haired Legislators and as a Board Member of Via Hope, a mental health advocacy organization. Davis earned a BBA in finance from Baylor University and a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Houston. The Clear Lake native married his bride Jayne in 1984 and they’ve proudly raised three sons together: Reagan (married to Victoria), Samuel, and Gaston. They recently welcomed their first grandson, Brooks Edward Davis.

MICHAEL JEWELL

Michael Jewell is one of Texas’ leading authorities on energy law and public policy. He is the managing partner at his firm, Jewell & Associates, PLLC. The law firm focuses on representing clients before the Texas Legislature and state agencies on matters relating to electricity, energy, telecommunications, and other administrative issues.

Michael has more than 30 years’ experience in and with Texas government and has served as a regulatory and legislative advocate for national and international clients, including Direct Energy, Enel X, MP2 Energy, Pattern Energy, Reliant Energy, the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Toshiba.

Jewell currently serves as a Private Sector Board Member of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute. He previously worked for then-Governor George W. Bush as a liaison to the Texas Legislature on issues relating to public utilities, administrative law, tort reform, natural resources and criminal justice. In his early legislative career, he served on the staff of former State Representative Pat Hill (R – Dallas) and former State Representative Bill Ceverha (R – Dallas).

Before practicing law in Texas, Michael earned his B.A. in Plan II from the University of Texas at Austin with concentrations in Mechanical Engineering, German, and Computer Programming. Michael earned his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Jewell lives in Austin with his wife, daughter, three dogs, and two cats.

CATHY LANDTROOP

Founder and CEO of Media and PR Firm, Landtroop Strategies, Cathy Landtroop recently achieved what less than 1% of small business owners have – ten years longevity, while profitably grossing seven figures in annual sales by inspiring a team of gladiators to win for clients from California to New York stateside, with work product spanning three continents.

Referred to in an Austin paper as a “PR whiz” and “highly assertive (political) force,” Landtroop was best known in her early career for an uncanny political acumen, having strategized and created memorable winning campaigns and merch for multiple local, regional, Congressional and Presidential candidates. Her YouTube video, the “Deplorables’ Creed” garnered over 1MM views in just seven days during the 2016 cycle, with President Trump calling her “strong as garlic.”

These days Landtroop focuses her energy helping entrepreneurs and corporations increase gross sales and generate new revenue streams, telling stories for her alma mater, Texas Tech University, encouraging youth entrepreneurship, and 2x’ing her company’s bottom line year over year.

To be sure she keeps her ‘Director of World Change’ title, Landtroop represented the Republic of South Sudan’s quest for a peaceful transfer of power, a candidate running for MP in Meru, Kenya, over a million young lemonade stand entrepreneurs, and an orphanage serving hundreds of children in Luoyang, China.

Cathy is married to her husband of 26 years, former State Representative Jim Landtroop, and together they run three businesses headquartered in West Texas and have four children: Braden (24), David (23), Kenneth (22) and Lauren (19).

JOSIAH NEELEY

Josiah Neeley is a Senior Fellow and Texas Director with the R Street Institute, one of the nation’s leading free market and limited government research organizations. 

Neeley advises the institute’s Energy team, which works to advance a well-defined and limited role for government in shaping decisions about infrastructure, wholesale and retail electricity, research and development, fuel choice and diversity, and climate adaptation and mitigation. He also leads the institute’s work on legislation and issues affecting Texas.

Neeley previously served as a policy analyst for the Center for Tenth Amendment Studies and the Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Before his work at TPPF, he was an associate specializing in constitutional litigation with the law firm of Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom in Terre Haute, Indiana and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida.

Neeley has a bachelor’s degree in government and philosophy from the University of Texas and a juris doctor from Notre Dame Law School. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and family.

CARRIE SIMMONS

Carrie Simmons has deep experience advocating for critical energy issues. She works closely with thought leaders at the Capitol as well as key agency leadership on the regulatory front. Carrie currently represents the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, Cypress Creek Renewables (a utility-scale solar and energy storage developer), Enchanted Rock (a resiliency microgrid provider), and Tesla. In the most recent legislative sessions, she was active in negotiations for legislative efforts that rehauled the energy regulatory market, transmission expansion, energy resilience and electric vehicles.

In 2014, she was named the #1“Rising Lobby Star” by Capitol Inside. Over the past decade, she has repeatedly proven herself to be one of the top lobbyists in the state. Prior to her career with Texas Lobby Partners, Carrie was a legislative aide in the Texas House of Representatives, and later an account associate at Elizabeth Christian Public Relations and Affairs firm. 

In 2009, Carrie was hired as the Executive Director of the Texas House Republican Caucus. In that capacity, she provided legislative research and communication assistance to all 95 Republican Legislators in the Texas House of Representatives for over six years, three legislative sessions and multiple special sessions, providing a unique expertise.

After the 83rd Legislative Session in 2013, Carrie joined forces with fellow female Republican leaders to start Red State Women PAC. Red State Women was created to engage, empower, and inspire women to become politically active within the Republican Party. Carrie holds a degree in public relations from the University of Texas at Austin.

TERESA SPEARS

Teresa was committed to making a difference at an early age after she won a citizenship contest and represented the state of Arkansas in Washington DC in her early teens. This later led her down a path for a future in politics and government.   For 30+ years, she has volunteered and worked in Texas politics for numerous conservative candidates, elected officials and causes.

She has a long history of serving on numerous boards in multiple capacities including the Texas Federation of Republican Women, the National Federation of Republican Women and county and state Republican parties.  Teresa is a former recipient of the Ten Outstanding Republican Women award from the Texas Federation of Republican Women.

Spears served with former Texas Governor Rick Perry for 25+ years, including his Director of Organization for Texans for Rick Perry, specializing in grassroots efforts. She later joined Governor Perry at the Capitol as his Director of Governmental Appointments, as a Senior Advisor and as Deputy Chief of Staff. She served as Chief Inaugural Officer for Governor Perry’s 2007 and 2011 Inaugural Committees.

Teresa joined Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick in December of 2016 as a consultant for the development and management of the Connecting Conservative Women mentoring program and outreach efforts.

Teresa’s more than 30 years of hands-on experience gives her a keen insight and understanding for grassroots development, building relationships, problem solving, and team building with government officials, special interest and business groups.

Prior to working in politics, she served as vice president of a mortgage corporation and paralegal. In 1995 then Governor Bush appointed Spears to the Texas Commission for Women. She has been married for the past 32 years to Austin attorney Franklin Scott Spears, Jr. She has one son and two grandchildren.

DUB TAYLOR

For more than 25 years, Dub Taylor has helped advance cost-effective, clean energy technology and policy through his work in the public sector. First, with the Texas Railroad Commission’s Alternative Fuels Research and Education Division, then leading the Texas State Energy Conservation Office under three State Comptrollers.

At the national level, Taylor served on and twice chaired the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB). Originally appointed Chair by President George W. Bush’s Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, he was again appointed to this role by former Energy Secretary and Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Taylor currently serves on the PACENation Board of Directors, the National Association of Energy Officials Institute Board of Directors and the Austin ISD Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee. He is a member of the Austin-San Antonio Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers and the Texas Chapter of the Energy Services Coalition.

Prior to public service, Taylor’s private sector experience was focused in commercial real estate, property appraisal and property tax consulting. He is a native of Dallas, a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and lives in Austin with his wife, two teenage children and two basset hounds.

Skyler Williams

Williams has had a distinguished business career, holding pivotal roles in large global corporations and innovative startups in Silicon Valley and Texas. He has acquired
expertise in various technological domains, including cybersecurity, infrastructure management, and digital innovation.

He is also a Board Advisor and IT Sector Chief for the Austin chapter of InfraGard, a national non-profit organization that collaborates with
the FBI to enhance cyber and physical security for critical infrastructure.

PAT WOOD, III

Port Arthur native Pat Wood III has a long career in energy from offshore Indonesia with ARCO to leading the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under George W. Bush. 

Wood has been a key player in the market transition of the nation’s natural gas, telecom and power industries.  As CEO of the Hunt Energy Network, he leads a team developing distributed power assets across Texas. In recent years he served on the boards of SunPower, Quanta, Dynegy and LUMA, the new operator of Puerto Rico’s power grid.  Texas A&M civil engineer, Harvard lawyer, Kathleen’s husband and father of four boys. 

Energy infrastructure developer Pat Wood, III has had a distinguished career in the energy industry. He is the past Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The son of a small businessman, Wood has been a forceful advocate throughout his career for replacing government-centered regulation with customer-focused competition.

Today, as the Principal of Wood3 Resources, Wood’s development focus is on clean power generation, independent power transmission and new energy technologies. Wood led a successful effort with Sharyland Utilities to expand the Texas power grid (ERCOT) into the Texas Panhandle to attach 8,000 MW of new high-quality renewable resources. He remains involved with Sharyland/Hunt Power/InfraREIT in the further development of energy infrastructure throughout the Southwestern U.S.

Wood is the Lead Independent Director of integrated solar company SunPower and Director of utility construction firm Quanta Services. He also served as Board Chairman of independent power producer Dynegy, until its recent merger with Vistra Energy.

In 1995, Governor George W. Bush named Wood to head the Public Utility Commission of Texas, with a mandate to free up power and telecom customers from monopoly utility control. The resulting restructured Texas electric market (ERCOT) is considered to be the most robustly competitive energy market in the country, with high infrastructure investment, diverse service and technology offerings, and customer prices well below what they were under regulation. Texas leads the nation in renewable energy investment; the state’s orderly regulatory environment, reliable energy supplies and open markets underpin its economic development.

During his four years at the helm of the FERC, under President George W. Bush, Wood led the responses to the 2000-2001 California energy crisis, the bankruptcy of Enron, and the 2003 North American power blackout. By 2005, over two-thirds of the country was served by the organized wholesale power markets he championed. Under his leadership, the FERC promoted the development of a cleaner, more competitive power generation fleet, natural gas infrastructure expansions, and a more robust power transmission grid — all in the context of well-ordered competitive energy markets.

Wood holds a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Prior to his public service, Wood was a project engineer for ARCO Indonesia, and an attorney with Baker & Botts law firm.

Today, Wood serves on the Executive Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star, The Joy School Board of Trustees and is co-chair of the Strake Jesuit College Preparatory Annual Fund. He is a member of the National Petroleum Council, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory External Advisory Council, and the Texas A&M Smart Grid Council. He and his wife, Kathleen, are the parents of four sons, and they are proud to call Houston home.

MATT WELCH

STATE DIRECTOR

Matt Welch is a veteran public affairs and GOP political consultant with almost 30 years of experience in many public policy issues at the local, state, and federal level.

Prior to launching his own consulting firm, Horizon Public Affairs, Welch served for 10 years as the Legislative & PAC Director for Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR), the state’s largest political action committee, where he directed TLR PAC efforts in over 150 statewide, legislative, and judicial campaigns.

Welch served as the Deputy Regional Director for former US Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), Campaign Press Secretary to Congressman Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands), and as a legislative aide in the Texas House of Representatives.  His experience also includes 2 terms as the Communications Director for the Texas Republican House Caucus and as a media relations consultant to State Senator Larry Taylor (R – Friendswood). From 2016 – 2018, Welch served as the campaign spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Welch has been the guiding hand behind many successful public affairs campaigns and initiatives on a myriad of issues including civil justice reform, improving maritime commerce laws, enhancing the voting rights of military personnel, divesting state pension funds from Sudan (Darfur), and promoting the development of clean/renewable energy resources.  He has consistently championed free market principles, smaller government, and personal freedom.

Welch is a native of Euless, Texas and a graduate of Texas A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.  He is an advisor to “Thirst No More,” a non-profit organization that drills and repairs water wells in developing countries.  He is also a past member of the Board of Directors of Leadership Austin and the past Communications/PR Director for the Austin Cycling Association.

KEVIN BRANNON

STRATEGIC ADVISOR

Kevin Brannon is a Texas-based conservative strategist with almost thirty years experience in providing clients with a variety of public affairs, public relations, fundraising, and political consulting services.   He has assisted corporations, issue advocacy groups, trade associations, political candidates, and non-profit organizations.

For almost ten years, Brannon served in various leadership capacities for former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-Texas), including Regional Director for North Texas, Campaign Manager for the Senator’s 1996 re-election campaign, and Regional Political Director for the Phil Gramm Presidential Campaign.

In 1998, Brannon launched his consulting business, where he has since served as a consultant to numerous elected officials at the federal, state, and county level.  Capitol Inside, a Texas political publication, previously named Brannon “Most Valuable Consultant in an Individual Campaign” (2014) and “Consultant of the Year” (2010).

In the public affairs arena, Brannon has served a broad range of clients including those in telecommunications, electricity, and energy.  He was part of a team working with the Sudan Divestment Task Force supporting efforts to end genocide in Sudan.  Brannon’s private sector experience includes serving as Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Relations for a Dallas-based energy technology company.

In 2015, Brannon traveled to Israel at the invitation of the American Israel Education Foundation (“AIEF”), the charitable organization affiliated with AIPAC, America’s pro-Israel lobby.  Brannon volunteers with “Thirst No More”, a non-profit group dedicated to providing clean drinking water in underserved countries, and in 2019 he traveled to Tanzania with the organization.

Kevin is a graduate of Texas A&M University and lives in Allen, Texas with his wife, Judy.  Together, they have three daughters: Kelsey Brannon Creech of Houston; Kendall, of Fayetteville, AR; and Jenna, a student at Colorado Christian University.

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Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation Foundation (CTEI) is a non-profit clean energy education and advocacy organization launched to promote energy innovation and clean energy policies grounded in the conservative principle of common sense, market-based solutions that allow fair competition and provide greater access to clean, affordable and reliable energy.
 
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