REG names Cynthia Warner new president, CEO

An Ames-based producer of biodiesel fuel which operates a 30-million gallon per year, commercial-scale plant in Newton, has named its new chief executive officer.

Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (REG) announced Thursday that its board of directors has named Cynthia Warner as president and CEO. She will replace outgoing president and CEO Randy who has served in that position since July 2017. In a press release issued last week, the company said he will remain on the board to assist in the transition.

Among her 35 years of experience in the energy sector, Warner brings an extensive background in refining, a REG spokesman said in the press release. Most recently, she served as Executive Vice President, Operations for Andeavor — formerly Tesoro Corporation, an integrated marketing, logistics and refining company. Prior to her most recent role, Warner served as executive vice president, strategy and business development of Andeavor. Before joining Andeavor, Ms. Warner served as president, chief executive officer, and chair of the board of Sapphire Energy, a biofuels company.

Warner has also served as a vice president focused on health, safety, security and environmental technology at BP (British Petroleum).

“I am delighted and honored to be joining the REG team as President and CEO,” Warner said. “This growing company is well positioned to meet the rising global demand for cleaner, competitive low carbon fuel solutions. I look forward to the exciting future ahead and to leading the team with a continued focus on value creation.”

During the leadership transition, Howard will remain engaged with the business. Upon completion of the transition, Howard will continue to serve on the REG board of directors, a position he has held since February 2007.

“It has been a great privilege to lead the experienced senior leadership team at REG the last 18 months as they have delivered record-setting performance in EBITDA, sales and production,” Howard said. “I look forward to supporting CJ as she applies her deep experience and strategic insights to furthering REG’s success and continuing our growth trajectory.”

According to the company website, REG Newton was originally engineered and constructed by Renewable Energy Group and owned by Central Iowa Energy, LLC (CIE) in 2006 with production beginning the same year.

REG and CIE consolidated in February 2010, with REG becoming sole owner and operator of the facility. The plant was upgraded to produce an even higher purity of biodiesel from a wider array of raw materials in 2014.

The leadership change comes after biodiesel and renewable energy industry leaders are digesting updates to revised rules by the EPA on the renewable fuel standard (RFS) released Nov. 30.

The adjustments show modest changes in the amount of biomass-based diesel U.S. fuel retailers are required to sell in 2020, setting the volume requirement at 2.43 billion gallons and the 2019 advanced biofuel volume at 4.92 billion gallons. The biomass-based diesel requirement for 2019 was set at 2.1 billion gallons in last year’s rule and was flat for the previous two years.