The Paygo Executive Management Team

Phil J. Baratz is president of Angus Energy, CEO of Paygo, and the Managing Member of Angus Partners, LLC. Angus began providing hedging services in 1991, and has grown steadily, with over 600 clients, including publicly traded companies and municipalities. Angus offers a diverse range of products and services to distributors and end users, each customized to the needs and locations of the client. Phil founded, built and successfully sold Total Gas & Electric, a deregulated energy marketing company, which exceeded $100 million in sales. He also is a board member of several industry associations as well as several privately owned home heating oil companies. From 1983-1985 he was a member of, and trader on, the New York Futures Exchange. He has been trading in futures and options since 1983 and exclusively energy related since 1991. Beginning in 1991, Phil has written a monthly column in Oilheating Magazine (now Indoor Comforting Magazine) and has been published in a variety a trade publications.

Chris Porch is a technology entrepreneur who has led several successful start-up companies. Previously, Chris was the President and Chief Operating Officer at TrueCar, the leading internet car buying service, overseeing growth from $10 to $75M over 3 years. TrueCar powers car buying for major brands including American Express, USAA, and Consumer Reports. Chris was the Chief Executive Officer at Between Markets, an Austin-based technology company building on-demand supply chain vendor compliance software for retailers and manufacturers to on-board, monitor and scorecard trading partners. Chris was the Co-Founder of Trilogy Software, and was responsible for managing the high tech and automotive verticals. He also ran Trilogy’s $100M joint venture with Ford Motor Company. He graduated from Stanford with a BS in Economics.

Rich Goldberg is one of the energy industry’s leading marketing experts. For nearly 20 years, his award winning firm, Warm Thoughts Communications, Inc., has advised the nation’s premier residential heating oil, propane, and HVAC companies on ways to improve their marketing, sales and customer retention. Since 2012, he has also served as Paygo’s CMO. Rich’s columns appear regularly in national trade publications serving the fuel industry. He has received consistently excellent reviews for his presentations at AREE, NEFI, NPGA, PGANE and more. Rich graduated from the University of Virginia and is a former international Vice President of the Young Entrepreneur’s Organization. He lives in Montclair, NJ, with his wife and four children.

Jeff Simpson is Managing Director of Angus Finance and is also an asset manager for Angus Fund, L.P. He manages the financing that is a available for the Paygo program. Jeff joined Angus Energy in 2011 and brings nearly two decades of fuel industry experience, including over ten years in the financial, banking and risk management arenas. He was previously Vice President of Energy Lending at Citizens Bank in Boston, MA and a Director at RenRe Energy Advisors Ltd. in Hartford, CT. A frequent speaker at fuel industry conferences on the topics of dealer finance, forecasting, banking relations and commodity and weather risk management, Jeff has worked extensively with oil and propane companies. Jeff began his career at a large Mid-Atlantic heating oil and propane distributor where he worked in operations and development roles prior to his finance career. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Villanova University and a J.D. from the Syracuse University School of Law.

Steve Kurtz is the Chief Technology Officer and Director of Operations for Paygo. Steve has consulted with Angus Energy since 2002 and joined the staff as Information Technology Director in 2009. Prior to joining the Angus family, he was a Software Development Product Manager at Ultimate Software, including 11 years of end-to-end software product management experience. Steve now manages all aspects of Angus Energy and Paygo development and operations, in support of its internal and external clients. He is a husband and father of four sons, a marathon runner and serves on the boards of multiple community organizations. Steve holds a BSME in Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University as well as a ME in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Carlton Christian, CPA, joined Angus Energy in 2012 as Chief Financial Officer. He assumes responsibility for the financial management of Paygo as well. After completing his Bachelors Degree in Accounting and Management of Information Systems at Florida International University, Carlton joined KPMG LLP where he worked for four years in their assurance practice. He recently served as Corporate Controller for Liberty Power Corp, a major electricity provider that serves businesses in the northeast, mid-Atlantic and Texas. In addition to more than ten years of strategic planning and forecasting experience, Carlton brings with him 17 years of financial management and reporting expertise. Carlton’s wide-ranging skills include restructuring, acquisitions & mergers, internal controls and process improvement.

Nella Mahoney has been the Account Manager for Angus Energy’s Paygo Division since January 2014. Nella brings decades of fuel industry experience to our Paygo clients. After graduating with a degree in radio broadcasting and an FCC broadcast license Nella went to work for her families’ fuel company, Abbott & Mills Energy in Newburgh, NY. In her 32 years with the company she advanced from a clerical position to customer service, service dispatch, service manager and finally General Manager. Nella has served on the Board of Directors for the Hudson Valley Oil and Energy Council since 1995. In 2003 she was named the association’s “Oil Person of the Year,” the first time the award was given to a woman.

Nella was a member of the National Association of Oil & Energy Service Professionals. She has been a featured speaker for the Petroleum Marketers Association of America and participated in the Women of Oil Heat Conference sponsored by the New England Fuel Institute.