SOLV Energy CEO on IPO debut: We're the largest provider of energy services to solar and storage

Speakers

George Hershman — CEO, SOLV Energy

Summary

SOLV Energy (MW) priced its IPO at the top of the range ($25/share), raising over $500 million, and is debuting as the largest provider of energy services for solar and storage in the US.
The primary driver for utility-scale solar demand is now AI and data center load growth, which requires rapid power deployment; solar + storage is the only solution fast enough (12-18 months) to meet this need.
Despite political rhetoric ("drill, drill, drill"), the economic reality is that solar + storage is the lowest-cost energy source, ensuring continued growth regardless of policy changes.

Trade Ideas

Ticker	Direction	Speaker	Thesis	Time
CWEN /INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS	LONG	George Hershman CEO, SOLV Energy	"Who hires you? ... Independent Power Producers. Clearway Energy companies like that." If the service provider (MW) is seeing record demand and IPOing at the top of its range, it implies their customers (the IPPs) are aggressively expanding capex and securing lucrative power purchase agreements with data centers. Long the developers owning the assets. Execution risk on large-scale project development.	1:39
MW	LONG	George Hershman CEO, SOLV Energy	"We're the largest provider of energy services to solar and storage... Pricing its IPO at $25 a share... The vast majority of load demand is because of AI." AI data centers are creating an urgent energy bottleneck. Solar + storage is the "fastest to deploy" (12-18 months) and "lowest cost" solution. As the market leader in services (building/operating) rather than just hardware, MW captures this volume growth without the commoditization risks of panel manufacturing. Long MW as a direct infrastructure play on AI energy consumption. Regulatory delays in grid interconnection or transmission capacity constraints.	0:17
FSLR /TAN	LONG	George Hershman CEO, SOLV Energy	Host notes these assets are near highs; Hershman confirms "Solar is booming... it is the fastest growth energy issue" and "Tailwinds in this market because of load demand." The market fears regarding political headwinds are overstated because the economic case (lowest cost) and speed (fastest to market) make utility-scale solar essential for powering the re-industrialization of the US (AI, manufacturing). This sustains the bull run for the broader sector. Long the sector leaders and ETF. Higher interest rates increasing project financing costs.	1:34