Inside the Operations Control Centre, where people make resilient renewables possible
by RES | May 28, 2026 | Reading time: 5 min
When you step into the Operations Control Centre (OCC) in Denver, it’s immediately clear that this is no ordinary control room. Designed for scale, built for resilience and run with precision, the OCC reflects the team who helped bring it to life. At the centre of it all is Gabe Reveles, Director of the Americas Operations Control Centre, whose experience and approach have shaped its design and operations.
For Gabe, a career in energy was never accidental. He joined the US Navy at 17, training as a nuclear electrician and learning first‑hand what it means to operate critical infrastructure where there is no margin for error. “That experience shapes the way you think about risk, accountability and operational discipline” he recalls.
After six years in the Navy – globe‑trotting whilst at work – Gabe returned to complete his engineering degree and quickly transitioned into the renewable energy sector, starting out as a control centre operator before quickly progressing into an operations specialist role at First Solar. A leadership opportunity as OCC supervisor at Panasonic followed, where he helped build, onboard and scale OCC operations from the ground up, supporting growth from a few hundred megawatts to multi‑gigawatt portfolios.
That experience proved invaluable when Gabe joined RES after an unexpected phone call from an old colleague in October 2022. RES had a clear objective: design, build and operate a best‑in‑class OCC capable of supporting rapid growth across the Americas and beyond, and Gabe was the person for the job.
From vision to operation
“When we started, we were monitoring around 250 MW across ten solar and battery storage sites,” Gabe says. “Today, we’re operating over 3.4 GW of solar, wind and battery storage across 24 sites – and we’re still growing.”
The Denver OCC went live in late 2023 and transitioned to 24/7 operations in March 2024. Since then, new contracts, geographies and technologies have come online – including the OCC’s first new market in Brazil, with a strong pipeline set to take the portfolio beyond 4.5 GW in 2026.
With an established, experienced global control centre team based in Glasgow, UK, Gabe was able to draw on proven expertise and lessons learned across the pond – while carefully adapting those insights to meet the specific demands of the US market.
But growth, Gabe stresses, has never been the goal on its own.
“We designed the OCC for scale from day one, but we did it methodically.
The focus was building the right foundations – people, systems, compliance – so customers can trust us with their assets.”
Designed for customers, built for the future
“Every element of the OCC has been purpose‑built to meet the evolving needs of utility‑scale asset owners.”
The control room itself features 12 operator desks, designed to scale without disruption as new sites come online. Computing and storage are hosted in an external data centre, providing built‑in disaster recovery, enhanced cybersecurity and the flexibility to expand processing power as portfolios grow.
With greater scale comes greater regulatory responsibility. The OCC has also been engineered to meet NERC medium-impact compliance requirements, with SCADA integration, secure access controls, resilient network design, continuous monitoring, and backup systems embedded from the outset for utility-scale solar hybrid and storage assets.
“We didn’t want to be reactive when sites crossed regulatory thresholds – we wanted to be ready before they did,” Gabe explains.
Just as importantly, the OCC has been designed around the people who operate it. From circadian lighting that supports overnight shifts to ergonomic workstations and dedicated break areas, the environment enables operators to perform at their best 24 hours a day.
More than monitoring
“What truly differentiates the RES OCC, however, is the scope of service. We’re not just monitoring assets – we provide balance of plant services also,” Gabe explains.
“We’re a single point of control and communication, handling alarms, controls, resets, outages, escalations and coordination with grid operators, market participants and asset owners.”
This integrated approach simplifies operations for customers, increases availability and ensures faster, more consistent responses when issues arise. It’s also one of the reasons the OCC has become a trusted partner for major asset owners.
“One of our proudest moments was bringing a trusted customer on board whilst we were still building,” Gabe recalls. “We showed them the vision, and they could see where we were heading. Today, we manage most of their solar fleet, and that relationship continues to grow.”
Powered by our people
At the heart of the OCC is a diverse, highly skilled team drawn from field operations, control rooms, technical programmes, oil and gas and the military.
“Different backgrounds bring different ways of thinking,” Gabe says. “That mix makes us stronger, especially when you’re dealing with complex systems and fast‑moving issues.”
Training and development are central to the model. Operators progress through clearly defined levels, building expertise across solar, wind, storage and compliance, while being actively supported to grow their careers, whether that’s within the OCC or into wider asset management and O&M roles across RES.
“Seeing people develop is one of the most rewarding parts of my job,” Gabe adds. “If someone spends three great years in the OCC and then moves elsewhere within the business, I fully support that, that’s a win for everyone – including our customers.”
Looking ahead
Gabe is focused on scaling the OCC in a way that is as smart as it is sustainable. A key part of that journey is the enterprise SCADA solution, designed to bring multiple monitoring platforms into a single, unified view – streamlining operations, improving visibility across the portfolio, and enabling the team to support continued rapid growth with confidence.
That same commitment carries through beyond work. Gabe proudly balances leading a high‑performing operations team with being a hands‑on dance dad, spending his spare time supporting his daughter at rehearsals and competitions. Whether he’s strengthening team capability, refining processes, or cheering on his daughter from the sidelines, Gabe brings the same energy, pride and focus that underpin the OCC’s reputation for reliability and responsiveness.
With international expansion underway and conversations progressing across Canada, Europe, Latin America and Australia, the role and capacity of the Denver OCC is set to become increasingly pivotal.
“We’re building towards a truly global, 24/7 service that gives asset owners confidence – wherever their sites are, and whatever technology they’re operating.
The future of renewables depends on resilient, intelligent operations, and that’s exactly what the OCC is here to deliver.”
About:
Gabe Reveles, Director of the Americas Operations Control Centre
Gabe is an expert in control room and power plant operations with over 20 years of experience in the energy industry, including nuclear, solar, wind, and energy storage. He leads RES’ US Operations Control Centre (OCC) team, which is responsible for monitoring and controlling sites across North and South America. This is Gabe’s third renewable energy operations control centre that he has led and the second that he has designed and built.
Throughout his career in the energy sector, Gabe has operated and managed nearly 100 projects totaling 15 GW of installed capacity. His strategic oversight ensures the consistent reliability and performance of critical energy infrastructure, while his deep technical expertise and hands-on approach empower his team to address challenges quickly and optimise day-to-day operations. His ability to manage complex, multifaceted systems across multiple energy sources has made him a key contributor to the sustainable energy industry.
