Stem, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2022

Overview

Stem, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Stem,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), is a global leader in AI-driven clean energy solutions and services with a large, digitally connected, renewable energy network, providing customers with (i) an energy storage system, sourced from leading, global battery original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), that we deliver through our partners, including developers, distributors, and engineering, procurement and construction firms, (ii) edge hardware to aid in the collection of site data and the real-time operation and control of the site plus other optional equipment, (iii) ongoing software platform and professional services to operate integrated energy storage, and solar systems, through our Athena® artificial intelligence (“AI”) platform (“Athena”), and (iv) solar asset performance monitoring and control, through Athena’s PowerTrack application. In addition, in all the markets where we help manage our customers’ clean energy assets, we have agreements to use the Athena platform to participate in such markets and to share the revenue from such market participation.

We deliver hardware and our software-enabled services to our customers through our Athena platform. Our hardware, professional services, and recurring software-enabled services seek to mitigate customer energy costs through time-of-use and demand charge management innovations and a network of virtual power plants, while capturing revenue through participation in programs and merchant markets. The resulting network created by our growing customer base is designed to increase grid resilience and reliability through the real-time processing of market-based demand signals, energy prices and other factors in connection with the deployment of renewable energy resources to such customers. Additionally, our energy storage solutions are designed to support renewable energy generation by alleviating grid intermittency issues, thereby potentially reducing our customers’ dependence on traditional, fossil fuel resources and subsequent greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to help advance our customers’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. As of December 31, 2022, Athena had accumulated more than 31 million runtime hours, with more than 500,000 industrial Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices under management, across more than 200,000 sites in over 50 countries.

We operate in two key areas within the energy storage landscape: Behind-the-Meter (“BTM”) and Front-of-the-Meter (“FTM”). An energy system’s position in relation to a customer’s electric meter determines whether it is designated a BTM or FTM system. BTM systems installed at customer locations generate energy that can be used on-site without interacting with the electric grid and passing through an electric meter. Our BTM systems are designed to reduce commercial and industrial (“C&I”) customer energy bills and help our customers achieve their corporate ESG objectives. FTM, grid-connected systems deliver power into the grid, which is often sold to off-site customers and must pass through an electric meter prior to reaching an end-user. Our FTM systems are designed to decrease risk for project developers, asset owners, independent power producers and investors by adapting to dynamic energy market conditions in connection with the deployment of electricity and improving the combined value of the solar renewable resource and energy storage over the course of their FTM system’s useful life. We also help asset owners and operators monitor and manage the health and performance of their clean energy assets. As an early participant in the BTM market, we developed operational focus and technical capabilities that position us to have multiple product offerings and services in the evolving market for FTM energy storage services. We believe that Athena’s ability to optimize operations in both the BTM and FTM markets is unique in the industry and provides us with a competitive advantage.

Through our February 2022 acquisition of Also Energy Holdings, Inc. (“AlsoEnergy”), we combined our storage optimization capabilities with solar asset performance monitoring and control software.

History

We were originally known as Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. (“STPK”), which was a special purpose acquisition company that completed its public offering on August 20, 2020. On April 28, 2021 (the “Closing Date”), we consummated a business combination (the “Merger”) pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger by and among STPK, STPK Merger Sub Corp., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of STPK (“Merger Sub”), and Stem, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Legacy Stem”). The Merger was effected on the Closing Date through the merger of the Merger Sub with and into Legacy Stem, with Legacy Stem surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Legacy Stem was a private company and is considered the Company’s accounting predecessor.

On June 30, 2021, we issued 4,683,349 shares of common stock (the “Exchange Shares”) to Star Peak Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“STPK Sponsor”), and Star Peak Sponsor Warrantco LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (together with STPK Sponsor, the “Sellers”). The issuance was pursuant to an Exchange Agreement dated as of June 25, 2021 by and among us and the Sellers (the “Exchange Agreement”). Pursuant to the Exchange Agreement and in consideration of the issuance to the Sellers of the Exchange Shares, the Sellers exchanged 7,181,134 warrants originally issued to STPK Sponsor in a private placement that closed simultaneously with the STPK initial public offering. The Exchange Shares were issued in reliance upon the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).

On August 20, 2021, we issued an irrevocable notice for the redemption of all 12,786,129 of our outstanding public warrants at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on September 20, 2021 (the “Redemption Date”). Pursuant to the notice of redemption, holders of public warrants exercised 12,638,723 public warrants for proceeds to us of $145.3 million, and we redeemed all remaining outstanding public warrants that had not been exercised as of 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on the Redemption Date. The public warrants have been delisted from the NYSE, and there are no public warrants left outstanding.

On November 22, 2021, we sold to Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Barclays Capital Inc, as initial purchasers (the “Initial Purchasers”), and the Initial Purchasers purchased from us, $460.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 0.50% Green Convertible Senior Notes due 2028 (the “2028 Convertible Notes”), pursuant to a purchase agreement dated as of November 17, 2021, by and between us and the Initial Purchasers. The Notes were offered in a private placement in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act to the Initial Purchasers for initial resale to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to an exemption from registration provided by Rule 144A promulgated under the Securities Act. On November 17, 2021, in connection with the pricing of the Notes, and on November 19, 2021, in connection with the exercise in full by the Initial Purchasers of their option to purchase additional Notes, we entered into capped call transactions with certain of the Initial Purchasers of the Notes. The Company’s net proceeds from this offering were approximately $445.7 million, after deducting the Initial Purchasers’ discounts and commissions and the estimated offering expenses payable by us. We used approximately $66.7 million of the net proceeds to pay the cost of the capped call transactions.

On February 1, 2022, we completed the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of AlsoEnergy for an aggregate purchase price of $652.0 million. The acquisition was structured on a cash-free, debt-free basis and subject to other customary adjustments as set forth in the purchase agreement. The transaction combines our storage optimization capabilities with AlsoEnergy’s solar asset performance monitoring and control software.

Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths include the following:

• Significant Benefits from Scale & Network Effects: We believe we are the largest in global distributed energy storage megawatts under management, with more than 2.0 GWh operating or contracted across more than 960 sites and more than 25GW of solar assets under management. This generates a significant amount of operational data leading to enhanced software performance through machine-learning and improving customer economics.
• Advanced Technology Platform: We developed one of the first AI platforms for energy storage and virtual power plants that automates storage participation in electricity markets and performs monitoring and management of customer loads, solar generation and energy prices with real-time, complex decision- making algorithms. The platform is able to co-optimize multiple energy market revenue streams across a diverse fleet of hardware throughout multiple geographies and energy markets.
• Compelling Business Model & Customer Solutions: Our goal is to provide a seamless customer experience from commercial proposal to installation. We pioneered a project financed offering for C&I energy storage, providing customers immediate significant savings without capital expenditure. C&I customers are aggressively procuring renewable energy to meet ESG targets and save money on electricity. Our solution enables these objectives with minimal impact to customer operations. Customers sign long-term contracts, typically between 10 and 20 years in duration, while providing us the flexibility to control their energy storage system to earn market participation revenue, lower their energy costs and meet their decarbonization goals.
• Leading Strategic Partnerships: We have numerous partnerships with a diverse set of industry leaders to reduce execution risk and increase speed to market in certain geographies. In Massachusetts, we have a partnership with Constellation Energy to pair our energy storage systems with retail energy offerings for C&I customers. Internationally, we have partnerships with leading regional industrial equipment and energy firms such as Copec in South America, each focused on leveraging the partner’s local market knowledge and reputation with leading corporates, utilities and grid operators.
• Exceptional AI and Energy Storage Expertise: We have a seasoned leadership team with a demonstrated track record of execution and more than 150 years of accumulated experience in energy storage, software and distributed energy expertise focused on AI, technology development, new market commercialization, renewable project development and utility / grid program operations. Our executive and data science team has more than 150 years of combined experience in machine learning, optimization and controls.

Our Strategy

Our mission is to maximize the economic, environmental, and resiliency value of energy assets through our leading AI platform. In order to fulfill our mission, we provide our customers, which include C&I companies and enterprises as well as independent power producers, renewable project developers, utilities, and grid operators, with (i) an energy storage system, sourced from leading, global battery OEMs, that we deliver through our partners, including developers, distributors, and engineering, procurement and construction firms, (ii) edge hardware to aid in the collection of site data and the real-time operation and control of the site plus other optional equipment, (iii) ongoing software platform and professional services to operate integrated energy storage, and solar systems, through our Athena, and (iv) solar asset performance monitoring and control, through Athena’s PowerTrack application. In addition, in all the markets where we help manage our customers’ clean energy assets, we have agreements to use the Athena platform to participate in such markets and to share the revenue from such market participation.

Our Customers

We operate in two key markets within the energy storage landscape: BTM and FTM. BTM systems installed at C&I customer locations provide power that can be used on-site without interacting with the electric grid and generally without generating energy that passes through a utility electric meter. FTM grid-connected systems deliver power into the grid which is often sold to off-site customers and transported by the grid prior to reaching an end-user. For BTM customers, we seek to maximize value by providing AI-powered storage services that reduce spending on utility bills, enhance the economics of solar and provide backup power. Additionally, we help BTM customers achieve renewable energy targets as part of their ESG commitments. For FTM customers, we provide software-enabled services to capture revenue from energy market participation, including the sale of capacity, energy and ancillary services into regional electricity markets helping these customers enhance renewable project returns while improving grid resiliency and reliability for utilities and grid operators. These services that we provide are all at the direction of our customers, and we do not independently participate in the wholesale electricity market.

Research and Development

We have invested significant amounts of time and expense in the development of our Athena platform. The ability to maintain our leadership position depends in part on our ongoing research and development activities. Our software development team of more than 200 product and technology professionals is responsible for the design, development, integration and testing of the Athena platform. We focus our efforts on developing Athena to continuously improve our algorithms, augment value with new revenue streams and localize based on geography and regulatory considerations.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is a key differentiator for our business, and we seek protection whenever possible for the intellectual property that we own and control, including but not limited to patents, proprietary information, trade secrets and software tools and applications. We rely upon a combination of patent, copyright, trade secret and trademark laws, as well as employee and third-party non-disclosure agreements and other contractual restrictions to establish and protect our proprietary rights.

We have developed a significant patent portfolio to protect elements of our proprietary technology. As of December 31, 2022, we had 87 patents across storage and solar assets performance.

Our intellectual property encompasses a diverse mix of patents with respect to our proprietary systems and software. These patents relate to the following broad categories:

• power electronics, including the basic interaction of batteries with the power grid where such electronics convert direct current (DC) battery power to alternating current (AC) compatible grid power;
• analytics and control, including use cases and decisions into the operation of an energy storage system and the coordination of providing economic or operational value to a customer; and
• networked operations and grid services that involve the aggregation and operation of a group of energy storage systems to provide value to a utility or grid operator.

Stem’s “Athena®” is a registered-trademark, and Athena’s trademarked applications include “Analyzer™,” “Supervisor™,” “Explorer™,” and “Bidder™.” The services relating to these trademarks include, but are not limited to, energy optimization services, software as a service for energy optimization services and energy storage charge and discharge.

We continually review our development efforts to assess the existence and patentability of our intellectual property. We pursue the registration of our domain names and trademarks and service marks in the U.S. In an effort to protect our brand, as of December 31, 2022, we had nearly ten registered trademarks in the U.S.

Competition

The energy storage industry is highly competitive, and new regulatory requirements for carbon emissions, technological advances, the lower cost of renewable energy, the decrease in battery costs, improving battery technology and shifting customer demands are causing the industry to evolve and expand. We believe that the principal competitive factors in the energy storage market include, but are not limited to:

• safety, reliability and quality;
• product performance and uptime;
• historical track record and references for customer satisfaction;
• experience in utilizing the energy storage system for multiple stakeholders;
• technological innovation;
• comprehensive solution from a single provider;
• ease of integration; and
• seamless hardware and software-enabled service offerings.

There is rising demand for clean electric power solutions that can provide electric power with lower carbon emissions with high availability. Additionally, the transition to renewable energy sources and distributed energy infrastructure has increased the complexity and variability of end-customer electricity demand. This industry transformation has created an opportunity for an increased role for energy storage solutions like ours. We believe as one of the largest in this industry we have a significant head start against our competition in this rapidly evolving environment. We believe the global push for lower carbon emissions combined with vast technological improvements in lithium-ion battery-powered technologies will drive C&I customers, utilities, independent power producers and project developers to grow their use of and investment in energy storage systems.

Our key competitors include energy optimization software providers, energy storage system OEMs, hardware integration providers, renewable project developers and engineering, procurement and construction firms. Our industry peers are typically focused on the development and marketing of single-purpose built solutions with captive hardware offerings, while our AI-powered platform is capable of delivering a multitude of software-enabled services operating an extensive and diverse network of energy storage systems across multiple geographies, utility, and grid operator service areas.

We believe that one of the key advantages driving sustainable differentiation for our company includes the focus and capabilities built in our pioneering history in the BTM segment of the energy storage industry. This experience required an emphasis on AI-driven co-optimization of energy storage operations and the build out of significant operational infrastructure to execute economic considerations for enterprise customers, utilities, and grid operators. We believe that the distributed asset management capability from this experience positions us well to compete in the evolving FTM segment of the energy storage industry as recent regulatory actions include the liberalization and formalization of rules for compensation of market participation for distributed energy resources. We believe the legacy single-purpose market for FTM solutions will be driven by greater demand for flexible solutions that can access multiple market opportunities. Our solutions have been designed to mitigate the challenges of today’s enterprise customers, independent power producers, utilities, renewable asset owners and the modern electrical grid at scale with continuous improvements to artificial intelligence optimization strategies informed by operational data from one of the industry’s largest network of digitally-connected energy storage systems.

We believe we are well-positioned to compete successfully in the market for energy storage hardware and software-enabled services. Despite our limited operating history, we are among the leaders in global distributed energy storage and solar assets under management, supported by our Athena platform, compelling customer services, strategic partnerships and seasoned leadership team with a proven track record of success.

Government Regulation and Compliance

There are varying policy frameworks across the U.S. and abroad designed to support and accelerate customer adoption of clean and/or reliable distributed generation technologies. These policy initiatives come in the form of tax incentives, cash grants, performance incentives and/or electric tariffs.

Our AI-powered platform manages energy assets currently installed worldwide with diverse policy frameworks across each energy market. States within the U.S. have utility procurement programs and/or renewable portfolio standards for which our technology is eligible, including California, Connecticut Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas. These energy storage systems currently qualify for tax exemptions, incentives or other customer incentives in many states, and now with the United States Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”), storage incentive tax credit and solar production tax credit.

Federal, state and local government statutes and regulations concerning electricity heavily influence the market for our product and services even though Stem is not regulated as a utility. These statutes and regulations often relate to electricity pricing, net metering, incentives, taxation, competition with utilities and the interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation. In the U.S., governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, change and adopt different rates for commercial customers on a regular basis. These changes can have a positive or negative effect on our ability to deliver cost savings to customers for the purchase of electricity.

Several states have an energy storage mandate or policies designed to encourage the adoption of storage. For example, California offers a cash rebate for storage installations through the Self Generation Incentive Program (“SGIP”) and Massachusetts and New York offer performance-based financial incentives for storage. Storage installations also are supported in certain states by state public utility commission policies that require utilities to consider alternatives such as storage before they can build new generation. In February 2018, the FERC issued Order 841 directing regional transmission operators and independent system operators to remove barriers to the participation of storage in wholesale electricity markets and to establish rules to help ensure storage resources are compensated for the services they provide. An appeal of Order 841 filed by utility trade associations and other parties challenging the extent of the FERC’s jurisdiction over storage resources connected to distribution systems (among other issues) is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In September 2020, the FERC issued Order 2222, opening up U.S. wholesale energy markets to aggregations of distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, BTM batteries, and electric vehicles.

Energy storage systems require interconnection agreements from the applicable local electricity utilities in order to operate. In almost all cases, interconnection agreements are standard form agreements that have been pre-approved by the local public utility commission or other regulatory body with jurisdiction over interconnection agreements. As such, no additional regulatory approvals are typically required once interconnection agreements are signed.

Our operations are subject to stringent and complex federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing the occupational health and safety of our employees and wage regulations. For example, Stem is subject to the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”), as amended, and comparable state laws that protect and regulate employee health and safety.

There are government regulations pertaining to battery safety, transportation of batteries and disposal of hazardous materials. Stem and our suppliers, as applicable, are required to comply with these regulations in order to sell our batteries into the market. The license and sale of our batteries and technology abroad is likely to be subject to export controls in the future.

Each of our installations or customer installations must be designed, constructed, and operated in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local regulations, codes, standards, guidelines, policies and laws. To install and operate energy storage systems on our platform, Stem, our customers or our partners, as applicable, are required to obtain applicable permits and approvals from local authorities having jurisdiction to install energy storage systems and to interconnect the systems with the local electrical utility.

Human Capital Resources

Our mission is to maximize the economic, environmental, and resiliency value of energy assets through our leading AI platform, and we are also committed to creating a world-class employee experience. We aim to foster and maintain a workplace that values the unique talents and contributions of every individual. We believe it is the diversity of our people, with varied skills and backgrounds, that shape our success and innovation. Our people-focused culture is driven by collaboration and global cross-functional connections. We recognize the success of Stem is dependent on our talent and the satisfaction of our global workforce, and we are greatly invested in the ability of our people to succeed and thrive. The following discussions provide a description of our employees, and outline how we manage our human capital resources and how we invest in our employees’ success.

Employees

As of December 31, 2022, we had 660 employees, of whom 489 were based in the United States and 171 in international locations. As of December 31, 2022, approximately 29% of the global team was female and 71% was male.

We believe that our future success depends in part on our continued ability to hire, motivate and retain qualified employees in any operating environment.

Recruiting

We believe in investing for the future, including the future of our workforce by recruiting exceptional individuals who share our company values. Our recruiting team and hiring managers begin with the creation of detailed job descriptions, which clearly outline the skills and experience necessary for success in each role. We believe these steps are essential to effectively interview for identifiable skill sets and not just “personality fits.” We strive to build our workforce from within whenever possible; however, if the best candidate for an available position is not identified from within our existing talent pool, we will look externally. Our recruitment strategy is to initially search for candidates directly through our professional networks, university and mentorship programs, and through advertising with certain partners. We also occasionally use recruitment consultants and search firms.

Professional Development

We are committed to helping people realize their highest potential and fostering a culture that supports personal development for individuals, leaders and teams across the organization. Our employees enjoy ample opportunity to learn new skills to develop and advance their career, and we provide opportunities for all our employees to receive ongoing formal training to help foster their professional development. We also encourage continuing education programs through approved institutions and online learning such as Udemy and Stem University and are activating a Middle Manager Learning series to supplement essential and leadership skills.

Employee Feedback

We value the feedback we receive from our employees. Our annual employee engagement survey asks all our employees for their input on a variety of matters. The results of the employee survey are disseminated to all employees, and the results are used to design action plans to assist managers with actively responding to employees’ sentiments. The employee survey is an important tool that allows us to continuously improve, innovate and evolve through ongoing engagement and measurement.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to building an inclusive culture and team environment that supports current and future diversity in our industry and our talent. In the spirit of Stem’s core values we are “One Team” and succeed through collaboration when we respect, acknowledge and celebrate each other’s differences. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment that promotes equality, cultural awareness and respect by implementing policies, benefits, training, recruiting and recognition practices to support our colleagues. We believe that diversity and inclusion is about valuing our differences and continually identifying ways to improve our cultural intelligence which ultimately leads to better decision-making and a more tailored client experience. To help us achieve and maintain a diverse workforce, we continue to build a strong and inclusive culture at Stem with the launch of two new employee networks focused on LGBTIA+, and Women in Leadership. We are committed to building the best workplace in our communities and the broader industry.

We also provide a monthly global Culture Coalition cadence to address our mission of “bringing a community of employees together to improve the work experience through innovative, creative, and fun culture initiatives.” Each month we host a DEI subject and guest speaker to educate our workforce and provide pamphlets for employees and their families, books honoring and educating on Black History Month, women artists (displayed in our offices), and goods from indigenous owned business’ as giveaways in our monthly contests.

Employee Compensation, Benefits & Well-being

We strive to enrich and elevate the lives of our employees through a robust compensation and benefits package that is flexible to meet both individual and family needs.

Stem’s compensation and benefits programs are designed to attract and retain talent as well as motivate employees globally. In addition to competitive base salaries and bonus plans, Stem also offers attractive benefits programs both in the U.S. and globally. In the U.S., eligible employees may participate in medical, dental and vision plans as well as financial wellness benefits including health and dependent care flexible spending accounts, 401(k) plan with employer match, paid maternity and parental leave, health saving accounts, basic life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, short-term and long-term disability insurance, and commuter benefits.

Globally, we comply with location-specific mandatory government employee health and leave programs while also providing an employee assistance program, mental health, and physical wellness programs. We embrace regional and local cultural differences, and honor these by offering country-specific paid time off and paid holiday calendars that reflect the unique observations of each country. We support the continuing development of our staff around the world by offering several educational programs.

Stem designs its employee compensation and benefits programs to be competitive in relation to the market. Stem adjusts its employee compensation and benefits programs as needed based upon regular monitoring of applicable laws and practices and the competitive market. In structuring these benefit programs, Stem strives to provide an aggregate level of compensation and benefits that are comparable to the demands of the market.

Stem’s compensation policies and procedures will continue to be designed to promote compliance with applicable government and regulatory guidelines as well as generally accepted compensation practices. Stem’s goal is to have programs that are based on clear and consistent policies, recognizing the need to have flexibility to meet different organizational or market conditions.

Available Information

Our website is www.stem.com (http://www.stem.com). We use our Investor Relations website, at https://investors.stem.com, as a routine channel for distribution of important information, including news releases, analyst presentations, and financial information. We make available free of charge, though our Investor Relations website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers, and amendments to each of those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is filed with or furnished to the SEC. Alternatively, you may access these reports at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov). Copies are also available, without charge, from Stem Investor Relations, 100 California Street, 14th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94111. Unless expressly noted, the information on our website or any other website is not incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this Form 10-K or any other filing that we make with the SEC.

Information About Our Executive Officers

The following table sets forth, as of January 31, 2023, the names and ages of the executive officers of Stem, Inc., including all offices and positions held by each for the past five years.

The following discussion of risk factors known to us contains important information for the understanding of our “forward-looking statements,” which are discussed immediately following Item 7A. of this Form 10-K and elsewhere. These risk factors should also be read in conjunction with Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and the Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included in this Form 10-K.

We urge you to consider carefully the risks described below, which discuss the material factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky, as well as in other reports and materials that we file with the SEC and the other information included or incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K. A manifestation of any of the following risks and uncertainties, or additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, could, in circumstances we may or may not be able to accurately predict, materially adversely affect our business, operations, reputation, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, growth, prospects and stock price.

Summary Risk Factors

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

• Our limited operating history at current scale and our nascent industry make evaluating our business and prospects difficult.
• Our distributed generation offerings may not receive widespread market acceptance.
• Our operations may continue to be adversely affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
• Sufficient demand for our hardware and software-enabled services may not develop or take longer to develop than we anticipate.
• Battery storage costs may not continue to decline.
• Estimates and assumptions used to determine the size of our total addressable market may be inaccurate.
• We currently face and will continue to face significant competition.

Risks Relating to Our Operations

• Supply chain disruption and competition could result in insufficient inventory and negatively affect our business.
• We face risks resulting from supplier concentration and limited supplier capacity.
• Long-term supply agreements could result in insufficient inventory.
• Our hardware and software-enabled services involve a lengthy sales and installation cycle. If we fail to close sales on a regular and timely basis it could adversely affect our business.
• We may fail to attract and retain qualified management and technical personnel, which may adversely affect our ability to compete and grow our business.
• We may not be able to develop, produce, market and sell our hardware and software-enabled services successfully.
• We have incurred significant losses in the past and expect to incur net losses through 2023.
• We may be unable to reduce our cost structure.
• Any future acquisitions we undertake may disrupt our business, adversely affect operations, dilute our stockholders, and expose us to significant costs and liabilities.
• Our current and planned foreign operations will subject us to additional business, financial, regulatory, and competitive risks.
• If any energy storage systems procured from OEM suppliers and provided to our customers contain manufacturing defects, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.
• Estimates of useful life for our energy storage systems and related hardware and software-enabled services may be inaccurate, and our OEM suppliers may not meet service and performance warranties and guarantees.
• Future product recalls could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
• Any disruption of, or interference with, our use of Amazon Web Services could adversely affect our business.
• Any failure to offer high-quality technical support services may adversely affect our relationships with our customers.
• Our business currently depends on the availability of rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives.
• The economic benefit of our energy storage systems to our customers depends on the cost of electricity available from alternative sources.
• We face risks related to our DevCo business model.
• We depend on significant customers for a substantial portion of our revenue. If we fail to retain or expand our customer relationships or significant customers reduce their purchases, our revenue could decline significantly.

Risks Related to Third-Party Partners

• We are exposed to interconnection and transmission facility development and curtailment risks.
• We may not successfully maintain relationships with third parties such as contractors and developers.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Technology

• Our future growth depends on our ability to continue to develop and maintain our proprietary technology.
• We may experience IT or data security failures.
• Our technology could have undetected defects, errors or bugs in hardware or software.
• We may not adequately secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and trademarks.

Regulatory Risks

• The installation and operation of our energy storage systems are subject to environmental laws and regulations.
• Existing regulations and changes to such regulations may reduce demand for our energy storage systems.
• Our business could be adversely affected by trade tariffs or other trade barriers.
• Negative attitudes toward renewable energy from lawmakers and others may adversely affect our business, including by delaying permits for our customers’ projects.

Additional Risks Related to Our Securities

• If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate consolidated financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.
• We may issue a significant number of shares in the future in connection with investments or acquisitions.
• We do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
• Analysts may not publish sufficient or any research about our business or may publish inaccurate or unfavorable research.
• The trading price of our common stock is volatile.
• Certain provisions of the Company’s organizational documents may have an anti-takeover effect.
• The Company’s exclusive forum provision may limit the Company’s stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes.
• The capped call transactions entered into in connection with the pricing of our Convertible Notes may adversely affect the market price of our stock.

General Risk Factors

• We will continue to incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.
• Future litigation, investigations or regulatory or administrative proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Our limited operating history at current scale and our nascent industry make evaluating our business and prospects difficult.

From our inception in 2009 through 2012, we were focused principally on research and development activities relating to our energy storage systems technology. We did not sell any of our battery hardware and software-enabled services and did not recognize any material revenue until fairly recently. As a result, we have a limited history operating our business at its current scale, and therefore a limited history upon which you can base an investment decision.

There is rising demand for clean electric power solutions that can provide electric power with lower carbon emissions with high availability. One such solution is distributed, renewable energy generation, which is supplementing and replacing conventional generation sources, given its increasingly compelling economics. Among other renewable energy market trends, we expect our business results to be driven by declines in the cost of generation of renewable power both on an absolute basis and relative to other energy sources (as evidenced by current solar and wind generation deployments), decreases in the cost of manufacturing battery packs and a rapidly growing energy storage market driven by increasing demand from commercial and industrial customers, utilities and grid operators. However, predicting our future revenue and appropriately budgeting for our expenses is difficult, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business.

The distributed generation industry is emerging and our distributed generation offerings may not receive widespread market acceptance.

The implementation and use of distributed generation at scale is still relatively nascent, and we cannot be sure that potential customers will accept such solutions broadly, or our hardware and software-enabled services more specifically. Enterprises may be unwilling to adopt our offerings over traditional or competing power sources for any number of reasons, including the perception that our technology is unproven, lack of confidence in our business model, unavailability of back-up service providers to operate and maintain the energy storage systems, and lack of awareness of our related hardware and software-enabled services. Because this is an emerging industry, broad acceptance of our hardware and software-enabled services is subject to a high level of uncertainty and risk. If the market develops more slowly than we anticipate, our business may be adversely affected.

Our operations may continue to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we face disruption risks from the pandemic that could adversely affect our business.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the extended shutdown of certain businesses in the U.S., Europe and Asia, which has resulted, and may in the future result, in disruptions or delays to our supply chain increases in the costs of equipment, components and materials and has resulted in, and may result in further, significant disruptions to our customer base. Any disruption in these businesses will likely negatively affect our sales and operating results.

To date, COVID-19 has had a limited adverse impact on our operations, supply chains and hardware and software-enabled services. Due to governmental responses to limit the spread of COVID-19 and resulting global economic effects, we may experience significant and unpredictable reductions in demand for our hardware and software-enabled services. The continued effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly uncertain and cannot be predicted and there is no assurance that it will not have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The extent of the effect will depend on future developments, including actions taken to contain COVID-19, whether these effects persist, the duration and severity of additional outbreaks and the availability and effectiveness of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 globally.

If renewable energy technologies are not suitable for widespread adoption, or if sufficient demand for our hardware and software-enabled services does not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipate, our sales may decline and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.

The market for renewable, distributed energy generation is emerging and rapidly evolving, and its future success is uncertain. If renewable energy generation proves unsuitable for widespread commercial deployment or if demand for our renewable energy hardware and software-enabled services fails to develop sufficiently, our revenue, market share and profitability would be adversely impacted.

Many factors may influence the widespread adoption of renewable energy generation and demand for our hardware and software-enabled services, including, but not limited to the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy technologies as compared with conventional and competitive technologies, the performance and reliability of renewable energy products as compared with conventional and non-renewable products, fluctuations in economic and market conditions that impact the viability of conventional and competitive alternative energy sources, increases or decreases in the prices of oil, coal and natural gas, continued deregulation of the electric power industry and broader energy industry, and the availability or effectiveness of government subsidies and incentives. You should consider our prospects in light of the risks and uncertainties emerging companies encounter when introducing new products and services into a nascent industry.

The failure of renewable energy hardware costs to continue to decline would have a negative effect on our business and financial condition.

The growth and profitability of our business depends on the continued decline in the cost of battery storage, solar photovoltaic (“PV”) system components and related hardware. Over the last decade, the cost of renewable energy hardware has generally declined; however, the cost of lithium ion based battery storage systems have increased in recent months. Increased demand and global supply chain constraints could cause additional price increases. If, for whatever reason, there is a sustained increase in the price of battery storage systems, solar PV system components or related hardware, our business and financial condition will be negatively affected.

If the estimates and assumptions we use to determine the size of our total addressable market are inaccurate, our future growth rate may be affected and the potential growth of our business may be limited.

Market estimates and growth forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the markets in which we compete meet our size estimates and forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all. The assumptions relating to our market opportunities include, but are not limited to, the following: (i) Wood Mackenzie research forecasts that the U.S. energy storage market, excluding the residential market, is expected to reach a total value of approximately 46.5 GWh in 2025; (ii) general declines in lithium-ion battery costs and in the cost of renewable generation; (iii) growing demand for renewable energy: and (iv) increased complexity of the electrical grid. Our market opportunities are also based on the assumption that our existing and future offerings will be more attractive to our customers and potential customers than competing products and services. If these assumptions prove inaccurate, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We currently face and will continue to face significant competition.

We compete for customers, financing partners and incentive dollars with other providers of energy storage systems and asset performance monitoring and control solutions. Many providers of electricity, such as traditional utilities and other companies offering distributed generation products, have longer operating histories, customer incumbency advantages, access to and influence with local and state governments, and more capital resources than we do. Significant developments in alternative energy storage and management technologies or improvements in the efficiency or cost of traditional energy sources, including coal, oil, natural gas used in combustion or nuclear power, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects in ways we cannot anticipate. We may also face new competitors who are not currently in the market, including as a result of the IRA and its anticipated impacts and benefits to our industry. If we fail to adapt to changing market conditions and to compete successfully with new competitors, we will limit our growth and adversely affect our business results.

Risks Relating to Our Operations

We are subject to supply chain risk and our suppliers may fail to deliver components according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, which could negatively affect our results of operations.

We purchase our components and materials from international and domestic vendors, and are exposed to supply chain risks arising from logistics disruptions. Unexpected changes in business conditions, materials pricing, including inflation of raw material costs, labor issues, wars, natural disasters, health epidemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and shipping disruptions, port congestions and other factors beyond our or our suppliers’ control could also affect these suppliers’ ability to deliver components to us or to remain solvent and operational. For example, the Company’s industry continues to face shortages and shipping delays affecting the supply of inverters, enclosures, battery modules and associated component parts for inverters and battery energy storage systems available for purchase. These shortages and delays can be attributed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting government action, as well as broader macroeconomic conditions that may persist once the immediate effects of the pandemic have subsided, and have been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, international supply is also exposed to risks related to tariffs and sanctions, as well as political, social, and economic instability in regions where we source products and material. For example, in recent years, China and the U.S. have each imposed tariffs, and there remains a potential for further trade barriers and the possibility of an escalated trade war between China and the U.S. These or other tariffs could adversely affect our hardware component prices and negatively affect any plans to sell products in China and other impacted international markets. Disruptions in the availability of key equipment, components or materials such as lithium may adversely affect our business, prospects and operations, and volatility in prices and availability of such items may negatively affect our customer relationships and ability to plan for future growth.

We also face risks resulting from supplier concentration and limited supplier capacity.

We rely on a very small number of suppliers of energy storage systems and other equipment. If any of our suppliers were unable or unwilling to provide us with contracted quantities in a timely manner at prices, quality levels and volumes acceptable to us, we would have very limited alternatives for supply, and we may not be able to contract for and receive suitable alternative supply in a timely manner for our customers, or at all. Such an event may impair our ability to meet scheduled deliveries of our products to customers, which may cause our customers to cancel orders and subject us to liability, and may materially adversely affect our customer relationships, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. We may also be unsuccessful in our continuous efforts to negotiate with existing suppliers to obtain cost reductions and avoid unfavorable changes to terms. Global demand has increased for lithium-ion battery cells, which may cause challenges for our suppliers, including delays or price volatility. Any such delays or reduced availability of energy storage systems or other component materials may impact our sales and operating results. Further, these risks may increase as market demand for our offerings grows. Additionally, some of our suppliers supply systems and components to other businesses, including businesses engaged in the production of consumer electronics and other industries unrelated to energy storage systems. There are also larger purchasers of certain parts and materials that we supply to our customers. As a result, we may be unable to procure a sufficient supply of the items in the event that our suppliers fail to produce sufficient quantities to satisfy the demands of all of their customers. Any of these occurrences could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We have entered into long-term supply agreements that could result in insufficient inventory and negatively affect our results of operations.

We have entered into long-term supply agreements with certain suppliers of battery storage systems and other components of our energy storage systems. Some of these supply agreements provide for fixed or inflation-adjusted pricing and substantial prepayment obligations. Additionally, if our suppliers provide insufficient inventory at the level of quality required to meet customer demand, or if our suppliers are unable or unwilling to provide us with the contracted quantities, we will have limited alternatives for supply and our results of operations could be materially and negatively impacted. Further, we face significant specific counterparty risk under long-term supply agreements when dealing with certain suppliers without a long, stable production and financial history.

Given the uniqueness of our product, some of our suppliers do not have a long operating history and may not have substantial capital resources. In the event any such supplier experiences financial difficulties, it may be difficult or may require substantial time and expense to replace such supplier. We do not know whether we will be able to maintain long-term supply relationships with our critical suppliers, or secure new long-term supply agreements. Additionally, we procure many of the battery storage systems and components of our energy storage systems from non-U.S. suppliers, which exposes us to risks including unforeseen increases in costs or interruptions in supply arising from changes in applicable international trade regulations, such as taxes, tariffs, or quotas. Any of the foregoing could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our hardware and software-enabled services involve a lengthy sales and installation cycle. If we fail to close sales on a regular and timely basis it could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Amounts included in our pipeline and contracted backlog may not result in actual revenue or translate into profits.

Our sales cycle is typically six to 12 months for our hardware and software-enabled services, but can vary considerably. In order to make a sale, we must typically provide a significant level of education to prospective customers regarding the use and benefits of our hardware and software-enabled services.

The period between initial discussions with a potential customer and the sale of even a single energy storage system typically depends on a number of factors, including the potential customer’s budget and decision as to the type of financing it chooses to use, as well as the arrangement of such financing. Prospective customers often undertake a significant evaluation process, which may further extend the sales cycle.

We view potential contracts with developers and independent power producers for energy optimization services and transfer of energy storage systems that are currently being pursued by our direct salesforce and channel partners as part of our pipeline. Our pipeline is an internal metric based on numerous assumptions and limitations, and is calculated using our own data, which has neither been prepared or audited in accordance with U.S. GAAP, nor been independently verified by third parties. We cannot guarantee that our pipeline provides an accurate indication of our future or expected results, or will result in meaningful revenue or profitability.

Currently, the time between the entry into a sales contract with a customer and the installation of our energy storage systems can range from nine to 18 months, or more. This lengthy sales and installation cycle is subject to a number of significant risks over which we have little or no control. We characterize contracts that have been signed but not yet installed as a booking that becomes part of our backlog. Because of both the long sales and installation cycles, we may expend significant resources without generating a sale or producing revenue from our bookings and backlog.

These lengthy sales and installation cycles increase the risk that our customers may fail to satisfy their payment obligations, cancel orders before the completion of the transaction or delay the planned date for installation. Cancellation rates may be affected by factors outside of our control including an inability to install an energy storage system at the customer’s chosen location because of permitting or other regulatory issues, unanticipated changes in the cost or availability of alternative sources of electricity available to the customer or other reasons unique to each customer. Our operating expenses are based on anticipated sales levels, and many of our expenses are fixed. If we are unsuccessful in closing sales after expending significant resources or if we experience delays or cancellations, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Additionally, we have ongoing arrangements with our customers and target customers. Some of these arrangements are evidenced by contracts or long-term contract partnership arrangements. If these arrangements are terminated or if we are unable to continue to fulfill the obligations under such contracts or arrangements, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

If we are unable to attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management, technical, engineering and sales personnel, our ability to compete and successfully grow our business could be adversely affected.

We believe that our success and our ability to reach our strategic objectives are highly dependent on the contributions of our key management, technical, engineering, finance and sales personnel. The loss of the services of any of our senior executives and other key employees could disrupt our operations, delay the development and introduction of our hardware and software-enabled services, and negatively affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, our ability to manage our growth effectively, including expanding our market presence in international markets will be affected by our ability to successfully expand our management team, hire and train new personnel and implement and enhance human resources administrative systems. Our success in hiring, attracting and retaining senior management and other experienced and highly skilled employees will depend in part on our ability to provide competitive compensation packages and a high-quality work environment and maintain a desirable corporate culture. To help attract, retain, and motivate qualified employees, we use share-based awards, such as restricted stock units, and performance-based cash incentive awards. Sustained declines in our stock price, or lower stock price performance relative to competitors, can reduce the retention value of our share-based awards. We may not be able to attract, integrate, train, motivate or retain current or additional highly qualified personnel, and our failure to do so could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Furthermore, there is continued and increasing competition for talented individuals in our field, and competition for qualified personnel is especially intense in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our principal offices are located. In addition to longstanding competition for highly skilled and technical personnel, we face increased competitive pressures and employee cost inflation in tighter labor markets, such as has been experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry competition and cross-industry labor market pressures may negatively impact our ability to attract and retain our executive officers and other key technology, sales, marketing and support personnel and drive increases in our employee costs, both of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have incurred significant losses in the past and expect to incur net losses through at least 2023.

Since our inception in 2009, we have incurred significant net losses and have used significant cash in our business. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $632.1 million. We expect to continue to expand our operations, including by investing in sales and marketing, research and development, staffing systems and infrastructure to support our growth. Under our current plans, we expect to incur net losses on a GAAP basis through at least 2023. Our ability to achieve profitability in the future will depend on a number of factors, including:

• growing our sales volume;
• increasing sales to existing customers and attracting new customers for our hardware and software- enabled services;
• improving our ability to procure energy storage systems from OEMs on cost-effective terms;
• improving our consolidated gross margins reflecting the ability to maintain favorable contract pricing and terms with our customers for our hardware and software-enabled services;
• improving the effectiveness of our sales and marketing activities;
• attracting and retaining key talent in a competitive marketplace;
• operating our systems profitably for the benefit of our customers; and
• the availability of incentives, including those associated with the IRA.

Even if we do achieve profitability when expected, we may be unable to sustain or increase our profitability in the future.

If we are not able to continue to reduce our cost structure in the future, our ability to become profitable may be impaired.

We must continue to reduce the costs of operation of our energy storage systems, and production and operation of our asset performance monitoring and control solutions, to expand our market. Additionally, certain of our existing service contracts were entered into based on projections regarding service cost reductions that assume continued advances in lowering the cost of delivery of our services, which we may be unable to realize. While we have been successful in reducing some of our costs to date, some of our costs have increased, and we could experience additional cost increases in the future. Any such increases could slow our growth and cause our financial results and operational metrics to suffer. In addition, we may face increases in our other expenses, including increases in wages or other labor costs, as well as marketing, sales or related costs. We will continue to make significant investments to drive growth in the future. To expand into new markets while still maintaining our current margins, we will need to continue to reduce our costs. Increases in any of these costs, or our failure to achieve projected cost reductions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we are unable to reduce our cost structure in the future, we may not be able to achieve profitability or we may fail to do so on a satisfactory timeline, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects.

Any future acquisitions we undertake may disrupt our business, adversely affect operations, dilute our stockholders, and expose us to significant costs and liabilities.

Acquisitions are an important element of our business strategy, and we may pursue future acquisitions to increase revenue, expand our market position, add to our service offerings and technological capabilities, respond to dynamic market conditions, or for other strategic or financial purposes. However, we cannot assure you that we will identify suitable acquisition candidates or complete any acquisitions on favorable terms, or at all. In addition, any acquisitions we do complete, including our acquisition of AlsoEnergy, would involve a number of risks, which may include the following:

• the identification, acquisition and integration of acquired businesses require substantial attention from management. The diversion of management’s attention and any difficulties encountered in the integration process could hurt our business;
• the identification, acquisition and integration of acquired businesses requires significant investment, including to determine which new service offerings we might wish to acquire, harmonize service offerings, expand management capabilities and market presence, and improve or increase development efforts and technology features and functions;
• the anticipated benefits from any acquisition may not be achieved on a timely basis or at all, including as a result of loss of clients or personnel of the target, other difficulties in supporting and transitioning the target's clients, difficulties in managing expanded operations and operations in foreign jurisdictions in which we have never operated, the inability to realize expected synergies from an acquisition, or negative organizational cultural effects arising from the integration of new personnel;
• we may face difficulties in integrating the personnel, technologies, solutions, operations, and existing contracts of the acquired business;
• we may fail to identify all of the problems, liabilities, risks or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired company, technology or solution, including issues related to intellectual property, solution quality or architecture, income tax and other regulatory compliance practices, revenue recognition or other accounting or internal control practices, or employee or client issues;
• to pay for future acquisitions, we could issue additional shares of our common stock or pay cash. Issuance of shares would dilute stockholders. See “- We may issue a significant number of shares in the future in connection with investments or acquisitions” below. Use of cash reserves could diminish our ability to respond to other opportunities or challenges. Borrowing to fund any cash purchase price would result in increased fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impair our ability to manage our operations;
• acquisitions expose us to the risk of assumed known and unknown liabilities including contract, tax, regulatory or other legal, and other obligations incurred by the acquired business or fines or penalties, for which indemnity obligations, escrow arrangements or insurance may not be available or may not be sufficient to provide coverage;
• new business acquisitions can generate significant intangible assets that result in substantial related amortization charges and the potential for goodwill impairments in the future;
• the operations of acquired businesses, or our adaptation of those operations, may require that we apply revenue recognition or other accounting methodologies, assumptions, and estimates that are different from those we use in our current business, which could complicate our financial statements, expose us to additional accounting and audit costs, and increase the risk of accounting errors;
• acquired businesses may have insufficient internal controls that we must remediate, and the integration of acquired businesses may require us to modify or enhance our own internal controls, in each case resulting in increased administrative expense and risk that we experience control deficiencies or fail to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; and
• acquisitions can sometimes lead to disputes with the former owners of the acquired company, which can result in increased legal expenses, management distraction and the risk that we may suffer an adverse judgment if we are not the prevailing party in the dispute.

Our current and planned foreign operations expose us to additional business, financial, regulatory and geopolitical risks, and any adverse event could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

As a result of our acquisition of AlsoEnergy, we now operate in more than 50 countries, including the United States and Canada, and in multiple EU and Latin American countries and Asia. Prior to our acquisition of AlsoEnergy, we operated in only three countries. We may in the future evaluate further opportunities to expand into new geographic markets and introduce new product offerings and services that are an extension of our existing business. We also may from time to time acquire businesses or product lines with the potential to strengthen our market position, enable us to enter attractive markets, expand our technological capabilities, or provide synergy opportunities.

We have very limited experience operating outside of the U.S. Managing our international expansion will require additional resources and controls, including additional manufacturing and assembly facilities. Furthermore, any additional markets that we may enter could have different characteristics from the markets in which we currently operate, and our success will depend on our ability to adapt properly to these differences. Any further international expansion could subject our business to risks associated with international operations, including:

• compliance with multiple, potentially conflicting and changing governmental laws, regulations and permitting processes, including trade, labor, environmental, banking, employment, privacy and data protection laws and regulations, such as the EU Data Privacy Directive, as well as tariffs, export quotas, customs duties and other trade restrictions;
• compliance with U.S. and foreign anti-bribery laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended;
• difficulties in collecting payments in foreign currencies and associated foreign currency exposure;
• compliance with potentially conflicting and changing laws of taxing jurisdictions where we conduct business and applicable U.S. tax laws as they relate to international operations, the complexity and adverse consequences of such tax laws and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in such tax laws;
• the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights as fully as do the laws of the U.S. As a result, we may not be able to protect our proprietary rights adequately outside of the U.S.;
• regional economic and political conditions;
• conformity with applicable business customs, including translation into foreign languages and associated expenses;
• lack of availability of government incentives and subsidies;
• potential changes to our established business model;
• cost of alternative power sources, which could vary meaningfully outside the U.S.;
• difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations in an environment of diverse culture, laws and customers, and the increased travel, infrastructure and legal and compliance costs associated with international operations;
• customer installation challenges which we have not encountered before, which may require the development of a unique model for each country;
• differing levels of demand among members of our customer base, including commercial and industrial customers, utilities, independent power producers and project developers; and
• restrictions on repatriation of earnings.

As a result of these risks, any future international expansion efforts that we may undertake (as well as our acquisition of AlsoEnergy) may not be successful and may negatively affect our results of operations and profitability.

In addition, there may be adverse effects to our business if there is instability, disruption or destruction in a significant geographic region, regardless of cause, including war, terrorism, riot, civil insurrection or social unrest; and natural or man-made disasters, including famine, flood, fire, earthquake, storm or disease. The U.S. government and other governments in jurisdictions in which we operate have imposed severe sanctions and export controls against Russia and Russian interests, and have threatened additional sanctions and controls. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has exacerbated shortages and shipping delays affecting certain components and supplies. It is not possible to predict the broader consequences of this conflict, which could include further sanctions, embargoes, greater regional instability, geopolitical shifts and other adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, currency exchange rates, supply chains and financial markets.

Our platform performance may not meet our customers’ expectations or needs.

The renewable energy projects that our customers construct and own are subject to various operating risks that may cause them to generate less value for our customers than expected. These risks include a failure or wearing out of our or our operators’, customers’ or utilities’ equipment; an inability to find suitable replacement equipment or parts; less than expected supply or quality of the project’s source of electricity and faster than expected diminishment of such electricity supply; or volume disruption in our supply collection and distribution system. Any extended interruption or failure of our customer’s projects for any reason to generate the expected amount of output could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, there has been in the past, and may be in the future, an adverse impact on our customers’ willingness to continue to procure additional hardware and software-enabled services from us if any of our customer’s projects incur operational issues that indicate expected future cash flows from the project are less than the project’s carrying value. Any such outcome could adversely affect our operating results or ability to continue to grow our sales volume or to increase sales to existing customers or new customers.

If any energy storage systems procured from OEM suppliers and provided to our customers contain manufacturing defects, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.

The energy storage systems we pair with our Athena® platform are complex energy solutions. We rely on our OEM suppliers to control the quality of the battery storage equipment and other components that make up the energy storage system sold to our customers. We are not involved in the manufacture of the batteries or other components of the energy storage systems. As a result, our ability to seek recourse for liabilities and recover costs from our OEM suppliers depends on our contractual rights as well as the financial condition and integrity of such OEM suppliers that supply us with the batteries and other components of our energy storage systems. Such systems may contain undetected or latent errors or defects. In the past, we have discovered latent defects in energy storage systems. In connection with such defects, we could incur significant expenses or disruptions of our operations, including to our energy storage network, that would prevent us from performing the automated data engineering required to support our AI processes and energy storage network. Any manufacturing defects or other failures of our energy storage systems to perform as expected could cause us to incur significant re-engineering costs, divert the attention of our personnel from operating and maintenance efforts, expose us to adverse regulatory action and litigation and significantly and adversely affect customer satisfaction, market acceptance and our business reputation. Furthermore, our OEM suppliers may be unable to correct manufacturing defects or other failures of any energy storage systems in a manner satisfactory to our customers, which could adversely affect customer satisfaction, market acceptance and our business reputation.

On rare occasions, lithium-ion batteries can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion batteries. This faulty result could subject us to lawsuits, product recalls or redesign efforts, all of which would be time consuming and expensive. Also, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability of lithium-ion batteries for energy applications or any future incident involving lithium-ion batteries, such as a plant, vehicle or other fire, even if such incident does not involve hardware provided by us, could adversely affect our business and reputation.

If our estimates of useful life for our energy storage systems and related hardware and software-enabled services are inaccurate, or if our OEM suppliers do not meet service and performance warranties and guarantees, our business and financial results could be adversely affected.

We sell hardware and software-enabled services to our customers. Our software-enabled services are essential to the operation of these hardware products. As a result, in connection with the sales of energy storage hardware, we enter into recurring long-term services agreements with customers for the usage of our Athena platform for approximately 10 to 20 years. Our pricing of services contracts is based upon the value we expect to deliver to our customers, including considerations such as the useful life of the energy storage system and prevailing electricity prices. We also provide performance warranties and guarantees covering the efficiency and output performance of our software-enabled services. We do not have a long history with a large number of field deployments, and our estimates may prove to be incorrect. Failure to meet these performance warranties and guarantee levels may require us to refund our service contract payments to the customer, or require us to make cash payments to the customer based on actual performance, as compared to expected performance.

Further, the occurrence of any defects, errors, disruptions in service, or other performance problems, interruptions, or delays associated with our energy storage systems or the Athena platform, whether in connection with day-to-day operations or otherwise, could result in:

• loss of customers;
• loss or delayed market acceptance and sales of our hardware and software-enabled services;
• delays in payment to us by customers;
• injury to our reputation and brand;
• legal claims, including warranty and service level agreement claims, against us; or
• diversion of our resources, including through increased service and warranty expenses or financial concessions, and increased insurance costs.

The costs incurred in correcting any material defects or errors in our hardware and software or other performance problems may be substantial and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Future product recalls could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Any product recall in the future, whether it involves our or a competitor’s product, may result in negative publicity, damage our brand and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In the future, we may voluntarily or involuntarily initiate a recall if any of our products are proven to be or possibly could be defective or noncompliant with applicable environmental laws and regulations, including health and safety standards. Such recalls involve significant expense and diversion of management attention and other resources, which could adversely affect our brand image, as well as our business, financial condition and operating results.

We primarily rely on Amazon Web Services to deliver our services to users on our Athena platform, and any disruption of, or interference with, our use of Amazon Web Services could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently host our Athena platform and support our energy storage network operations on one or more data centers provided by Amazon Web Services (“AWS”), a third-party provider of cloud infrastructure services. We do not have control over the operations of the facilities of AWS that we use. AWS’ facilities are vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, cybersecurity attacks, terrorist attacks, power outages, and similar events or acts of misconduct.

Our Athena platform’s continuing and uninterrupted performance is critical to our success. We have experienced, and expect that in the future we will experience, interruptions, delays, and outages in service and availability from time to time due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, website hosting disruptions and capacity constraints. In addition, any changes in AWS’ service levels may adversely affect our ability to meet the requirements of users on our Athena platform. Since our Athena platform’s continuing and uninterrupted performance is critical to our success, sustained or repeated system failures would reduce the attractiveness of our hardware and software-enabled services to customers. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve our performance, as we expand and our energy storage network grows, increasing customer reliance on the Athena platform. Any negative publicity arising from any disruptions to AWS’ facilities, and as a result, our Athena platform could adversely affect our reputation and brand and may adversely affect the usage of our hardware and software-enabled services. Any of the above circumstances or events may adversely affect our reputation and brand, reduce the availability or usage of our hardware and software- enabled services, lead to a significant short-term loss of revenue, increase our costs, and impair our ability to attract new users, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our commercial agreement with AWS will remain in effect until terminated by AWS or us. AWS may terminate the agreement for convenience by providing us at least thirty (30) days’ advance notice. AWS may also terminate the agreement for cause upon a material breach of the agreement, subject to AWS providing prior written notice and a 30-day cure period, and may in some cases terminate the agreement immediately for cause upon written notice. Even though our platform is entirely in the cloud, we believe that we could transition to one or more alternative cloud infrastructure providers on commercially reasonable terms. If our agreement with AWS is terminated or we add additional cloud infrastructure service providers, we may experience significant costs or downtime for a short period in connection with the transfer to, or the addition of, new cloud infrastructure service providers. However, we do not believe that such transfer to, or the addition of, new cloud infrastructure service providers would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations over the longer term.

Any failure to offer high-quality technical support services may adversely affect our relationships with our customers and adversely affect our financial results.

Our customers depend on our support organization to resolve any technical issues relating to our hardware and software-enabled services. In addition, our sales process is highly dependent on the quality of our hardware and software-enabled services, on our business reputation and on strong recommendations from our existing customers. Any failure to maintain high-quality and highly-responsive technical support, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality and highly-responsive support, could adversely affect our reputation, our ability to sell our products to existing and prospective customers, and our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We offer technical support services with our hardware and software-enabled services and may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in demand for support services, particularly as we increase the size of our customer base. We also may be unable to modify the format of our support services to compete with changes in support services provided by competitors. It is difficult to predict demand for technical support services and if demand increases significantly, we may be unable to provide satisfactory support services to our customers. Additionally, increased demand for these services, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business currently depends on the availability of rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives. The reduction, modification, or elimination of government economic incentives could cause our revenue to decline and adversely affect business, financial condition and results of operations.

The U.S. federal government and some state and local governments provide incentives to end users and purchasers of our energy storage systems in the form of rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives, such as system performance payments and payments for renewable energy credits associated with renewable energy generation. In addition, some countries outside the United States also provide incentives to current and future end users and purchasers of our energy storage systems. We rely on these governmental rebates, tax credits and other financial incentives to significantly lower the effective price of the hardware and software-enabled services we offer to our customers. However, these incentives may expire on a particular date, end when the allocated funding is exhausted, or be reduced or terminated as a matter of regulatory or legislative policy.

Our energy storage systems and asset performance monitoring and control solutions have qualified for tax exemptions, incentives or other customer incentives in many states. Some states have utility procurement programs and/or renewable portfolio standards for which our technology is eligible. Our offerings are currently installed in various U.S. states, each of which may have its own enabling policy framework. There is no guarantee that these policies will continue to exist in their current form, or at all. Such state programs may face increased opposition on the U.S. federal, state and local levels in the future. Changes in incentive programs could reduce demand for our offerings, impair sales financing and adversely impact our business results.

The economic benefit of our offerings to our customers depends on the cost of electricity available from alternative sources, including local electric utility companies, which cost structure is subject to change.

The economic benefit of our offerings to our customers includes, among other things, the benefit of reducing such customer’s payments to the local electric utility company. The rates at which electricity is available from a customer’s local electric utility company is subject to change and any changes in such rates may affect the relative benefits of our energy storage systems. Factors that could influence these rates include the effect of energy conservation initiatives that reduce electricity consumption, construction of additional power generation plants (including nuclear, coal or natural gas), and technological developments by others in the electric power industry. Further, the local electric utility may impose “departing load,” “standby” or other charges on our customers in connection with their acquisition of our energy storage systems, the amounts of which are outside of our control and which may have a material impact on the economic benefit of our energy storage systems to our customers. Changes in the rates offered by local electric utilities and/or in the applicability or amounts of charges and other fees imposed by such utilities on customers acquiring our energy storage systems could adversely affect the demand for our energy storage systems.

Additionally, even with available subsidies for our systems, the electricity produced by our energy storage systems is currently not cost competitive in some geographic markets, and we may be unable to reduce our costs to a level at which our energy storage systems would be competitive in such markets. As such, unless the cost of electricity in these markets rises or we are able to generate demand for our energy storage systems based on benefits other than electricity cost savings, our potential for growth in those markets may be limited.

Our business is subject to risks associated with construction, utility interconnection, cost overruns and delays, including those related to obtaining government permits and other contingencies that may arise in the course of completing installations.

Although we generally are not regulated as a utility, federal, state and local government statutes and regulations concerning electricity heavily influence the market for our products and services. These statutes and regulations often relate to electricity pricing, net metering, incentives, taxation and the rules surrounding the interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation for specific technologies. In the U.S., governments frequently modify these statutes and regulations. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, change and adopt different requirements for utilities and rates for commercial customers on a regular basis. Changes, or in some cases a lack of change, in any of the laws, regulations, ordinances or other rules that apply to customer installations and new technology could make it more costly for our customers to install and operate our energy storage systems on particular sites, and in turn could negatively affect our ability to deliver cost savings to customers for the purchase of electricity.

The installation and operation of our energy storage systems at a particular site is also generally subject to oversight and regulation in accordance with national, state and local laws and ordinances relating to building codes, safety, environmental protection and related matters, and typically requires obtaining and keeping in good standing various local and other governmental approvals and permits, including environmental approvals and permits, that vary by jurisdiction. In some cases, these approvals and permits require periodic renewal. It is difficult and costly to track the requirements of every individual authority having jurisdiction over energy storage system installations, to design our energy storage systems to comply with these varying standards, and for our customers to obtain all applicable approvals and permits. We cannot predict whether or when all permits required for a given customer’s project will be granted or whether the conditions associated with the permits will be achievable. The denial or delay of a permit or utility connection essential to a project or the imposition of impractical conditions would impair our customer’s ability to develop the project. In addition, we cannot predict whether the permitting process will be lengthened due to complexities and appeals. Delay in the review and permitting process for a project can impair or delay our customers’ abilities to develop that project or increase the cost so substantially that the project is no longer attractive to our customers. Furthermore, unforeseen delays in the review and permitting process could delay the timing of the installation of our energy storage systems and could therefore adversely affect the timing of the recognition of revenue related to hardware acceptance by our customer, which could adversely affect our operating results in a particular period.

In addition, the successful installation of our energy storage systems is dependent upon the availability of and timely connection to the local electric grid. We may be unable to obtain the required consent and authorization of local utilities to ensure successful interconnection to energy grids to enable the successful discharge of renewable energy to customers. Any delays in our customers’ ability to connect with utilities, delays in the performance of installation-related services or poor performance of installation-related services will have an adverse effect on our results and could cause operating results to vary materially from period to period.

Our business depends on customers renewing their services subscriptions. If customers do not continue to use our subscription offerings or if we fail to expand the availability of hardware and software-enabled services available to our customers, our business and operating results will be adversely affected.

In addition to upfront sale of hardware and network integration, we depend on customers continuing to subscribe to services enabled by our Athena platform. Therefore, it is important that customers renew their subscriptions when the contract term expires, increase their purchases of our hardware and network solutions and enhance their subscriptions. Customers may decide not to renew their subscriptions with a similar contract period, at the same prices or terms or with the same or a greater number of users or level of functionality. Customer retention may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including satisfaction with software-enabled services and features, functionality of our energy storage hardware and software-enabled services, prices, the features and pricing of competing products, reductions in spending levels, mergers and acquisitions involving customers and deteriorating general economic conditions.

If customers do not renew their subscriptions, if they renew on less favorable terms, if they fail to increase their purchase of our hardware and software-enabled services, or if they fail to refer us their customers and partners as potential new customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.

Changes in subscriptions or pricing models may not be reflected in near-term operating results.

We generally recognize subscription revenue from customers ratably over the terms of their contracts. As a result, most of the subscription revenue reported in each quarter is derived from the recognition of deferred revenue relating to subscriptions entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed subscriptions in any single quarter will likely have only a small impact on revenue for that quarter. However, such a decline will negatively affect revenue in future quarters. In addition, the severity and duration of events may not be predictable and their effects could extend beyond a single quarter. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of subscription services, and potential changes in pricing policies or rate of renewals, may not be fully apparent until future periods.

Severe weather events, including the effects of climate change, are inherently unpredictable and may have a material adverse effect on our financial results and financial condition.

Our business, including our customers and suppliers, may be exposed to severe weather events and natural disasters, such as tornadoes, tsunamis, tropical storms (including hurricanes), earthquakes, windstorms, hailstorms, severe thunderstorms, flooding, wildfires and other fires, extreme heatwaves, drought and power shut-offs causing, among other things, disruptions to our supply chain or utility interconnections and/or damage to energy storage systems installed at our customers’ sites. Such damage or disruptions may prevent us from being able to satisfy our contractual obligations or may reduce demand from our customers for our energy storage systems causing our operating results to vary significantly from one period to the next. We may incur losses in our business in excess of: (1) those experienced in prior years, (2) the average expected level used in pricing, or (3) current insurance coverage limits.

The incidence and severity of severe weather conditions and other natural disasters are inherently unpredictable. Climate change is projected to affect the occurrence of certain natural events, such as an increase in the frequency or severity of wind and thunderstorm events, and tornado or hailstorm events due to increased convection in the atmosphere; more frequent wildfires and subsequent landslides in certain geographies; higher incidence of deluge flooding; and the potential for an increase in severity of the hurricane events due to higher sea surface temperatures. Changing market dynamics, global policy developments and the increasing frequency and impact of extreme weather events on critical infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere as a result of climate change have the potential to disrupt our business, the business of our suppliers and the business of our customers, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain or resume operations. Additionally, climate change and the occurrence of severe weather events may adversely impact the demand, price, and availability of insurance. Due to significant variability associated with future changing climate conditions, we are unable to predict the impact climate change will have on our business.

Increased scrutiny from stakeholders and regulators regarding ESG practices and disclosures, including those related to sustainability, and disclosure could result in additional costs and adversely impact our business and reputation.

Companies across all industries are facing increasing scrutiny relating to their Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) practices and disclosures and institutional and individual investors are increasingly using ESG screening criteria in making investment decisions. Our disclosures on these matters or a failure to satisfy evolving stakeholder expectations for ESG practices and reporting may potentially harm our reputation and impact employee retention, customer relationships and access to capital. For example, certain market participants use third-party benchmarks or scores to measure a company’s ESG practices in making investment decisions and customers and supplies may evaluate our ESG practices or require that we adopt certain ESG policies as a condition of awarding contracts. In addition, our failure or perceived failure to pursue or fulfill our goals, targets and objectives or to satisfy various reporting standards within the timelines we announce, or at all, could expose us to government enforcement actions and private litigation.

Our ability to achieve any goal or objective, including with respect to environmental and diversity initiatives and compliance with ESG reporting standards, is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control. Examples of such risks include the availability and cost of technologies and products that meet sustainability and ethical supply chain standards, evolving regulatory requirements affecting ESG standards or disclosures, our ability to recruit, develop and retain diverse talent in our labor markets, and our ability to develop reporting processes and controls that comply with evolving standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics. Methodologies for reporting ESG data may be updated and previously reported ESG data may be adjusted to reflect improvement in availability and quality of third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations and other changes in circumstances. Our processes and controls for reporting ESG matters across our operations and supply chain are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by the SEC, European and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future. As ESG best-practices, reporting standards and disclosure requirements continue to develop, we may incur increasing costs related to ESG monitoring and reporting.

We Face Risks Related to our DevCo Business Model

From time to time, we have entered into strategic joint ventures with qualified third parties to develop energy storage power generation projects (“DevCo Projects”), as more fully described above under Note 1 — Business, of the Notes to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These projects require upfront investment by us and involve a high degree of risk. The success of this business model depends in large part on the successful development, financing and construction of projects. However, such projects ultimately may not be commercially viable or may not result in an adequate return of capital and, in pursuing these projects, we may incur unanticipated liabilities. Successful completion of a project may be adversely affected, delayed or rendered infeasible by numerous factors, including:

• interconnection costs and capacity constraints;
• transmission grid congestion issues;
• delays in obtaining required governmental permits and approvals;
• regulatory changes that adversely affect energy storage participation in wholesale markets;
• changes in wholesale market energy and ancillary services prices and costs;
• construction delays and contractor or developer partner performance shortfalls;
• cost overruns, including costs related to renting or owning land necessary to develop DevCo Projects;
• labor, equipment, and material supply shortages, failures or disruptions; and
• force majeure and other events out of our control.

In addition, our joint venture partners may at any time have economic, business or legal interests or goals that are inconsistent with the goals of the DevCo Project. Disagreements with our business partners may impede our ability to recognize the benefits of our DevCo Projects. Our joint venture partners may be unable or unwilling to meet their performance or other obligations under the operative documents, and we may be required to fulfill those obligations or to dissolve and liquidate the DevCo Project.

If a DevCo Project experiences any of the factors listed above or otherwise fails to reach completion or is significantly delayed, we could lose all or a portion of our development capital investment and our cash advances to purchase hardware. If a DevCo Project fails then we may be unable to recover our investment. Losing or delaying return of all or a portion of our investments in our DevCo Projects could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on significant customers for a substantial portion of our revenue. If we fail to retain or expand our customer relationships or significant customers reduce their purchases, our revenue could decline significantly.

We depend on a small number of significant customers for our sales, and a small number of customers have historically accounted for a material portion of our revenue. The loss of any one of our significant customers, their inability to perform under their contracts, their termination or failure to renew their contracts with us, or their default in payment could cause our revenue to decline materially. For the near future, we may continue to derive a significant portion of our revenue from a small number of customers. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, one customer accounted for approximately 46% of our revenue. Loss of a significant customer or a significant reduction in pricing or order volume from a significant customer could materially reduce our revenue and operating results in any reporting period.

In addition, we are subject to credit risk of our customers, and our operating results depend on receipt of timely payments from our customers. Any delay in payment by our customers may have an adverse effect on revenue and operating results. There is no assurance that we will be able to collect all or any of the amounts owed to us in a timely matter. If any of our customers face unexpected situations such as financial difficulties, we may not be able to receive full or any payment of the uncollected sums or enforce any judgment debts against such clients, and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Related to Third-Party Partners

Our hardware and software-enabled services rely on interconnections to distribution and transmission facilities that are owned and operated by third parties, and as a result, are exposed to interconnection and transmission facility development and curtailment risks.

Our hardware and software-enabled services are interconnected with electric distribution and transmission facilities owned and operated by regulated utilities necessary to deliver the electricity that our storage systems produce. A failure or delay in the operation or development of these distribution or transmission facilities could result in a loss of revenues or breach of a contract because such a failure or delay could limit the amount of renewable electricity that our energy storage systems deliver or delay the completion of our customers’ construction projects. In addition, certain of our energy storage systems’ generation may be curtailed without compensation due to distribution and transmission limitations, reducing our revenues and impairing our ability to capitalize fully on a particular customer project’s potential. Such a failure or curtailment at levels above our expectations could impact our ability to satisfy agreements entered into with our suppliers and adversely affect our business.

Our growth depends in part on the success of our relationships with third parties, including contractors and project developers

We rely on third-party general contractors to install energy storage systems at our customers’ sites. We currently work with a limited number of general contractors, which has impacted and may continue to impact our ability to facilitate customer installations as planned. Our work with contractors or their subcontractors may have the effect of our being required to comply with additional rules (including rules unique to our customers), working conditions, site remediation and other union requirements, which can add costs and complexity to an installation project. The timeliness, thoroughness and quality of the installation-related services performed by our general contractors and their subcontractors in the past have not always met our expectations or standards and in the future may not meet our expectations and standards and it may be difficult to find and train third-party general contractors that meet our standards at a competitive cost.

In addition, we are investing resources in establishing strategic relationships with market players across a variety of industries, including large renewable project developers, to generate new customers. These programs may not roll out as quickly as planned or produce the results we anticipated. A significant portion of our business depends on attracting new partners and retaining existing partners. Negotiating relationships with our partners, investing in due diligence efforts with potential partners, training such third parties and contractors and monitoring them for compliance with our standards require significant time and resources and may present greater risks and challenges than expanding a direct sales or installation team. If we are not successful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with these third parties, our ability to grow our business and address our market opportunity could be impaired. Even if we are able to establish and maintain these relationships, we may not be able to execute on our goal of leveraging these relationships to meaningfully expand our business, brand recognition and customer base. Such circumstance would limit our growth potential and our opportunities to generate significant additional revenue or cash flows.

We must maintain customer confidence in our long-term business prospects in order to grow our business.

Customers may be less likely to purchase our hardware and services if they do not believe that our business will succeed or that our services and support and other operations will continue in the long term. Similarly, suppliers and other third parties will be less likely to invest time and resources in developing business relationships with us if they do not believe that our business will succeed. Accordingly, in order to build and maintain our business, we must maintain confidence among customers, suppliers, analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in our hardware and software-enabled services, long-term financial viability and business prospects. Maintaining such confidence may be particularly complicated by certain factors including those that are largely outside of our control, such as our limited operating history, customer unfamiliarity with our hardware and software-enabled services, delivery and service operations to meet demand, competition, future changes in the evolving distributed and renewable energy markets or uncertainty regarding sales performance compared with market expectations.

Accordingly, in order to grow our business, we must maintain confidence among our customers, OEM suppliers, third-party general contractor partners, financing partners and other parties in our long-term business prospects. This may be particularly complicated by factors such as:

• our limited operating history at current scale;
• our historical and anticipated near-term lack of profitability;
• unfamiliarity with or uncertainty about our energy storage systems and the overall perception of the distributed and renewable energy generation markets;
• prices for electricity in particular markets;
• competition from alternate sources of energy;
• warranty or unanticipated service issues we may experience in connection with third-party manufactured hardware and our proprietary software;
• the environmental consciousness and perceived value of environmental programs to our customers;
• the size of our expansion plans in comparison to our existing capital base and the scope and history of operations; and
• the availability and amount of incentives, credits, subsidies or other programs to promote installation of energy storage systems.

Several of these factors are largely outside our control, and any negative perceptions about our long-term business prospects, even if unfounded, would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Technology

If we are unsuccessful in developing and maintaining our proprietary technology, including our Athena platform, our ability to attract and retain partners could be impaired, our competitive position could be adversely affected and our revenue could be reduced.

Our future growth depends on our ability to continue to develop and maintain our proprietary technology that supports our hardware and software-enabled services, including our Athena platform. In the event that our current or future products and services require features that we have not developed or licensed, or we lose the benefit of an existing license, we will be required to develop or obtain such technology through purchase, license or other arrangements. If the required technology is not available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, we may incur additional expenses in an effort to internally develop the required technology. We have received patents and have filed patent applications with respect to certain aspects of our technology, and we generally rely on patent protection with respect to our proprietary technology, as well as a combination of trade secrets and copyright law, employee and third-party non-disclosure agreements and other protective measures to protect intellectual property rights pertaining to our proprietary technology and hardware and software- enabled services. There can be no assurance that the steps taken by us to protect any of our proprietary technology will be adequate to prevent misappropriation of these technologies by third parties. If we were unable to maintain our existing proprietary technology, our ability to attract and retain customers could be impaired, our competitive position could be adversely affected, and our revenue could be reduced.

A failure of our information technology (“IT”) and data security infrastructure could adversely affect our business and operations.

The efficient operation of our business depends on our IT systems, some of which are managed by third-party service providers. We rely upon the capacity, reliability and security of our IT and data security infrastructure and our ability to effectively manage our business data, accounting, financial, legal and compliance functions, communications, supply chain, order entry and fulfillment, and expand and continually update this infrastructure in response to the changing needs of our business. Our existing IT systems and any new IT systems we utilize may not perform as expected. If we experience a problem with the functioning of an important IT system or a security breach of our IT systems, including during system upgrades or new system implementations, the resulting disruptions could adversely affect our business.

Despite our implementation of reasonable security measures, our IT systems, like those of other companies, are vulnerable to damages from computer viruses, natural disasters, fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, personnel misconduct, human error, unauthorized access, physical or electronic security breaches, cyber-attacks (including malicious and destructive code, phishing attacks, ransomware, and denial of service attacks), and other similar disruptions. Such attacks or security breaches may be perpetrated by bad actors internally or externally (including computer hackers, persons involved with organized crime, or foreign state or foreign state-supported actors). Cybersecurity threat actors employ a wide variety of methods and techniques that are constantly evolving, increasingly sophisticated, and difficult to detect and successfully defend against. Geopolitical tensions or conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, may further heighten the risk of cyber-attacks. We have experienced such incidents in the past, and any future incidents could expose us to claims, litigation, regulatory or other governmental investigations, administrative fines and potential liability. Any system failure, accident or security breach could result in disruptions to our operations. A material network breach in the security of our or our service providers’ IT systems could include the theft of our trade secrets, customer information, human resources information or other confidential data, including but not limited to personally identifiable information. Although past incidents have not had a material adverse effect on our business operations or financial performance, to the extent that any disruptions or security breach results in a loss or damage to our data, or an inappropriate disclosure of confidential, proprietary or customer information, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers and strategic partners, lead to claims against us from governments and private plaintiffs, and otherwise adversely affect our business. We cannot guarantee that future cyberattacks, if successful, will not have a material effect on our business or financial results.

Many governments have enacted laws requiring companies to provide notice of cyber incidents involving certain types of data, including personal data. If an actual or perceived cybersecurity breach of security measures, unauthorized access to our system or the systems of the third-party vendors that we rely upon, or any other cybersecurity threat occurs, we may incur liability, costs, or damages, contract termination, our reputation may be compromised, our ability to attract new customers could be negatively affected, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Any compromise of our security could also result in a violation of applicable domestic and foreign security, privacy or data protection, consumer and other laws, regulatory or other governmental investigations, enforcement actions, and legal and financial exposure, including potential contractual liability. In addition, we may be required to incur significant costs to protect against and remediate damage caused by these disruptions or security breaches in the future. While we carry cyber insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim.

Our technology, including the Athena platform, could have undetected defects, errors or bugs in hardware or software which could reduce market adoption, damage our reputation with current or prospective customers and/or expose us to product liability and other claims that could materially and adversely affect our business.

We may be subject to claims that our hardware and software-enabled services, including the Athena platform have malfunctioned and persons were injured or purported to be injured. Any insurance that we carry may not be sufficient or it may not apply to all situations. Similarly, to the extent that such malfunctions are related to components obtained from third-party vendors, such vendors may not assume responsibility for such malfunctions. In addition, our customers could be subjected to claims as a result of such incidents and may bring legal claims against us to attempt to hold us liable. Any of these events could adversely affect our brand, relationships with customers, operating results or financial condition.

Furthermore, our Athena platform is complex, developed for over a decade by many developers, and includes a number of licensed third-party commercial and open-source software libraries. Our software has contained defects and errors and may in the future contain undetected defects or errors. We are continuing to evolve the features and functionality of our platform through updates and enhancements, and as we do, we may introduce additional defects or errors that may not be detected until after deployment to customers through our hardware. In addition, if our hardware and software-enabled services, including any updates or patches, are not implemented or used correctly or as intended, inadequate performance and disruptions in service may result.

Any defects or errors in product or services offerings, or the perception of such defects or errors, or other performance problems could result in any of the following, each of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations:

• expenditure of significant financial and product development resources, including recalls, in efforts to analyze, correct, eliminate or work around errors or defects;
• loss of existing or potential customers or partners;
• interruptions or delays in sales;
• delayed or lost revenue;
• delay or failure to attain market acceptance;
• delay in the development or release of new functionality or improvements;
• negative publicity and reputational harm;
• sales credits or refunds;
• exposure of confidential or proprietary information;
• diversion of development and customer service resources;
• breach of warranty claims;
• legal claims under applicable laws, rules and regulations; and
• the expense and risk of litigation.

Although we have contractual protections, such as warranty disclaimers and limitation of liability provisions, in many of our agreements with customers, resellers and other business partners, such protections may not be uniformly implemented in all contracts and, where implemented, may not fully or effectively protect from claims by customers, resellers, business partners or other third parties. Any insurance coverage or indemnification obligations of suppliers may not adequately cover all such claims, or cover only a portion of such claims. A successful product liability, warranty, or other similar claim could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, even claims that ultimately are unsuccessful could result in expenditure of funds in litigation, divert management’s time and other resources and cause reputational harm.

Our failure to adequately secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may undermine our competitive position, and litigation to protect our intellectual property rights may be costly.

Although we have taken many protective measures to protect our intellectual property, including trade secrets, policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology can be difficult and expensive. For example, many of our software developers reside in California and we cannot legally prevent them from working for a competitor.

Also, litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets, or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation may result in our intellectual property rights being challenged, limited in scope or declared invalid or unenforceable. We cannot be certain that the outcome of any litigation will be in our favor, and an adverse determination in any such litigation could impair our intellectual property rights and may adversely affect our business, prospects and reputation.

We rely primarily on patent, trade secret and trademark laws, and non-disclosure, confidentiality, and other types of contractual restrictions to establish, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights. However, our rights under these laws and agreements afford us only limited protection and the actions we take to establish, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights may not be adequate. For example, our trade secrets and other confidential information could be disclosed in an unauthorized manner to third parties, our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, or misappropriated or our intellectual property rights may not be sufficient to provide us with a competitive advantage, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For example, we rely on our brand names, trade names and trademarks to distinguish our products and services, such as our Athena® platform, from the products of our competitors; however, third parties may oppose our trademark applications, or otherwise challenge our use of such trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged and we lose rights to use those trademarks, we could be forced to rebrand our products and services, which could result in the loss of goodwill and brand recognition. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights as fully as do the laws of the U.S. As a result, we may not be able to protect our proprietary rights adequately abroad.

Our patent applications may not result in issued patents, and our issued patents may not provide adequate protection, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours.

We cannot be certain that our pending patent applications will result in issued patents or that any of our issued patents will afford protection against a competitor. The status of patents involves complex legal and factual questions, and the breadth of claims allowed is uncertain. As a result, we cannot be certain that the patent applications that we file will result in patents being issued, or that our patents and any patents that may be issued to us in the future will afford protection against competitors with similar technology. In addition, patent applications filed in foreign countries are subject to laws, rules and procedures that differ from those of the U.S., and thus we cannot be certain that foreign patent applications related to issued U.S. patents will be issued in other regions. Furthermore, even if these patent applications are accepted and the associated patents issued, some foreign countries provide significantly less effective patent enforcement than in the U.S.

In addition, patents issued to us may be infringed upon or designed around by others and others may obtain patents that we need to license or design around, either of which would increase costs and may adversely affect our business, prospects, and operating results.

We may need to defend ourselves against claims that we infringe, have misappropriated or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of others, which may be time consuming and would cause us to incur substantial costs.

Companies, organizations, or individuals, including our competitors, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks, or other proprietary rights that they may in the future believe are infringed by our products and services. Although we are not currently subject to any claims related to intellectual property, these companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights allegedly relating to our technologies could, in the future, make claims or bring suits alleging infringement, misappropriation or other violations of such rights, or otherwise asserting their rights and seeking licenses or injunctions. Several of the proprietary components used in our energy storage systems have been subjected to infringement challenges in the past. We also generally indemnify our customers against claims that the hardware and software-enabled services we supply infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate third-party intellectual property rights, and we may therefore be required to defend our customers against such claims. If a claim is successfully brought in the future and we or our hardware and software-enabled services are determined to have infringed, misappropriated, or otherwise violated a third-party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:

• cease selling products or services that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;
• pay substantial damages (including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if our infringement is determined to be willful);
• obtain a license from the holder of the intellectual property right, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; or
• redesign our products or services, which may not be possible or cost-effective.

Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could adversely affect our reputation, result in substantial costs, and divert resources and management attention.

We also license technology from third parties, and incorporate components supplied by third parties into our hardware. We may face claims that our use of such technology or components infringes or otherwise violates the rights of others, which would subject us to the risks described above. We may seek indemnification from our licensors or suppliers under our contracts with them, but our rights to indemnification or our suppliers’ resources may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our costs and losses.

Regulatory Risks

The installation and operation of our energy storage systems are subject to environmental laws and regulations in various jurisdictions, and there is uncertainty with respect to the interpretation of certain environmental laws and regulations to our energy storage systems, especially as these regulations evolve over time.

We are subject to national, state and local environmental laws and regulations, as well as environmental laws in those foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. Environmental laws and regulations can be complex and may change often. These laws can give rise to liability for administrative oversight costs, cleanup costs, property damage, bodily injury, fines and penalties. We are committed to compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations, including health and safety standards, and we continually review the operation of our energy storage systems for health, safety and compliance. Our energy storage systems, like other battery technology-based products of which we are aware, produce small amounts of hazardous wastes and air pollutants, and we seek to ensure that they are handled in accordance with applicable regulatory standards.

Maintaining compliance with laws and regulations can be challenging given the changing patchwork of environmental laws and regulations that prevail at the U.S. federal, state, regional and local levels and in foreign countries in which we operate. Most existing environmental laws and regulations preceded the introduction of battery technology and were adopted to apply to technologies existing at the time, namely large, coal, oil or gas-fired power plants. Currently, there is generally little guidance from these agencies on how certain environmental laws and regulations may, or may not, be applied to our technology.

In many instances, our technology is moving faster than the development of applicable regulatory frameworks. It is possible that regulators could delay or prevent us from conducting our business in some way pending agreement on, and compliance with, shifting regulatory requirements. Such actions could delay the sale to and installation by customers of energy storage systems, require their modification or replacement, result in fines, or trigger claims of performance warranties and defaults under customer contracts that could require us to refund hardware or service contract payments, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial performance and reputation.

Existing regulations and changes to such regulations impacting the electric power industry may create technical, regulatory and economic barriers which could significantly reduce demand for our energy storage systems.

The market for electricity generation products is heavily influenced by U.S. federal, state, local and foreign government regulations and policies, as well as by tariffs, internal policies and practices of electric utility providers. These regulations, tariffs and policies often relate to electricity pricing and technical interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation. These regulations, tariffs and policies are often modified and could continue to change, and this could result in a significant reduction in demand for our energy storage systems. For example, utility companies commonly charge fees industrial customers for disconnecting from the electric grid or for having the capacity to use power from the electric grid for back-up purposes. These fees could change, increasing the cost to our customers of using our offerings and making them less economically attractive.

Negative attitudes toward renewable energy projects from the U.S. government, other lawmakers and regulators, and activists could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Parties with an interest in other energy sources, including lawmakers, regulators, policymakers, environmental and advocacy organizations or other activists may invest significant time and money in efforts to delay, repeal or otherwise negatively influence regulations and programs that promote renewable energy. Many of these parties have substantially greater resources and influence than we have. Further, changes in U.S. federal, state or local political, social or economic conditions, including a lack of legislative focus on these programs and regulations, could result in their modification, delayed adoption or repeal. Any failure to adopt, delay in implementing, expiration, repeal or modification of these programs and regulations, or the adoption of any programs or regulations that encourage the use of other energy sources over renewable energy, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Opposition to our customers’ project requests for permits or successful challenges or appeals to permits issued for their projects could adversely affect our operating plans.

A decrease in acceptance of renewable energy projects by local populations, an increase in the number of legal challenges, or an unfavorable outcome of such legal challenges could adversely affect the financial condition of our customers and reduce their demand for our hardware and software-enabled services. For example, persons, associations and groups could oppose renewable energy projects in general or our customers’ projects specifically, citing, for example, misuse of water resources, landscape degradation, land use, food scarcity or price increase and harm to the environment. Moreover, regulation may restrict the development of renewable energy plants in certain areas. In order to develop a renewable energy project, our customers are typically required to obtain, among other things, environmental impact permits or other authorizations and building permits, which in turn require environmental impact studies to be undertaken and public hearings and comment periods to be held during which any person, association or group may oppose a project. The effect of such public opposition to renewable energy projects and any resulting reduction in customer demand for our hardware and software-enabled services could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in the U.S. trade environment, including the imposition of import tariffs, could adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenues, results of operations or cash flows.

Escalating trade tensions, particularly between the United States and China, have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions, including tariffs applicable to certain materials and components for products used in solar energy projects and the renewable energy market more broadly, such as module supply and availability. More specifically, in March 2018, the United States imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports and a 10% tariff on aluminum imports pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and has imposed additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. To the extent we source products that contain overseas supplies of steel and aluminum, these tariffs could result in interruptions in the supply chain and negatively affect costs and our gross margins. Additionally, in January 2018, the United States adopted a tariff on imported solar modules and cells pursuant to Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. The tariff was initially set at 30%, with a gradual reduction over four years to 15%. While this tariff does not apply directly to the components we import, it may indirectly affect us by affecting the financial viability of solar energy projects, which could in turn reduce demand for our products. Furthermore, in July 2018, the United States adopted a 10% tariff on a long list of products imported from China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, including, inverters and power optimizers, which became effective on September 24, 2018. In June 2019, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative increased the rate of such tariffs from 10% to 25%. While these tariffs are not directly applicable to our products, they could negatively affect the solar energy projects in which our products are used, which could lead to decreased demand for our products.

In addition, the United States currently imposes antidumping and countervailing duties on certain imported crystalline silicon photovoltaic (“PV”) cells and modules from China and Taiwan. Such antidumping and countervailing duties can change over time pursuant to annual reviews conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce (“USDOC”), and an increase in duty rates could have an adverse impact on our operating results.

In February 2022, Auxin Solar Inc., a U.S. producer of crystalline silicon PV products, petitioned the USDOC to investigate alleged circumvention of antidumping and countervailing duties on Chinese imports by crystalline silicon PV cells and module imports assembled and completed in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. On March 28, 2022, the USDOC announced that it would investigate the circumvention alleged in the petition. The timing and progress of many of our customers’ projects depend upon the supply of PV cells and modules. As a result, if the USDOC makes negative circumvention determinations, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Tariffs, and the possibility of additional tariffs in the future, have created uncertainty in the industry. This has resulted in, and may continue to result in, some project delays. If the price of solar systems or energy storage systems in the United States increases, the use of these products could become less economically feasible and could reduce our gross margins or reduce the demand of such systems manufactured and sold, which in turn may decrease demand for our products. Additionally, existing or future tariffs may negatively affect key customers, suppliers, and manufacturing partners. Such outcomes could adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenues, results of operations or cash flows, and continuing uncertainty could cause sales volatility, price fluctuations or supply shortages, or cause our customers to advance or delay their purchase of our products. It is difficult to predict what further trade-related actions governments may take, which may include additional or increased tariffs and trade restrictions, and we may be unable to quickly and effectively react to such actions.

Additional Risks Related to our Securities and Our Capital Structure

We may issue a significant number of shares in the future in connection with investments or acquisitions.

We may issue securities in the future in connection with investments or acquisitions or otherwise. The amount of shares of common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to our stockholders.

We do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of our business, and do not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, restrictions contained in future agreements and financing instruments, business prospects and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate consolidated financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) and the rules and regulations of the applicable listing standards of the NYSE. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting, and financial compliance costs; make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, and costly; and place significant strain on our personnel, systems, and resources.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend, significant resources, including accounting-related costs and significant management oversight.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. In addition, changes in accounting principles or interpretations could also challenge our internal controls and require that we establish new business processes, systems, and controls to accommodate such changes. Additionally, if these new systems, controls, or standards and the associated process changes do not give rise to the benefits that we expect or do not operate as intended, it could adversely affect our financial reporting systems and processes, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial reports, or the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Moreover, our business may be harmed if we experience problems with any new systems and controls that result in delays in their implementation or increased costs to correct any post-implementation issues that may arise.

Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement could harm our business or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our consolidated financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the NYSE. We are required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

Our independent registered public accounting firm is required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed, or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could harm our business and could cause a decline in the trading price of our common stock.

If analysts do not publish research about our business or if they publish inaccurate or unfavorable research, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends in part on the research and reports that analysts publish about our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If few analysts cover us, demand for our common stock could decrease and our common stock price and trading volume may decline. Similar results may occur if one or more of these analysts stop covering us in the future or fail to publish reports on us regularly.

The trading price of our common stock is volatile.

The trading price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile. You may not be able to resell your shares at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as those listed in “- Risks Relating to Stem’s Business and Industry” and the following:

• results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;
• results of operations that vary from those of our competitors;
• the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the Company’s business and financial conditions;
• changes in expectations as to the Company’s future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors;
• declines in the market prices of stocks generally;
• strategic actions by us or our competitors;
• announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures, other strategic relationships or capital commitments;
• any significant change in the Company’s senior management;
• changes in general economic or market conditions or trends in the Company’s industry or markets, including as a result of a general economic slowdown or a recession, increasing interest rates and changes in monetary policy, or inflationary pressures;
• changes in business or regulatory conditions, including new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to the Company’s business;
• future sales of our common stock or other securities or the incurrence of significant debt;
• investor perceptions or the investment opportunity associated with our common stock relative to other investment alternatives;
• the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including the Company’s filings with the SEC;
• litigation involving the Company, the Company’s industry, or both, or investigations by regulators into the Company’s operations or those of the Company’s competitors;
• financial and operating guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in this guidance or the Company’s failure to meet this guidance;
• the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our common stock;
• actions by institutional or activist stockholders;
• changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles; and
• other events or factors, including those resulting from natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.

These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our common stock is low.

In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we were involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from the Company’s business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.

Our financial condition and results of operations and other key metrics are likely to fluctuate on a quarterly basis in future periods, which could cause our results for a particular period to fall below expectations, resulting in a severe decline in the price of our common stock.

Our financial condition and results of operations and other key metrics have fluctuated significantly in the past and may continue to fluctuate in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. For example, the amount of revenue we recognize in a given period is materially dependent on the volume of purchases of our energy storage systems and software-enabled services in that period.

In addition to the other risks described herein, the following factors could also cause our financial condition and results of operations to fluctuate on a quarterly basis:

• the timing of customer installations of our hardware, which may depend on many factors such as availability of inventory, product quality or performance issues, or local permitting requirements, utility requirements, environmental, health and safety requirements, weather and customer facility construction schedules, and availability and schedule of our third-party general contractors;
• the sizes of particular customer hardware installations and the number of sites involved in any particular quarter;
• delays or cancellations of energy storage system purchases and installations;
• fluctuations in our service costs, particularly due to unaccrued costs of servicing and maintaining energy storage systems;
• weaker than anticipated demand for our energy storage systems due to changes in government incentives and policies;
• interruptions in our supply chain;
• the timing and level of additional purchases by existing customers;
• unanticipated expenses or installation delays incurred by customers due to changes in governmental regulations, permitting requirements by local authorities at particular sites, utility requirements and environmental, health and safety requirements; and
• disruptions in our sales, production, service or other business activities resulting from our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel.

In addition, our revenue, key operating metrics and other operating results in future quarters may fall short of the expectations of investors and financial analysts, which could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

Certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Charter and Amended and Restated Bylaws may have an anti- takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders.

These provisions, among other things:

• establish a staggered board of directors divided into three classes serving staggered three-year terms, such that not all members of our board of directors will be elected at one time;
• authorize our board of directors to issue new series of preferred stock without stockholder approval and create, subject to applicable law, a series of preferred stock with preferential rights to dividends or our assets upon liquidation, or with superior voting rights to our existing common stock;
• eliminate the ability of stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders;
• eliminate the ability of stockholders to fill vacancies on our board of directors;
• establish advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by stockholders at our annual stockholder meetings;
• permit our board of directors to establish the number of directors;
• provide that our board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our Amended and Restated Bylaws;
• provide that stockholders can remove directors only for cause and only upon the approval of not less than 66 2∕3 of all outstanding shares of our voting stock;
• require the approval of not less than 66 2∕3 of all outstanding shares of our voting stock to amend our Amended and Restated Bylaws and specific provisions of our Amended and Restated Charter; and
• limit the jurisdictions in which certain stockholder litigation may be brought.

As a Delaware corporation, we are subject to the anti-takeover provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL, which prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination specified in the statute with an interested stockholder (as defined in the statute) for a period of three (3) years after the date of the transaction in which the person first becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in advance by a majority of the independent directors or by the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding disinterested shares. The application of Section 203 of the DGCL could also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of our company.

These anti-takeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire us, even if the third-party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions you desire.

Our Amended and Restated Charter designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees or stockholders.

Our Amended and Restated Charter provides that, that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any director, officer, or other employee arising pursuant to the DGCL, (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce, or determine the validity of our second amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws, or (v) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine, shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or another state court or the federal court located within the State of Delaware if the Court of Chancery does not have or declines to accept jurisdiction), in all cases subject to the court’s having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants.

In addition, our Amended and Restated Charter provides that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act but that the forum selection provision does not apply to claims brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”). Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our Amended and Restated Charter to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we might incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results. For example, under the Securities Act, federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act, and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our shares of capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consent to this exclusive forum provision, but will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

Our ability to issue shares of common stock beyond 400 million may be affected by a recent Delaware Court of Chancery decision

A recent decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery involving a Delaware special purpose acquisition company’s (“SPAC”) that did not obtain a separate “class vote” of the SPAC’s Class A common stockholders in connection with certain amendments to that SPAC’s certificate of incorporation (the “Decision”) has created uncertainty as to whether such a vote was required under Section 242(b)(2) of the DGCL. This in turn has created uncertainty as to whether the Company properly authorized and can issue common stock beyond the 400 million shares originally authorized in the Company’s prior Certificate of Incorporation, even though the Company’s stockholders voted on April 27, 2021, in favor of an increase in the number of authorized common stock from 400 million to 500 million (the “Share Increase”). As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the Company has issued only 154.6 million shares of common stock and reserved 50.5 million shares of common stock, primarily for the exercise or vesting of outstanding long-term incentive awards and the potential issuance of our common stock in connection with the conversion of the 2028 Convertible Notes.

The Share Increase was approved at the time of the business combination between Stem and Star Peak Energy Transition Corp. by a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock. The Company did not obtain a separate vote of a majority of the Class A common stock for the Share Increase Amendment. While the Company does not believe that a separate vote of the Class A common stock was required to approve the Share Increase, the Decision raises the question whether the Company was required to obtain a separate affirmative vote of the Class A common stock in order to increase the authorized share count from 400 million to 500 million under the Delaware General Corporation Law. In light of the Court’s December 27, 2022 decision, we are considering various options, including potentially seeking validation of the Share Increase Amendment by the Court pursuant to Section 205 of the DGCL.

The capped call transactions we entered into in connection with the pricing of our 2028 Convertible Notes may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

In connection with the pricing of the 2028 Convertible Notes, we entered into capped call transactions with several affiliates of the Initial Purchasers (the “Option Counterparties”). The capped call transactions are expected generally to reduce potential dilution to our common stock upon conversion of any Convertible Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap.

In addition, the Option Counterparties and/or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our common stock and/or purchasing or selling our common stock in secondary market transactions and prior to the maturity of the Convertible Notes (and are likely to do so on each exercise date for the capped call transactions or following any termination of any portion of the capped call transactions in connection with any repurchase, redemption or early conversion of the Convertible Notes). This activity could cause or avoid an increase or decrease in the market price of our common stock.

We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the capped call transactions.

The Option Counterparties are financial institutions, and we are subject to the risk that any or all of them might default under the capped call transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties is not secured by any collateral. Past global economic conditions have resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions. If an option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at that time under the capped call transactions with such option counterparty. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, an increase in our exposure will be correlated to an increase in the market price and in the volatility of our common stock. In addition, upon a default by an option counterparty, we may suffer more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. We can provide no assurance as to the financial stability or viability of the option counterparties.

General Risk Factors

Our management team has limited experience managing a public company.

Most members of our management team have limited experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors, and complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage us as a public company that is subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the federal securities laws and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. These new obligations and constituents require significant attention from our senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Future litigation or administrative proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We have been and continue to be involved in legal proceedings, administrative proceedings, claims, and other litigation. In addition, since our energy storage product is a new type of product in a nascent market, we have in the past needed and may in the future need to seek the amendment of existing regulations or, in some cases, the creation of new regulations, in order to operate our business in some jurisdictions. Such regulatory processes may require public hearings concerning our business, which could expose us to subsequent litigation. Unfavorable outcomes or developments relating to proceedings to which we are a party or transactions involving our products and services, such as judgments for monetary damages, injunctions, or denial or revocation of permits, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, settlement of claims could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our operating results may be adversely affected by unfavorable economic and market conditions.

Unfavorable economic conditions, such as a general slowdown or recession of the global or U.S. economy, uncertainty and volatility in the financial markets, or inflation and rising interest rates, could reduce investment in projects that make use of our services. In addition, sustained unfavorable economic conditions might also have a negative impact on many of our customers or suppliers, which could impair their ability to meet their obligations to us. If economic and market conditions globally, in the U.S. or in other key markets become more volatile or deteriorate further, we may experience material impacts on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our corporate headquarters is located in San Francisco, California. This facility comprises approximately 23,500 square feet of office space. We lease this facility. We have additional facilities, including in the following locations:

We believe our space is adequate for our current needs and that suitable additional or substitute space will be available to accommodate the foreseeable expansion of our operations. For more information about our material lease commitments, see Note 8 — Leases, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The information with respect to this Item 3. Legal Proceedings is set forth in Note 20 — Commitments and Contingencies, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Report. In addition to our historical consolidated financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates, and beliefs. Our actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Report, particularly in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”

This MD&A section generally discusses 2022 and 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of 2020 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in the section entitled “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results or Operations” contained in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2022.

The Merger

The information regarding the Merger set forth in the first paragraph of “Item 1. Business — History” above is incorporated herein by reference. See also Note 1 — Business, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For financial reporting purposes, Legacy Stem is treated as the accounting acquirer.

Acquisition of AlsoEnergy

On February 1, 2022, we acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding capital stock of AlsoEnergy. The transaction combines our storage optimization capabilities with AlsoEnergy’s solar asset performance monitoring and control software. Through AlsoEnergy, we provide end-to-end turnkey solutions that monitor and manage renewable energy systems through AlsoEnergy’s PowerTrack software. PowerTrack includes data acquisitions and monitoring, performance modelling, agency reporting, internal reports, work order tickets, and supervisory control and data acquisition (“SCADA”) controls. AlsoEnergy has deployed systems at various international locations, but its primary customer base is in the United States, Germany and Canada. The total consideration for the AlsoEnergy acquisition was $652.0 million, comprised of $543.1 million paid in cash net of a working capital adjustment for an escrow recovery, and $108.9 million in the form of 8,621,006 shares of our common stock. We incurred $6.1 million of transaction costs related to the acquisition of AlsoEnergy, which were recorded in general and administrative expense during the year ended December 31, 2022. See Note 6 — Business Combinations, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Our mission is to maximize the economic, environmental, and resiliency value of energy assets through our leading AI platform. In order to fulfill our mission, we provide our customers, which include commercial and industrial (“C&I”) enterprises as well as independent power producers, renewable project developers, utilities and grid operators, with (i) an energy storage system, sourced from leading, global battery original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), that we deliver through our partners, including developers, distributors, and engineering, procurement and construction firms, (ii) edge hardware to aid in the collection of site data and the real-time operation and control of the site plus other optional equipment, (iii) ongoing software platform and professional services to operate integrated energy storage, and solar systems, through our Athena® artificial intelligence (“AI”) platform (“Athena”), and (iv) solar asset performance monitoring and control, through Athena’s PowerTrack application. In addition, in all the markets where we help manage our customers’ clean energy assets, we have agreements to use the Athena platform to participate in such markets and to share the revenue from such market participation.

We operate in two key areas within the energy storage landscape: Behind-the-Meter (“BTM”) and Front-of-the-Meter (“FTM”). An energy system’s position in relation to a customer’s electric meter determines whether it is designated a BTM or

FTM system. BTM systems provide power that can be used on-site without interacting with the electric grid and passing through an electric meter. Our software reduces C&I customer energy bills, increases their energy yield, and helps our customers facilitate the achievement of their corporate environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) objectives.

FTM, grid-connected systems provide power to off-site locations and must pass through an electric meter prior to reaching an end-user. Through Athena, our FTM storage systems decrease risk for project developers, lead asset professionals, independent power producers and investors by adapting to dynamic energy market conditions in connection with the deployment of electricity and improving the value of energy storage over the course of their FTM system’s lifetime. Through PowerTrack, our software maximizes FTM energy output and minimizes asset downtime.

Through our February 2022 acquisition of AlsoEnergy, we combined our storage optimization capabilities with solar asset performance monitoring and control software.

Since our inception in 2009, we have engaged in developing and marketing software-enabled services, raising capital, and recruiting personnel. We have incurred net operating losses and negative cash flows from operations each year since our inception. We have financed our operations primarily through proceeds received from the Merger, the issuance of convertible preferred stock, convertible senior notes, debt financing, and cash flows from customers.

Our total revenue grew from $127.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $363.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we incurred net losses of $124.1 million and $101.2 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $632.1 million.

We expect that our sales and marketing, research and development, regulatory and other expenses will continue to increase as we expand our marketing efforts to increase sales of our solutions, expand existing relationships with our customers, and obtain regulatory clearances or approvals for future product enhancements. In addition, we expect our general and administrative costs and expenses to increase due to the additional costs associated with scaling our business operations as well as being a public company, including legal, accounting, insurance, exchange listing and SEC compliance, investor relations, and other costs and expenses.

Key Factors, Trends and Uncertainties Affecting our Business

We believe that our performance and future success depend on several factors that present significant opportunities for us but also pose risks and challenges, including but not limited to:

Decline in Lithium-Ion Battery Costs

Our revenue growth is directly tied to the continued adoption of energy storage systems by our customers. The cost of lithium-ion energy storage hardware has generally declined over the last decade, notwithstanding increases in recent months. The market for energy storage is rapidly evolving, and while we believe costs will continue to decline over time, there is no guarantee. If costs do not continue to decline, or do not decline as quickly as we anticipate, this could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenue and grow our business. The United States Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into law on August 16, 2022 and includes incentives and tax credits aimed at reducing the effects of climate change, such as a tax credit for stand-alone battery storage projects. The implementation of the IRA is expected to further reduce the cost of battery storage systems for certain customers; however, there are numerous restrictions and requirements associated with qualifying for the tax credits and other incentives available under the IRA, and the Company continues to assess how the IRA may affect its business.

Increase in Deployment of Renewables

Deployment of intermittent resources has accelerated over the last decade, and today, wind and solar have become a low cost fuel source. We expect the cost of generating renewable energy to continue to decline and deployments of energy storage systems to increase. As renewable energy sources of energy production are expected to represent a larger proportion of energy generation, grid instability rises due to their intermittency, which can be addressed by energy storage solutions. The IRA is expected to further increase the deployment of renewable energy assets. We are continuing to evaluate the IRA and its requirements, as well as the application to our business and our customers.

Competition

We are a market leader in terms of capacity of energy storage under management. We intend to strengthen our competitive position over time by leveraging the network effect of Athena’s AI infrastructure. Existing competitors may expand their product offerings and sales strategies, and new competitors may enter the market. Furthermore, our competitors include other types of software providers and some hardware manufacturers that offer software solutions. If our market share declines due to increased competition, our revenue and ability to generate profits in the future may be adversely affected.

Government Regulation and Compliance

Although we are not regulated as a utility, the market for our product and services is heavily influenced by federal, state, and local government statutes and regulations concerning electricity. These statutes and regulations, like the IRA, affect electricity pricing, net metering, incentives, taxation, competition with utilities, and the interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation. In the United States and internationally, governments continuously modify these statutes and regulations and acting through state utility or public service commissions, regularly change and adopt different rates for commercial customers. These changes can positively or negatively affect our ability to deliver cost savings to customers.

Supply Chain Constraints and Risk; COVID-19

We rely on a very small number of suppliers of energy storage systems and other equipment. If any of our suppliers were unable or unwilling to provide us with contracted quantities in a timely manner at prices, quality levels and volumes acceptable to us, we will have very limited alternatives for supply, and we may not be able find suitable replacements for our customers, if at all. Such an event could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted and may continue to result in widespread adverse effects on the global and U.S. economies. Ongoing government and business responses to COVID-19, along with COVID-19 variants and the resurgence of related disruptions, could have a continued material adverse impact on economic and market conditions and amplify effects of a global and U.S. economic slowdown.

In addition, the global supply chain and our industry have experienced significant disruptions in recent periods. We have seen supply chain challenges and logistics constraints increase, including shortages of inverters, enclosures, battery modules and associated component parts for inverters and battery energy storage systems available for purchase. In certain cases, this has caused delays in critical equipment and inventory, longer lead times, and has resulted in cost volatility. These shortages and delays can be attributed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting government action, as well as broader macroeconomic conditions, such as labor shortages, rising inflation, rising interest rates, and a recessionary environment and geographical instability, including the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and rising tensions between China and Taiwan. If these shortages and delays persist into 2023, they could adversely affect the timing of when battery energy storage systems can be delivered and installed, and when (or if) we can begin to generate revenue from those systems. In addition, we have experienced and are experiencing varying levels of volatility in costs of equipment and labor resulting in part from disruptions caused by general global economic conditions, including inflationary pressures and the COVID‐19 pandemic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic reaches endemic stages, the future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations remains highly dependent on future developments. Given the dynamic nature of these circumstances on our ongoing business, results of operations and overall financial performance, the future impact of COVID-19 and other macroeconomic factors, including the conflict in Ukraine, cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. In the event we are unable to mitigate the impact of delays or price volatility in energy storage systems, raw materials, and freight, it could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

DevCo Joint Ventures

From time to time, the Company, through an indirect wholly-owned development subsidiary, has entered into strategic joint ventures with qualified third parties to develop select energy storage power generation projects (“DevCo Projects”), as more fully described above under Note 1 — Business in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These projects require significant upfront investment by us and involve a high degree of risk. If a DevCo Project fails to reach completion or is significantly delayed, we could lose all or a portion of our development capital investment. See “We Face Risks Related to our DevCo Business Model” in Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on From 10-K for additional information about certain risks related to these DevCo Projects.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to financial results determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), we use Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP gross margin, which are non-GAAP financial measures, for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate our operating performance and prospects, develop internal budgets and financial goals, and to facilitate period-to-period comparisons. Our management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses and expenditures that may not be indicative of our operating performance, such as stock-based compensation and other non-cash charges, as well as discrete cash charges that are infrequent in nature. We believe that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing our performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to our historical performance and liquidity as well as comparisons to our competitors’ operating results. We believe these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors both because they (1) allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making and (2) are used by our institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the health of our business. Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP gross margin should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or superior to, other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Non-GAAP Gross Margin

We define non-GAAP gross margin as gross margin excluding amortization of capitalized software and impairments related to decommissioning of end-of-life systems.

The following table provides a reconciliation of gross margin (GAAP) to non-GAAP gross margin ($ in millions, except for percentages):

(1) Historically, management included a separate “Other Adjustments” caption in the table above as part of the adjustments to gross margin. Other Adjustments consisted of certain operating expenses including communication and cloud service expenditures reclassified to cost of revenue. Other Adjustments are no longer in the calculation of Non-GAAP Gross Margin and Non-GAAP Gross Margin %. Amounts reported for 2021 have been revised accordingly. We believe this change reflects a more accurate representation of our business for stakeholders to assess its performance.

Adjusted EBITDA

As discussed above, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful for investors to use in comparing our financial performance with the performance of other companies. Nonetheless, the expenses and other items that we exclude in our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from the expenses and other items, if any, that other companies may exclude when calculating Adjusted EBITDA.

We calculate Adjusted EBITDA as net loss before depreciation and amortization, including amortization of internally developed software, net interest expense, further adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation and other income and expense items, including transaction and acquisition related charges, the change in fair value of warrants and embedded derivatives, vesting of warrants, loss on extinguishment of debt, litigation settlement and income tax provision or benefit. The expenses and other items that we exclude in our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from the expenses and other items, if any, that other companies may exclude when calculating Adjusted EBITDA.

The following table provides a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss (in thousands):

(in thousands)

42

Financial Results and Key Metrics

The following table presents our financial results and our key metrics (in millions, except for percentages and unless otherwise noted):

(in millions)

Pipeline

Pipeline represents the total value (excluding market participation revenue) of uncontracted, potential hardware and software contracts that are currently being pursued by our direct salesforce and channel partners with developers and independent power producers seeking energy optimization services and transfer of energy storage systems that have a reasonable likelihood of execution within 12 months of the end of the relevant period based on project timelines published by such developers and independent power producers. We cannot guarantee that the pipeline will result in meaningful revenue or profitability.

Beginning with the first quarter of 2023, we will no longer report 12-month Pipeline as we believe that contracted backlog is a more efficient metric of near and medium term revenue.

Bookings

Due to the long-term nature of our contracts, bookings are a key metric that allows us to understand and evaluate the growth of our Company and our estimated future revenue related to customer contracts for our energy optimization services and transfer of energy storage systems. Bookings represents the accumulated value at a point in time of contracts that have been executed under both our host customer and partnership sales models.

For host customer sales, bookings represent the expected consideration from energy optimization services contracts, including estimated incentive payments that are earned by the host customer from utility companies in relation to the services provided by us and assigned by the host customer to us. For host customer sales, there are no differences between bookings and remaining performance obligations at any point in time.

For partnership sales, bookings are the sum of the expected consideration to be received from the transfer of hardware and energy optimization services (excluding any potential revenues from market participation). For partnership sales, even though we have secured an executed contract with estimated timing of project delivery and installation from the customer, we do not consider it a contract in accordance with FASB ASU 2014-09 Topic 606, *Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“*ASC 606)”, or a remaining performance obligation, until the customer has placed a binding purchase order. A signed customer contract is considered a booking as this indicates the customer has agreed to place a purchase order in the foreseeable future, which typically occurs within three months of contract execution. However, executed customer contracts, without binding purchase orders, are cancellable without penalty by either party.

For partnership sales, once a purchase order has been executed, the booking is considered to be a contract in accordance with ASC 606, and therefore, gives rise to a remaining performance obligation as we have an obligation to transfer hardware and energy optimization services in our partnership agreements. We also have the contractual right to receive consideration for our performance obligations.

The accounting policy and timing of revenue recognition for host customer contracts and partnership arrangements that qualify as contracts with customers under ASC 606, are described within Note 3- Revenue, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenue

We generate services and other revenue and hardware revenue. Services and other revenue is mainly generated through arrangements with host customers to provide energy optimization services using our proprietary software platform coupled with a dedicated energy storage system owned and controlled by us throughout the term of the contract. Fees charged to customers for energy optimization services generally consist of recurring fixed monthly payments throughout the term of the contract and in some arrangements, an installation and/or upfront fee component. We may also receive incentives from utility companies in relation to the sale of our services. Services and other revenue also includes the sale of project assets.

We generate hardware revenue through partnership arrangements consisting of promises to sell an energy storage system to solar plus storage project developers. Performance obligations are satisfied when the energy storage system along with all ancillary hardware components are delivered. The milestone payments received before the delivery of hardware are treated as deferred revenue. We separately generate services revenue through partnership arrangements by providing energy optimization services after the developer completes the installation of the project.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of services and other revenue includes depreciation of the cost of energy storage systems we own under long-term customer contracts, which includes capitalized fulfillment costs, such as installation services, permitting and other related costs. Cost of services and other revenue and other also includes the costs for the development and constructions of project assets. Cost of revenue may also include any impairment of inventory and energy storage systems, along with system maintenance costs associated with the ongoing services provided to customers. Costs of revenue are recognized as energy optimization and other supporting services are provided to our customers throughout the term of the contract.

Cost of hardware revenue generally includes the cost of the hardware purchased from a manufacturer, shipping, delivery, and other costs required to fulfill our obligation to deliver the energy storage system to the customer location. Cost of hardware revenue may also include any impairment of energy storage systems held in our inventory for sale to our customer. Cost of hardware revenue related to the sale of energy storage systems is recognized when the delivery of the product is completed.

Gross Margin

Our gross margin fluctuates significantly from quarter to quarter. Gross margin, calculated as revenue less costs of revenue, has been, and will continue to be, affected by various factors, including fluctuations in the amount and mix of revenue and the amount and timing of investments to expand our customer base. Over the long term, we hope to increase both our gross margin in absolute dollars and as a percentage of revenue through enhanced operational efficiency and economies of scale.

Operating Expenses

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expense consists of payroll and other related personnel costs, including salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefits, and travel for our sales and marketing personnel. In addition, sales and marketing expense includes trade show costs, amortization of intangibles and other expenses. We expect our sales and marketing expense to increase in future periods to support the overall growth in our business.

Research and Development

Research and development expense consists primarily of payroll and other related personnel costs for engineers and third parties engaged in the design and development of products, third-party software and technologies, including salaries, bonuses and stock-based compensation expense, project material costs, services and depreciation. We expect research and development expense to increase in future periods to support our growth, including continuing to invest in optimization, accuracy and reliability of our platform and other technology improvements to support and drive efficiency in our operations. These expenses may vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue, depending primarily upon when we choose to make more significant investments.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expense consists of payroll and other related personnel costs, including salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefits and expenses for executive management, legal, finance and other costs. In addition, general and administrative expense includes fees for professional services and occupancy costs. We expect our general and administrative expense to increase in future periods as we scale up headcount with the growth of our business, and as a result of operating as a public company, including compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC, legal, audit, additional insurance expenses, investor relations activities, and other administrative and professional services.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Interest Expense

Interest expense consists primarily of interest on our outstanding borrowings under our outstanding notes payable, convertible promissory notes, convertible senior notes, and financing obligations and accretion on our asset retirement obligations.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt

Loss on extinguishment of debt consists of penalties incurred in relation to the prepayment of our outstanding borrowings under our outstanding notes payable and the write-off of any unamortized debt issuance costs associated with such notes.

Change in Fair Value of Warrants and Embedded Derivatives

Change in fair value of warrants and embedded derivatives is related to the revaluation of our outstanding convertible preferred stock warrant liabilities and embedded derivatives related to the redemption features associated with our convertible notes at each reporting date.

Other Expenses, Net

Other expenses, net consists primarily of income from equity investments and foreign exchange gains or losses.

Results of Operations

Results of Operations for the Year Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

(In thousands, except percentages)

*Percentage is not meaningful

Revenue

Total revenue increased by $235.6 million, or 185%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily driven by a $203.9 million increase in hardware revenue primarily due to increase in demand for systems related to FTM partnership agreements and the inclusion of AlsoEnergy’s revenue in the current period. Services and other revenue increased by $31.7 million compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily due to the inclusion of AlsoEnergy’s revenue in the current period.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue increased by $203.8 million, or 162%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was primarily driven by an increase of cost of hardware revenue of $188.8 million, which was due to the increase in demand for larger capacity systems, as well as an increase of $15.0 million in cost of services and other revenue, primarily related to AlsoEnergy.

Operating Expenses

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expense increased by $28.9 million, or 145%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $11.0 million in personnel related expenses as a result of higher headcount, inclusive of an additional $2.5 million in stock-based compensation expense, an increase of $12.9 million in amortization expense related to intangible assets from the acquisition of AlsoEnergy, an increase of $1.9 million amortization of contract origination costs, and an increase of $3.1 million of professional services and other expenses.

Research and Development

Research and development expense increased by $15.6 million, or 69%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $12.5 million in personnel related expenses as a result of increased headcount, inclusive of an additional $2.3 million in stock-based compensation expense, and an increase of $3.1 million in professional services and other expenses.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expense increased by $35.4 million, or 85%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase was primarily driven by an increase of $20.8 million in personnel related expenses as a result of higher headcount, inclusive of an additional $10.3 million in stock-based compensation expense, as well as an increase of $14.6 million in professional services, insurance, office, and other expenses.

Other Expense, Net

Interest Expense

Interest expense decreased by $6.9 million, or 40%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease was primarily driven by lower interest expense of $6.2 million due the repayment of notes payable during 2021, as discussed in Note 12 — Notes Payable, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, lower interest expense of $2.1 million from financing obligations, and net accretion of discount on investments of $0.9 million. The decrease was partially offset by additional $2.2 million in interest expense from the issuance of the 2028 Convertible Notes in November 2021 and other interest of $0.1 million.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt

Loss on extinguishment of debt decreased by $5.1 million, or 100% for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease was driven by a prior year payment of a $4.0 million penalty on debt extinguishment and the write-off of $1.1 million of unamortized debt issuance costs upon the conversion of our Series D convertible notes in relation to the Merger.

Change in Fair Value of Warrants and Embedded Derivative

The change in fair value of warrants and embedded derivative reflected no activity for the year ended December 31, 2022 (as no warrants and embedded derivatives were outstanding), compared to income of $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, which resulted from a revaluation gain of warrants and embedded derivatives.

Other Income (Expenses), Net

Other expenses, net increased by $1.5 million, or 164%, for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The net increase was primarily as a result of an increase in interest income from short-term investments.

Income Tax Benefit

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we recorded $15.2 million of income tax benefit, as a result of the partial release of our deferred tax asset valuation due to the acquisition of AlsoEnergy. The Company did not record a provision or benefit for income taxes during the year ended December 31, 2021.

A comparative discussion of our 2021 to 2020 results of operations can be found in Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Results of Operations” included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the SEC on February 28, 2022.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Sources of Liquidity

Liquidity describes the ability of a company to generate sufficient cash flows to meet the cash requirements of its business operations, including working capital needs, debt service, acquisitions, contractual obligations and other commitments. We assess liquidity in terms of our cash flows from operations and their sufficiency to fund our operating and investing activities. To meet our payment service obligations, we must have sufficient liquid assets and be able to move funds on a timely basis.

As of December 31, 2022, our principal sources of liquidity were cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $250.0 million, which were held for working capital purposes and for investment growth opportunities. Our marketable securities generally consist of high-grade commercial paper, agency bonds, corporate debt securities, U.S. government agency securities, and treasury bills. We believe that our cash position is sufficient to meet our capital and liquidity requirements for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Form 10-K.

Our business prospects are subject to risks, expenses and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in the early stages of commercial operations. The attainment of profitable operations is dependent upon future events, including obtaining adequate financing to complete our development activities, obtaining adequate supplier relationships, building our customer base, successfully executing our business and marketing strategy and hiring appropriate personnel. Failure to generate sufficient revenues, achieve planned gross margins and operating profitability, control operating costs, or secure additional funding may require us to modify, delay, or abandon some of our planned future expansion or development, or to otherwise enact operating cost reductions available to management, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition.

In the future, we may be required to obtain additional equity or debt financing in order to support our continued capital expenditures and operations. In the event that additional financing is required from outside sources, we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in new technologies, this could reduce our ability to compete successfully and harm our business, growth and results of operations.

Our long-term liquidity requirements are linked primarily to the continued extension of the Athena platform and supporting applications, including Athena PowerTrack, and the use of our balance sheet to improve the terms and conditions associated with the purchase of energy storage systems from our hardware vendors. While we have plans to potentially expand our geographical footprint beyond our current partnerships and enter into joint ventures, those are not required initiatives to achieve our plans.

Financing Obligations

We have entered into arrangements wherein we finance the cost of energy storage systems via special purpose entities (“SPEs”) we establish with outside investors. These SPEs are not consolidated into our financial statements, but are accounted for as equity method investments. The investors provide us upfront payments through the SPEs. Under these arrangements, the payment by the SPE to us is accounted for as a borrowing by recording the proceeds received as a financing obligation. The financing obligation is repaid with the future customer payments and incentives received. A portion of the amounts paid to the SPE is allocated to interest expense using the effective interest rate method. Furthermore, we continue to account for the revenues from customer arrangements and incentives and all associated costs despite such systems being legally sold to the SPEs due to our significant continuing involvement in the operations of the energy storage systems. The total financing obligation as of December 31, 2022 was $79.6 million, of which $15.7 million was classified as a current liability.

Notes Payable

2021 Credit Agreement

In January 2021, we entered into a non-recourse credit agreement to provide a total of $2.7 million towards the financing of certain energy storage systems that we own and operate. The credit agreement has a stated interest of 5.45% and a maturity date of June 2031. We received an advance under the credit agreement of $1.8 million in January 2021. The repayment of advances received under this credit agreement is determined by the lender based on the proceeds generated by us through the operation of the underlying energy storage systems. We had $1.8 million of outstanding borrowings under this credit agreement as of December 31, 2022.

2028 Green Convertible Senior Notes

On November 22, 2021, we sold to Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Barclays Capital Inc, as initial purchasers (the “Initial Purchasers”), and the Initial Purchasers purchased from us, $460.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 0.50% Green Convertible Notes due 2028 (the “2028 Convertible Notes”), pursuant to a purchase agreement dated as of November 17, 2021, by and between us and the Initial Purchasers. The 2028 Convertible Notes will accrue interest payable semi-annually in arrears and will mature on December 1, 2028, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted in accordance with their terms prior to such date. Upon conversion, we may choose to pay or deliver, as the case may be, cash, shares of common stock or a combination of cash and shares of common stock. The 2028 Convertible Notes are redeemable for cash at the Company’s option at any time given certain conditions. Refer to Note 13 — Convertible Promissory Notes, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

On November 17, 2021, in connection with the pricing of the 2028 Convertible Notes, and on November 19, 2021, in connection with the exercise in full by the Initial Purchasers of their option to purchase additional Notes, we entered into capped call transactions with certain of the Initial Purchasers of the 2028 Convertible Notes to minimize the potential dilution to the Company’s common stockholders upon conversion of the 2028 Convertible Notes. Our net proceeds from this offering were approximately $445.7 million, after deducting the Initial Purchasers’ discounts and commissions and the estimated offering expenses payable by the Company. We used approximately $66.7 million of the net proceeds to pay the cost of the capped call transactions described above. We intend to allocate an amount equivalent to the net proceeds from this offering to finance or refinance, in whole or in part, existing or new eligible green expenditures of Stem, including investments related to creating a more resilient clean energy system, optimized software capabilities for energy systems, and reducing waste through operations.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated (in thousands):

Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in operating activities was $106.0 million, primarily resulting from our net loss of $124.1 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $70.3 million and net cash outflow of $52.3 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of depreciation and amortization of $45.4 million, non-cash interest expense of $1.9 million related to debt issuance costs, stock-based compensation expense of $28.7 million, non-cash lease expense of $2.3 million, accretion of asset retirement obligations of $0.2 million, impairment of energy storage systems of $2.6 million, loss on disposal of property and equipment of $0.3 million, impairment loss of project assets of $0.5 million, provision for accounts receivable allowance of $3.6 million, which were partially offset by an income tax benefit of $15.1 million and net accretion of discount on investments of $0.1 million. The net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable of $155.8 million, an increase in deferred costs with suppliers of $37.1 million, an increase in other assets of $29.4 million, an increase in contract origination costs of $9.6 million, an increase in project assets of $3.7 million, a decrease in lease liabilities, net of $1.6 million, partially offset by a decrease in inventory of $18.6 million, an increase in accounts payable of $53.3 million, an increase in accrued expenses of $62.2 million, and an increase in deferred revenue of $51.0 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash used in operating activities was $101.3 million, primarily resulting from our operating loss of $101.2 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $59.5 million and net cash outflow of $59.5 million from changes in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of depreciation and amortization of $24.5 million, non-cash interest expense of $9.6 million, which included interest expenses associated with debt issuance costs, stock-based compensation expense of $13.5 million, change in the fair value of warrant liability and embedded derivative of $3.4 million, impairment of energy storage systems of $4.3 million, issuance of warrants for services of $9.2 million, non-cash lease expense of $0.9 million, accretion of asset retirement obligations of $0.2 million, and net amortization of premium on investments of $0.7 million. The net cash outflow from changes in operating assets and liabilities was primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable of $48.1 million, an increase in deferred costs with suppliers of $7.5 million, an increase in other assets of $17.2 million, a decrease in deferred revenue of $15.0 million, an increase in inventory of $1.9 million, an increase in contract origination costs of $2.6 million, a decrease in lease liabilities, net of $0.5 million, partially offset by an increase in accounts payable of $16.3 million and accrued expenses and other liabilities of $17.0 million.

Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in investing activities was $544.4 million, primarily consisting of $533.0 million used for our acquisition of AlsoEnergy, net of cash acquired, $2.6 million used for the purchase of energy systems, $16.8 million in capital expenditures on internally-developed software, and $1.5 million used for the purchase of property and equipment, partially offset by $9.6 million in net proceeds of available-for-sale investments.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash used in investing activities was $185.2 million, primarily consisting of $189.9 million used for the purchase of available-for-sale investments, $3.6 million used for the purchase of energy systems, $5.9 million in capital expenditures on internally-developed software, $1.2 million used for the purchase of equity method investment, and $0.6 million used for the purchase of property plant and equipment, partially offset by $16.0 million in proceeds from the sale of available-for-sale investments.

Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in financing activities was $9.3 million, primarily consisting of repayment of financing obligations of $10.3 million and payments for taxes related to net share settlement of stock options of $2.3 million, partially offset by proceeds from exercise of stock options of $1.3 million, proceeds from other financing obligations of $1.5 million, and an investment from non-controlling interest of $0.5 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash provided by financing activities was $1,027.1 million, primarily consisting of net proceeds from the Merger and PIPE financing of $550.3 million, proceeds from exercise of stock options and warrants of $148.5 million, proceeds from financing obligations of $7.8 million, proceeds from issuance of notes payable of $3.9 million, net proceeds from issuance of convertible promissory notes of $446.8 million, partially offset by purchased capped call options of $66.7 million, the repayment of notes payable of $41.4 million, payments for withholding taxes related to net share settlement of stock options of $12.6 million, and repayment of financing obligations of $9.6 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The contractual obligations presented in the table below represent our estimates of future payments under fixed contractual obligations and commitments. Changes in our business needs, cancellation provisions and changes in interest rates, as well as action by third parties and other factors, may cause these estimates to change. Therefore, our actual payments in future periods may vary from those presented in the table below. We generally expect to satisfy these commitments with cash on hand and cash provided by operating activities.

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations and commitments as of December 31, 2022 (in thousands).

See Note 8 — Leases and Note 13 — Convertible Promissory Notes, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more details.

We do not consider our financing obligations as contractual obligations, as our repayments of such obligations are required only to the extent payments are collected in relation to the operation of the underlying energy storage systems. The obligation is nonrecourse and there are no contractual commitments to pay specific amounts at any point in time throughout the life of the obligation.

We are not a party to any off-balance sheet arrangements, including guarantee contracts, retained or contingent interests, or unconsolidated variable interest entities that either have, or would reasonably be expected to have, a current or future material effect on our consolidated financial statements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements. Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. We base our estimates on past experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, and we evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis. Actual results may differ from those estimates.

Our critical accounting policies are those that materially affect our consolidated financial statements and involve difficult, subjective or complex judgments by management. A thorough understanding of these critical accounting policies is essential when reviewing our consolidated financial statements. We believe that the critical accounting policies listed below involve the most difficult management decisions because they require the use of significant estimates and assumptions as described above.

Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe that the following critical accounting policies reflect the more significant estimates and assumptions used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements:

Revenue Recognition

We generate revenue through host customer arrangements, partnership arrangements, and sales of project assets. We apply judgment during the identification of a contract to determine the customer’s ability and intent to pay, which is based on a variety of factors, including the customer’s historical payment experience or, in the case of a new customer, credit and financial information pertaining to the customer.

For contracts that contain multiple performance obligations, we allocate the transaction price for each contract to each performance obligation based on the relative standalone selling price, or SSP for each performance obligation. We use judgment in determining the SSP for our products and services. We typically assess the SSP for our products and services on an annual basis or when facts and circumstances change. To determine SSP, we maximize the use of observable standalone sales and observable data, where available. In instances where performance obligations do not have observable standalone sales, we utilize available information that may include other observable inputs or use the expected cost-plus margin approach to estimate the price we would charge if the products and services were sold separately. The expected cost-plus margin approach is currently used to determine SSP for each distinct performance obligation for sale of hardware.

In some cases, the total transaction price is determined based on the total consideration specified in the contract, including variable consideration in the form of a performance guaranty payment that represents potential amounts payable to customers. The expected value method is generally used when estimating variable consideration, which typically reduces the total transaction price due to the nature of the performance obligations to which the variable consideration relates. These estimates reflect our historical experience and current contractual requirements which cap the maximum amount that may be paid. The expected value method requires judgment and considers multiple factors that may vary over time depending upon the unique facts and circumstances related to each performance obligation. Depending on the facts and circumstances, a change in variable consideration estimate will either be accounted for at the contract level or using the portfolio method.

Business Combinations

We account for our business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting, which requires, among other things, allocation of the fair value of purchase consideration to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their estimated fair values on the acquisition date. The excess of the fair value of purchase consideration over the values of these identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. When determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed, we make estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. Our estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates. During the measurement period, not to exceed one year from the date of acquisition, we may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with a corresponding offset to goodwill if new information is obtained related to facts and circumstances that existed as of the acquisition date. After the measurement period, any subsequent adjustments are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations. Acquisition costs, such as legal and consulting fees, are expensed as incurred.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Information with respect to recent accounting pronouncements may be found in Note 2 — Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, in the accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position because of adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily a result of exposure resulting from potential changes in inflation, exchange rates or interest rates. We do not hold financial instruments for trading purposes.

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

Our expenses are generally denominated in U.S. dollars. However, we have foreign currency risks related to our revenue and operating expenses denominated in Canadian dollars. We have entered into contracts with customers and a limited number of supply contracts with vendors with payments denominated in foreign currencies. We are subject to foreign currency transaction gains or losses on our contracts denominated in foreign currencies. To date, foreign currency transaction gains and losses have not been material to our financial statements.

Unfavorable changes in foreign exchange rates versus the U.S. dollar could increase our product costs, thus reducing our gross profit. We have not engaged in the hedging of foreign currency transactions to date, although we may choose to do so in the future. We do not believe that an immediate 10% increase or decrease in the relative value of the U.S. dollar to other currencies would have a material effect on operating results or financial condition.

Interest Rate Risk

Interest rate risk is the risk that the value or yield of fixed-income investments may decline if interest rates change. Fluctuations in interest rates may impact the level of interest expense recorded on outstanding borrowings. In addition, our convertible promissory notes, 2028 Convertible Notes, notes payable, and financing obligations bear interest at a fixed rate and are not publicly traded. Therefore, fair value of our convertible promissory notes, notes payable, financing obligations and interest expense is not materially affected by changes in the market interest rates. We do not enter into derivative financial instruments, including interest rate swaps, for hedging or speculative purposes.

Credit Risk

We routinely assess the creditworthiness of our customers. We generally have not experienced any material losses related to receivables from individual customers, or groups of customers during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. We do not require collateral. Due to these factors, no additional credit risk beyond amounts provided for collection losses is believed by management to be probable in our accounts receivable.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (Disclosure Controls) within the meaning of Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act. Our Disclosure Controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act, such as this Annual Report on Form 10-K, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Our Disclosure Controls are also designed to provide reasonable assurance that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

Based on management’s evaluation (under the supervision and with the participation of our CEO and our CFO) as of December 31, 2022, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our Disclosure Controls, our CEO and CFO have concluded that our Disclosure Controls were effective as of December 31, 2022.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our CEO and CFO to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP and includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our CEO and CFO, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”). Based on the evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2022.

On February 1, 2022, we completed our acquisition of certain assets of Also Energy Holdings, Inc. (AlsoEnergy). We are in the process of evaluating the existing controls and procedures of AlsoEnergy, and integrating AlsoEnergy into our internal control over financial reporting. In accordance with SEC Staff guidance permitting a company to exclude an acquired business from management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting for the year in which the acquisition is completed, we have excluded the business that we acquired in the AlsoEnergy acquisition from our assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022. The business that we acquired in the AlsoEnergy acquisition constituted 3% of our total assets as of December 31, 2022 and 16% of our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP, has audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, as stated in its report which is included herein.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the quarterly period ended December 31, 2022, that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting, except as described below:

Remediation Activities

As previously reported, management identified material weaknesses in its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021. The material weaknesses that we identified related to (i) the accounting for energy storage systems, deferred cost of goods sold and inventory, (ii) ineffective internal controls over review of the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures, (iii) a lack of formality in our internal control activities, especially related to management review-type controls, and (iv) ineffective internal controls over the review of certain revenue recognition calculations.

We implemented several measures designed to improve our internal control over financial reporting in order to remediate the control deficiencies noted above. These steps include:

• Developing and delivering internal control training to management and finance/accounting personnel, focusing on a review of management’s and individual roles and responsibilities related to internal control over financial reporting.
• Hiring, training and developing experienced accounting executives and personnel with a level of public accounting knowledge and experience in the application of US GAAP commensurate with our financial reporting requirements and the complexity of our operations and transactions.
• Establishing and implementing policies and practices to attract, develop and retain competent public accounting personnel.
• Engaging a qualified third party Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) compliance firm to assist us in bolstering and implementing our SOX compliance program, with a focus on documenting processes and controls, identifying and addressing control gaps, formalizing the internal control activities and strengthening the overall quality of documentation that evidences control activities.
• Performing a financial statement risk assessment and scoping exercise to identify and assess the risks of material misstatements in our financial statements to better ensure that the appropriate effort and resources are dedicated to addressing risks of material misstatements.
• Establishing a disclosure committee comprised of our CEO, CFO, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and other senior finance/accounting and legal personnel to, among other things, review and, as necessary, help revise the Company’s controls and other procedures to ensure that information required by us to be disclosed is recorded, processed, summarized and reported accurately and on a timely basis.
• Implementing a Section 302 sub-certification program to reinforce the Company’s culture of compliance.
• Implementing processes to improve monitoring activities involving the review and supervision of our accounting operations, including increased and enhanced balance sheet reviews to allow more focus on quality account reconciliations and enhanced monitoring of our internal control over financial reporting.
• Implementing new accounting applications to enhance and streamline the order-to-cash and commissions processes.

As a result of these efforts, the Company determined that all material weaknesses were remediated and our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2022.

Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Internal Controls

Our management, including the CEO and CFO, does not expect that our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. The design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Furthermore, because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. The design of any system of controls is based in part on certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Projections of any evaluation of the effectiveness of controls to future periods are subject to risks. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in business conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures.