[1]: 168 Ellis grew up in Concord, Massachusetts and attended Phillips Academy Andover, he later went to Colorado College.
While working for Senator Brooke among the issues he studied was the turmoil in the nation's energy supply caused by the change towards a more assertive pricing strategy by members of OPEC.
Ellis was recruited to Kenetech Corporation, one of the nation's foremost windpower development and turbine manufacturers.
Kenetech obtained venture capital support and quickly achieved an important place in the industry.
Subsequent to Kenetech and before joining RockPort, Ellis and a partner formed a company which developed two independent power plants.