Shaken and Stirred

Waking up to the 5^th largest earthquake in recent history is a frightening experience. First you are awoken, but like turning on an old TV, things aren’t super clear. Then, BAM, your brain realizes something is wrong. Buildings aren’t supposed to feel like sailboats on the open sea. Adrenaline firing, eyes dilated, I ran to the patio on Nicolas’s 4^th floor apartment and gazed out. I am not sure why my first reaction was to want to see outside (maybe to confirm we weren´t under attack!), but as home security alarms starting going off and glass started shattering, my thoughts turned to Nico and Pilar’s young children. I ran to their room and Nico was getting Elisa out of bed and Pilar had their newborn with her in bed. 90 seconds is a long time under these particular circumstances. I don’t remember talking to Nico as we stood under the doorframe, as we were taught as kids. It was loud and the shaking was certainly intense, so when it finally stopped, all felt very still… and that’s when we looked at each other and said holy sh*&!

Thanks to all the people that sent their thoughts my way. I am sure most of you knew much more about the situation than we did, as electricity and phones were cut off. In fact, we had no idea just how destructive the quake had been until much later on Saturday afternoon as electricity came back and we started to see images around the country. For us, plates had broken, glasses shattered, and superficial cracks in the paint ran along the walls, but we were fine. In fact, with no way to communicate and no way of getting much news other than speculation on the radio, I went for a bike ride. Finally, later in the day, I was able to get a call off to my parents who were able to spread the word that I was OK…

And just as quickly as we lost power, we got it back. I was Skyping and responding to the deluge of emails from friends and family. Amazing really. With the exception of the aftershocks happening pretty frequently, we are back to normal. However, Chile as a whole faces a longer road to recovery and many have suffered great losses. I have to admit that I am amazed that the casualty numbers weren’t much higher. It really speaks to Chile’s preparedness for this kind of event. Certainly houses and bridges collapsed, but for the most part, structures held strong and people were able to escape damaged buildings and the oncoming tsunami without harm.

So that’s it. I will keep sending updates, but for me it’s back work tomorrow... If only we could harness the power from an earthquake for electricity!

Much love.

It's been a while...

Hola from Chile. It’s been a while since I wrote a blog, so for those of you that may not know…

I got back to the USofA in the summer of 2007 after a “wanderlustful” trip in Latin America. I started the MBA program at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the fall and dug in my heels. It was a challenging, engaging, and rewarding two years that helped me refocus on a career that incorporated entrepreneurialism and renewable energy. Fortunately there were several other folks in my program with the same interest, and, serendipitously, one was from Chile…

During those two years, four of us did a deep dive on the renewable energy opportunities in Chile and by the end, we had written a business plan to create an early stage wind development company down there. But writing a B-plan is one thing; implementing is another! As we prepared to get our diplomas in the spring of 2009, Nicolas (the Chilean) and I wanted to take it to the next level…

We reached out to two of Nicolas’s college friends (Felipe Oettinger and Juan Rodillo) who had started a Chilean energy development company in 2007 when Chilean laws changed to allow smaller players to enter the energy market. At that point they had developed two diesel thermoelectric plants in the north of Chile and a mini-hydro project closer to Santiago. We proposed that we join their team and pursue other renewable energy opportunities, particularly wind and eventually solar…

In July of 2009, Felipe and Juan came to the US and we spent two weeks visiting energy developers, investors, national energy labs, professors, and attended a solar conference. At the end, we were encouraged by the interest we had evoked in many people we spoke with and collectively decided to push on and try to find a US partner that had expertise in wind and solar development. So the courting process began…

Well, just before the end of 2009, we signed a joint venture agreement with one of the largest wind developers in the US to initially develop wind (and eventually solar) projects in Chile. Needless to say, this was the best Christmas gift I could ask for, and it also meant I would need to go down to Chile and help get the ball rolling and help host the team from the US when they came down…

After spending the holidays hunting powder with my two best friends (Lindsay and Pancho) and visiting family in CO and NV, I left for Chile in January. Since then, we have hosted three guys from the US company who came down at the end of January to discuss the Joint Venture and visit several sites we are considering for development. They left excited about the potential and now it is up to us to make it kinetic!

This process has been very exciting, but we all realize we still have a long way to go before a turbine is spinning, so we press on! We are also continuing to look at mini-hydro and sustainable land development opportunities, so needless to say we have our hands full.

However, I have to admit I have been fortunate enough to enjoy Chile’s many fruits (literally and figuratively) as it is full on summer down here. I have accompanied Nicolas and his wife (Pilar) to their families’ summerhouses and learned many new aquatic activities. Chileans are definitely "weekend warriors" and that helps justify meals that have 3 courses of dessert, not to mention cheese appetizers, fresh seafood, salads, and of course, Chilean wine, “the best in the world” I am told from an “unbiased” bunch— yeah right!

Much love to all and I will try to post another update before another 2 years goes by!

Judd -- judsonrogers@gmail.com

Below are some pictures, which probably interest you more:

Looking for wind... There are a lot of things to think about when looking for a good wind site, such as wind resource, ability to connect to the electric grid, and road access (wind blades/turbines/towers are HUGE!). One telling sign of good wind is the trees in the area:

Two sites we are looking at just outside of Santiago:

Felipe and Nicolas discussing the opportunity to construct a mini-hydro plant on this river above the town of Pucon.

Raising a toast to our Joint Venture during our site visit several hours south of Santiago:

Nico's family and some pics at his dad's summer house on Lago Villarica... amazing place. Very similar to Lake Tahoe, but you can buy 100 acre plots:

Some activities nearby Lago Villarica:

Biking below Volcan Villarica, but above the clouds:

Sunset rooster tails with Volcan Villarica in background:

Golf with Rolf, Chilean style

Apps on the floating table in the wood burning hot tub:

Family of Pilar (Nico's wife) at their lake house in Vichuquen:

Don Julio (Pilar's dad) is a grill master. There was something on the grill everyday for lunch and dinner, and lots of Chilean wine to wash it down...

Activities at Vichuquen:

Pilar, Nicolas, and cousin Julio coming in hot... I was out of the frame probably trying to pull my sail out of the water...

Balls that float and a jetskier with net and helmet makes for some fun...Fore!:

Sunrise kayak in the fog:

Duck hunting. For my hunting friends, you would be proud of my breasting and marinating skills... The Chileans were impressed!

Elisa (2 yrs) showing off on her waterski trainer:

Nicolas and Pilar's newborn (Jan 29th) Ema:


Elisa hard at work:

Hanging out with Pancho "Chaleco" Lopez, a national hero, who got 3rd place this year racing motorcylces in the Dakar, which was hosted in Chile and Argentina

Grilling (err, watching/eating) the world famous Chilean Sea Bass, caught just hours before

Sunday hike up the "Mount Sanitas" of Santiago which is called Manquehue. Unlike Boulder, I didn't see a single person as I looked down on a city of more that 5 million.