In a Wednesday interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, GE Vernova CEO Scott Strazik said the growth of the U.S.’s electric load is the largest since the industrial boom that followed the end of the second world war.
“You’ve got to go back to 1945 and the end of World War II, that’s the infrastructure buildout that we’re going to have,” he said. “The economic growth, but also for national security, we needed to build the electric power system. For both reasons, we need to do it again now, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
Strazik claimed that over the last 20 to 40 years, technological shifts involving the electric power grid “always had winners and losers,” with some businesses attempting to replace others. But he said this power buildout is going to enable the economic growth that the U.S. needs, along with new artificial intelligence technology.
GE Vernova, the power spin off of General Electric, posted a quarter Wednesday that beat the estimates and sent shares climbing, up just over 3% by close. The company also maintained its full-year guidance despite the potential impact of tariffs on business.
Strazik discussed GE Vernova’s gas arm, boasting the company has sold out gas turbine orders for 2026 and 2027. According to him, gas will play an important role as hyperscalers continue to build out data centers, affirming that the company has substantial data center-related orders.
“We’ve decarbonized the electric grid in the U.S. with cold gas switching, and ultimately, gas is the force multiplier for more wind and solar to get built,” he said. “Without gas, you can’t get to renewable penetration rates that the world is looking for.”
