Mike Tabb, founder and owner/operator of Integrity Energy Group, shares his background growing up in Mobile, leaving high school for the Army in 2002, and finding his way into solar in 2013. He launched his company in 2020 during the pandemic. He discusses why most residential solar decisions are financial rather than “going green”.
He also addresses misconceptions about solar fields and panels “leaking,” differentiates utility-scale projects from residential systems, and explain why Alabama’s lack of favorable net metering keeps many from making the jump.
Watch
Transcript:
Mike: My name is Mike Tabb, founder, owner/operator of the Integrity Energy Group.
Marcus: Awesome. And well, I'm actually really excited to have you on the podcast today 'cause I think we can hopefully clear up maybe some miscr- uh, misconceptions about your industry and maybe educate people a little bit about, you know, solar and, you know, what it is that, uh, that you all do.
So without any further ado, can we get into this?
Mike: Sure.
Marcus: Let's do it. Awesome. Let's do it. Well, to get started, we like to hear a little bit about the person, so, you know, where'd you grow up? You know, where'd you go to school?
Mike: Okay.
Marcus: Um, did you go to college? You know, and anything else that after w- after that that you might wanna share.
Mike: Gotcha.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Uh, again, my name's Mike Tabb. Um, I am a generational Mobilian. Born and raised here. Um, my daddy is born and raised here. Uh, his mom was born and raised Tuscaloosa but moved down, so we, we've got roots here in Mobile. Uh, I went to Davidson High School for a little bit, till about my junior year.
Okay. Um, uh, I was trouble, to say the least. To... You know. Nothing malicious necessarily, but definitely mischievous. Yeah. Right? I got into it. Um, so, so I, I left high school my junior year and joined the Army fall of 2002. Initial invasion of Iraq in '03. Wow. Um, and- Thank you for
Marcus: your service.
Mike: Yeah. Se- subsequently got out in 2006 just was kind of disenfranchised with the situation, but- Yeah
that's another conversation. That's another topic. Yeah, that's another conversation. That's
Marcus: another three-hour long conversation.
Mike: That's right. That's, indeed. So, so yeah, after the military, um, s- literally from about 2006 on, I floundered around trying to figure out what my, what I was gonna do next with my life, and I, I went to EMT school.
Thought I wanted to get into emergency medicine. Did that for a little bit and, um, just again, bounced around from different jobs and kind of find my way. And in 2013, I got an opportunity to go out on solar fields- Mm-hmm ... in southwest Georgia. Um, large scale utility projects, acres and acres of field, and I knew nothing about electricity.
I had never wired a ceiling fan. Mm-hmm. But it was an opportunity to go branch off into a new industry, right? Yeah. And yeah, so that's, that's where it started.
Marcus: No, that's really cool.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: I'm gonna pause for just a second and say, that's gonna show up in sound.
Mike: What is it?
Marcus: Your, y- your-
Mike: My tapping?
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: I feel so bad about that, dude.
Oh, I'm so bad about that.
Marcus: I'll cut this out.
Mike: Okay.
Marcus: But just, yeah.
Mike: We, we can try, we can do it again
Marcus: if you want. No, no, no, it's good. So, um, well n- and also, so you GED?
Mike: GED, yep.
Marcus: Um, and I- Army,
Mike: Army needed me to do that, yeah.
Marcus: Well, no, and the only reason why I point that out is because over the years I've, I've interviewed people that got their GED, some that didn't.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: And some that have many degrees, and I only point that out to show that there's really no rhyme or reason, that it's really about grit, tenacity, you know, and just really wanting to go for it-
Mike: Sure ...
Marcus: when, uh, starting a business and stuff and being, uh, successful, so.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: Um, so would you have characterized your...
You, you didn't really get into school is what you're saying?
Mike: Well, for me, for me school, starting very early on, um- You know, I, I, I did w- I w- I was very smart. I was also diagnosed with ADHD as a kid during that craze, right? Right. Second, third grade timeframe. Medicated, uh, up until about middle school. And then, but even into high school, like I, I, I never struggled with the work itself.
Right. Like for example, I would skip school for a day or two and come back and make a B on the test. And as I got older, not that this is right or justified, but I started to look at it like-
Marcus: What am I doing
Mike: here? ... what, what am I doing here? Yeah. You know? These... I, I'm getting in trouble. I'm, I'm, I'm make- I'm making some poor choices.
I'm hanging out with folks that are older. Like, just, just all of it. And it... Had I kept going that direction, I had administrators tell me, like, "Okay. Okay, man." Yeah. "Let's just, you know." "You're, you're good. You can ... It's fine." I, I, yeah. "You, you, you'll be all right. Just go on." You know?
Marcus: I, I like to con- you know, say that I was a solid B, you know, student, but I also find that those folks that are not really geared towards that sitting in a classroom, not talking, focusing on those chalkboard and doing work like that really aren't the same people that are going out and starting businesses.
Um, I don't know. There's just something, there's a link there that, you know, especially those with ADHD, 'cause I also have ADHD. It's just kind of like The, um, movement and, you know, progressing forward and learning things by doing and knowing that there's a practical application for something immediately is so much more, uh, important to us than sitting down and reading something and not knowing whether it's ever going to apply to you.
Mike: That's right. Right? Well, and the regurgitation of information, right? Being presented with information by an administrator, and then just being able to send it back, uh, uh, enough to where, you know, th- are we, are we learning? And also, the a- the ability to think outside the box, to solve problems with, uh, with, with our minds rather...
You know, based on the information we have and some information we don't have. Yeah. And willing to take risks and stuff like that. So again, I, do I, do I kind of, do I wish I would have maybe stayed in school for the experience of it? Maybe so. I had, I had coaches. You know, I could have played football probably.
I had opportunities to do stuff like... I was ath- athletic and- Yeah ... and, you know-
Marcus: I hear you're a mean guitar player too.
Mike: I can, I can play a little music myself. Yeah, I can do that.
Marcus: We won't say who that was.
Mike: I did that for a job for a little bit too- Did you? For real? ... before I found solar. I did. I played professionally around here and paid my bills doing it for a little bit.
Wow. And, um, you know, again, that's a whole nother conversation- Yeah ... in and of itself, the
Marcus: music. I'm sure we have a m- The music ... a bunch of mutual friends in that world too.
Mike: Indeed, we probably do.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: Now, what was your... And I'm saying go back-
Mike: Yep ...
Marcus: to your first job, and were there any lessons that you still remember from that?
Mike: My very first job was at Bevo's Car Wash when it was by the, uh, by the mall. Okay. By, uh, Bellaire Mall or I guess- Springdale ... the Springdale Mall. Yeah. Yep, that was my very first job. I worked for the Kleist family, uh, directly for Blake Kleist, and detailed cars and yeah, I learn- I learned a lot. I learned more so about, like, be at work on time, do what you're supposed to do, no nonsense, do a good job, and go on to the house.
Right. Right? That, that basic, base level stuff. Yeah. I was 16, 17 years old, so 16.
Marcus: I think also n- I mean, there's some, and I forget, I think we forget this because of the generation- Um, but there's also this element of being able to be in a p- an environment like that and speak to the customers, and knowing how to speak to the customers, and that you actually have to use your mouth- That's right
and stand in front of them, and there's another human there. 'Cause, you know what I mean, like I just, uh, I feel like some of that's being lost because of the, uh, reliance that we have on, you know, technology. Sure. There's so much that's taking place through texting and phone- Sure ... and stuff like that, so.
Mike: Well, to that point, and to the job and, a- a- and that, that customer service interaction, the longest really... The job I, I held for a while, uh, before I got into s- solar was, uh, waiting tables actually. I worked at L- Lambert's Cafe for a few years. Nice. I worked at Tin Top down there, like some finer dining places.
Yeah. And that's where I really learned about the customer experience, making sure they have what they need, even if it's just their meal. Yeah. In a restaurant, it's not just their meal. Yeah. This is a big deal, right? Yeah. And so that's where I think I got a real good foundation. Plus my, my father, uh, growing up was a sales manager for a uniform company here in Mobile.
Okay. So during summer breaks, uh, I would ride around in the car, and he would be on sales calls on his little bag phone. Yeah. So I'd sit in the backseat and listen to this, and so there's, there's some of that I think that definitely played a role.
Marcus: No, that's really cool.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: Now, how did you get involved, started, and, you know, how did you create this business?
I don't know. Is it a franchise, or is this a-
Mike: This is me. This is you. Yeah. This is owner operator. Uh, we're still a small outfit, right? Yeah. Still getting the ball rolling. We've been in business since 2020. We formed frankly out of necessity. Okay. This was- February of 2020, and there were no one wanting to travel.
The pandemic had just started, and, um, there was a list of jobs across the Panhandle and nobody wanted to do them. And I s- and I talked to my guys and said, "You guys wanna, wanna tackle them?" Yeah. And we formed an LLC, did it all very quickly, and that first year we were all in the state of Florida the whole time installing, installing jobs, selling new work, um, just really building the foundation of what it takes to run a solar company.
I mean, previous to that, I had held pretty much every position in this industry at the highest levels. I've set up operations for large nine-figure outfits. Yeah. Um, I've, you know, again, started at the bottom on roofs. Right. Re- ordered the materials. Wired
Marcus: everything up.
Mike: Uh, wired it up. Got away, but again... Uh, coordinated with electricians, coordinated inspections, the whole deal.
So when I came into this, when I s- when I decided it was time to start a business, yes, it was kind of by necessity, but also it was, it was time anyway. It was my only move to make. Yeah. Right? So- That's
Marcus: how it usually is.
Mike: They... Right. Yeah. You're, you're pushed into a situation where you, you either do something or just, you know, you don't, I guess.
Yeah. Right? Choices. So.
Marcus: Well, so I have been doing a little bit of research over the last year, um, about solar and, you know, I have an interest in it, especially as, you know, electricity rates go y- you know, up. Um, you'd like to think, oh, if I make, you know, a, whatever, $10,000 investment, you know, then, um, maybe I can cut my monthly expenses by, you know, whatever, right?
Mm-hmm. And was just surprised at, you know, the- The response maybe is not the right word or just the, the positioning of solar in Alabama.
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Right? So for instance, uh, this past Mardi Gras break we went to Disney and, you know, they have solar all over the place. Like, if there's an off ramp, there's a solar field in the middle of the off ramp.
We went to the McDonald's there on Disney property and the McDonald's was completely run by solar. Um, and it wasn't unattractive. You couldn't really even tell. I mean, if they didn't point it out, then you probably wouldn't have noticed. But- Yeah ... you know, every light post that they had in the parking lot had solar power and, you know, they had a bunch on the roof obviously that were providing the electricity for, you know, the, the business.
And I don't remember whether they said that it was 100% run off of solar, but I, I wanna say that it, it did say that.
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Um, and so I just begi- I became very interested in it after that especially, and started looking into some things. And then of course, you know, the whole deal with, uh, Stockton with the, the, uh, power, uh, you know, field that they were gonna, that they're, they are gonna put- Mm-hmm
in there as far as I know.
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Um, and so I just, but I was really surprised at just how people were, what they were thinking about solar because it just doesn't jive.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: And so if you were to say, like, one thing to, you know, to people about, you know, solar, you know, and where we're at right now with that technology, what would you, you know, what would you say?
Mike: I, I would say that over my career, particularly the residential side of things, um, and all the customer interactions I've had, and I've asked out of curiosity, "Well, you know, what made, what pushed you to do this, make this decision?" I, I, 98% of the time it's always financial, right? I think if we zoom out at the national level and how this solar stuff has been presented to the public, it's always had a going green climate connotation-
Marcus: Yeah
Mike: attached to it. And I think to some extent that's disingenuous, right? Right. I don't think that that, that has helped our industry. I think that especially if you're dealing with people, and I don't wanna get into the, the, the validity of that or not- Right ... 'cause people can, you know, feel how they want about that.
But I think that that's not, whether that is the, whether global warming, climate change is or isn't the case, that's still not- Isn't ... why people do this. Right. Particularly where we're at here on the coast, right? Yeah. Having a generator, right, having a, a generator with a return on investment- Yeah ... is what we like to call it, a, a battery-based solar system where day in, day out, I can offset your power bill, right?
Right. But then when the power goes out it o- operates exactly like a, a generator would. Yeah. Right? Just quietly, with n- very minimal maintenance compared to a generator. So it does have a return on investment. But I, I would say- There, again, it's just the, the muddy, the waters are muddied. We can't... This conversation has gotten so convoluted that it's hard to see the forest for the trees, pun intended.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: With the field up there- Yeah ... and all, right? It really is. Yeah. It's, folks don't know w- what's what. It, the, the- It's
Marcus: kind of indicative of where we are with everything, right? Everything. People just don't know who to believe or what to-
Mike: That's right ...
Marcus: who to
Mike: believe. Every, seems like every subject matter seems to have this problem.
What's fact and what's fiction, right? What's, where in all of this conversation is the truth, right? Yeah. And especially when there's agendas, there's financial motivations on either end of it, there's-
Marcus: Political ...
Mike: political motivations behind it, whatever the case may be, um, it, none of that takes away from the viability of a solar panel in the sun, right?
Yeah. When that thing's, when it takes a very minimal amount of sunlight to wake up these solar panels and get the system doing business. Yeah. And day in, day out, soon as that sun hits the panels, we're charging a battery and servicing a load, but then if we have a cloud pass over, right, we can pull from the battery.
Yeah. If we have a little less battery, we can pull from the grid. Yeah. So the grid now becomes our backup in these scenarios. And, um, I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself- No ... and how, how they work and all, but again, the, the reason behind this is strictly financial-
Marcus: Yeah ...
Mike: in most cases.
Marcus: Yeah. I, you know, I, I'm just so...
I've got a lot of questions.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: So, you know, I mean, there's been talk about, you know, um, uh, the, you know, the solar panels are detrimental because they leak, you know, certain things into the soil and, um, you know, all those kind of fictional things have popped up.
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Just kind of run through them, you know, some of these real quick.
You know, just what you hear on a regular basis and, you know, what might be untrue.
Mike: Sure. Well, when, when you're dealing with this, like with the solar field here in the area, because the general population is not familiar with this technology-
Marcus: Yeah ...
Mike: um, there's been some very like out there theories about what's going on and what potentially is gonna happen.
Like Silicon Ranch, for example, they're gonna graze sheep, right? I heard through the opposition that the concentration of sheep manure is gonna damage the bay somehow. I have heard, like you said- ... I, I, you know, I don't wanna- 'Cause,
Marcus: you know, we're not pumping enough of our own shit into the water. Yeah.
Mike: You know?
It's like take a trip over- Yeah. You know, I mean, like let's be real. Have you been over... Yeah. Have you been over the Dolly Parton Bridge lately and- Yeah. Yeah ... looked out either side of the window and then we wanna talk about sheep dooky. Yeah. You know, stuff like that, and then, yeah, the solar panels leaking, it just, it just doesn't work like that.
There's no fluids. It's an encased i- in... It, it's got an aluminum frame and it's got the equivalent of three tempered glass windshields, which is your glass, so it takes a lot. Lot. I mean, a serious hailstorm would damage it, but they would still make power. And-
Marcus: Oh ...
Mike: right? The, even if, if the glass sheet is cracked, the, the cells inside of the, the- Yeah
panel, uh, would still make power. And even if it does crack, it spiders like a wi- or spider veins like- Yeah ... a wind- windshield does. So you're not... None of these components are-
Marcus: And even there, it's glass. It,
Mike: it, yeah. It's not
Marcus: like it's going anywhere.
Mike: It's just- And the, and the components inside the panel itself is a series of busbars.
It's metal and silicon wafers.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: So, you know, there is no fluid leaking. They're sitting on, um, piles that are driven down in the ground, no different than, you know, other types of construction. When they first initially clear the land, they have to worry about mitigation and runoff- Just like- ... just like any other type of development.
Yeah. Right? And they have, from my talking with them personally- Yeah ... and then going to the town hall, they have a plan for all these, these issues at this field. Yeah. And they even went as far as to address their own past misgivings, their own mistakes they've made in the past.
Marcus: Wow.
Mike: And they openly talked about them.
They openly talked about the mistakes they made and how they have fixed that moving forward. So I don't know how much more transparent you're gonna get out of any corporation.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Right? So they've really, in this, with the solar field in Stockton, they've made a, a pretty good attempt, I would say, to try to explain this to the general population, but it goes back to being can't see the forest for the trees- Some of this information has been presented to this oppositional group very early on in this process, and it was not listened to.
It was not heeded. Yeah. None of it, you know? And I'm one of the few people who do this here in this area. I came to these meetings and I realized early on they're not... They don't wanna hear what I have to say.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: So just sit down.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Just stay, stay
Marcus: seated. No, I think
Mike: when
Marcus: people... There's a certain, um, you know, there's a certain group that have just dug their he- their heels in-
Mike: Mm-hmm
Marcus: and don't seem to wanna budge for any reason. But, uh, and I wasn't really sp- specifically speaking about the Silicon Ranch, but thank you- Yeah ... for saying that.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: But I just meant in, in general, because I think, um I don't necessarily... I do care about the environment, but I don't care about solar for the environment.
I do care about solar about, for the financial. That's right. And I also care about solar because if I'm gonna spend, um, $15,000 for a Generac, you know, generator or something similar- Mm-hmm ... um, that has to be serviced, that has to have fuel, that has a, you know, a lifetime of, of use, you know what I mean? That isn't, I don't know what the, the lifetime is on a, on a generator, but, you know what I mean?
It's gonna be less 'cause all the moving parts and- Sure ... it's an engine.
Mike: Sure.
Marcus: And so, um, besides the fact that it's loud, it's noisy, it's, you know, it's smells bad, you know what I mean? Like- Sure ... all those things. And so I have been looking at it from that standpoint because, you know, who wants... I mean, our electric bill is 5 or $600, you know, some months.
Mm-hmm. Some, you know, um... And so it's just like when you look at that, over the course of how long you live in a house, it seems like solar would be a good investment. And then I also just hear stories, uh, or reports rather, of, you know, other countries that are adding literally gigawatts of solar power.
Mike: Sure.
Marcus: And that this is a main part of the infrastructure. And knowing just how old and dated our grid is and how if, listen, if a bad thunderstorm can come through and knock out power for large segments of this city, then, you know, the grid's great. I'm not knocking Alabama Power. They do a, a good job. But I mean, there's, there's just, there's just no way that this lasts the way that it is.
Sure. You know? Um, so I've been looking at it from that standpoint. But, you know, as somebody who is interested in, in solar for residential- Mm-hmm ... you know, educate us a little bit on what is available, what some of the good options are, what people might consider- Okay ... and things like that.
Mike: I, I think it's important, I don't, I don't think I did a good job of making the distinction, and I'm glad you brought that up about Silicon Ranch, that it's not really where you're going with that.
Yeah. But there is a major distinction between that type of solar, right?
Marcus: Yeah,
Mike: yeah. And who that benefits and why that's built and all of those things and how that affects the end consumer versus, um, it on someone's house. It, it direct... Yeah.
Marcus: So pause for a second. Yeah. And, and let me tell you- Sure ... what I think.
Mike: Okay.
Marcus: And then you can correct me where I'm wrong. So I think that Silicon Ranch was built to offset power for Meta, for the data center that they're putting up in, in Montgomery, and that by building that, they're offsetting the price increases that we would feel because of the usage that an, um, a facility like that has.
Mike: I, I would, I would like to think that that was the em- the original motivation-
Marcus: Okay ...
Mike: right behind that. Um, couple things about that. That data center's 200 miles away.
Marcus: Right.
Mike: Right? And they're, they're... I would be shocked, and I, I highly doubt that there's special distribution lines ran from this field up there, right?
Mm-hmm. So let's say, let's say as we're talking about and we're gonna build this field, maybe on some level, you know, at the, at the larger scale of the grid, that power was needed up that way. Mm. Does it mean that it's gonna make it directly up that way? Does it mean that... D- does it...
Marcus: Well, I wasn't saying necessarily that it was gonna be- Well-
piped into the data center- What, what I mean is I- ...
Mike: which might ... yeah, I just don't, I don't think that, I don't think that that really had anything to do with it. Okay. And the original reporting about this made it seem like it did. Yeah. Like, I was interviewed by Lagniappe early on about this- Yeah ... and I thought the same.
I thought actually the data center was in Baldwin County. Oh. I thought they were gonna build- I thought
Marcus: so too,
Mike: yeah ... build a data center and have the field adjacent to it, and I was thinking, "Well, it, y- I would rather put it on the roof, but at least we got it as close to the point of consumption as possible," right?
Yeah. And so I was a big win. When I found out that it was up in Montgomery, I realized neither one of these things have to do with each other.
Marcus: Right.
Mike: Maybe on, again, on some convoluted level they do, but- They, these utility scale developers build this because they can enter into a power purchase agreement with, with the utility company.
Yeah. And they're being, they're, that power is being purchased at a probably an avoided wholesale cost. Call it three to five cents a kilowatt hour. Yeah. But you, you start doing that math over- Yeah, 'cause- ... 260 megawatts- Yeah. It, it's extremely lucrative. Yeah. I've done the math, uh, rough math on the conservative side and it, it's, it's lucrative.
Yeah. I mean, it is. And even in leasing situations, some of these developers, they come in and offer these farmers what they do for leasing, there's no other lease that can compete.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: And, and, and to that point, you know, they used to do this with, um, y- you know, s- uh, not satellite dishes, but cell phone towers- Yeah
and gas leases. It's- Billboards ... similar thing. Yeah. Silicon Ranch is buying the property. Now, that's a whole, that's a whole separate thing. That's a whole almost a separate industry, if you will, right? Yes, solar is their means of generation, but ultimately they could put a bunch of gerbils out on wheels out there and put a fence around it and call it whatever they want.
Yeah. It's, it's theirs, it belongs to them, and it's not gonna affect our downstream power bill. Right. It's not. Good or bad, either way, right? On the residential side, having it, again, having it w- at the point of consumption, right above your head where all this power is being used, the grid is acting as the backup and we only pull from them if we absolutely need them, right?
So the heavy lifting day in and day out is done by the solar and the batteries, right? Part of that, that p- or that puzzle is designing it properly, right? Mm-hmm. Every house is not viable enough. Like, there's- Yeah ... some places in midtown Mobile, I've had some people reach out-
Marcus: You just couldn't do it 'cause of shade or something?
Mike: Like the Oakley District. Yeah. You know, you got a 200-year-old oak tree Yeah. We're not cutting that down. Mm-mm. I don't wanna cut that down. Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, I know you love solar. I love solar too, but let's- Right. W- oh. Oh, I hit my mic. Yeah. I know. We're not, w- w- the, the city's not gonna let us do it, nor would we really want to.
Marcus: Right.
Mike: Right? Um, but then you go out, there's plenty of, th- there's just plenty of viability, though, uh, in other areas. Yeah. It's not right for everything. The government plaza, there's nothing I can do with that. I've worked with The Hangout, for example. I know the, the ownership of The Hangout from past music e- playing.
Yeah. And they wanted to put it on their, their roof. Their power bill was, would shock you. I can only
Marcus: imagine.
Mike: I got their power, their power records, and it would shock you what it is each month. Wow. And, and they don't have enough roof space. I'd have to put solar all the way down the public beach, you know?
Wow. Yeah, so y- you see what I mean? Yeah. It's not, and, and it's not right in every situation. But, um, for ex- for another on the positive side example, we did, uh, we just finished the Grainger Industrial Supply on Montgomer'y here in Mobile. It, they had plenty more roof space. It was only 100-something panels, but it was based on the power consumption of that building.
They don't need batteries. They don't need backup. And Grainger did all of their stores, have been working on all their stores across the nation for the past three years. Oh, very cool. Same thing with Auto Zones. So now, that still didn't answer the, the residential question, which, um, same principle except- Again, we're, we're building...
Every, every residential system we build ha- ha- is gonna have a battery with it because solar is very limited without a battery. Right. Right? Whether it's in space on a satellite dish or in your calculator, it ha- some amount of battery storage is crucial. The problem over the past probably two, three years is price point and power output.
They've been expensive, and we haven't had the power output, for example, where I could crank an AC.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: I can't go around to people in Mobile and be like, "Hey, we can do everything but- Everything but the AC ... crank your AC." Oh. Y- that's, that's a no-go, right? Yeah. So we have that. In the past 18 to 24 months, that has changed dramatically.
Marcus: Really?
Mike: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, which opens up a whole new world of, of what you can do with these systems, for sure.
Marcus: What do you... I mean, is, is it because the batteries th- have gotten better, or is it because the actual generation of power from the solar cells has gotten better?
Mike: Not the, not the generation. Solar is, is, is kinda what it is, is what it is, right?
Okay. Y- that's not gonna really get any more efficient, and nor do we really need it to. We don't. It's... We've needed, and I think as an industry, globally, we've, we've seen this need. It's the next, um, and logical progression- Okay ... of, of this whole industry, and I... What I think it is, is there have been hundreds of millions of dollars thrown at the development, the R&D.
Marcus: Oh, so you're just saying the price has come down, not necessarily that the technology has gotten improved.
Mike: Both. Both, but because of that. I think that there's just been a lot of money and smart minds thrown at really good home battery technology. How can we do this and bring the price point down for, for these, you know, for the consumer?
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: I think that's been a lot of what it is. Um, yeah.
Marcus: I... So I'm gonna put you on the spot. Yeah. You don't know that I'm gonna do this, but- Of course ... say you have a family h- home, 2,000 square feet- Mm-hmm ... you know, air conditioning, you know, your typical stuff, refrigerator, all that jazz.
Mike: Yep.
Marcus: Is there a range that you're comfortable with saying, you know, that, you know, if, if you did, you know, battery backup and solar panels on the roof, you know, is this a...
And I... People, I'm asking him this. Do not hold him to this, but are we talking 5, 10, 20, 30, $50,000? I mean, what, what-
Mike: Well, l- let's start, let's start here first. All t- every house, right? It... I d- I don't design these based on your square footage. Mm-hmm. 'Cause I've had 5,000 square foot homes with very- That didn't use much
th- they're just mindful of their usage. Then I've had 1,500 square foot homes with $700 power bills. Mm-hmm. I'm thinking, "What are y'all in here doing?" Right? Yeah. So it's not... It's more so about the power bill, and I'm designing this based on your consumption. Okay. Really, the first thing that I ask people for, "Let me see your power bill."
I have a design software where I can literally plug month by month by month in of consumption, and it will really narrow down, um- what this is gonna look like long term. But the ballpark that we're kind of looking for, and it, and it's okay, and yes, don't hold me to it. But, but we gotta have... When we're dealing with something like this that's new, we have to have some frame of reference.
We all kind of know roughly what a new HVAC costs, right? Right. So we- it's important that we, we give you some kind of ballpark. To say that, I would say If your bill is, is $250 or below every month-
Marcus: Okay ...
Mike: let's say that. Let's start here.
Marcus: Who has a $250 electric bill? I,
Mike: I know. But
Marcus: if it- If you're a single male- Yes
that's never home and keep a bottle of ketchup in your refrigerator- That's right.
Mike: Yes, sir ... go ahead. If it's $250, this is just what I've seen over doing a bunch of proposals- Sure ... and seeing the return on investment, uh, annually and then the payback period. $250 or below, you just gotta really want this.
Marcus: Right.
Mike: Right? So for example, past couple deals we've sold, they, they went this direction over a generator. Okay. They were shopping generators, and they chose to go this direction.
Marcus: So in that instance, you're thinking it was more about the backup capabilities- Absolutely.
Mike: They didn't care- ...
Marcus: than it was about the price?
Mike: That's right. They didn't care about when it penciled out. They, they would not... They, not that they didn't care. Yeah. They cared about the price, but their, their motivation strictly was to have power when, when it went out, right? Yeah. When you start getting over 250, I'm seeing on average a payback period of nine years, nine to 10 years- Okay
give or take, right? Now, we have 15-year warranties from the manufacturer on the battery- Okay ... and 25-year warranties on all the stuff on the roof. Okay. Okay? So that's kind of been my... My goal as I'm sizing these things and pricing them is if I can offer a customer, forget the gross project price for just a second.
Mm-hmm. Just bear with me. But if I can get you to hit the black well within the warranty life of that battery-
Marcus: Right ...
Mike: right?
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: I'm not saying there's nothing else I have to do, but-
Marcus: No, I get what you're saying ... I, I can't- 'Cause it's a return on investment that's gonna, you're gonna prof- you know, everything after that is, is just profit.
And-
Mike: Whether it was a $100,000 upfront investment- Yeah ... or whether it was a $30,000 upfront investment, if you're hitting the black at six years because you have a $500 power bill-
Marcus: Right ...
Mike: you... And at the end of the day, stepped back from this, you're gonna give that to somebody whether you like it or not. You're gonna give that money to somebody.
So if you figure $300 a month, say I'm able to offset 250 of that, 250 times 12. What are, where are we at? Help me with
Marcus: this. Well, it's, uh, what? 25, 100, yeah, 25, 30, $3,000. Okay.
Mike: At 10 years, you're at 30 grand.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: That's with no escalation. That's with no rate increase, nothing. You're at 30 grand.
Marcus: Which we know that the cost is gonna go up, and we also know that by the time that warranty runs out and if you have a problem with the battery, that the batteries will be much different.
That's right. Solar is gonna be accepted. It's just a matter of time.
Mike: That's
Marcus: right. 'Cause I mean, the one thing that we are being told over and over and over again right now is that we have this big ball of fire in the sky that even if we were to burn all of the other planets in the solar system, that they would still, that that burning flame in the sky would still round up to 100% of all of the energy that exists in the solar system.
That's
Mike: right, and we can only capture a s- very small fraction- Small fraction of it ... of this. I saw Musk and some of those- Yeah ... smart minds talking about this.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: And this theory that has to do with capturing energy- Yeah ... and the amount of energy that we capture from that glowing ball is so minuscule Yeah it's, it's not even funny
Marcus: And I think that the people that, you know, I mean I ha- I, I'm, I don't mind AI, you know.
I mean, I, I'm doing a lot of AI consulting now and, you know, kind of like e- evangelizing AI. If
AI didn't exist, I'd be okay, too. I'm not, you know, these guys that are really kind of like, "Yeah," you know, driving it, but it exists, and I know that it's not going anywhere, so I'm, I'm gonna deal with it in the best way that I possibly can. But these guys that are driving the AI realize that they're up against a brick wall with the power grid and, you know, generating your own power.
Nuclear isn't, you know, ready to come on just yet, and but it will, and it will be safer and smaller and all the things that they're talking about. But the one thing that they're all kind of focusing on because it's easy and cheap and, you know, readily available is solar power.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: And when you think about, you know, China adding gigawatts of solar power in a year, you know, and we're, we don't even have that much power.
That's
Mike: right.
Marcus: You know what I mean? Um, you know, it just kind of boggles my mind. And so, you know, it, it, it does have to achieve a certain economy of scale, right? You have to get to a certain point where it makes sense financially for people, but I only see that getting better.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: Um, and I only see the technology getting better, especially with AI helping it, you know, get, get through.
So, um, anything you, anything else you wanna talk about with, with solar as far as, you know... I know it doesn't really necessarily matter what brand but, you know, we were talking earlier, and you do represent a couple of brands, including Tesla, which I thought was interesting- Yeah ... 'cause, um, you don't really hear a whole lot about...
You know, they, they're, some people do know that they're into solar, but not, not everybody knows that they, they do that. Yeah. Um, but I don't know. I just, I find the whole thing, I thi- I find it fascinating. I wish it was, um, a little bit more accepted, you know, here 'cause I think we could make such good use of it.
Mike: Absolutely. A- and the, and the utility, they won't, they don't like to admit this, but, and I try to do a good job of not, I don't, I don't like to vilify the utility. You're not
Marcus: bashing them.
Mike: I'm not. They, they provide a stable way of life for all of us. Yeah. Your, your air conditioning feels good right now.
Yeah. It
Marcus: feels good.
Mike: And we don't have any solar panels. All
Marcus: these lights-
Mike: That's right ...
Marcus: camera and- We,
Mike: I love that. It, but it's kinda like what you me- you alluded to with China. Yes, they're building large scale solar, but they're also building coal, and they're building, they're taking all comers. Yeah. Yeah.
And I think that that's, that's where I stand on it. Let's continue to drill. Let's, let's get on board- Yeah ... with smaller nuclear reactors, but to deny the viability of solar just because- You can't ... your p- your political leanings or, or, or because you may just not understand it and don't want, don't have the humility to admit that-
Marcus: Right
Mike: whatever the case may be, I've done this enough. I've seen these systems work when the power goes out, all these little grid outages that we have. We have customers all over Mobile and Baldwin County-
Marcus: That
Mike: never- ... that don't feel that ... that
Marcus: one doesn't
Mike: know. I have a couple customers that I call 'em and let 'em know the power went out-
because it happens so seamlessly. Ah, that's great. There's no delay. They don't know, you know? Yeah. So plus, plus they're, I have a lady over by, um- By Davison High School, she has a $60 power bill, and her power bill previously was $375 each month. She me- she texted me the other day, she, and she said, "I have not had a power bill this low since the late '80s."
Marcus: That's insane
Mike: So, so it's not up for debate. If anybody in your viewership or in this whole entire city-
Marcus: Yeah ...
Mike: would love to debate this with me, let's do it. I talk with Alabama Power. I deal with Alabama Power engineers on a constant basis.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: The, the engineers at Baldwin EMC and Riviera, uh, let's talk about it.
But because, because the viability of this, again, when done properly- Right ... when done right, is, is, is, is not negotiable. Yeah. And then the finances of it is... I'll give you one that was really kinda shocking to me. I did one for a car wash out in West Mobile, okay? Okay. Their power bill is $3,000 or $4,000 a month.
Marcus: Right.
Mike: Okay? Their payback period, I was asking them to spend multiple six figures-
Marcus: Okay ...
Mike: on this investment. Their payback was six years, okay? Their savings, 'cause my design software will show you a savings. Yeah. Their savings over 30 year life of this system was $2.6 million. God bless. Six, and their r- their ROI annually was, like, 24% annually on that $400,000 I was asking them to spend.
Plus, I was covering their va- their vacuuming areas, creating shade- Yeah ... while making power.
Marcus: Yeah, so it's a benefit to the clients and, you know, all that stuff.
Mike: Now, I get it. 440 grand, it's a lot of money.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Right? But so is $4,000 a month.
Marcus: Yeah. Yeah. You
Mike: know?
Marcus: You're gonna, you're gonna spend it. It's just a matter of having another
Mike: So whether it's four grand there or whether it's, or whether it's, you know, 30 grand here, and I'm asking you to spend a little more than a generator- Yeah
with the added value. Yeah. You're gonna give it to somebody. And we have financing and stuff available. I don't like putting- I was
Marcus: gonna ask.
Mike: Yeah, we, we do.
Marcus: I, I think it's, you know, important to, to know that, uh, you know, not everybody's gonna have 20 or 30 grand- Yeah ... laying around to- Yeah ... install one of these systems.
But, and I, the other thing, too, is, um, it's, when I've looked at it, and I feel like this is important to say- Mm-hmm ... it's the batteries that really add the- That's right ... additional cost. That's right. So if you do solar, you kinda do need the battery, but you could do it in phases if you, if you had to, to where you could do the panels and, you know, you're using it while the sun's out.
Mike: Yep.
Marcus: Still offsetting a little bit.
Mike: Yep.
Marcus: But you're not gonna get the r- real benefit until you spend the money on the, the batteries, which hopefully the price of those will come down, although it seems like- They
Mike: really have. Honestly, if we broke it- Have they? Yeah, they really have, compared to even last year.
Marcus: I wasn't sure with everything that's going on in the world, but they were going- I
Mike: would say 20 per- I would say 20% of the past- Lower? Y- 20% in the past probably year.
Marcus: Wow.
Mike: Yeah, and they keep going because our industry, we lost a tax credit. Not, it wasn't a, it wasn't a grant. It wasn't a free check that they're giving you.
Yeah. You have to have a tax liability, but we just lost a tax credit of 30% of the gross value of these systems. Ah. I know. But, but we've sold deals this year already without the tax credit.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Right? With people, again, people seeing that longterm viability. Um...
Marcus: How long before we start manufacturing a lot of this stuff in the US?
Mike: It's already happening now.
Marcus: Is it
Mike: already? Already happening now,
Marcus: yes. Okay, 'cause I know that that was one of the issues was that all of this was still coming from China and, you know- Yep ... places like that. And so- But, um, no, it's, I mean, it's really just phenomenal and I really do hope that, uh, if you're listening to this and you've had, you know, this idea in your mind that solar was somehow bad for the environment, like, that, that doesn't, that doesn't ring true.
There's nothing to that. Um, and if you're hearing that, then, you know, uh, I'd investigate a little bit more- Yeah ... because it doesn't, you know, it just doesn't, it doesn't work out that way.
Mike: Well, and I'll add to that, too. The utility are, they're not mad at this necessarily. They don't, they're not opposed to this.
Solar is considered a generation facility by definition- Yeah ... just like Barry's steam plant, just at scale, of whatever scale, right? Right. It's classified the same way, and Alabama Power doesn't not want you to have it. They're not gonna- No ... they're, they're not gonna financially buy power from you. That's, they're not gonna- Yeah
play that game. They never have and they never will. And that's what's helped solar take off in other markets, is that you've had what's called net metering- Yeah ... where anything you're, you're s- you know, overproducing that your house doesn't need, they're buying back at a one-to-one rate. And we're- Or
Marcus: close to it.
Mike: Well, they, in Florida they were, dollar for dollar. Oh, dollar for
Marcus: dollar.
Mike: Dollar for dollar. But in Alabama, in D- Alabama, like right now if you back-feed onto the grid-
Marcus: Yeah ...
Mike: they buy it at, like, three cents a kilowatt hour.
Marcus: And sell it at 50.
Mike: That's right. So that's not the game we wanna play. Yeah. I don't overbuild solar systems, right?
Yeah. I would take a couple panels off to, to keep us from doing that- Yeah ... to make sure that we're charging a battery and keeping, you know, use it or lose it. Keep, let's keep it- Yeah ... on site and not give it... 'Cause what actually is happening when you're sending excess, it's going to your neighbor's house real time.
It's going to your neighbor's house, and they're being charged full retail rate for an investment that you made. See, these little nuances- ... these little... Because that's how electricity works, right? Yeah, no, it is. It's going to the next point of load. Yeah. It doesn't know the difference. Yeah. It's not skipping over and going to Alabama Power.
Yeah, it's just available until- And Alabama Power's counting your power. No. Yeah. It's available power on the grid. Same thing with that solar field. Those folks think that that's not gonna benefit the Stockton area? Electrically speaking, I, y- I would be surprised if you have some of the issues that you may have with your grid up there.
That thing's gonna help create a level- Yeah ... of stability when all these ACs are running- Yeah ... and during the da- like, it's gonna help.
Marcus: Uh, I don't remember if, if their plan had any kind of battery storage.
Mike: No.
Marcus: So,
Mike: yeah. It may, it may down the road.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: But-
Marcus: So it wouldn't be like if they had an outage or something like that, then it would continue to provide, you know, power.
Mike: No,
Marcus: no. But, um, no, it's, that is, I've, uh, and I neglected to bring that up, but that was the one thing where I was kind of like, I got the impression that that was why people felt like Alabama was against solar, was because so many other places give a better exchange rate for, you know, any power that you put back into the grid.
Mike: But even in Florida, they've done away- Yeah.
Marcus: Hold on just-
Mike: Yeah. Hello?
Marcus: I'm not expecting anybody.
Mike: Who's that?
I know how to scrap.
Marcus: Might
Mike: be- Yo. Hello.
Marcus: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm doing that interview. Uh- Oh ... yeah, if you guys wanna come up and, and just hang out, that's fine, or if you wanna go get a drink or something like that and come- Okay, that's fine. Yeah, just come up and sit in my office. So, and you know what? While you guys are sitting, I'm gonna take a-
Mike: Okay.
I'm,
Marcus: I'm gonna take my hat off 'cause that's got microphone and nobody wants to hear me
I just need you to be quiet because we are re- we are recording, so. Cool. My folks.
Mike: That's real. That's in Saraland.
Marcus: So what is this showing? I'm... 'Cause I'm-
Mike: Solar-
Marcus: Okay ...
Mike: house, grid, battery.
Marcus: Nice. And so th- is this your house or is this- No ... a client's house?
Mike: That's a client's house. Doctor up in Saraland.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: They got four EVs and...
But he know that, to that, he knows. He charges the EVs. As soon as that battery gets t- full, which is by about noon or 1:00, he starts plugging cars in.
Marcus: Hold on a sec. Dad. Dad. Hey. I mean, I'm, it... I got microphones and all kinds of stuff, so just, yeah, keep it low. Sorry. Sorry. No.
Mike: I almost got scratched or dabbed.
Marcus: No. I, I, I told them 40, 45 at most. Well,
Mike: my folk, my folks worked down here when I was growing up, so I know my mom used to have homeless people come in the office and things like that. Yeah, yeah.
Marcus: No, y- we-
Mike: So I'm, I'm familiar-
Marcus: Yeah. ...
Mike: with what can be.
Marcus: So- So sorry about that. I've, uh- All good ... you know.
Mike: Edit that part out, what I just said.
Marcus: No, all, all this section will just cut out and so. Yeah, sure, sure. Um, now let, let's get back to kinda some of the questions that we ask about just, you know, the business and- Okay ... you know, how, how the business is run and stuff. So, um, now what's one thing that you wish someone had told you before you got started that, you know, you would communicate to somebody if they were thinking about starting a business?
You know, what, what have you learned over the, the, over the course of the years that you've learned the hard way that you feel like people should know before they step out?
Mike: Um, you know, my, my s- my situation is a bit unique, because I'm the first i- in a sense, right? Yeah. And, and so that brings its own challenges, right?
Being the first somewhere. It j-
Marcus: Education
Mike: and stuff like that. Th- that's right. Yeah. It, it's motivational, because there's a lot of purpose behind what we're doing. Um, not, not wanting to be the first just to be the first, but to present this to this area properly, right? Yeah. Um, the one, one thing I th- I think that just in business in general is to be patient sometimes.
Know when to be patient and know when to hit the gas. Know when to go, know when to slow. Um, networking. Yeah. I could have done a, a little better job of that. And, and for me, too, marketing. I think that's one of the things that I have neglected i- in a way... Not neglected, but I just haven't done an effective, uh, it
Marcus: hasn't
Mike: affected- Yeah,
Marcus: haven't spent as much time on it as you- Yeah
as you should.
Mike: That's right. Marketing precedes sales. And you can have the best product in the world, but if nobody knows you exist, then- Dang. I think I have heard that
Marcus: before somewhere.
Mike: I have too. And it keeps, and it keeps r- repeating in my head.
Marcus: Yeah. We need
Mike: to
Marcus: get obscure, you know- Yeah ... obscurity on, on the wall or something, so.
Mike: No doubt.
Marcus: Um, is there a person, book, or a resource that's changed the way you think about business?
Mike: Jocko.
Marcus: Oh, really? So for those of you that don't know, Jocko Willink is a former Team Six
Mike: operator, if I
Marcus: remember correctly. Multiple teams. Yeah, but yeah. Multiple teams. Yeah. Um, and he's been really prevalent in the leadership, you know, world.
Yeah. But why Jocko? What's he... What impression has he made on you?
Mike: Just, just the, his, how he's taken his lessons from combat leadership and he's applied them to civilian sector, to business, to relationships. Yeah. Uh, his first book, Extreme Ownership, it gets into that. Um, and yeah, it, it uses combat analogies, obviously from- Yeah
from his own experience, but they make a lot of sense and they do translate. Whether you were former military or not, there's- Yeah ... there's things that can apply to that about, you know, uh, just looking at yourself first, taking the ownership and accountability for the role you play in all this. And- Yeah
um, yeah. '
Marcus: Cause ultimately- You are the one that dictates everything about your life Correct.
Mike: That's right ...
Marcus: whether that's, you know, the relationship that w- you have with your kids and wife, the relationship that you have with your employees, whether they do a good job. If they don't do a good job and they're still there, it's your fault.
Mike: That's right.
Marcus: Or maybe they needed more training, which is also still your fault, or whether they, you know, did something stupid and- Yep ... you know what I mean? Like, it all-
Mike: Technically it's all your fault ...
Marcus: it's all your fault.
Mike: That's right. And if you're not prepared for that- Yeah ... in any business, then maybe you shouldn't do that.
Yeah. And that's, that's one thing too, back to what you asked about something that maybe I didn't expect or that I wasn't... U- understanding that you eat what you kill. There is no, there is no show up and get my check, and I wake up every morning and I have to think about six months from now- Yeah ... and a year from now, and three months from now.
And the more pe- more employees that I have that I'm responsible for them and their families, the greater that, not burden, the greater that responsibility co- becomes, right? Yeah. And so tha- that's one thing that's been an adjustment for me is, like, y- you wake up and you sit at your desk each morning. Yeah.
It's like, everybody's got a, for me, everybody's got a power bill. They got to, you know, let's go.
Marcus: Everybody's complaining about it right now- That's right ... because it is hot outside. That's right. So.
Mike: That's right.
Marcus: Um, how do you like to unwind from-
Mike: What's that?
Marcus: How do you do, how do you do- What's that? ... how do you unwind?
How do you get relaxed? I know- What's that?
Mike: Yeah,
Marcus: I
Mike: know.
Marcus: That's not- No, honestly- That's an unacceptable answer.
Mike: I know. Yeah. Honestly, um, we, it, I don't very often, 'cause surfing. When we have waves down at the beach, which is, we do. We get surf.
Marcus: You're the second person that has- Yeah ... sat in that chair and said surfing, and I swear to God, in the last 20 years of talking- Yeah
to people down here, I've not met anybody really that-
Mike: Yeah, we
Marcus: get a surf ... knew how to surf, so that's wild.
Mike: We get a... You gotta watch the, you gotta know the weather patterns and what causes it, and obviously sto- hurricanes and stuff will cause it, but yeah, we get waves.
Marcus: Right. Yeah.
Mike: Yeah, that's it. And then when I get a chance to travel, I'll, I've traveled to places and surf.
Southern California and Nicaragua.
Marcus: Very cool.
Mike: Yeah.
Marcus: Um, so I've got 12 rapid fire questions for you. Okay. Some rapid fire questions. Yeah. I don't think it's actually 12. But, uh, favorite type of music?
Mike: All kinds. I know that's, uh- Mm-mm ... I know.
Marcus: Unacceptable.
Mike: I know. Um, with, where, where were
Marcus: you- What is push, what were you listening to on the way here?
Mike: Um, Cameron Marlowe, actually.
Marcus: I don't know that name. Is
Mike: he country? He's a country guy.
Marcus: Okay, that's
Mike: why I wasn't familiar. Him, but I also li- listen to everything from Olivia Dean to Boosie- ... to whatever. Like au- when I say everything, I'm talking about my- My stuff is eclectic.
Marcus: Yeah,
Mike: no, no. I'm not big on heavy stuff.
Not a big heavy music guy. Yeah, yeah, same. But one, music in which they still play instruments.
Marcus: Yeah. Like that.
Mike: No,
Marcus: well, I, I like a lot of electronic music too. That too.
Mike: Yeah, that's almost-
Marcus: I, I grew up listening, 'cause my father who, uh, you just met, um, you know, he had a, a very big love for, like, new age style music, and that was all kind of, you know, synthetic.
Sure. And then EDM started.
Mike: Okay.
Marcus: Right? So I've been listening to EDM since it was just a baby. That's cool. For those of you that are out there that think that, you know, all these guys that are out there are now doing E- you know, EDM festivals and stuff like that, uh, so yeah. Um, favorite type of music, so favorite type of food.
Mike: Italian.
Marcus: Favorite restaurant in Lower Alabama?
Mike: Uh, ooh, that's Jesse's on the Bay.
Marcus: Good choice.
Mike: Mm.
Marcus: Favorite city outside of Mobile?
Mike: Ooh.
Marcus: That you've been to.
Mike: Man, I used to like Manhattan.
Marcus: Not anymore?
Mike: No, sir. Uh, probably San Diego, but even then, probably Jacksonville. Okay. Probably, weirdly enough, probably Jacksonville.
Marcus: Yeah, cool. Uh, city you want to travel to but have yet to visit?
Mike: I've, I've traveled a pretty good bit. If we're gonna be somewhere outside of the United States- Yeah, that's
Marcus: fine ...
Mike: El Salvador cap- uh, there's a town over there on the coast- Yeah ... that I went to.
Marcus: Good surfing.
Mike: Mm.
Marcus: Yeah. Surf
Mike: weather, yeah.
Marcus: Um, uh, what comes to mind when I say guilty pleasure?
Mike: Check yourself.
Check
Marcus: yourself. That's too funny. Uh, morning person or a night owl?
Mike: Morning.
Marcus: Favorite movie or TV show?
Mike: Um, Shark Tank.
Marcus: Yeah, that's a good one.
Mike: Yeah, Shark Tank.
Marcus: Uh, what skill you have that would surprise people?
Mike: Probably music, I guess. Maybe that, that... It would surprise people- Yeah ... who didn't know I play music.
Marcus: Yeah, I think, you know- '
Mike: Cause I could do that seven days a week if I wanted to. I could stop all this and go play music full time.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: But, you know, that comes with its own trade-offs.
Marcus: There you go.
Mike: You gotta really wanna do that.
Marcus: Yeah, that's a hard life, uh, especially here- That's right ... in Asheville. That's right.
Mike: It is.
Marcus: Um, what's a local business that more people should know about besides your own?
Mike: Well, I think this one. I like what you're doing. I've watched your, your interviews, and I've- Yeah ... seen kinda what you're doing and what you're trying to get off the ground here.
I, I like what you're doing. Um-
Marcus: Appreciate it.
Mike: Yeah. I really do. Besides us- Anyone else?
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Yeah. Um- Man, I just, a lot, I s-, I don't come to Mobile very often, spend a whole lot of time here. I probably should do that more, but I'm seeing a lot of stuff going on midtown or downtown Mobile. Downtown. Yeah. And, and I don't, uh, n- that's not really any specific business, but I, I love what, whatever's going on down here- Yeah
without knowing the details. Yeah,
Marcus: yeah.
Mike: I can kinda see it. I kinda like it. Um-
Marcus: It's, um, it's interesting 'cause things were really kinda hopping before, uh, before COVID. Mm-hmm. And I think, you know, we were, we were feeling a certain momentum.
Mike: Okay.
Marcus: Right? So there was a, uh, Mobile Momentum was a, a phrase that we used and that the city used, um, to kinda communicate, you know, that we were moving forward and all this, you know, stuff.
Yeah. And then COVID happened and, you know, I'm, I'm not feeling that as much, but I, I still think that there's so much down here, especially food. You know, Art Walks are always fun. Um, you know, granted, you know, anytime you go anywhere, you know, after midnight, you just gotta be on your, uh, you know- That's right
you gotta mind your P's
Mike: and Q's.
Marcus: That's right. Right? Right. But m- when people tell me that Mobile is an unsafe city, I wanna look at 'em like they're idiots.
Mike: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Um, I, I don't know. Maybe it's because I grew up in DC and would go regularly to listen to EDM music down in, uh, the south, uh, you know, the southwest part of the, the city and...
Or was it southeast? Southeast part of the city, and it was, at the time, it was the murder capital of the United States. Crack cocaine was big. Mm-hmm. Mayor Marion Barry was caught with a prostitute famously. You know, it was all around that, that time. Yeah. And, um, so when people say like, "Oh, I don't go to Mobile, it's too dangerous," it's like, "No, it's not."
Like, I w- I, we regularly walk around, even up until midnight and after down here, and don't have any issues. You just, you know- That's right ... you just don't come down here and be an idiot. But-
Mike: That's anywhere. Yeah. I've been in, I've been in bad parts of Maryland, too. Yeah. Yeah. In the Inner Harbor area. Yeah.
In Fells Point. And places like that. Yeah. And, and you go and even in Ni- Especially
Marcus: now, you
Mike: know, it's really changed ... Yeah, even in Nicaragua. Yeah. You go in the r- it, it doesn't matter. That's a third world country. Yeah. You go out, you look, you go out looking for trouble-
Marcus: You're
Mike: gonna find it ... you're gonna find it.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: Downtown Mobile- So I mean, that
Marcus: would be what... And the thing that gets me is that any kinda city like this has to have a good and vibrant downtown in order to flourish. That's
Mike: right.
Marcus: And the way that that happens is through small business owners coming in- That's right ... and opening up restaurants or shops or, you know, things like that for people to come down and visit.
Um, hospitality plays a big, you know, industry down here, and we've gotta stop relying on Mardi Gras.
Mike: That's right. That's right.
Marcus: Did this- If Mardi Gras is the only thing that we have to draw people to this area, then we fail. That's right. 'Cause there's a lot to offer.
Mike: That's right. Yeah. Did Monaghan open, uh, reopen TP Cropper Myers yet?
Marcus: Um, I don't know.
Mike: Mr. Bill?
Marcus: Because it's been a while since- That's a good one ... I've walked past there, but yeah. That's
Mike: a good business that people-
Marcus: Yeah ... you know, have- They do a good job, too. Yeah.
Mike: Anyway.
Marcus: Um, what are you most thankful for? That's not a rapid fire.
Mike: I know. Just the, uh... Honestly, start with the breath in my lungs.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: I'm, I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that I'm... I, you know, I made some poor choices in my life at times, and I've done some wreck- had reckless behavior at times. So I'm, I'm... I really, not to get all heavy, but I'm fortunate to be here.
Marcus: Yeah.
Mike: And, and, uh-
Marcus: I can imagine ...
Mike: I'm grateful for, um, this opportunity that I have with this company.
Yes, I've worked hard and I've, to get to this point, but I've also, it, some of it's been timing. Um, uh, but yeah, I'm thankful for, for that. I'm thankful for the opportunity. I'm thankful for my family. I have kids- Yeah ... and, uh, thankful for... Yeah.
Marcus: That's cool, man.
Mike: Just thankful for, for it all at this point.
Marcus: Well, tell people where they can find you.
Mike: Well, we have a website, theintegrityenergygroup.com. Okay. The Integrity Energy Group, at the beginning, dot com. Uh, we, we've got some stuff on social media, got a little YouTube channel. Uh, what I've done on our social media too, I've kind of screenshot, screen recorded live views of customer systems, and I'll talk over them, you know, and where I- Yeah
can explain in a little more detail what's going on. Feel free to call us. We got contact information on there. If you've got random weird questions that you think are weird, there's no such thing as that right now. Yeah. This is new. So please, I've... If I can't answer it, then I will get an answer, but I probably can answer it- Yeah
if it's related
Marcus: to this. Been doing this for a
Mike: while, so.
Marcus: Yeah, reach out.
Mike: Yeah, reach out.
Marcus: Well, I wanna thank you for coming on the podcast. To wrap up, any final thoughts or comments you'd like to share? Anything that we didn't cover that you felt needed to be covered?
Mike: No. I, no. I just think that, um- I think that as with anything, that we need to make sure that we're armed with facts before we start forming staunch opinions that we build policy and things around, right?
Yeah. Um, whether that's our decision-makers here in our regional area or as individuals. Yeah. Make, form your own opinion. It's not, solar is not the end-all be-all. It's not to every problem we have. It's not the silver bullet to all of our energy solutions. But does it play a role? Absolutely. Can it play a, a viable role in this additional power that's being required from the grid?
Absolutely, it can. Yeah. But this all or nothing thinking that we as a society seem to approach issues with- Right ... like, it's either gotta be all of this or let's just all oil and all of this, no, you know, that just doesn't really serve us well, you know, I don't think.
Marcus: I mean, you know, uh, and I don't wanna ramp back up again.
Yeah. But I just, you know, j- my final- 'Cause I will. I will ramp back up ... my final thought was just, you know, that I, I know that people are scared, that a lot is changing extremely quickly, and I mean, you wanna talk about something, you know, Bluefish is an advertising agency. They have literally said that by the end of the year that anybody that works on a computer, especially in advertising, is not gonna need, is not gonna be needed anymore.
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: Now, I think there's some nuance to that. I mean, I, I think that, you know, keeping people accountable, you know, the expertise that you bring and stuff like that lends itself to having us around a little bit longer than that. But at the same time, like, I get what they're trying to say, like, um, this is, you know, this is, you know- moving in a direction, and people are afraid of what that direction means and what it means for the way of life that they have enjoyed for so long.
And there's this thing, whether it's data centers, AI, solar, you know, energy issues, you know, all this stuff that's being presented to us, and they're politicizing it all, when the reality is that if we can just bring the cost of energy down, regardless of how we do it, if we bring the cost of energy down, then everything gets so much cheaper.
Mike: That's right.
Marcus: And so I really just, I would encourage people to, before we start putting up roadblocks on things, you know, to really look at things on a case-by-case basis because the technology of even six months ago is old technology now. Right. That things are moving at such a rapid pace that, you know, it really is, um, astonishing for those of us that are in industries that are being impacted by AI, it's astonishing at how quickly it's changing.
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Marcus: I am plugged in. I feel like I'm light years behind. Yeah. That's how quick it's changing. Yeah. So all that to say is, you know, I really appreciate you coming on and, you know, sharing some of your knowledge with us. I would encourage people, give him a call. I mean, solar is an extremely viable alternative to the grid here in, in Alabama, especially in our area.
We're one of the sunniest areas, but we're also one of the rainiest areas, and the reason why I say that is because the storms that we get through here are incredible, and it means that a lot of times we lose power. I live on McGregor. I can't figure out for the life of me why Alabama Power decided to hang the wires from the, from telephone poles, uh, on McGregor when they were burying everything else under the ground- Mm-hmm
which would've solved some of that issue. It doesn't solve the greater issue of, okay, well, we don't go down, but the transformer down the street goes down. I get that. I'm not stupid. Yeah. But at the same time, it's like you have to start somewhere, and it just feels like we're ig- ignoring that or just not moving in the, in the right direction, and I'm just, you know, was hopeful that we could shed some light to that, so.
Sure. But Michael, I appreciate your willingness to sit- with me and share your journey as a business owner and entrepreneur. Man, it's been great-
Mike: Thank you,
Marcus: ... Great talking with you.
Mike: Appreciate it,
