David Ulrey

Chief Financial Officer, Fervo

Search every verified David Ulrey interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. David Ulrey, Chief Financial Officer at Fervo Energy, spoke at the company’s Technology Day 2024 and at the Yale Innovation Summit 2025, where he discussed the company’s progress and financing strategies for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). At Technology Day, he announced that Fervo had closed $100 million in debt at the Project Cape Phase 1 level, describing it as a first step in project finance for the company and EGS broadly. He also stated that the technology is ready for scaling, citing lower drilling costs and more predictable resource performance than anticipated, while noting that accessing less dilutive capital remains a challenge. At the Yale summit, Ulrey addressed the difficulty of bridging venture and infrastructure investment for first-of-a-kind projects, noting that growth equity investors are unwilling to take on technology risk. He said that no investors in conventional geothermal have invested in Fervo, attributing this to the industry’s history of resource unpredictability. Ulrey emphasized that scaling the company is primarily a capital question and encouraged investors to define specific concerns rather than labeling the technology as risky. He also discussed technical considerations, such as well diameter and flow rate, as factors in evaluating potential projects.