Episode summary
'This Was the Right Play': GE Vernova CEO Talks Splitting Off From GE and Nukes | At Barron's
At Barron's
· · 26 min · Hosts: Andy Serwer · Guests: Scott Strazik
Summary
GE Vernova’s CEO Scott Strazik argued that the company’s separation from GE was the right move because it created a focused power-and-electrification business with a clearer capital allocation story. He said GE Vernova now generates about 25% of the world’s electricity through its installed base, with major exposure to gas power, wind, nuclear, and grid equipment, and that the U.S. is its fastest-growing market as electricity demand reaccelerates after decades of stagnation.
A major theme was nuclear. Strazik said GE Vernova’s small modular reactor is the fastest-emerging product, with a 300-megawatt design, a first project under construction in Ontario, and a U.S. application underway with the NRC for a Tennessee project tied to TVA. He said the company expects to move into construction in 2027 and sees a path to 5 gigawatts of uprates at existing U.S. nuclear plants.
He also defended gas and wind as long-cycle bets. Strazik said gas remains the dominant marginal fuel for data centers because it is reliable and dispatchable, while GE Vernova keeps investing in wind despite political headwinds. He said the stock’s 370% rise since the spinoff reflects growing backlog and profitability, but that the company still has to earn further upside.
Key takeaways
- Strazik said the GE breakup was "the right play" because focus lets GE Vernova reinvest directly in customers and shareholders.
- He said the U.S. is in an electricity "investment super cycle," driven by reshoring, AI data centers, and broader electrification.
- GE Vernova’s small modular reactor is designed for 300 megawatts and the first unit is under construction in Ontario, with a Tennessee project moving through the NRC.
- Strazik said the company expects about 5 gigawatts of incremental power from uprates at existing U.S. nuclear plants.
- He argued gas will remain the main fuel for new data centers because it best matches their reliability and load-following needs.
- He said the stock’s 370% gain reflects a bigger backlog and better future profitability, but the company is still in early stages.
Notable quotes
“This was the right play. There's no question about it. I think there's a lot to be said for focus”
“we're really going into what we believe is the early chapters of an investment super cycle in the US for electricity growth”
“We continue to invest in our wind business today because from everything we see between now and 2050, the world needs a lot more wind”
“the honest reality, and I'm being very sincere with this, is the potential of the company has grown faster than the stock”
How the episode opens
Hello everyone. I'm Andy Sir. Welcome to At Barrens and welcome to our guest Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Vernova. Scott, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. — Andy, thanks for having us. — So, um, I want to ask you about your your key businesses and and what they are and um, what you're thinking of them right now.
Yeah. Well, I mean to take a step back, G Vernova, for context generates about 25% of the world's electricity every day through our customers with our equipment. In the US, that's about 55% of the electricity.
And if you exclude China from the global number, it's about a third. So, we've got a huge install base across a number of technology sets. That includes gas power, over 7,000 gas power uh units creating electricity every day.
We've got 57,000 wind turbines creating electricity every day. We have 65 gawatt worth of uh nuclear power. All uh experiencing different dynamics, all of which we should talk about.
And then beyond the power generation technologies, we have a our fastest growing business is our electrification business, which is all things related to the grid. Because the reality is we'll often have debates on which power generation source we should use. Regardless of that, we collectively need to invest substantially into the grid to be able to integrate a lot of these different technologies and a lot of different end uses that are coming.
So, there's a lot of work to do, but uh it's work to do that uh we're we're ready for this moment.
And Scott, I know you may be getting sick of this question, but I have to ask you anyway. Can you tell us a little bit about the pedigree of GE Vernova and how it pertains back to old GE?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ge vernova spinoff
- nuclear energy
- wind turbines
- wef davos
- industrial electrification
Companies and tickers mentioned
- GEV
- GE
- GE Vernova
- General Electric
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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