New CEO appointed at ERI as ‘GG’ retires

Almost the last recognizable face of the original team at Energy Recovery Inc (ERI), provider of energy-recovery devices for desalination, will now disappear with the retirement of its CEO, GG Pique.

Pique served as ERI’s CEO for nine of his 11 years with the company, during which it became a major supplier to the desalination industry, went public in July 2008, bought Pump Engineering Inc in 2009 and brought the company’s distinctive yellow shirts to many industry expositions. During the last three years, the California-based company has had to weather some choppy financial water and lost many experienced staff members (as well as the yellow shirts).

The new CEO is Tom Rooney, most recently the CEO of SPG Solar, one of the largest solar integrators in the US. Rooney’s previous posts have included president and CEO at Insituform Technologies Inc and board member of Beijing-based Duoyuan Global Water Inc.

“ERI is a proven leader in the desalination and clean water industries, and I am excited to be working with such a dedicated and diverse group of people,” said Rooney. “In addition to strengthening our market presence in desalination, I am also looking forward to tapping into the enormous potential ERI’s energy-efficiency technology offers for a variety of cleantech applications.”