Michael Chanin of Cherry Street Energy on Scaling Solar, Utilities, and Market Competition

Today’s episode features Michael Chanin, founder and CEO of Cherry Street Energy, a Georgia company powering cities, businesses, and more with renewable energy. 

Like me, Michael spent his early career in finance. He was an analyst and associate at Goldman Sachs, prior to stints at a few other financial institutions. When Georgia passed an industry-altering law around solar power in 2015, he saw a massive opportunity and launched Cherry Street Energy. In the following years, Cherry Street has emerged as one of the nation’s leading solar energy firms, helping people and businesses of all kinds transition to cleaner energy. 

Michael Chanin adds interesting insights on the future of solar power, shares how the company has scaled so successfully, and offers a unique perspective on competition in the energy industry. 

Listen now on your favorite podcast platform. 

Timestamps

0:01: Cold Open with Michael Chanin || 

0:52: Intro on Michael, Cherry Street Energy || 

3:20: Background, Growing Up || 

4:11: School, Education || 

6:25: Finance Career || 

9:49: Origin of Cherry Street || 

14:30: Taking The Leap || 

15:47: Customer Adoption || 

21:01: Utilities, Stakeholders || 

24:09: Energy Growth, Trends || 

26:23: Doing Good, Favorite Projects || 

31:07: Growing Cherry Street || 

34:16: Workforce Development || 

39:11: Motivation, Inspiration || 

43:22: Outro, How To Learn More || 

44:01: End Credits || 

More from the episode:

• Check out the latest from Cherry Street at www.CherryStreetEnergy.com  
• Connect with Conor Gaughan, our host, on LinkedIn (@ckgone)