December 9, 2024 • 22 mins
Stefano brings more than 20 years of experience in development of energy infrastructure projects, management, and professional services. Throughout his career, Stefano has helped companies reach their growth aspirations and led the development of numerous clean energy infrastructure projects.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank res ands. iHeartRadio's CEOs you should know,
powered by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let's meet Stefano Rotti. He is the CEO for Shepherd
and Energy, located in the DMV, specifically in Rockville, Maryland,
but working with hundreds of clients domestically regarding solar power
in all its choices. Before we talk more about Stefano's company,
I first asked him to talk a little bit about himself,
where he's from and his origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So I grew up in Italy, in the northwest part
of Italy, pretty close to Turin, and then I went
to school actually in Milan. I studied energy engineering at
the Polytechnic University of Milan, and then I came to
the US in ninety seven as an exchange student. I
went to University of Illinois, Chicago for a couple of
(00:48):
years and then went back to Italy, and then I
came back to the US in two thousand.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Permanently tell us about coming back, And we've talked to
so many people that have been immigrants from other countries
that have come here stated loved it and of course
great opportunities, and we're going to talk a lot about
that with you. But why did you come back and
what opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, Actually it wasn't a professional reason. My wife is
from this area, so I came back because of her.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
All right, excellent. So when I looked at your background,
you've been involved in energy for a long time.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Is that something that you always wanted to do and
why did you get into that?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah? So I actually studied, like I said, energy engineering.
So I've been in the energy industry since since the
nineties in one way or another. I love energy. Energy
is fundamental to humanity. So everybody needs energy to do
almost everything we do today, and there's more and more
of a need for clean energy. We need abundant energy,
(01:45):
and so I've always had a passion for it. So yeah,
So since I graduated from from school, I did some
work actually in consulting. I didn't always do energy throughout
my career, but for the most part, I worked in
the energy industry.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So let's talk about Chaverdin and what you're doing. And
there are really a lot of amazing things. And for
full disclosure, we've talked before, but it was a couple
of years ago, and I know a lot of things
have happened, but there's gonna be a lot of new
listeners that are hearing this for the first time. So
if you could just give us your mission statement, what
is that?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah? So our mission statement is to deploy best in
class clean energy projects that create opportunities for our communities
and all stakeholders. So, and I want to emphasize here
the world deploy. So we do community solar projects for
the most part, and also other distributed energy generation projects.
(02:36):
And we focus very much on the deployment piece, which
means we want to put as many projects as we
can in the ground to generate clean energy for the people.
And so we're not a technology company. We don't own
any particular pattern or have any technology, but what we
call it development company, So we actually develop and build projects.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
All right, Well, let's talk about that because I know
projects are a big deal. U. Can you share with
us projects of the either you've done in the past
that you're proud of or someones that are currently going
on right now that you can't talk about.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah. So there's quite a few projects that we've uh
that were built over the last few years. Uh So
there's a few in Maryland. If you go to on
our website you can see you can see some of
the pictures and uh, we've we've been across different country
counties in in Maryland and then also were projects in Virginia, Delaware, Illinois,
(03:28):
New Mexico were actually we're in eleven states altogether. Some
of the ones that are the most interesting, so one
that we actually are developing right now, we were awarded
earlier this year in Sussex County, Delaware, a project to
do a floating solar array on a wastewater treatment plant.
(03:49):
So they have a lagoon there like to treat the water. Uh,
and then they're a problem with algae. Uh. The sunlight
can create can can generally can can grow out and
that creates a problem for them. So they were looking
for solutions and at the same time they were thinking
to do more clean energy. So this was a perfect
solution for them. We can put solar panels floating on
(04:13):
the lagoon and then it generates power, so it actually
makes them money and then it also prevents algae. So
this is a great project that we have and we
have several other projects throughout the country.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So before we talk a little bit more about chavernin
and all the things that you're doing, and maybe also
in the future, what's coming up in the next five
ten years, because I know you're always looking at that
technology is moving very quickly. Maybe no specific data, but
I'm always curious about how the United States. And I'm
sure that you talk to peers, you talk to people
around the world who are doing maybe something similar to
what you and your team are doing, But how do
(04:45):
we rank when it comes to the other countries when
it comes to initiatives of clean energy?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, so interesting. It's a little bit of a mixed
bag in some ways. In some areas, state United States
has been a leader in clean energy, and there's a
lot of investments that have come into the United States
that actually show that actually the United States is overall
a good place to invest in clean energy. On the
(05:10):
other hand, I have to say the United States can
be a little bit of a start and stop situation.
And you can see now, you know, maybe there's somebody
in power, and there's certain policies that they make, uh,
and then you know, the the balance of power changes,
and then the policies are changed. And we've seen that,
not just obviously at the federal level. That's that's a
(05:32):
that's an example, but also at the local level, we've
seen that in several places. So a little bit like
what's missing in the United States sometimes is that steady
hand that if you give somebody a clear signal and
you say we want clean energy. Uh, you know, we
we as the private sector, we want to know that
that that market signal will be there for the long
(05:52):
term so that we can invest and we feel comfortable investing.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Well, that makes a lot of sense. And I get
the starting and stopping. I mean some of those politics,
some of it isn't. But the world is moving forward,
there's no doubt about that. And with that said, I
think we should give a little bit more context to
all our listeners because we've said clean energy, and I
know you have a couple of times. Yeah, there are
a lot of different buckets when it comes to clean energy.
Can you kind of explain not only the ones that
you're involved with, maybe the ones that are just the
world is involved in right now.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, So when we talk about clean energy generally means
it means any source of generation that doesn't create pollutants
or harmful emissions or carbon right that create ultimately global warming.
So generally the clean energy technology is the most common
ones that are wind, wind energy, and solar energy, but
(06:37):
there's others as well, geothermal, wave energy, offshore wind, so
there's others as well. And then and then nuclear also
is by many people also considered a clean technology as well.
So all these technologies generally, that's what that's what we
refer to as clean energy. We as a company, Shabbert
and Energy, we focus very much on solar uh and
(07:01):
we do in particular. Even within solar, there's different ways
of doing solar. You can have solar on your rooftop,
that's one example of a solar application, So that's a
residential solar. You can have very very large installations in
of hundreds of acres out in the out in a
remote area, and that's utility scale. What we do actually
(07:21):
is community solar, which is in between the two, so
it's a it's a mid size installation that that then
people can subscribe to. So if you cannot do solar
on your roof, but you still want to participate to
the to the energy transition, you want to save money
on your electric bill by using solar, then you can
actually subscribe to a community solar project and and you know,
(07:45):
typically one of our projects will have maybe one hundred,
two hundred up to one thousand subscribers, uh, and then
and then they get the benefit of solar that way.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I'm glad you explained that because I think a lot
of people are hearing about solar and they say, how
does it benefit me? You know, and it gets a
little bit complicated. But you know, the one thing, and
I'm glad that you talked about that. But I also
want to talk about landowners if they have acreages, and
farmers are doing this now, and companies and businesses are
doing this around the world, including in the Midwest and
everywhere all around the United States. With that said, if
(08:16):
somebody owns the acreage and they want to do solar,
how does that work in Is that something that you
can be a part of?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah. We work with many, many landowners. We
have I think at this point about one hundred and
fifty projects in the United one hundred and fifty sites
in the United States. So we work with the one
hundred and fifty different landowners. So usually the way it works,
we will we will work with the landowner and lease
a portion of their land. So Let's say that you
(08:42):
are maybe a farmer that have you know, one hundred
acres or two hundred acres, and then you say, well,
I have this part of my land that like I'm
not doing too much with and maybe I can actually
use that for solar. We may come in and just
leave a portion of your land maybe twenty thirty acres
uni solar installation. The benefit to the landowner is that
(09:02):
they get a steady income from the from the lease, uh,
and then they can use that money to actually make
the rest of the farm more more profitable, more viable.
And oftentimes it's great for them because maybe they're struggling
to keep the farm alive and but having that additional
income stream allows them to keep keep farming as opposed
(09:23):
to you know, maybe go and sell the land for
a residential development, so allows to keep farms as farms.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
It almost seems like a no brainer.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And we don't we don't just do uh.
This is one example of the sites that we have,
but we also work with we do projects on brown fields.
So maybe like a format landfill that is no longer
that is no longer in operation, it's been capped, then
we we can do projects there. I mentioned before the
project that we do on water, we can do floating solar,
(09:54):
so all these things or other types of sites that
we also look at.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
I want to talk about competition because everybody has it
and this field with solar is a big deal, and
we talked about a big worldwide And I don't want
to assume that there's any company that specifically does what
you do. And you can talk about that, but when
you're working with your clients and you're trying to pitch
yourself and it sounds like you're very busy and hopefully
the company is profitable and you're doing well and you're growing.
(10:19):
With that said, how are you differentiating yourself from any
kind of competition.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, so there's other companies that do what we do,
so we're not the only company that does community solo.
But we do differentiate in a number of ways. The
first one is that we're very disciplined in the way
we think about where to cite our projects, and so
we give a lot of thought to that. We think
about the markets, what are the pros and cons of
(10:43):
each market, which location and where to actually put a project,
so that when we actually originate the project, we know
that that project will work. The second one is we're
also very disciplined internally. We're very focused on business processes,
so we've been able to do things very well internally.
We have a very very specific proces on how we
(11:05):
do development. So development is a complicated task. We have
to do many things, so have to get permits, we
have to interconnect to the grid, we have to obviously
do all the real estate side. We have to do
all the engineering and design, so there's many parts of
the development, which is really what we do bringing a
project from origination, from inception all the way to a
(11:26):
point where it can be built, and so we do
that very efficiently. We put a lot of thought into
how to do it, when to spend money, and how
to spend money, and so that actually makes us very
efficient internally as well. We also engage early with the
local stakeholders. We have a specific community impact group that
(11:46):
does that. So when we go let's say that we
have a new site, we're working with a new landowner,
we will go right away to meet with the neighbors.
We meet with the local communities. In some case even
before we have a site, we meet with the local
influencers or you know, if there's organizations that actually are
important in the area, we want to know about them.
(12:07):
And then we also have a program that's called Chapter
and Cares where we actually donate five thousand dollars per
megawat to some of these local organizations. So we really
want to be part of the community so that they
understand what we're doing. They see we have constant communication
and they see they see what we're doing and then
work more. There's ultimately that leads to project success and
also leads to a better relationship with the community altogether.
(12:30):
And then I would say the last thing the way
that we differentiate ourselves from the from the competition. You know,
maybe I'm a little biased here, but I we have
a phenomenal team. We really have been able to hire
people that are really passionate about what they do. They
they they they are driven, and they really strive in
our company. So we have really good company culture. It's
(12:52):
based on the three core values that we insist on
all the time, which is creativity, excellence in humanity. And
we always talk about that. It seems a little bit
cliche sometimes, but actually they are very very foundational to
what we do and that has built our company culture
in a way that's really positive. We really have had
very little turnover over the past few years, and yeah,
(13:15):
that's been also very important.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, thanks for sharing that. It is fantastic and it's
just fascinating stuff. I did want to ask you about disruption.
I've always been a big fan about any kind of
technology that is disrupting to make my life a little
bit easier, maybe less expensive, or in many different ways.
And there's so many different companies that have come over
the last ten to fifteen years that have done that.
I wouldn't say that today that any solar company is disrupting,
(13:39):
but I will say at one time it probably was
because of we're only electric companies. With that said, now,
what is the relationship just overall when it comes to
electric companies, what you do and the consumer and businesses
out there? Is there harmony? Is there a relationship because
it appears to me that everybody can kind of win
with the savings and getting back something and something going
in their pocket. Right about that, how's it going right
(14:01):
now with the relationship with everybody.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Yeah, so there's a lot of stakeholders, So definitely there's
there's a lot of people involved in the UH in
this business. So definitely, I mean for the subscribers a
subscribe to community solar, you can save money on your bill,
so that's a no brainer. So you get a credit
for any amount of power that is allocated from the
community solar project to you as a subscriber. So I
(14:24):
think that's that's definitely beneficial.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
UH.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Businesses in some case they can subscribe also as to
community solo programs, in some cases you can you can
directly get power from the from the solar installation if
you're if you're physically connected to it, so that's also
that's also a very very positive relationship. And then we
also work a lot you call them electric companies or
the utilities. Yes, uh, you know in the in in
(14:48):
the this area, for example, you have Pepco.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
There's the utilities are regional, so every every region has
different utilities, so we work with a lot of them,
uh and generally with with a a relationship with them.
I mean, ultimately, community solar is important because it puts
generation on the distribution system, so it actually avoids the
need for big transmission lines that has to you know,
(15:13):
if you if you if you need more power in
your region, right. You can either bring it from the outside, right,
But to bring it from the outside you need to
build big transmission lines which have been which is very
difficult to build. And it's also very controversial when you
have a transmission line that crosses like ten or fifteen
different counties, I mean everybody. You have to get everybody
on board, and some people don't. That sounds a little intense. Yeah,
(15:34):
it's pretty intense. It can take it can take a
decade or more to do that. But on the other hand,
you can actually generate in your own territory, and so
the more you generate locally, the less of a need
you have to bring power from the outside. So there
is a there is a benefit to the to the
electrical system as well, and so and so many of
the utilities have embraced this.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Well, that makes a lot of sense. And I don't
think this is every instance, but when it comes to disruptors,
I think that history has shown us and instead of
fighting the disruptor, partnering with them is the way to go. Right. Yeah,
I know your bias about that as I ask you that,
but like that's the way to go, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, sometimes it's in some cases the utilities are not
always happy to see us come into their territory right
and participate to the to the electric market and to
the In some ways we get into their business a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I get it. So there's not always it's not always uh, frictionalists,
let's say, uh. But but it's just like you said,
I mean, I think. I think in the long term,
I think the utilities that are partnering with US and
other companies like ours, I think they will reap the
benefits as well.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So you have to have long term vision, yes, right,
I do. Yeah, And I want to ask you about
that technology looking forward. As I take a look at
the solar panel and say, well, there it is, that's
all they can do. But as I look at my phone,
I say, well, there it is. It's fantastic. That's all
they can do. And yet they impressed me with something
else the next year. And I imagine it's that way
with your industry too. You know you talked about floating
(17:03):
solar panels on water. I didn't know that existed. That's cool.
I know we have an untapped ocean too, so that's
a whole different thing there. But when it comes to
your industry and technology. As you look about what might
be happening next five or ten years, what most excites you.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, so I think I think yes. On the solar front, certainly,
there's technological advancements. Over the past few years. The cost
of sola has come down dramatically, right, and we're seeing
this continuing, maybe a little bit at a slower pace,
and that's driven by technological innovation, more efficiency in the panels.
So just like computers, right, they get more efficient as
(17:39):
you manufacture more of them. So that's one you mentioned
floating sola. That's that's a very interesting one. There's very
very there's also other technologies like in Montgomery County, Maryland,
we actually have a project that we have developed and
it's going to be built in then over the next
few months where we actually put the panels right on
the ground. And that's that seems very simple, but very
(18:00):
innovative as well.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
And tell me why.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Yeah, so you put the panels on because when you
have limited amount of land, uh, that is actually the
solution that gives you the most production of energy per acre, right.
So it's not the it's not the uh, the arrangement
that that allows you for the most efficiency. So the
panels are a little bit uh less if they produce
less efficiently, but they produce more power. So in some
(18:25):
cases when you have when you have uh not enough
land and actually it may but but but the price
of electricity may be very high in some in some conditions,
then it makes a lot of sense. So that's another
that's another technological advancement that we're seeing, Like in some
location you can do that and actually opens up areas
that maybe you were able to do solar before, like
(18:46):
this project of Montgomery County. It's a very small property
and we're able to actually do it because we use
this technology. So that's another one. And then I would
say outside of solar too, I think energy storage is
a big is a big innovation as well.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
The more the more solar and wind, the more intermittent
source of energy you put on the grid, uh, the
more you're going to need eventually to come up with
a storage solution that actually allows you to you know,
spread out the production of solar that's not just during
the day, but also in the evening at night.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
You know, with electric vehicles they may be charging at night,
so you need to have the the supply during those hours.
So energy storage is another big technological, big technology that's
that's seeing a lot of technological advancements.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Well, it sounds like you're excited about the future and
so this is fascinating stuff. I just love it. And
everything seems to be still so untapped, which is also
very exciting because things are moving so quickly.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, with that said, I want to get some final
words from you. It's a great conversation. You're doing great work, U.
I know we're talking to a very diverse audience here
in this series. Here, Uh, just maybe some final thoughts
about not only your company, but the industry overall.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Yeah, So what unprecedented times right now? So for the
first time in the last thirty years, we're seeing more
and more demand for electricity. That's always been demand for
electricity has been flat over the last thirty years. But
now with the electrification with electric vehicles, with AI, with
data centers, with the need for more computational systems, then
(20:20):
the demand of electricity is really increasing very fast. At
the same time, we're seeing the supply of electricity that's
going down because some of the old plants are actually
being retired. Right now, we've seen this in Montgomery County.
There was an old coal plant that has been retired,
and so it's a new paradigm and clean energy is
(20:40):
going to be part of this future. We need more
abundant and more clean energy in the future, and I
think community Solo can be part of the solution, and
so we were happy to be part of the solution
as well.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Outstanding, Well, I know a lot of our brilliant listeners
have already probably googled your website, but let's give that now.
You should remind everybody that not only is it a
gorgeous website, your team does a wonderful job. It's easy
to navigate, it's beautiful, and there's sayings about landowners on
their businesses, communities, projects, news about of course, but also
careers too. I'm sure you're always looking for the best
(21:13):
of the best.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Yes, absolutely, we're only as good as our team is good.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
What's our website for everybody?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
So the website is www dot Shaberton dot com, c
H A B E. R T O N dot com.
And yes, please go check.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
It out Outstanding. It's great to see again. It's been
a couple years since we chatted, and I'm glad things
are going really well for you and your team. Continued
success and thank you so much for joining us on CEOs.
You should know thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Montgomery County, Maryland is built for business success. Here CEOs
find the resources, incentives, and support they need to grow
their businesses. From site selection to county provided incentives, Montgomery County,
Maryland is where innovation happens. Learn more at think Moco
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M and T Bank res ands. iHeartRadio's CEOs you should know,
powered by the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Let's meet Stefano Rotti. He is the CEO for Shepherd
and Energy, located in the DMV, specifically in Rockville, Maryland,
but working with hundreds of clients domestically regarding solar power
in all its choices. Before we talk more about Stefano's company,
I first asked him to talk a little bit about himself,
where he's from and his origin story.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So I grew up in Italy, in the northwest part
of Italy, pretty close to Turin, and then I went
to school actually in Milan. I studied energy engineering at
the Polytechnic University of Milan, and then I came to
the US in ninety seven as an exchange student. I
went to University of Illinois, Chicago for a couple of
(00:48):
years and then went back to Italy, and then I
came back to the US in two thousand.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Permanently tell us about coming back, And we've talked to
so many people that have been immigrants from other countries
that have come here stated loved it and of course
great opportunities, and we're going to talk a lot about
that with you. But why did you come back and
what opportunity presented itself.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Yeah, Actually it wasn't a professional reason. My wife is
from this area, so I came back because of her.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
All right, excellent. So when I looked at your background,
you've been involved in energy for a long time.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Is that something that you always wanted to do and
why did you get into that?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah? So I actually studied, like I said, energy engineering.
So I've been in the energy industry since since the
nineties in one way or another. I love energy. Energy
is fundamental to humanity. So everybody needs energy to do
almost everything we do today, and there's more and more
of a need for clean energy. We need abundant energy,
(01:45):
and so I've always had a passion for it. So yeah,
So since I graduated from from school, I did some
work actually in consulting. I didn't always do energy throughout
my career, but for the most part, I worked in
the energy industry.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So let's talk about Chaverdin and what you're doing. And
there are really a lot of amazing things. And for
full disclosure, we've talked before, but it was a couple
of years ago, and I know a lot of things
have happened, but there's gonna be a lot of new
listeners that are hearing this for the first time. So
if you could just give us your mission statement, what
is that?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah? So our mission statement is to deploy best in
class clean energy projects that create opportunities for our communities
and all stakeholders. So, and I want to emphasize here
the world deploy. So we do community solar projects for
the most part, and also other distributed energy generation projects.
(02:36):
And we focus very much on the deployment piece, which
means we want to put as many projects as we
can in the ground to generate clean energy for the people.
And so we're not a technology company. We don't own
any particular pattern or have any technology, but what we
call it development company, So we actually develop and build projects.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
All right, Well, let's talk about that because I know
projects are a big deal. U. Can you share with
us projects of the either you've done in the past
that you're proud of or someones that are currently going
on right now that you can't talk about.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah. So there's quite a few projects that we've uh
that were built over the last few years. Uh So
there's a few in Maryland. If you go to on
our website you can see you can see some of
the pictures and uh, we've we've been across different country
counties in in Maryland and then also were projects in Virginia, Delaware, Illinois,
(03:28):
New Mexico were actually we're in eleven states altogether. Some
of the ones that are the most interesting, so one
that we actually are developing right now, we were awarded
earlier this year in Sussex County, Delaware, a project to
do a floating solar array on a wastewater treatment plant.
(03:49):
So they have a lagoon there like to treat the water. Uh,
and then they're a problem with algae. Uh. The sunlight
can create can can generally can can grow out and
that creates a problem for them. So they were looking
for solutions and at the same time they were thinking
to do more clean energy. So this was a perfect
solution for them. We can put solar panels floating on
(04:13):
the lagoon and then it generates power, so it actually
makes them money and then it also prevents algae. So
this is a great project that we have and we
have several other projects throughout the country.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So before we talk a little bit more about chavernin
and all the things that you're doing, and maybe also
in the future, what's coming up in the next five
ten years, because I know you're always looking at that
technology is moving very quickly. Maybe no specific data, but
I'm always curious about how the United States. And I'm
sure that you talk to peers, you talk to people
around the world who are doing maybe something similar to
what you and your team are doing, But how do
(04:45):
we rank when it comes to the other countries when
it comes to initiatives of clean energy?
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, so interesting. It's a little bit of a mixed
bag in some ways. In some areas, state United States
has been a leader in clean energy, and there's a
lot of investments that have come into the United States
that actually show that actually the United States is overall
a good place to invest in clean energy. On the
(05:10):
other hand, I have to say the United States can
be a little bit of a start and stop situation.
And you can see now, you know, maybe there's somebody
in power, and there's certain policies that they make, uh,
and then you know, the the balance of power changes,
and then the policies are changed. And we've seen that,
not just obviously at the federal level. That's that's a
(05:32):
that's an example, but also at the local level, we've
seen that in several places. So a little bit like
what's missing in the United States sometimes is that steady
hand that if you give somebody a clear signal and
you say we want clean energy. Uh, you know, we
we as the private sector, we want to know that
that that market signal will be there for the long
(05:52):
term so that we can invest and we feel comfortable investing.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Well, that makes a lot of sense. And I get
the starting and stopping. I mean some of those politics,
some of it isn't. But the world is moving forward,
there's no doubt about that. And with that said, I
think we should give a little bit more context to
all our listeners because we've said clean energy, and I
know you have a couple of times. Yeah, there are
a lot of different buckets when it comes to clean energy.
Can you kind of explain not only the ones that
you're involved with, maybe the ones that are just the
world is involved in right now.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Yeah, So when we talk about clean energy generally means
it means any source of generation that doesn't create pollutants
or harmful emissions or carbon right that create ultimately global warming.
So generally the clean energy technology is the most common
ones that are wind, wind energy, and solar energy, but
(06:37):
there's others as well, geothermal, wave energy, offshore wind, so
there's others as well. And then and then nuclear also
is by many people also considered a clean technology as well.
So all these technologies generally, that's what that's what we
refer to as clean energy. We as a company, Shabbert
and Energy, we focus very much on solar uh and
(07:01):
we do in particular. Even within solar, there's different ways
of doing solar. You can have solar on your rooftop,
that's one example of a solar application, So that's a
residential solar. You can have very very large installations in
of hundreds of acres out in the out in a
remote area, and that's utility scale. What we do actually
(07:21):
is community solar, which is in between the two, so
it's a it's a mid size installation that that then
people can subscribe to. So if you cannot do solar
on your roof, but you still want to participate to
the to the energy transition, you want to save money
on your electric bill by using solar, then you can
actually subscribe to a community solar project and and you know,
(07:45):
typically one of our projects will have maybe one hundred,
two hundred up to one thousand subscribers, uh, and then
and then they get the benefit of solar that way.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I'm glad you explained that because I think a lot
of people are hearing about solar and they say, how
does it benefit me? You know, and it gets a
little bit complicated. But you know, the one thing, and
I'm glad that you talked about that. But I also
want to talk about landowners if they have acreages, and
farmers are doing this now, and companies and businesses are
doing this around the world, including in the Midwest and
everywhere all around the United States. With that said, if
(08:16):
somebody owns the acreage and they want to do solar,
how does that work in Is that something that you
can be a part of?
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Yeah? Absolutely, Yeah. We work with many, many landowners. We
have I think at this point about one hundred and
fifty projects in the United one hundred and fifty sites
in the United States. So we work with the one
hundred and fifty different landowners. So usually the way it works,
we will we will work with the landowner and lease
a portion of their land. So Let's say that you
(08:42):
are maybe a farmer that have you know, one hundred
acres or two hundred acres, and then you say, well,
I have this part of my land that like I'm
not doing too much with and maybe I can actually
use that for solar. We may come in and just
leave a portion of your land maybe twenty thirty acres
uni solar installation. The benefit to the landowner is that
(09:02):
they get a steady income from the from the lease, uh,
and then they can use that money to actually make
the rest of the farm more more profitable, more viable.
And oftentimes it's great for them because maybe they're struggling
to keep the farm alive and but having that additional
income stream allows them to keep keep farming as opposed
(09:23):
to you know, maybe go and sell the land for
a residential development, so allows to keep farms as farms.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
It almost seems like a no brainer.
Speaker 3 (09:31):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, And we don't we don't just do uh.
This is one example of the sites that we have,
but we also work with we do projects on brown fields.
So maybe like a format landfill that is no longer
that is no longer in operation, it's been capped, then
we we can do projects there. I mentioned before the
project that we do on water, we can do floating solar,
(09:54):
so all these things or other types of sites that
we also look at.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
I want to talk about competition because everybody has it
and this field with solar is a big deal, and
we talked about a big worldwide And I don't want
to assume that there's any company that specifically does what
you do. And you can talk about that, but when
you're working with your clients and you're trying to pitch
yourself and it sounds like you're very busy and hopefully
the company is profitable and you're doing well and you're growing.
(10:19):
With that said, how are you differentiating yourself from any
kind of competition.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yeah, so there's other companies that do what we do,
so we're not the only company that does community solo.
But we do differentiate in a number of ways. The
first one is that we're very disciplined in the way
we think about where to cite our projects, and so
we give a lot of thought to that. We think
about the markets, what are the pros and cons of
(10:43):
each market, which location and where to actually put a project,
so that when we actually originate the project, we know
that that project will work. The second one is we're
also very disciplined internally. We're very focused on business processes,
so we've been able to do things very well internally.
We have a very very specific proces on how we
(11:05):
do development. So development is a complicated task. We have
to do many things, so have to get permits, we
have to interconnect to the grid, we have to obviously
do all the real estate side. We have to do
all the engineering and design, so there's many parts of
the development, which is really what we do bringing a
project from origination, from inception all the way to a
(11:26):
point where it can be built, and so we do
that very efficiently. We put a lot of thought into
how to do it, when to spend money, and how
to spend money, and so that actually makes us very
efficient internally as well. We also engage early with the
local stakeholders. We have a specific community impact group that
(11:46):
does that. So when we go let's say that we
have a new site, we're working with a new landowner,
we will go right away to meet with the neighbors.
We meet with the local communities. In some case even
before we have a site, we meet with the local
influencers or you know, if there's organizations that actually are
important in the area, we want to know about them.
(12:07):
And then we also have a program that's called Chapter
and Cares where we actually donate five thousand dollars per
megawat to some of these local organizations. So we really
want to be part of the community so that they
understand what we're doing. They see we have constant communication
and they see they see what we're doing and then
work more. There's ultimately that leads to project success and
also leads to a better relationship with the community altogether.
(12:30):
And then I would say the last thing the way
that we differentiate ourselves from the from the competition. You know,
maybe I'm a little biased here, but I we have
a phenomenal team. We really have been able to hire
people that are really passionate about what they do. They
they they they are driven, and they really strive in
our company. So we have really good company culture. It's
(12:52):
based on the three core values that we insist on
all the time, which is creativity, excellence in humanity. And
we always talk about that. It seems a little bit
cliche sometimes, but actually they are very very foundational to
what we do and that has built our company culture
in a way that's really positive. We really have had
very little turnover over the past few years, and yeah,
(13:15):
that's been also very important.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Well, thanks for sharing that. It is fantastic and it's
just fascinating stuff. I did want to ask you about disruption.
I've always been a big fan about any kind of
technology that is disrupting to make my life a little
bit easier, maybe less expensive, or in many different ways.
And there's so many different companies that have come over
the last ten to fifteen years that have done that.
I wouldn't say that today that any solar company is disrupting,
(13:39):
but I will say at one time it probably was
because of we're only electric companies. With that said, now,
what is the relationship just overall when it comes to
electric companies, what you do and the consumer and businesses
out there? Is there harmony? Is there a relationship because
it appears to me that everybody can kind of win
with the savings and getting back something and something going
in their pocket. Right about that, how's it going right
(14:01):
now with the relationship with everybody.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
Yeah, so there's a lot of stakeholders, So definitely there's
there's a lot of people involved in the UH in
this business. So definitely, I mean for the subscribers a
subscribe to community solar, you can save money on your bill,
so that's a no brainer. So you get a credit
for any amount of power that is allocated from the
community solar project to you as a subscriber. So I
(14:24):
think that's that's definitely beneficial.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
UH.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Businesses in some case they can subscribe also as to
community solo programs, in some cases you can you can
directly get power from the from the solar installation if
you're if you're physically connected to it, so that's also
that's also a very very positive relationship. And then we
also work a lot you call them electric companies or
the utilities. Yes, uh, you know in the in in
(14:48):
the this area, for example, you have Pepco.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
There's the utilities are regional, so every every region has
different utilities, so we work with a lot of them,
uh and generally with with a a relationship with them.
I mean, ultimately, community solar is important because it puts
generation on the distribution system, so it actually avoids the
need for big transmission lines that has to you know,
(15:13):
if you if you if you need more power in
your region, right. You can either bring it from the outside, right,
But to bring it from the outside you need to
build big transmission lines which have been which is very
difficult to build. And it's also very controversial when you
have a transmission line that crosses like ten or fifteen
different counties, I mean everybody. You have to get everybody
on board, and some people don't. That sounds a little intense. Yeah,
(15:34):
it's pretty intense. It can take it can take a
decade or more to do that. But on the other hand,
you can actually generate in your own territory, and so
the more you generate locally, the less of a need
you have to bring power from the outside. So there
is a there is a benefit to the to the
electrical system as well, and so and so many of
the utilities have embraced this.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Well, that makes a lot of sense. And I don't
think this is every instance, but when it comes to disruptors,
I think that history has shown us and instead of
fighting the disruptor, partnering with them is the way to go. Right. Yeah,
I know your bias about that as I ask you that,
but like that's the way to go, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, sometimes it's in some cases the utilities are not
always happy to see us come into their territory right
and participate to the to the electric market and to
the In some ways we get into their business a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
I get it. So there's not always it's not always uh, frictionalists,
let's say, uh. But but it's just like you said,
I mean, I think. I think in the long term,
I think the utilities that are partnering with US and
other companies like ours, I think they will reap the
benefits as well.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
So you have to have long term vision, yes, right,
I do. Yeah, And I want to ask you about
that technology looking forward. As I take a look at
the solar panel and say, well, there it is, that's
all they can do. But as I look at my phone,
I say, well, there it is. It's fantastic. That's all
they can do. And yet they impressed me with something
else the next year. And I imagine it's that way
with your industry too. You know you talked about floating
(17:03):
solar panels on water. I didn't know that existed. That's cool.
I know we have an untapped ocean too, so that's
a whole different thing there. But when it comes to
your industry and technology. As you look about what might
be happening next five or ten years, what most excites you.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, so I think I think yes. On the solar front, certainly,
there's technological advancements. Over the past few years. The cost
of sola has come down dramatically, right, and we're seeing
this continuing, maybe a little bit at a slower pace,
and that's driven by technological innovation, more efficiency in the panels.
So just like computers, right, they get more efficient as
(17:39):
you manufacture more of them. So that's one you mentioned
floating sola. That's that's a very interesting one. There's very
very there's also other technologies like in Montgomery County, Maryland,
we actually have a project that we have developed and
it's going to be built in then over the next
few months where we actually put the panels right on
the ground. And that's that seems very simple, but very
(18:00):
innovative as well.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
And tell me why.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Yeah, so you put the panels on because when you
have limited amount of land, uh, that is actually the
solution that gives you the most production of energy per acre, right.
So it's not the it's not the uh, the arrangement
that that allows you for the most efficiency. So the
panels are a little bit uh less if they produce
less efficiently, but they produce more power. So in some
(18:25):
cases when you have when you have uh not enough
land and actually it may but but but the price
of electricity may be very high in some in some conditions,
then it makes a lot of sense. So that's another
that's another technological advancement that we're seeing, Like in some
location you can do that and actually opens up areas
that maybe you were able to do solar before, like
(18:46):
this project of Montgomery County. It's a very small property
and we're able to actually do it because we use
this technology. So that's another one. And then I would
say outside of solar too, I think energy storage is
a big is a big innovation as well.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
The more the more solar and wind, the more intermittent
source of energy you put on the grid, uh, the
more you're going to need eventually to come up with
a storage solution that actually allows you to you know,
spread out the production of solar that's not just during
the day, but also in the evening at night.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (19:20):
You know, with electric vehicles they may be charging at night,
so you need to have the the supply during those hours.
So energy storage is another big technological, big technology that's
that's seeing a lot of technological advancements.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Well, it sounds like you're excited about the future and
so this is fascinating stuff. I just love it. And
everything seems to be still so untapped, which is also
very exciting because things are moving so quickly.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, with that said, I want to get some final
words from you. It's a great conversation. You're doing great work, U.
I know we're talking to a very diverse audience here
in this series. Here, Uh, just maybe some final thoughts
about not only your company, but the industry overall.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Yeah, So what unprecedented times right now? So for the
first time in the last thirty years, we're seeing more
and more demand for electricity. That's always been demand for
electricity has been flat over the last thirty years. But
now with the electrification with electric vehicles, with AI, with
data centers, with the need for more computational systems, then
(20:20):
the demand of electricity is really increasing very fast. At
the same time, we're seeing the supply of electricity that's
going down because some of the old plants are actually
being retired. Right now, we've seen this in Montgomery County.
There was an old coal plant that has been retired,
and so it's a new paradigm and clean energy is
(20:40):
going to be part of this future. We need more
abundant and more clean energy in the future, and I
think community Solo can be part of the solution, and
so we were happy to be part of the solution
as well.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Outstanding, Well, I know a lot of our brilliant listeners
have already probably googled your website, but let's give that now.
You should remind everybody that not only is it a
gorgeous website, your team does a wonderful job. It's easy
to navigate, it's beautiful, and there's sayings about landowners on
their businesses, communities, projects, news about of course, but also
careers too. I'm sure you're always looking for the best
(21:13):
of the best.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Yes, absolutely, we're only as good as our team is good.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
What's our website for everybody?
Speaker 3 (21:19):
So the website is www dot Shaberton dot com, c
H A B E. R T O N dot com.
And yes, please go check.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
It out Outstanding. It's great to see again. It's been
a couple years since we chatted, and I'm glad things
are going really well for you and your team. Continued
success and thank you so much for joining us on CEOs.
You should know thank you appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Montgomery County, Maryland is built for business success. Here CEOs
find the resources, incentives, and support they need to grow
their businesses. From site selection to county provided incentives, Montgomery County,
Maryland is where innovation happens. Learn more at think Moco
dot com. That's th h I n K m Oco
dot com
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