New Energy Risk Appoints George Schulz as CEO, Ushering in a New Chapter of Growth and Innovation
New Energy Risk (NER), a trailblazer in providing customized performance insurance solutions for projects driving the global energy transition, announced today the appointment of George Schulz as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective June 1. The move marks a pivotal leadership transition at the company, with Schulz succeeding long-serving CEO Tom Dickson, who is stepping down after over a decade of transformative leadership.
NER, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paragon Insurance Group, has distinguished itself as a vital enabler of innovation in clean energy, sustainable fuels, and breakthrough infrastructure technologies. The company’s bespoke risk transfer and insurance products are designed to catalyze financing for novel technologies that might otherwise struggle to secure capital due to performance uncertainties. In this context, the promotion of Schulz is not merely an internal change—it signals the beginning of a new strategic phase focused on scaling and diversifying NER’s impact across emerging sectors of the low-carbon economy.
A Leader from Within
George Schulz brings a deep reservoir of experience and strategic acumen to his new role. Prior to being named CEO, he served as Managing Director of Program Development at NER, where he played a crucial role in expanding the company’s underwriting capabilities and designing insurance products tailored to the needs of frontier technologies. Schulz’s leadership helped NER secure insurance capacity for projects ranging from renewable energy generation and sustainable aviation fuels to advanced waste-to-value solutions and next-generation grid technologies.
His experience is rooted in financial services, with a unique emphasis on innovation and risk management. Schulz is not new to the concept of technology performance insurance; in fact, he has been an active contributor to its evolution from a novel idea to an essential tool in the project finance landscape. His strategic thinking, industry insight, and collaborative leadership style have earned him the respect of colleagues and clients alike.
In commenting on the leadership transition, Ron Ganiats, CEO of Paragon Insurance Group, expressed strong confidence in Schulz’s ability to take NER forward. “George has a deep understanding of our business and a strong vision for where NER can go next,” said Ganiats. “With his background in financial services and as an innovator of technology performance insurance since its inception, George is uniquely suited to advance NER’s value proposition. He brings a combination of industry expertise and commercial insight, and we’re excited to see him lead NER through its next phase of growth.”
Ganiats also acknowledged the remarkable contributions of outgoing CEO Tom Dickson. “We’re grateful for Tom’s decade of leadership. Under his guidance, NER helped unlock financing for some of the world’s most transformative projects. His leadership shaped NER into a trusted partner for innovators seeking to de-risk new technologies. We wish him the very best in his next chapter.”
Reflecting on a Decade of Transformation
Tom Dickson’s tenure at NER was marked by ambitious milestones and industry firsts. He joined the company during its formative years and played a pivotal role in establishing it as a credible partner to investors, project developers, and technology providers. Under his leadership, NER developed its proprietary analytical framework for assessing and pricing the performance risk of new technologies—one of the first of its kind in the insurance sector.
By bridging the gap between technological innovation and financial risk tolerance, Dickson and his team enabled groundbreaking projects to move forward with confidence. From solar and bioenergy to energy storage and hydrogen, NER’s policies under Dickson’s leadership provided crucial performance guarantees that unlocked debt and equity financing from risk-averse capital markets.
Importantly, Dickson also oversaw NER’s integration into Paragon Insurance Group, providing the company with the support and capacity it needed to scale its impact. As he steps down, Dickson leaves behind a well-capitalized, highly specialized company with a clear mission and a strong team in place.
Charting the Path Forward
In his first public remarks as incoming CEO, George Schulz conveyed both gratitude and a clear strategic vision. “I’m honored to take on this role,” Schulz said. “NER has a powerful mission, a unique position in the market, and a world-class team that personifies its strong reputation. The team and I thank Tom for his leadership from the first policies to securing the ability to write multi-hundred-million-dollar risks. I look forward to leading the team and working with our valued capacity partners to proactively address the emerging risks and challenges of the energy transition.”
Schulz emphasized that his immediate priorities include building on NER’s strong analytical foundation, deepening relationships with reinsurers and capital providers, and expanding product offerings into adjacent sectors. NER’s growing interest in areas such as electricity markets, tax credit insurance, feedstock supply chains, and carbon capture underscores the need for new forms of financial risk mitigation as the clean energy economy becomes more complex and interconnected.
“As the energy transition accelerates, we’re seeing new types of risk emerge—ranging from feedstock availability to policy shifts and supply chain instability,” Schulz explained. “Our role at NER is to help stakeholders navigate that uncertainty by offering rigorous, data-driven insurance solutions that provide financial stability and support growth.”
Enabling the Energy Transition at Scale
New Energy Risk’s business model is centered on making emerging technologies bankable. By analyzing the reliability and performance potential of complex engineering systems, NER is able to structure insurance policies that stand behind these systems’ output or uptime over time. This, in turn, gives lenders and investors the confidence they need to commit capital to projects that could otherwise appear too risky.
In recent years, NER has supported projects in sectors including biogas, plastic recycling, renewable diesel, green hydrogen, and direct air capture—many of which represent first-of-a-kind deployments. By offering performance insurance, NER helps overcome the “valley of death” often faced by innovators as they scale up from demonstration to commercial scale.
With Schulz at the helm, the company intends to expand both its sectoral reach and geographic footprint. As countries worldwide race to meet net-zero goals, demand is rising for financial products that can de-risk technological and project-level uncertainties. Schulz believes NER is well-positioned to meet this demand.
“Our mission remains focused on accelerating the adoption of critical technologies that reduce carbon emissions and enhance sustainability,” he noted. “We’re not just an insurer—we’re a strategic partner to those building the next generation of clean infrastructure.”
