CleanChoice CEO Honored as Firm Navigates Growth and Green Energy's Future

WASHINGTON, DC – January 28, 2026 – Tom Matzzie, the founder and CEO of CleanChoice Energy, has been named to the MO 100 Top Impact CEO Ranking for the third time, securing the No. 12 spot on the 2026 list. The recognition, awarded by impact investment bank Big Path Capital, highlights leaders who are successfully merging high-growth business models with significant social and environmental progress. This honor comes as CleanChoice Energy continues an aggressive expansion of its renewable energy portfolio while navigating the complex terrain of the consumer energy market.

“Inclusion on the MO 100 Top Impact CEO Ranking is a testament to the important work done by CleanChoice Energy to help fight catastrophic climate change,” Matzzie commented in a press release. He emphasized the company's core mission to simplify the transition to renewables, stating, “we’re on a mission to make it EASY for everyone, everywhere to choose clean energy.”

The New Standard of Leadership

The MO 100 ranking is more than a list of successful executives; it represents a paradigm shift in how business leadership is measured. Unlike traditional rankings focused solely on revenue or market capitalization, Big Path Capital’s methodology employs a “Force for Good” score. This formula weighs a company’s revenue and growth rate alongside its verified positive impact, often measured by rigorous third-party standards like the B Impact Assessment. To even be considered, companies must have generated at least $1 million in revenue in the prior year.

The 2026 cohort, for example, boasts an average revenue of $88 million and an average growth rate of 18%, demonstrating that purpose-driven companies can also be powerful economic engines. The list is populated by leaders from B Corporations and other certified entities, signaling a commitment to a stakeholder-driven model that benefits employees, communities, and the environment, not just shareholders. Matzzie’s repeated inclusion underscores a sustained commitment to this model, positioning CleanChoice Energy as a significant player in the growing impact economy.

This focus on quantifiable impact and dynamic growth is what distinguishes the MO 100. It celebrates a new archetype of CEO—one who views capitalism not as an end in itself, but as a tool to address pressing global challenges like climate change. For leaders like Matzzie, the award validates a business strategy that places environmental stewardship at the core of its value proposition.

Powering Progress with a 'Farm-to-Table' Model

At the heart of CleanChoice Energy's strategy is its pioneering 'farm-to-table' clean energy model. The company was the first in the U.S. to vertically integrate by both owning solar generation assets and directly supplying that 100% clean energy to retail customers. This approach demystifies renewable energy, allowing consumers to support clean power without the need for rooftop solar installations or other personal infrastructure investments. When a customer signs up, the company ensures that every kilowatt-hour of electricity they use is replenished on the grid with power from regional wind and solar farms.

This model is fueling rapid expansion. The company’s claims of being a “fast-growing business” are substantiated by previous placements on the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ lists. This growth is now physically manifesting in an expanding portfolio of solar projects. The company already operates an interconnected solar farm in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, with a second under construction in Kylertown.

More significantly, CleanChoice recently announced a major push into New York State. In June 2025, it acquired two large-scale solar projects in Washington and Rensselaer Counties. The Dolan and Hawthorn projects, at 27.1 MW each, are expected to collectively generate 54.2 MW of clean electricity—enough to effectively double the company's generation capacity in the Mid-Atlantic region. These projects, selected by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in a competitive bidding process, are slated to begin construction in fall 2025 and connect to the grid by the end of 2026. This expansion reflects a deliberate strategy to build and own generation in the regions it serves, tightening the connection between energy production and consumption.

Balancing Impact with Market Realities

CleanChoice Energy's mission to make green energy “EASY for everyone” has resonated with hundreds of thousands of customers across the United States. The sign-up process is designed for simplicity, often taking just a few minutes online and requiring no change in a customer's local utility provider, which continues to handle billing and grid maintenance. This “as-a-service” model has been key to empowering consumers to reduce their carbon footprint with minimal friction.

However, the path of a market disruptor is rarely without challenges. As the company has grown, it has faced some of the common growing pains associated with rapid scaling in a regulated and competitive industry. While many customers praise the company's mission and the ease of switching, some online reviews point to concerns over costs, with some consumers reporting electricity bills that were higher than they anticipated.

These anecdotal reports are underscored by more formal challenges. In December 2025, the company was named in a class-action lawsuit in Massachusetts alleging that its variable-rate plans led to significant overcharging compared to utility standard rates. This followed an August 2025 court ruling that prevented the company from compelling a customer with deception claims into private arbitration. While the company operates in a complex market with fluctuating energy prices, these legal and consumer challenges highlight the delicate balance between promoting a green mission and managing customer expectations on price and transparency. As CleanChoice Energy celebrates its CEO's leadership award and expands its physical footprint, it simultaneously navigates the critical task of maintaining consumer trust in a competitive marketplace.