Invenergy

Invenergy is a Chicago-headquartered developer, owner and operator of power generation and storage projects, founded in 2001 and described as the largest privately held company of its kind in North America. The firm develops and constructs wind, solar, battery storage, natural gas and transmission assets, then operates them long term rather than selling on completion. Invenergy is developer and constructor for three Wisconsin projects We Energies put into construction in 2026: the 75 MW Darien Battery Storage project in Walworth County, the 150 MW Dawn Harvest solar park with 50 MW of storage in Rock County, and the 110 MW Badger Hollow Wind Energy Center in Iowa and Grant counties. The company has developed 17 projects in Wisconsin and has roughly 1,500 MW under construction there.

Invenergy grew out of one entrepreneur’s path from Ukraine to the United States. Founder Michael Polsky arrived with a mechanical engineering degree and $500 in cash, co-founded Indeck Energy Services in 1985, then started SkyGen Energy in 1990, where he met Jim Murphy, Invenergy’s future president. The two assembled a founding team of eight and built what has grown into a company of more than 2,800 employees operating across four continents.

The company’s technology lineup extends beyond wind, solar, storage, gas and transmission to include geothermal development. A separate operating arm, Invenergy Services, manages roughly 24,000 megawatts of natural gas, solar, wind and storage capacity under what the company calls an owner’s mindset, running operations and maintenance, asset management, field services, energy management and balance-of-plant work from a 24/7 Generation Control Center. Its Center of Excellence supports that work with technician training, an on-site parts warehouse and distribution center, and a component repair shop. Outside the United States, Invenergy Services also manages assets in Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Canada.

Company leaders describe the business as relationship-driven on both ends of a project. Bristi Cure, senior vice president of development, points to partnerships with communities and landowners that generate jobs and tax revenue, while Ted Romaine, executive vice president of origination, credits long-term customer relationships built on the company’s engineering work across its range of technologies. Invenergy has also spun out affiliated ventures, including Illuminate USA, Reactivate, and Energize Capital, extending its reach into domestic solar manufacturing, brownfield redevelopment, and energy-technology venture investing.