All right, good morning everybody. I'm Joe Shots, deputy editor-in-chief at Politico. I'm thrilled to be sitting here with Scott Strazik, the CEO of GE Vernova and chair of the B20 energy task force here this week. Scott, a lot has changed in Washington and in state capitals over the past week. So why don't we jump in? Maybe we can start on permitting. You know, the B20 energy task force that you're chairing here has identified easing the permitting process as really central to enabling energy growth here but also overseas. Right now over there on Capitol Hill we have a major permitting reform bill in front of lawmakers who have come back from last week's election, in advance last night in the Senate. How big a deal is this bill for GE Vernova and how are you feeling about its prospects right now?
Well, I think it's an important step forward for the country. I mean, we're encouraged with the Senate's approval of the bill yesterday. I won't project what happens in the House from here, but at the end of the day, the country needs a substantial amount of infrastructure to be built. Communities deserve a vote, but through every step in the process, the term I often use is we need a shot clock. We need each step in the process to be governed by time. So every community engages, but then we keep progressing the good projects. And right now, too many good projects are getting stalled too long with the lack of the shot clock, so to speak. And we're encouraged with this next step forward in the Senate.
I mean, on the House side, you mentioned it briefly. You know, the incoming speaker Hakeem Jeffries has expressed some concerns that he may want to see some changes. You've heard that from a number of Democrats, even some Republicans. Are you at all — I mean, you guys, as well as other companies in your space, have been pushing this for a long time. Are you concerned that it falls apart or falters kind of given the change coming in Washington?
I would say our role is to serve the government at large and to educate all facets of government and what it takes for infrastructure to get built. And there's very few parts of government that we engage with that doesn't understand that infrastructure build out — we need to find a way to accelerate it. How this evolves from here, I wouldn't project myself other than to say GE Vernova's role is to serve in those conversations, to educate and provide as much optionality as possible. I mean, the company's equipment powers about 50% of the country's electricity every day. So by default we need to work with everyone in the government to help get this next, this permitting approved.
Okay. Why don't we talk AI infrastructure? Again, your task force obviously focused heavily on the buildout, which now feels a little bit more in question than maybe it did a few months ago or a year ago. Question for you. In the late 2010s, we saw a big increase in gas generation and GE and other manufacturers increased their capacity only to see demand kind of wane a bit after a few years. We've seen the market wobble over the last couple days over concerns that some of the new governors, new legislators in key data center states will impose moratoriums or otherwise slow the growth. Are you worried that history is going to repeat itself here? How are you looking at that?
Yeah, I mean, I would say the market dynamic, maybe being the stock market, represents volatility. Our end customer demand remains very strong. I mean, about 20% of our backlog today is attached to the data center dynamic. The other 80% is the electrification of the world, not just in the US but globally, in which we have substantial demand factors just not in the US. Our backlog includes over 100 customers, it includes 25 countries, and we're investing in this business because the world needs more energy. It needs a larger proportion of its energy to be electric power. And the real force multiplier for that is gas, because the incremental gas buildout allows more wind, more solar to be built around it in a way that we have a lot of conviction that the world needs more gas power, and we're investing in our businesses to serve that.
What are you — I mean, as Democrats prepare to take over in January, whether it comes to permitting or whether it comes on the data centers, like what are you saying to incoming members of the party? What are you saying to Trump administration officials right now as sort of the AI buildout hangs in the balance?
Well, I think there's a consistent theme for us, which is we need to apply the right technologies where the most competitive resources exist. The benefit in this country is we have a lot of very available and inexpensive natural gas. So we're going to build a lot of gas power in this country. We also have a lot of projects for wind, as an example, that can get built in this country, and that's why we continue to invest in our wind business. So ultimately economics are what should carry the day, and the best way to ensure that is applying the right technologies where the most competitive economic resources exist. And our job is to provide those equipment optionalities so governments can help enable their priorities to become a reality.
So just back to data centers for a second. So if there is even more — if things slow down even more, you're not worried about that from GE's perspective?
Well, I would say the question is less whether it slows down and more where does it get built. You know, at the moment, if we're debating between whether it's Texas or Ohio, that's one debate, but it doesn't have to be in the US. It can get built in Calgary. There's a lot of inexpensive natural gas there. There's plenty of other countries that are looking to invest in this infrastructure. So I think at the end of the day, this infrastructure is going to be built. The real question is where. But we're investing to serve that buildout.
So staying on the theme, GE Vernova is among the companies that made big investments in nuclear energy, obviously. A lot of the action there is also fueled by expected demand from data centers. How does nuclear fit into that? How does the backlash in a lot of parts of the country impact your outlook on nuclear?
We're investing in a very material way in our small modular reactor. And for context, everyone, that's about a 300 megawatt block of power that we can generate electricity inside at a football field size. So that's a lot of power that's power dense — a lot of electrons in a small amount of space. The world's going to need that. So we're in construction on the first plant right now in Canada. We're working very hard with the government right now to start the buildout of the first project in the US and have received the permit to begin construction and would expect to be in construction early next year in the US.
