Stem Inc. Stock and Investing in Solar Energy Storage

We’re no fanboys of the Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX CEO, but we give the man his due in spite of his occasional impersonation of the Mayhem guy in the Allstate commercials. First, a quick recap: Founded in 2009, Stem Inc. had raised about $357 million as a startup from more than two dozen investors including GE before announcing in late 2020 it would merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Let’s take a look at a case study for a typical solar-plus-storage system at Santa Rosa Junior College, which is trying to be carbon neutral by 2030, as well as reduce its reliance on California’s shaky electric grid. Simply put, “Voltus connects buyers and sellers of distributed energy across fragmented electricity markets through a single platform, simplifying complex transactions with existing resources.” It’s a bit like AirBnB, to steal an analogy from the investor presentation: DERs are underutilized assets, like unused apartments. And just as AirBnB creates extra value for owners of those apartments, Voltus “creates extra value for DER owners by delivering their unused electricity to markets when needed.” It’s a pretty interesting proposition – a SaaS model in a market being disrupted by alternative energy and storage solutions – but one of our 2022 resolutions is to spend less time churning through shiny investor decks and more time investigating SEC filings when the SPAC mergers have been finalized.