00:00Joining us now to explain is Mary Powell, the Sunrun CEO.
00:03And Mary, great to have you on.
00:05Look, it's quite novel, this idea that you basically will pay homeowners
00:08to power many little AI data centers directly into their homes.
00:14How does this actually work out?
00:16Like, will you own the computer processing network?
00:19Does the homeowner own it?
00:21And how much money could they realistically get from this?
00:25Well, first of all, it's so nice to chat with you.
00:26And this is a really important development.
00:28I mean, we are all about serving over a million homes across America
00:32and helping them generate their own electricity.
00:35So we provide the ability for customers to generate their own electricity,
00:40to store their own electricity.
00:42And now as we think about distributed compute
00:45and we think about the fact that the need for energy is hitting all-time highs nationally,
00:52demand is expected to grow 40% over the next decade.
00:57And at the same time, we know that AI compute needs energy, needs power on top of that.
01:04So one of the things that we found is that we could really potentially be a really important part
01:09of that solution with our customers by providing their homes with nodes
01:14that then allow them to, in essence, provide many data center capabilities
01:20and get compensated for that.
01:22So to your point, the customer would host it and the customer would then get paid
01:26for the value of meeting that demand, that AI demand.
01:31So what are the financial terms of any agreement with, you know, customer A, Mary?
01:38Well, again, we're doing this as a pilot.
01:40So we're starting with, you know, a pilot program with customers.
01:44And we wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think, obviously, that it's something that could really take off.
01:49And the values, you know, could really range.
01:51I mean, it could range from a couple hundred dollars to more than that in a month,
01:56depending on how much that node is needed.
02:00Because, again, they're not providing power from their home.
02:03What they're doing with that node is actually providing the answers,
02:08the AI answers to questions through that node in their home.
02:11And, again, we provide them the ability to generate their electricity,
02:15to store their electricity, and to become so much more in the driver's seat
02:20around how they generate, consume, and use energy.
02:24And so what we want to do is give them another way to use that energy,
02:29if they choose, and to get compensated for it.
02:31I'm, like, envisioning this future where AI has replaced all of our jobs,
02:35but we're still making money because our homes are now AI data centers.
02:38That's how it's Kevin Ward.
02:39Yeah, it's true.
02:40So I'm feeling, I see, I kind of see the future of where we're going, Mary.
02:44What about contracts for what you're going to do with this compute,
02:48with this capacity that you have?
02:49Have you already been talking to, like, any of the tech giants
02:52to maybe sell some of this specifically to them?
02:55Yeah, we're having a number of conversations with potential offtakers.
02:59There's a lot of excitement in this space, as we all know.
03:02And there also is a market for this kind of demand.
03:05So that's all part of why we want to do this really extensive pilot,
03:10so that we can learn, develop it further, and really scale with it.
03:16Mary, subscriber additions were down about 25% in the first quarter.
03:21What are you seeing in the most recent quarter?
03:24Well, we are continuing to progress on all the things that we said we would do,
03:29and we're really focused, again, on the right kind of growth.
03:33That is why Sunrun is the strong one in the space,
03:37and we are the vertically integrated operator
03:39that is providing incredible energy independence
03:43and control for Americans all over the country.
03:45So we're really pleased with the growth that we're seeing.
03:48It's exactly as we set out to accomplish.
03:52Has demand picked up then, though, Mary?
03:55Excuse me?
03:56Has demand picked up then? Is that what you're saying?
03:58Demand is really strong for the product.
04:01Make no mistake, the demand for what we're selling has never been more intense.
04:06Utility rates are rising, reliability is going down,
04:09and what Sunrun provides is a way for customers to have control and independence.
04:13Mary, sorry, if I could just jump in,
04:16because it's hard to ignore that maybe the market doesn't fully buy it.
04:19Your shares are down 33% year-to-date.
04:21You did have your partnership with Tesla and Renew Home
04:24that kind of helped pick things up,
04:25but it does feel to be this deep skepticism,
04:27whether it be about your big debt load
04:29or this narrative that you're becoming more of an AI company.
04:34What are you going to do to convince this market
04:36that this demand, this change, this pivot to AI, that it is real?
04:40There's been a lot of volatility in our space, for sure.
04:43And what is so important is to just continue to do what we've done,
04:48which is focus on what a great company does.
04:51And a great company provides incredible products and services to customers.
04:55A great company generates cash and makes sure that they're doing it
04:59in a way that is profitable, and a great company innovates.
05:02And what we're talking about today is the additional innovation,
05:06which is value on top of what we already provide customers
05:10all across the country and what we already create for Sunrun.
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