Executive Team

Neil Koehler has over twenty years experience in ethanol production, sales, and marketing in the western United States. He was co-founder and general manager of Parallel Products, a California-based ethanol production company, which he sold to a public company in 1998. He also founded Kinergy Marketing, an ethanol sales and distribution firm that was acquired by PEI in May 2004. Neil is a Renewable Fuels Association board member and the director of the California Renewable Fuels Partnership.  He is also a sought-after speaker on the issue of renewable fuels. He has a B.A. degree in Government from Pomona College. 

Bryon McGregor has over 20 years of finance, banking and treasury experience. Prior to joining Pacific Ethanol, Bryon served as Senior Director of Treasury for E*TRADE Financial. While there, his responsibilities included international and U.S. brokerage treasury operations, corporate finance and investor relations.  Prior to E*TRADE, he served as project finance head for ARCO and as a Director at Credit Suisse First Boston. Bryon has a B.S. degree in business management from Brigham Young University.

John Miller has over twenty years of senior management and operating experience in the independent power sector, most recently with Calpine Corporation, where he was Senior Vice President of Central Services. At Calpine, John oversaw key human resources and safety programs and managed the build-out of more than twenty major power projects valued at over $6 billion. Prior to his tenure at Calpine, John served as president of Thermo Electron’s Thermo Ecotek division, where he directed Thermo Electron’s expansion of its independent power business to ten operating plants in the US, Germany and the Czech Republic. He has a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Portland.

Christopher Wright is a senior lawyer and manager with over twenty-three years of experience. Prior to serving as partner with the global law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, he served as Partner-in-Charge at the Pacific Northwest office of Cooley Godward, a leading Silicon Valley-based law firm. His career has involved advising boards of directors on compliance, securities matters, and strategic transactions, with a particular focus on guiding the development of fast growing companies. He has acted as general counsel for numerous technology enterprises in all aspects of corporate development, including fund-raising, business and technology acquisitions, mergers, and strategic alliances. He has degrees from Yale College and the University of Chicago Law School. 

Paul Koehler has over twenty years of experience in business development and marketing in the energy industry.  Prior to joining Pacific Ethanol in 2005, he served as Director of Business Development for PPM Energy, Inc., leading their efforts to develop and acquire several wind power projects.  Paul was also a co-founder of ReEnergy, one of the companies acquired by Pacific Ethanol. During the 1990s Paul worked for Portland General Electric and Enron in marketing and origination of long term transactions, risk management, and energy trading. Paul has a BA from the Honors College at the University of Oregon. 

Greg DiBiase has over fifteen years of experience in the petroleum refining and marketing business. Prior to joining PEI, he was a Director of Light Product Supply and Trading for Tesoro Refining. He has also held positions in products scheduling and accounting with Tosco Corporation and Amerada Hess Corporation. As an ethanol purchaser, Greg gained extensive knowledge of product supply and demand throughout the fuel industry as well as familiarity with refineries, suppliers and transportation companies. Through Pacific Ethanol’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Kinergy Marketing, Greg sells ethanol to major oil companies as well as independent petroleum marketers. Greg is a 1991 graduate of Temple University.