00:00As you get ready to be CEO, what do you think is the best way to capitalize on the growth
00:05of data centers and the need for electricity at the same time?
00:09So, you know, our strategy is pretty clear on how we think about data centers.
00:13Data centers need to bring their own power.
00:15We believe that's the right thing for the markets and the right thing for reliability.
00:18We happen to have the GEV-Kiewit deal, which gives us an opportunity to actually produce or build 5.4
00:24gigs of gen.
00:26That's one way to create value.
00:27The other side of it is because of our big consumer business, we have the opportunity to actually answer questions
00:33or answer challenges of consumers and businesses from an affordability perspective.
00:38We can help them manage their load.
00:40We can help manage their costs.
00:42How does the ongoing war affect the strategy?
00:45So the ongoing war affects our customers, right?
00:48At the end of the day, what's going on in the Middle East impacts the price of things like gasoline,
00:54impacts just the overall economy.
00:56From us directly, we're here to solve problems for our customers.
00:59So as their wallets get tighter, as their income statements get challenged by other costs, we have products that can
01:06actually help them mitigate their electricity costs.
01:09I am curious, what exactly are you hearing from your customers?
01:13So we're hearing a lot of things from our customers, not so much necessarily about the war.
01:18You know, they've called us to ask questions about, you know, what are natural gas prices going to do?
01:22What's what's electricity prices going to do?
01:25But more generally, you know, this is their concerns are around what's this going to do to the economy?
01:30What does that mean to their order book, what they're doing?
01:33And, you know, we're here to help them with managing their cost side.
01:37And I think we've got several products that can actually help them.
01:40Investors are eagerly awaiting to hear about data centers involving you, other independent power producers.
01:46Are we at the show me stage now of the AI boom?
01:50I believe from an IP piece perspective or from a electricity perspective, we've had time.
01:55We will get to a place.
01:57We're very confident we'll be announcing the first data center.
01:59But I would tell you we are in the early innings.
02:01So investors are going to finally hear about deals, but there's more to come because the demand from the AI
02:08side, there's a lot.
02:10Are you sensing patience from investors?
02:13No, no.
02:16Our investors rightfully would like to see their capital put to work and for us to create value for them.
02:21A years long wait for new natural gas turbines.
02:23How big of a risk is that for NRG's ambitions to add new electric capacity?
02:27So we're in a unique spot.
02:29That's actually an opportunity for us because we're not just calling up and asking for a turbine today.
02:34Over a year ago, we announced our partnership with GEV and Kiewit.
02:37And so we actually have line of sight to nine turbines, 5.4 gigawatts.
02:42And more importantly, in the piece that's coming is do you have the humans?
02:45Do you have the skilled labor to actually build the power plants?
02:48And that's the second part of our deal from a year ago with Kiewit.
02:50We now have the turbines.
02:52We have the people who can build it.
02:54And then we have the developer, NRG, so we can actually put stuff on the ground.
02:57Because there's a backlog in the turbines, would you consider pushing back into the development of renewables?
03:03We'll always look at renewables.
03:04We'll look at renewables.
03:05We'll look at batteries.
03:07We'll look at all the technologies.
03:08At the end of the day, we're going to go somewhere that can serve our customers and serve our book.
03:12As far as like the economics on where we go, right now we're focused on providing that firming capacity for
03:20the data centers and for the markets.
03:22If people want renewables, we are here to provide them.
03:25We've already got 2,000 megawatts of renewables in our book.
03:29We added 1,000 megawatts of batteries just this last year.
03:32So we're there.
03:33But the big focus and the thing that the market needs today is dispatchable thermal generation.
03:38Appreciate your time.
03:39Thanks for having me.
03:40Thank you so much.
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