CCE’s Top 10 Under 40: Jonathan Palmer

Photo courtesy Extropic Energy.

This year, for the third time, Canadian Consulting Engineer launched an initiative to recognize up-and-coming consulting engineers across the country. We are now showcasing them on our website, in alphabetical order by surname.

Jonathan Palmer, 34, is president and CEO of Extropic Energy in Kelowna, B.C. Over his career, he has consulted for such utilities as FortisBC, BC Hydro, Fortis Alberta, ENMAX, SaskPower and Manitoba Hydro, developing electrical master plans and modelling growth for campuses, communities and cities across Western Canada.

Palmer’s path to the profession started at a young age. His father, who had studied engineering technology and worked as an electrician and millwright, fostered an interest in technology.

“He once bought seven computers for $10 from an auction and gave them to me,” he says, “so I could take them apart and put half of them back together!”

By high school, not only was Palmer taking standard math and physics classes, but he also studied Internet business technology at the college level. To develop both technical expertise and business acumen, he followed a degree in electrical engineering from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with an MBA from the University of Saskatchewan.

“Engineering gave me hard skills that could be applied in a business context,” he explains.

Palmer worked for two consulting engineering firms: Primary Engineering and Construction, for whom he launched Saskatchewan operations, and CIMA+, which enabled a return to Kelowna. In 2021, he launched Extropic.

“I’ve always had a high entrepreneurial drive,” he says. “I wanted more flexibility to pursue other opportunities and take a holistic approach to energy, from planning and conceptualization to engineering, implementation and asset management.”

Palmer also identified opportunities to collaborate with Indigenous communities in a spirit of partnership and reconciliation. In 2023, he helped create Aurora Renewables, a construction company that partners with the Des Nedhe Group and English River First Nation to build solar, battery and microgrid projects in Northern Saskatchewan.

Today, Palmer enjoys seeing Extropic’s early energy roadmaps yielding real-world implementations.

“We’re just getting started!” he says. “I hope to see more projects come to life and solve the challenges of the energy transition in a positive way.”