Executive Team

Michael Sullivan

Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Michael Sullivan serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for all aspects of the company’s day-to-day operations, wholesale supply, risk management, information technology and customer care. Prior to joining Champion Energy, Michael was a founding partner of Ambridge Energy, LLC, which merged with Champion Energy in June 2008. Prior to founding Ambridge, he held several roles at Reliant Energy, including front and back office operations, marketing support, commercial and industrial sales, and forecasting. Michael’s career began at Accenture after he earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of South Alabama and a Master of Business Administration from Baylor University.

Michael Slaughter

Chief Financial Officer

Mike Slaughter, Champion Energy's Chief Financial Officer, is an experienced executive with a finance and accounting background in various public and private companies, public accounting, initial and secondary public offerings, acquisitions and other capital markets transactions. In addition to accounting, financial reporting and treasury, Mike also oversees human resources and legal issues. Mike joined Champion Energy when the company was acquired in 2008 as a portfolio company of Crane Capital Group, where he was involved in investments and acquisitions. Earlier in his career, Mike held various key financial positions, most recently as Principal Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, at Eagle Global Logistics (NASDAQ: EAGL), a leading provider of global transportation and logistics services in more than 100 countries. Also founded by James R. "Jim" Crane, Eagle was sold to Apollo Management in a leveraged buy-out transaction valued at $2.2 billion. A certified public accountant with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, Mike’s career began at Price Waterhouse, where he held various positions, most recently as senior auditor for public and private entities in the services, manufacturing, financial services and construction sectors.

Brian Tamplen

Senior Vice President – Supply and Risk Management

Brian Tamplen serves as Senior Vice President – Supply and Risk Management and leads all supply and risk management related functions for Champion Energy. Brian served previously as Head of Trading for GDF Suez North America and Vice President of Commercial Operations and Asset Management for Dynegy. In addition, he has a proven history in asset and risk management with Pacific Gas and Electric, Detroit Edison, and Atmos Energy. Brian holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from The University of Texas at Tyler and a Masters of Business Administration from The University of Massachusetts.

David Visneau

Senior Vice President – Sales

As Senior Vice President – Sales, David Visneau oversees all-sales related functions in all markets served by Champion Energy. He leads Champion Energy’s customer acquisition and market development strategies for current and future markets. Prior to joining the company, David served as Director of National Accounts for Integrys Energy and held several roles at Constellation NewEnergy, including Director of National Consultants and Director of Major Accounts. In these roles he was responsible for executive level sales related functions to many of the largest Commercial and Industrial customers in the deregulated energy space. In addition, he has a proven history in sales leadership with Sempra Energy and Reliant Energy. David holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Brenda Crockett

Vice President – Market Development and Regulatory Affairs

As Vice President – Market Development and Regulatory Affairs, Brenda Crockett spearheads key issues associated with Champion Energy’s expansion into new deregulated markets. She served previously as the company’s Director of Retail Operations. After graduating from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting, Brenda’s career began in 1986 at Enron Corp. where she worked in the accounting group for West Texas Gas Pipeline and Enron Marketing and Trade. Brenda later joined NGC Corp./Dynegy Inc., working in a range of capacities: accounting, gas scheduling, transportation marketing and natural gas trading, including Senior Director of West Natural Gas. In Brenda’s most recent role as Senior Director of Retail Operations for Dynegy Energy Services, she was responsible for customer enrollment, customer service and billing system development. Brenda served as a voting member of the ERCOT Retail Market Subcommittee during the market opening and subsequently held the position of Vice Chairman of that committee.

Alon Erlichman

Vice President, Customer Operations and IT

As Vice President of Customer Operations and IT, Alon Erlichman oversees Champion Energy’s enrollments, billing, collections, and customer care functions across all markets. He is also responsible for application development and infrastructure to support Champion Energy’s business. Prior to joining Champion Energy, he held several roles at Reliant Energy, including market settlements, billing and transaction management for 2 million residential and business customers. Alon’s career began at Arthur Andersen in the Business Consulting practice after he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the Business Honors Program at the University of Texas in Austin.

John Ballenger

Director of Residential Acquisitions

John Ballenger oversees the day-to-day operations of Champion Energy’s customer care center, billing and collections. Prior to joining the company, John worked at 3M Oil & Gas as MBA consulting talent through the University of Texas’ McCombs ENHANCE Project. He was also an Execute Team Leader at Target Corporation, spearheading the research and analysis of key performance metrics. During his academic career at Texas A&M University, where John earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication and was a member of the Corps of Cadets, he was associated with several leading communications companies as a sales account executive.

Rebecca Bridges

Director of Residential Retention

Rebecca Bridges oversees Champion Energy’s residential customer retention programs. Rebecca has worked in the deregulated electricity and natural gas markets for over ten years, managing customer acquisition programs at Reliant Energy, Direct Energy and Commerce Energy prior to joining Champion Energy in 2010. Prior to her work in the energy industry, Rebecca oversaw marketing communications for Continental Airlines’ OnePass loyalty marketing program, and developed customer retention programs at Compaq Computers (now HP). Rebecca holds an MBA from Rice University and a BBA in marketing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.