Ella Rose, Electric Grid Expert, Entrepreneur, Photovoltaics Advocate, March ‘25

Meet the Rennaissance Woman Spearheading a Charge for Nuclear in Colorado

A pilot, mom, entrepreneur, photovoltaics advocate, veteran, skier, mountain climber, political hopeful, hiker, academic, mechanical engineer, electrical grid expert, and nuclear energy champion—Ella Rose embodies the spirit of a true renaissance woman. As President of the Colorado Nuclear Alliance, she brings a wealth of experience and passion to advancing clean energy solutions.

Rose grew up in a small farming community in Nebraska, exploring the local rivers and learning about the ecology firsthand and in classes in high school. In these formative years, Rose developed a lifelong love of animals and the environment. Some of her first jobs were at a veterinarian clinic and an animal rescue organization in the Caribbean. 

While Rose was destined to enter the energy space, her life had several turns to take first. As a 24-year-old, she received a private pilot’s license in only three months and then enlisted in the military. She became an F-16 crew chief and after leaving the service, received a CAD certificate at 28. 

Following in the footsteps of her brother, Rose decided to study mechanical engineering at the University of Missouri - Kansas City and discovered a passion for energy generation. While she wanted to pursue aerospace or nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering offered better job security. Rose joined Burns & McDonnell, a large engineering firm. 

“I really wanted to get a job with a coal-fired power plant and go to work wearing steel-toed boots and coveralls and a hard hat, and somehow I ended up in a skirt and heels at a consulting firm,” Rose said. “ I ended up working really well with the project manager who was doing all of the renewable consulting. So I worked with him for like eight years and then moved on. Most of my experience has been in wind energy.” 

Rose believes in a clean grid with a diverse mix of renewables and nuclear energy for resilience and environmental goals. For Rose, combining solar and agriculture (agrovoltaics) offers farmers a chance at economic vitality while producing clean electricity; it is the basis of a sustainable future. With her business Rose Energy, which she founded in 2023, Rose helps install photovoltaics in rural communities. 

“I am still a proponent of renewable energy. Relying on any one energy source is bad security. For me, agrivoltaics is a way to take my experience in the renewable space and invest in our rural communities,” Rose said. “I see a future where our rural communities are much more significant in how things are run from an ecological perspective and an agricultural perspective, and so giving those communities more opportunity to rise and hold on to their power. I don't want farmers to have to decide between farming or making money.”

Although Rose had always supported nuclear energy, it was a speech at an Energy and Environment Leadership Summit in Greeley, Colorado, several years ago that transformed her into a passionate advocate. Inspired, she joined the Colorado Nuclear Alliance and quickly assumed a leadership role, driving efforts to promote nuclear energy across the state. 

Rose is proud of her efforts in professionalizing the Colorado Nuclear Alliance and their work in supporting legislation, communicating with legislators, passing bylaws, and working together through democratic processes. 

“I cried a little bit, sort of, I choked up, because I want us to take a moment and reflect on some of the things we did in the past year. We are on a first-name basis with a lot of legislators. We built relationships one-on-one with Democrats,” Rose said. “We are the glue of communication for a lot of things that are happening in the state with respect to nuclear energy.” 

Rose climbing Longs Peak, in Colorado, where she has grown into a passionate environmental and nuclear energy advocate.

Rose moved to Colorado for the mountains - the skiing, the hiking, and the outdoor activities. Conservation is important to the state and Rose said she thinks if the state can achieve a good energy mix, it could set the tone for how other states could do the same. 

Rose, a self-professed energy grid nerd, has a deep respect for the grid and the incredible process of instant electricity. But for Rose, nuclear’s prime benefit relates not to generation, but to the climate. 
“If we can make electrons without spewing (emissions) out into the air that we're trying to breathe,” Rose said. “If we can do that, why would we not (use nuclear)?”

Ultimately, Rose said she is “destined” to “serve Mother Earth” to bring healing, battle climate change, and offer her four-year-old daughter a brighter future. 

Rose on a panel about nuclear energy in Colorado.

With the Colorado Nuclear Alliance, Rose hopes to continue local efforts to bring nuclear energy to communities in the state and demonstrate the economic benefits that come with the nuclear energy supply chain. Additionally, the Alliance intends to pressure both the state and the utilities (namely Xcel) to be more assertive in enticing data companies to locate in Colorado, fueled by nuclear. 

When not advocating for clean energy, Rose is a proud mom, aspires to climb Mt. Denali, runs triathlons, and is in a PhD program studying regenerative agriculture. 

At her core, Rose is driven by a love of the environment, people, and animals. 

“That ecological foundation that I had from my childhood, that's always there,” Rose said. “Every decision I make is always trying to be the best decision for not just me, but for my environment, for my community.”