Green Economy Banking

[optimistic music]

Logo:

This video opens with the J.P.Morgan logo in the upper left hand corner of a white screen.

Text on screen:

A title appears: 'Thriving: Conversations with founders.'

On screen:

Golden sunlight shines over a field of solar panels.

Jorge Vargas:

We are an independent power producer of solar energy in the U.S.

On screen:

Text appears as a man in a black blazer speaks from an office:

Text on screen:

'Jorge Vargas, CEO, Aspen Power.'

Jorge Vargas:

We serve residential customers, consumers, commercial industrial customers, and also community solar customers.

On screen:

The leaf-shaped Aspen Power logo appears alongside a solar farm, along with three bulleted facts:

Text on screen:

·        Provides end-to-end renewable energy solutions with the mission of accelerating decarbonization.

·        Founded in 2020.

·        Headquartered in New York.

Jorge Vargas:

Aspen was created out of our belief in climate change and to contribute to the decarbonization of the grid and also to provide clean, affordable energy to consumers that need it the most.

Text on screen:

A question appears over black: 'What is the mission of Aspen Power?'

Jorge Vargas:

From the get-go, we wanted to target underserved areas of solar. So we were one of the first independent power producers that built community solar just targeting low-to-moderate income households.

On screen:

A photo shows technicians in reflective vests installing panels. More panels cover a sprawling parking lot and top the buildings of a modern apartment complex. Another solar farm covers a grassy field.

Jorge Vargas:

And we were able to subscribe a hundred percent of our community solar farms targeting those households. We are big taxpayers in all the towns that we go and build our solar farms. We also engage not only to make sure that it’s built in accordance to the town regulations, but-- and we also create local jobs; we tend to favor local partners to help us with that.

On screen:

Local technicians smile for a photo and walk under the solar covers in a parking lot. Another photo shows three employees smiling in the Aspen Power office.

Jorge Vargas:

So there’s a tremendous amount of impact at the local level about the solar farms we create.

Text on screen:

Text appears over black: 'Scaling for growth.'

On screen:

A technician in a hard hat walks by panels on a solar farm.

Jorge Vargas:

We’re in an industry that currently is experiencing a lot of growth because of regulatory tailwinds. One of the challenges that we had early on, along with our cofounders was making sure that as we grew the business, we were all focused in the right priorities of the company. It’s very easy to get distracted, especially when you’re in an area with a lot of growth.

On screen:

A view circles over a solar farm among a forest and takes in the solar parking lot covers surrounding three office buildings.

Jorge Vargas:

But we also gotta remind ourselves that we’re in a business where a lot of power plants last between 35 to 40 years. So we gotta make sure that the decisions that we’re making right now do not affect those 35-year operations.

Text on screen:

More text appears over black: 'Access to capital.'

Jorge Vargas:

There’s operational challenges; also financial challenges. It’s how we design our capital structure to make sure that we stand the test of time.

On screen:

The view drifts over the gridded solar parking lot, then over more solar farms in the countryside.

Jorge Vargas:

That’s where a bank like J.P. Morgan has really helped us, because it allows us to really get the right cost of capital to build these power plants. So we’ve been very fortunate that we’ve completed a large M&A transaction and several large financing, including one with J.P. Morgan, that has enabled us to grow, so we can own and operate the solar power plants.

On screen:

Photos show Aspen Power employees smiling in an office and on a city rooftop. Two more employees study graphs and maps on computer monitors, and another photo shows Jorge smiling with a companion.

Jorge Vargas:

I am very optimistic about the future for power generation in the U.S., especially clean power. I think in the future, you’re going to see more awareness; consumers are going to want to know, “Hey, am I using clean power to operate that data center? Am I using clean power to power that AI search?" And I think that creates a lot of opportunity for us, because we want to serve those needs.

On screen:

A photo shows the whole company posing for a photo on a boat, then a logo appears over white:

Logo:

J.P.Morgan.

Text on screen:

jpmorgan.com/greeneconomy.

Side note:

Legal disclaimers:

Text on screen:

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