Aaron Jagdfeld
Analyst · Truist Securities. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Yes. Thanks, Jordan. We're still bullish on that segment. It's just gone. It's gone. And as you said, it's been a little bit quieter here. The higher rate environment has made some of those projects a little more difficult to pencil out. What's interesting is it kind of falls along the lines of a lot of the other, I'll call it, kind of clean energy related efforts, in terms of the impact of high rates, and that's something that's created a situation where the projects haven't gone away. They just haven't gotten a closure. So, I think, what's happening there is those projects are kind of idling in the background waiting for a more constructive rate environment. And then, we would expect that that's a segment that's still going to grow where a liter of natural gas gensets, which are used in those types of applications. I think one extension of that, that is becoming a little clearer, we're finding that the whole beyond standby category, which we had, I think, largely defined as just using a generator for purposes other than just emergency backup, using it to also supplement a grid that's under heavy stress. I think what we're finding is that maybe we have to expand our definition of that to include some of these microgrid projects as well, because in effect, what's happening is many of the microgrid projects have natural gas generators as an important component, but they also contain other pieces. They contain storage. So, the SunGrid acquisition that we announced this quarter, and that we talked a little bit about in the prepared remarks, gets us closer to another critical component of microgrids, which is the behind-the-meter storage element of that. And then, we also called out that we're seeing EV charging be part of these -- some of these projects as well. So, commercial-grade EV charging, so our partnership with Wallbox, I think, helps us be a little bit more of an important supplier to a microgrid project. And we continue to build out our competencies there in not only the assets, but the ecosystem, if you will, as we call it, similar to the residential ecosystem. We think there's an ecosystem developing on the C&I side. And we think that kind of that beyond standby moniker kind of would likely going to grow to include some of the activity we're seeing around these microgrid projects. So, still bullish on it, but I think in a challenging rate environment just I think it's softer than it will be longer term.