At a Glance
- Energy transition capex is arriving at the middle market faster than lenders have built the underwriting capability to serve it.
- The barrier is rarely credit quality. It is discomfort with residuals, useful life, and technology obsolescence in unfamiliar asset classes.
- Firms that build a defensible framework first win the relationship—and the conventional equipment that comes with it.
- Secured Research found 43% of middle market teams passed on a renewable or grid-scale storage deal in the prior 18 months for lack of a residual framework; 34% of those watched a competitor fund it.
The Deals Are Already in Your Pipeline
Energy transition equipment is no longer a coastal or venture-backed story. Middle market manufacturers are installing behind-the-meter solar and battery storage to hedge demand charges. Distribution and logistics operators are electrifying yard trucks and forklifts and building the charging infrastructure to run them. Agricultural and industrial businesses are financing grid-interconnection equipment and on-site generation. These are ordinary companies making ordinary capital-allocation decisions, and the equipment sits squarely in the middle market ticket range.
