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Building a DG unicorn with Nexamp CEO Zaid Ashai

Building a DG unicorn with Nexamp CEO Zaid Ashai
Zaid Ashai, CEO of Boston-based solar and storage developer Nexamp, addresses employees during a town hall. (Courtesy: Nexamp)

Zaid Ashai, the cerebral CEO who built Nexamp into a forceful DG platform, joined Episode 76 of the Factor This! podcast to share his outlook for the crowded community solar market, the potential impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House, and why, now, solar is only the beginning. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Zaid Ashai is one of those executives who you can tell has it all together.

That’s clear from the performance of the company he leads, Nexamp. Over the past decade, Nexamp cemented its reputation as a community solar titan. And it’s also apparent in Ashai’s own resume— including diplomas from little-known institutions like Brown and Harvard.

“They’re just schools,” Ashai said on the Factor This! podcast from Renewable Energy World, attempting to, with a laugh, downplay his world-class education.

The modesty isn’t an act, though.

Ashai isn’t the type to lean toward the limelight. But his cerebral approach to clean energy deployment has allowed Nexamp to achieve the heft often thought to be reserved for utility-scale players.

Nexamp is valued at “well over” $1 billion, Ashai said, a milestone that earns privately held companies the “unicorn” moniker. Not bad for a supposed small-time player. A household name in the Northeast’s first-mover community solar market, the company’s reach has spread across the country with more than 1 GW of projects in operation or construction.

And Ashai’s pursuit of scale only begins with solar.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

Building a ‘virtual utility’

Ashai said he envisions a future where “virtual utilities” are commonplace. He’s doubtful that utilities are equipped to meet the needs of the energy transition.

A day will soon come, he said, when vertically integrated energy companies marry generation, energy storage, demand response, and consumers to leapfrog distribution utilities altogether by interacting directly with the transmission system.

That reality would require a monumental shift in regulation and therefore is likely years away if not more.

“It’s a grid question, and I think this is a fork in the road,” Ashai said. “It’s fundamentally flawed.”

Nexamp CEO Zaid Ashai delivers a keynote address at the GridTECH Connect Forum – Northeast in Newport, Rhode Island on Oct. 24, 2023. (Courtesy: Nexamp)

That fork will lead consumers to make a choice: maintain the status quo or pursue an alternative to the traditional utility business model, Ashai said. Even the alternative, however, requires buy-in from policymakers and utilities.

Ashai said he is adamant that utilities should focus on poles and wires. He believes generation and customer engagement should be left to third-party solution providers, like Nexamp.

“I’m not a marketing guru, but this is what excites me,” Ashai said. “How do you connect community solar to the rest of the electrification efforts in our country? I think there’s a really good story to be told there.”

Sustainable growth and the Trump effect

President Joe Biden signed into law on Aug. 16 the Inflation Reduction Act– legislation that provides $369 billion for clean energy and climate change mitigation. (Courtesy: White House)

Ashai recalls a recent conversation with a small developer. He shares it with a smile, but it really isn’t funny.

“One line I heard… was ‘Survive to ’25,'” he said. “I thought that was clever. And there’s some truth to it.”

For more than a year, developers have struggled to adapt to high interest rates and inflation which, in combination, have chocked project pipelines. And, now, the chance of a change in the White House is sucking up much of the oxygen in clean energy circles.

Would a second-term President Donald Trump, a friend of fossil fuel interests, unwind President Joe Biden’s landmark climate and clean energy law, the Inflation Reduction Act? Would offshore wind, largely dependent on federal lease rights, be dead in the water? Would Trump’s fierce opposition to China lead to even more tariffs?

Part of the problem, Ashai said, is that the Biden administration hasn’t effectively communicated its wins, including the IRA, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and CHIPS Act. Taken as a whole, those victories have, in large part, contributed to a U.S. manufacturing renaissance.

He acknowledges that a Trump administration 2.0 is likely to have negative effects on the clean energy industry, but doesn’t buy into the concept of “Trump-proofing” his business. He’s building Nexamp to survive the ebbs and flows of markets and politics, focusing on managed growth above all else.

While the IRA is likely safe, for the most part, Ashai said he fears that a Trump-led Department of Energy would likely reduce or end altogether its focus on equity and energy justice, on top of a myriad other social issues.

“Trump-proofing a business… I would love tips if anyone has them. Email me. I don’t even know how you Trump proof a business because, in reality, I’m not sure we know what a second term is going to look like,” Ashai said.

Nexamp added energy storage to two existing community solar farms in the grid-constrained ISO New England market. The Clark Road community solar farm (pictured) has 7.1 MW of solar capacity and 3 MW/6.1 MWh of storage. (Courtesy: Nexamp)

Ashai won’t let shifting political winds change Nexamp’s trajectory. Those winds can’t be ignored, but sustainable growth should allow the firm to navigate the turbulence. Nexamp continues to expand into new markets (now 19 states) and recently opened its second headquarters (in Chicago) and is in the midst of a hiring frenzy.

Above all else, Ashai is optimistic, despite the headwinds. He cautioned, however, that adaption will be critical throughout the industry.

“I think, for everyone in this time, you sort of go back to the gym, figuratively, and learn a new skill and learn a new drill and focus on that,” he said. “You can’t have blinders on and just assume the market is going to flip back.”