The Norm Taylor, Award is the IDEA “Person of the Year” Award, the highest individual recognition IDEA bestows and where we recognize a career achievement and contribution to the industry.
2023's recipient of the Norm Taylor Award, Jim Lodge, Chief Revenue Officer, CenTrio, has been an active member of IDEA for over 25 years. He served on the board of directors for six years and as a member of the executive committee for an additional five, chairing IDEA in 2018 – 2019.
Over that time, and still to this day, he has served as a panelist, moderator, presenter, conference general chair and everything in between. One time, when his organization was hosting this annual conference, the outdoor temperature reached 123 degrees F and even though he would call it a “dry heat”, regional jets couldn’t land or lift and the runways were literally melting. However, the large ice storage and district cooling system serving Diamondbacks Stadium was the coolest spot in Phoenix and he was “invited” to be interviewed on local television.
After earning his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, he began his career with APS Energy Services, eventually serving as president of the non-regulated subsidiaries of Arizona Public Service. He earned an Masters in Business Administration in Finance from Arizona State University and was the principal developer of the downtown district cooling system in Phoenix, Arizona which began operations in 1998. At the time, Norm and I were colleagues, I was in Boston and he was in Phoenix, both representing the respective non-regulated subsidiaries of parent electric utilities and partnering with what was then known as Northwind Chicago, the original developers of the CenTrio downtown district cooling system.
Over the course of a 40 year career in executive management, business development, strategic planning and P&L and operations responsibilities, he also developed tremendous expertise in large chilled water systems, managing development and complex infrastructure expansion and renewal, often spearheading key investments to generate greater value for stakeholders, and strengthen efficiency, resiliency and environmental targets.
Previously he served as President of Clearway Community Energy, responsible for District Energy, Microgrid and CHP business throughout the U.S.
Today Jim Lodge is the Chief Operating Officer for CenTrio, responsible for oversight of the day-to-day operations including supervision of its nine district energy systems along with responsibility for management of the engineering, project management, operations technology and information technology functions. CenTrio is a fully integrated, sustainable district energy services provider to higher education and healthcare campuses, cities, and communities currently serving more than 130 million square feet of building space.
Norm Taylor served as President of IDHCA in 1978 and was recognized for how he treated people with dignity and humility.