"The Age-Old Question Is How Much Is A Canal Worth?" Featuring Emily Morris & Tom Cuthbert, Emrgy

We are back on the road this week for an exciting visit with Emily Morris, CEO and Founder, and Tom Cuthbert, CTO, of Emrgy. Our team traveled to one of Emrgy’s hydropower facilities on Colorado’s Front Range to see their technology up close and in action before sitting down for a hydropower focused discussion. Emily founded Emrgy in 2014 and brings 15 years of experience in emerging hard tech development. Before launching Emrgy, she managed multi-million dollar federal contracts at AMT, bringing innovative technologies from ideation to commercialization. Tom joined Emrgy in 2020 after serving in several leadership roles at GE, most recently as CTO of Energy Storage for GE Renewable Energy. He has more than 20 years of experience in technology development across the automotive, rail, and energy sectors. Emrgy delivers low-cost power generation through innovative hardware and software that integrates seamlessly into existing water infrastructure. The company enables their customers to monetize previously unrealized energy assets, without anchoring or modifying their infrastructure. We were thrilled to visit with Emily and Tom and see Emrgy’s technology in action.
 
In our conversation, we discuss the current state of hydropower, including the regulatory and environmental challenges near federally protected natural waterways and the shift from traditional to modern approaches. Emily shares the origin of Emrgy’s technology and its evolution from a defense application to commercial energy. Tom details Emrgy’s hydrokinetic turbines, which can be deployed in existing water infrastructure with minimal impact and high adaptability. We explore the vast water infrastructure network and market opportunity, with over two million miles of canals globally, along with recent advances in power electronics and regulations that enable deployment. We explore the environmental and operational advantages of hydropower, the predictable power output made possible by controlled water flows, and applications across rural and urban water infrastructure. We cover Emrgy’s dual monetization model (power generation and water conservation), project economics, cost-reduction targets, and speed-to-market advantages. We discuss regulatory pathways, including engagement with the Bureau of Reclamation and local water districts, incentives from the OBBB and other federal programs, and the market opportunity within aging water infrastructure. We also examine the speed of deployment and preference for incremental rollouts, interest from hyperscalers driven by power and water needs, permitting challenges near federally protected waterways, the benefits of co-locating with water infrastructure, and the advantages of innovating as a small company versus large incumbents. We end by taking a look at Emrgy’s technology and discussing the rising value of water, hydropower’s potential to generate hundreds of megawatts of renewable baseload power, the growing importance of decentralized energy systems near load centers, the long-term outlook, and more. We greatly enjoyed the discussion.
 
Mike Bradley kicked things off by noting that bond markets are trading sideways this week after a tumultuous week last week, which saw a Nonfarm Payrolls report print well below expectations and sent bond yields plummeting (10-year yield trading today at 4.2%). On the broader U.S. equity market front, the S&P 500 seems to be meandering so far this week after last week’s Nonfarm Payrolls report pushed it down a couple of percent. While most of the Mag 7 Big Tech companies have reported Q2 results, plenty of S&P 500 companies still have earnings to release. Turning to energy equities, most Oil Service Companies have reported Q2 results, and 2H25 guidance has been adjusted lower, mostly due to rising service cost deflation. This week’s energy earnings will be concentrated on E&Ps, Midstream, and Electric Utilities. Mike also highlighted Brookfield’s $6 bil