Fuse Energy CEO Alan Chang says the UK is its first market because UK power prices are about three times American levels, making its integrated utility model most lucrative there.
Chang says Fuse's power plants cost about 30 percent less per megawatt than the market can build, attributing savings to a tight team of mostly former SpaceX or Tesla engineers.
Chang argues there is no economical path to a fully renewable, zero-carbon grid today, so AI labs building their own plants still choose natural gas turbines.
Ex-Revolut founder builds an integrated energy utility aiming for a trillion dollars
Fuse Energy is betting that energy is a far bigger company-building opportunity than fintech. Chang argues that fragmented, expensive, poorly rated industries are won by full integration, so Fuse builds its own generation and acts as the utility. Matching demand to intermittent renewable supply through smart devices is the next layer of that bet.
Takeaways
Fuse chose energy as the bigger problem than fintech. Alan Chang and cofounder Charles asked which problems matter most over the next 25 years and picked energy and AI. Chang argues fintech can be large but no longer offers a path to a trillion dollar company. The choice came before ChatGPT.
Full integration is how Fuse wins in energy. Chang argues that in fragmented, low-satisfaction, high-cost industries the only way to win is a fully integrated company that can pass margin back to customers. Fuse acts as the utility in the UK, much like operating at ERCOT scale in Texas.
Building its own generation cuts costs about 30 percent. Chang says Fuse's team, mostly former SpaceX and Tesla engineers, builds power about 30 percent cheaper per megawatt peak than the market, and roughly the same per kilowatt hour. A small coupled team replaces the up to ten companies in a typical plant.
The UK was the first market for specific reasons. Fuse aimed global from day one but started in the UK because power prices there are about three times American levels and the UK invented the modern grid. Chang says regulation is lighter than banking, but engineering complexity is much higher.
Smart device control targets wasted renewable energy. Chang says about 12bn dollars of renewable energy is wasted globally each year. Fuse connects EV chargers, batteries and thermostats to its app and shifts demand to match supply, for example an EV charged to 80 percent by morning. The closed beta has a couple thousand users.
A fully renewable grid is not economical today. Chang says solar and wind output is correlated across regions and batteries cover only hours, so no technology mix reaches 100 percent renewables cheaply. AI labs building behind-the-meter plants choose natural gas turbines. He sees regulation as nuclear's main bottleneck and doubts small modular reactors.
Debt will fund scaling while equity funds early stages. Chang says equity suits zero-to-one stages and debt suits scaling. Fuse's first utility-scale projects were fully equity funded, and it plans its first debt facility for later projects. He wants a trillion dollar company within ten years and sees no need to go public.
Fuse's 2026 and hiring plans
Tap a name to go there · tap a line to see why they are linked
On this episode 2
Show 1
Expansion in 2026 targets Ireland, the US and Spain, using a playbook similar to the UK, with the energy network as the main focus.
Fuse has about 250 employees and hires wherever talent wants to live, with relocation or remote options. Roughly 40 percent of the team is in the UK.
Open roles span project and electrical engineers, plus back-end, AI and front-end software engineers.
Customer growth comes from organic sign-ups, a paid referral program and affiliate partners, backed by customer support every day of the year.