Andreas Fornwald

Scott, it's great to be here. This is a conversation I've been looking forward to. The intersection of battery storage and AI infrastructure is one of the most important topics in energy right now, and I think it's still underappreciated by most people outside the industry.

The short answer is: not yet, but the trajectory is right. The challenge is that data center load growth is happening faster than the grid can respond. Interconnection queues are backed up three to five years in most major markets. Transmission is constrained. So what we're seeing is a growing interest from hyperscalers and colocation operators in behind-the-meter storage — BESS systems that can provide peak shaving, backup power, and demand charge reduction without waiting for the grid to catch up. Star Charge is seeing this demand accelerate significantly.

There are really three distinct value propositions. First, resilience — a BESS system can provide seamless backup power during grid outages, replacing or supplementing traditional diesel generators. For a hyperscale data center, even a millisecond of downtime is unacceptable. Second, peak demand management — utilities charge commercial customers based on their peak demand in a given month. A BESS system can shave those peaks, reducing demand charges that can represent thirty to forty percent of a data center's electricity bill. Third, grid services — in markets with the right regulatory frameworks, a BESS system can participate in frequency regulation, spinning reserves, and other ancillary services, generating revenue that offsets the capital cost.

Europe has been ahead on grid-scale storage in some respects — particularly in the UK and Germany, where frequency regulation markets are well-developed and storage can participate directly. The US market is more fragmented because of the patchwork of ISOs and RTOs, each with different market rules. ERCOT in Texas has been a leader — the combination of high renewable penetration and a competitive energy market has created strong incentives for storage. CAISO in California is another important market. But the regulatory reform needed to fully unlock storage value — particularly for behind-the-meter assets — is still incomplete in most US markets.

It's a natural convergence. Both EV charging and data centers are large, controllable loads that can be managed intelligently to benefit the grid. A charging station with integrated storage can charge batteries during off-peak hours when electricity is cheap and clean, then use that stored energy to charge vehicles during peak hours — reducing grid stress and lowering costs. The same logic applies to data centers. The intelligence layer — the software that optimizes when to charge, when to discharge, when to participate in grid markets — is where the real value is created. That's a core competency for Star Charge.

I see three major growth vectors. First, utility-scale storage paired with renewable generation — the IRA has dramatically improved the economics of standalone storage, and we're seeing a wave of projects in the pipeline. Second, behind-the-meter storage for large commercial and industrial customers — data centers, manufacturing, healthcare — who need resilience and want to manage their energy costs. Third, and this is the one I'm most excited about, distributed storage aggregated into virtual power plants. The ability to aggregate thousands of smaller BESS systems into a single dispatchable resource that can participate in wholesale markets is a genuine game-changer. It democratizes access to grid services and creates a new class of distributed energy asset.

Thank you, Scott. The grid is the foundation of everything — and storage is what makes a clean, reliable grid possible. I'm glad we're having this conversation.