Chief Executive Officer & Director, SUNRUN INC
CEO of Sunrun, our nations largest solar provider, discusses partnerships & what’s to come
About Mary Powell
Mary Powell, CEO of Sunrun, has emphasized the company's role as the nation's largest distributed power plant, stating that Sunrun is "routinely leveraging the energy that we're deploying for Americans and for the grid." She noted that the company has generated cash for five consecutive quarters and that its stock has risen over 100% in the past year. Powell attributed this performance to a "sharp pivot" toward a storage-first business model, with storage installed in about 74% of new customer systems. She said Sunrun dispatched 416 megawatts of energy back to the grid in one year, enough to power half of San Francisco, and that in Puerto Rico the company's systems are "preventing blackouts on a routine basis." Powell has also addressed policy and market conditions. She described the resolution of the budget bill as providing "policy certainty" that allowed investors to appreciate the company's position. Regarding tariffs, she said Sunrun sources panels from Southeast Asia and moved away from China "a number of years ago." On the expiration of the solar tax credit for cash-and-loan customers, Powell said it affected less than 5% of Sunrun's business because most customers use a subscription model. She characterized the company's offering as providing "peace of mind" and "energy independence" for customers, and said Sunrun is in a strong position to help meet growing electricity demand driven by AI and electrification.
Transcript (10 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Reporter0:01
Australian lithium miner Liontown Resources has inked a deal with Ford to supply the automaker with 150,000 tons of lithium over the next five years. Lithium, of course, is like frankincense and myrrh and platinum and gold all put together when it comes to EVs, because it is the main element that makes electric vehicle batteries come to life. And one of the most popular EVs on the market, Ford's F-150 all-electric Lightning, can also be charged by the sun, with help from Sunrun. The nation's leading home solar company has recently partnered with Ford and its F-150 Lightning to bring a clean new energy source to the EV and your home. Today, Sunrun is celebrating its 15-year anniversary as the nation's leading home solar, battery, and energy resources provider. Let us bring in the CEO of Sunrun, Mary Powell. Mary, I love this Ford story. I love the whole Ford Lightning story because I think it's absolutely fascinating. They're all sold out, but how did this deal come about?
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Mary Powell1:03
Oh my goodness, we are so excited, Liz. It's so wonderful to talk to you today on our 15-year anniversary and to talk about Ford. I mean, the number one selling vehicle in America for the last 40 years. No wonder they're sold out, right? It's just incredible, the customer interest in Ford, in working with us in that bi-directional charger that we co-developed with them. So again, we are just beyond thrilled to be providing this kind of innovative solution to customers at a time when energy costs are going crazy, right? Cost of the pump is going crazy, utility costs are rising. So the fact that we can work together with Ford and with customers that are interested in a Ford F-150 Lightning and who are interested in solar, and bring it all together to create energy independence, more affordable energy, what's not to love? So we are just so excited.
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Reporter1:59
Explain to us how it works. We've been looking at your roof panels, and we also need to talk about cost there because yes, gasoline is very expensive, but let's talk about the cost to solarize an entire house, depending obviously on the square footage.
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Mary Powell2:14
Oh, well, my gosh. I mean, Liz, that's the amazing thing. Sunrun, one of the things that really attracted me to the company is Sunrun is the one that democratized solar. I mean, they're the ones that really came up with a financing model to make it affordable and accessible to all. So really, no money down, one easy payment, you too can have solar energy at a lower cost for your home. So it's really amazing to bring that together with the F-150, because what we're finding is more and more Americans want clean energy independence, right? They don't want to be dependent on others. They don't want to rely on utilities in California where the power goes out routinely. They don't want to worry about storms and events. So bringing these technologies together is incredibly powerful in accelerating what I've always viewed as a customer-led revolution to these new technologies that are so much more innovative and effective in serving Americans.
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Reporter3:13
And we should point out, I mean, natural gas may be down today, but it is not cheap at all. It was $9 per million British thermal units, right now it's more like $6.47. But are you working with other EV companies to have the same deal? And I know it wouldn't be Tesla because of course Tesla owns SolarCity, which is also a residential and commercial solar panel company. But what other opportunities do you see as far as the runway in EVs is concerned?
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Mary Powell3:41
I mean, EV adoption is exploding, and to your point, yes, prices can go down one day. What we all know is fundamentally fossil fuels are volatile, with a trajectory that's gone up very high lately. So the reality is, when you're powering from the sun, the sun doesn't change its price. It's generating that clean, affordable energy for all. So yes, we've been in constant conversations with different OEMs, working together on different products and approaches. And very much, our view, our focus for Sunrun is really being that beloved, trusted partner of Americans as they move to more energy-independent resources. So again, not just with the Ford F-150 vehicle, but hopefully being that gateway to other EV adoption for the customers that we serve. So we are very excited about this space. As you know, it's really growing. What's happened recently is only making it grow faster. And from an inflation perspective, I should add, we're a product that actually, when prices are rising, if there is a recession, we're the kind of product customers want because we're the company that's providing them with a more affordable way to power their future.
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Reporter5:02
Well, yeah, the sun doesn't raise its prices. I like that line. Now, we know that the Biden administration has just put a pause on the tariffs that were slapped on Chinese solar panels. How do you view something like that? I see both sides, where some are saying, wait a minute, we're supposed to be going all in on clean energy, and yet now we're suddenly going to be more dependent on cheaper imports of solar panels and photovoltaic panels from China, versus, well, let's do business here. It may help companies like yours ramp up more quickly.
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Mary Powell5:37
Well, the reality is Sunrun was a leader in ensuring that all of the vendors that we work with meet really high standards. So from our perspective, the investigation didn't make a lot of sense. The industry has been doing a lot of work. We absolutely support the notion of more manufacturing all over. As this customer revolution accelerates, Liz, the reality is we're going to need lots of countries, including our own, in this space, generating economic value for the country. So again, we see opportunity in the US. We really love all the partners that we work with, and we've always been a leader in ensuring that those we work with follow very strict protocols. So we were pleased with that pause. We were already on the record as saying we don't think the investigation is needed, and it's time to move forward and allow consumers to do what they want, which is they want more energy independence.
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Reporter6:43
All right, we'll be watching, and let us know when you get your next EV deal. We're very interested in covering this angle.
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Mary Powell6:49
Awesome, wonderful. So nice to chat with you, Liz. Great to have you on.