Meet Liz Coddington: Palmetto’s New CFO on Finance, Mission, and Joining Palmetto Now

Liz Coddington, Palmetto’s new Chief Financial Officer, joins the company at an inflection point for the residential clean energy industry. Energy affordability has become a front and center issue for consumers, and Palmetto’s value proposition is incredibly well positioned to help them save through adoption of clean energy products and services. It’s an exciting time for someone interested in driving businesses on the forefront of solving consumer problems.

Liz sat down with Palmetto’s communications team to introduce herself in her new role and explain why she’s excited about joining Palmetto and solving consumer energy challenges now, when it’s more important than ever.

You’ve worked across a variety of industries. What excites you about diving into the energy space?

Energy is fundamental. Everybody needs energy, right? You need it to power your lights. You need it to have heat in the winter and cooling in the summer.

People are realizing that it may not be affordable in the future, and they don't necessarily feel they have power to do anything about it. We can give them that power with a business model that is innovative, forward thinking, consumer focused, and really works.

What excites you about joining Palmetto now?

The business model and cost structure are aligned at Palmetto, and we can do so much with it. That’s really exciting for me, both as a CFO who wants to grow and scale companies, but also as somebody who really cares about the value proposition that we're offering to consumers. It can be really meaningful for them and, in some ways, change the world.

We're at a critical moment in the company's growth trajectory. We've proven our business model with solar. We're adding in HVAC. It is super high growth, and we’ll keep adding more and more products.

At this point, Palmetto’s business model is proven, and we just need to grow it, scale it, amplify it smartly. That's kind of my personal sweet spot as a CFO. It's part of what I love.

Palmetto is more than just solar, but the solar industry has a turbulent financial history. How do you think about that as a CFO?

The industry hasn’t always had a consumer-first mindset, and that sets Palmetto apart. It’s a core value here. 

And, there’s never been a stronger case for solar than there is now. The reality is, people act with their pocketbooks. There's only so many people who will do something good for the planet if it's going to cost them more. Everyone will do the right thing if they can do it while also saving money. And I think we're at that tipping point.

We have built a model that enables us to address affordability through clean energy technology, whether it's through solar or a battery or when you need to replace your HVAC system or one of our other products. It's the right time for us to bring our offerings to market in a way that truly focuses on that consumer pain point around affordability, while still doing what's good for the environment. When the consumer wins, so does our environment. When we win, it's better for the world. A mission driven business is great, but if it doesn't have a fundamental consumer value proposition that gets at a pain point for them, it's hard for it to scale.

Now that we’re reaching this critical tipping point, it’s my job as CFO to enable the business to grow and scale by driving effective and efficient capital allocation so that we can financially support our growth and also unlock new growth vectors. This will enable us to achieve the best outcomes for consumers, our partner network, our shareholders, and our employees, too. 

What’s one great piece of advice you’ve received in business or life?

Opportunities present themselves when they come, which is not always at the moment that you expect them. You have a choice in those moments: whether to seize them or not. But I think you have to realize that opportunities come on their own timeline.

Another one is an old adage: you make your own luck. There's some element of true luck, but a lot of people that are very successful are not successful because they were lucky, but because they work hard. They really think things through and make the best decisions they can with the information that they have. That's like making your own luck.

What do you do for fun outside of work?

I have two boys. They’re nine and twelve. They both play competitive ice hockey, so I'm a hockey mom. I'm constantly at hockey games, hockey practices, watching my boys, cheering them on, and it is so awesome. I love that I get to spend time with them, help them play as much ice hockey as they possibly can, and become the players that they want to be. 

If I'm not doing that I love to exercise both through cardio and strength training (I used to work at Peloton, after all). I love to travel. I've been to every continent except for Antarctica. My husband wants to plan a trip there, but we're just waiting for the boys to be a little bit older so that it's meaningful for them, because it's a crazy trip to do.