Risk Factors Dashboard

Once a year, publicly traded companies issue a comprehensive report of their business, called a 10-K. A component mandated in the 10-K is the ‘Risk Factors’ section, where companies disclose any major potential risks that they may face. This dashboard highlights all major changes and additions in new 10K reports, allowing investors to quickly identify new potential risks and opportunities.

Risk Factors - FLNC

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Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report. “Risk Factors” and Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report. If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from what we anticipate. Many of the important factors that will determine these results are beyond our ability to control or predict. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. We qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report by these cautionary statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as otherwise required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Additionally, our discussion of ESG assessments, goals, and relevant issues herein are informed by various ESG standards and frameworks (including standards for the measurement of underlying data) and the interests of various stakeholders.Additionally, our discussion of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) assessments, goals, and relevant issues herein are informed by various ESG standards and frameworks (including standards for the measurement of underlying data) and the interests of various stakeholders. Any references to “materiality” in the context of such discussions and any related assessment of ESG “materiality” may differ from the definition of “materiality” under various legal regimes, including the federal securities laws for SEC reporting purposes. Furthermore, much of this information is subject to assumptions, estimates, methodologies, or third-party information that is still evolving and subject to change. While these are based on expectations and assumptions believed to be reasonable at the time of preparation, they should not be considered guarantees and in many cases such information and methodologies have not necessarily been verified by us or any third-party, unless otherwise specified. If our approaches to such matters are perceived to fall out of step with common or best practice, or otherwise diverge from stakeholder expectations, we may be subject to additional scrutiny, criticism, regulatory and investor engagement or litigation, any of which may adversely impact our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Similarly, we cannot guarantee strict adherence to standard recommendations, and our disclosures based on any standards may change due to revisions in framework or legal requirements, availability or quality of information, changes in our business or applicable government policies, or other factors, some of which may be beyond our control.
Risk Factors Summary
The following is a summary of the principal risks that could adversely affect our business, operations, financial results and future prospects, plans and objectives of the Company and the trading price of our Class A common stock. This summary should be read in conjunction with the “Risk Factors” section and should not be relied upon as an exhaustive summary of the material risks facing our business.
elimination, or expiration of government incentives or regulations regarding renewable energy;
changes in the global trade environment;
fluctuations of our order intake and results of operations across fiscal periods;
significant reduction in our order volume or loss of one or more of our significant customers or their inability to perform under their contracts;
risks relating to competition for our offerings and our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers;
ability to maintain and enhance our reputation and brand recognition;
ability to effectively manage our recent and future growth and expansion of our business and operations;
ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel;
our growth depends in part on the success of our relationships with third parties;
risks relating to delays, disruptions, and quality control problems in our manufacturing operations;
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risks associated with engineering and construction, utility interconnection, commissioning and installation of our energy storage products, cost overruns, and delays;
risks relating from supplier concentration and limited supplier capacity;
risks relating to operating as a global company with a global supply chain;
changes in the cost and availability of raw materials and underlying components;
risks relating to lengthy sales and installation cycle for our energy storage solutions;
risks relating to quality and quantity of components provided by suppliers;
risks relating to defects, errors, vulnerabilities and/or bugs in our products and technology;
events and incidents relating to storage, delivery, installation, operation, maintenance and shutdowns of our products;
risks relating to our current and planned foreign operations;
failure by contract manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations;
actual or threatened health epidemics, pandemics or similar public health threats;
severe weather events;
risks relating to acquisitions or other transactions we have made or that we may pursue;
ability to obtain financial assurances for our projects;
our relatively limited operating and revenue history as an independent entity and the nascent clean energy industry;
anticipated increasing expenses in the future and our ability to maintain prolonged profitability;
amounts included in our pipeline and contracted backlog may not result in actual revenue or translate into profits;
restrictions set forth in our current credit agreement and future debt agreements;
uncertain ability to raise additional capital to execute on business opportunities;
fluctuations in currency exchange rates;
risks relating to whether renewable energy technologies are suitable for widespread adoption or if sufficient demand for our offerings do not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipate;
estimates on size of our total addressable market;
macroeconomic uncertainty and market conditions;
risk relating to interest rates or a reduction in the availability of tax equity or project debt capital in the global financial markets and corresponding effects on customers’ ability to finance energy storage systems and demand for our energy storage solutions;
risks relating to the cost of electricity available from alternative sources;
decline in public acceptance of renewable energy, or delay, prevent, or increase in the cost of customer projects;
increased attention to ESG matters;
ability to obtain, maintain and enforce proper protection for our intellectual property, including our technology;
threat of lawsuits by third parties alleging intellectual property violations;
adequate protection for our trademarks and trade names;
ability to enforce our intellectual property rights;
risks relating to our patent portfolio;
ability to effectively protect data integrity of our technology infrastructure, data, and other business systems;
use of open-source software;
failure to comply with third party license or technology agreements;
inability to license rights to use technologies on reasonable terms;
risks relating to compromises, interruptions, or shutdowns of our systems;
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risks relating to the use of AI technologies;
potential changes in tax laws or regulations;
barriers arising from current electric utility industry policies and regulations and any subsequent changes;
risks relating to environmental, health, and safety laws and potential obligations, liabilities and costs thereunder;
actual or perceived failure to comply with data privacy and data security laws, regulations, industry standards; and other requirements relating to the privacy, security, and processing of personal information;
risks relating to potential future legal proceedings, regulatory disputes, and governmental inquiries;
risks relating to ownership of our Class A common stock;
risks relating to short-seller activists;
risks relating to us being a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules;
risks relating to conflicts of interest by our officers and directors due to positions with Continuing Equity Owners;
risks relating to our relationship with our Founders and Continuing Equity Owners;
risks relating to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws;
we depend on distributions from Fluence Energy, LLC to pay our taxes and expenses and Fluence Energy, LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be limited or restricted in certain scenarios;
risks arising out of the Tax Receivable Agreement;
unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of tax returns;
risks relating to the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes;
risks relating to improper and ineffective internal control over reporting to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
risks relating to changes in accounting principles or their applicability to us; and
risks relating to estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Inception and Organization
Fluence Energy, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), was initially formed on June 21, 2021 and completed its initial public offering (the “IPO”) on November 1, 2021. We conduct our business operations through Fluence Energy, LLC and its direct and indirect subsidiaries. Fluence Energy, LLC was formed on June 30, 2017 as a joint venture between Siemens Industry, Inc. (“Siemens Industry”), an indirect subsidiary of Siemens AG (“Siemens”), and AES Grid Stability, LLC (“AES Grid Stability”), an indirect subsidiary of The AES Corporation (“AES”), and commenced operations on January 1, 2018. We refer to Siemens Industry and AES Grid Stability as the “Founders” in this Annual Report and together with Qatar Holding LLC (“QHL”), an affiliate of the Qatar Investment Authority (“QIA”), they are collectively referred to as the “Continuing Equity Owners.” As the sole managing member of Fluence Energy, LLC, Fluence Energy, Inc. operates and controls all the business and affairs of Fluence Energy, LLC and its direct and indirect subsidiaries. As a result, Fluence Energy, Inc. consolidates Fluence Energy, LLC and records a non-controlling interest in its consolidated financial statements for the economic interest in Fluence Energy, LLC held by the Founders. Except where the content clearly indicates otherwise, any reference in this Annual Report to “Fluence,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “the Company” refers to Fluence Energy, Inc. Except where the content clearly indicates otherwise, any reference in this Annual Report to “Fluence,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “the Company” refers to Fluence Energy, Inc. and all of its direct and indirect subsidiaries, including Fluence Energy, LLC.
Overview
Fluence is a global market leader delivering intelligent energy storage and optimization software for renewables and storage. Our energy storage solutions and operational services are designed to help create a more resilient grid and unlock the full potential of renewable portfolios. Our energy storage solutions and operational services are helping to create a more resilient grid and unlock the full potential of renewable portfolios.
As of September 30, 2025, we had 6.8 gigawatts (“GW”) of energy storage assets deployed and 9.1 GW of contracted backlog across 33 markets in 25 countries with a gross global pipeline of 128.8 GW. As of September 30, 2025, our global operational and maintenance (“O&M”) services team was providing services for 5.6 GW of energy storage assets, with a further 7.0 GW of contracted backlog. As of September 30, 2025, we had an aggregate of 22.0 GW of renewable energy assets using Fluence digital offerings and 12.1 GW of contracted backlog related to renewable and energy storage assets using Fluence digital offerings.
Our Industry and Market Opportunity

Our Industry
The utility-scale battery storage industry continues to experience unprecedented growth fueled by (i) the global transition toward renewable energy, (ii) heightened focus on grid resilience, (iii) declining lithium-ion battery prices, (iv) increased electricity demand, and (v) supportive regulatory frameworks.
Energy Storage Market Opportunity
We believe the energy storage market is comprised of three main elements:
Energy storage solutions — the components (including batteries), professional services, and labor required to manufacture, assemble, and install energy storage systems. The energy storage solutions market is driven by the deployment of new energy storage solutions globally and its addressable market is comprised of the annual spend associated with the manufacturing, delivery, and installation of new energy storage solutions. BloombergNEF estimated in its 2H 2025 Energy Storage Market Outlook published on October 20, 2025 that the global utility scale market, excluding China, will add approximately 3,201 GWh between 2024 and 2035.
Services — recurring O&M services that energy storage solutions require and asset management services that are provided by third parties when asset owners outsource the operations of their systems. The services market element is driven by growth in installed energy storage solutions globally and its addressable market is comprised of the recurring annual service spend across the entire fleet of energy storage projects, which continues to grow through new installations. The services market is driven by growth in installed energy storage solutions globally, and its addressable market is comprised of the recurring annual service spend across the entire fleet of energy storage projects, which is continuing to grow through new installations.
Digital applications and software — cloud-based software that help asset owners optimize the performance of their systems and portfolios, including asset performance management (“APM”) software and intelligent forecasting and bid optimization software for asset trading applications. Cloud-based software applications can be deployed on both energy storage assets and renewable assets. The digital applications sector is driven by the growth in installed energy storage solutions and renewable assets, and its addressable market is comprised of the total global installed fleet of energy storage solutions and renewable assets. The digital applications and solutions sector is driven by the growth in installed energy storage solutions and renewable assets, and its addressable market is comprised of the total global installed fleet of energy storage solutions and renewable assets. We believe there is an opportunity to not only deploy digital offerings and software solutions on individual assets but also across entire energy storage fleets and portfolios of generation assets to improve both performance and economic output, as well as to reduce the total cost of ownership (“TCO”) of the asset with improvements in both service productivity and with
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enhanced predictive maintenance, and the opportunity to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the portfolio by optimizing various asset types.
As described above, we believe there are multiple key factors driving continued growth in the energy storage sector, including, but not limited to:
Global Transition Toward Renewable Energy: The ongoing transition from fossil to renewable generation is expected to continue to require significant increases in energy storage capacity to both offset potential grid instability caused by intermittent renewable resources and enable the use of power from renewable generation assets at times when natural resources may be unavailable. Energy storage will be essential in managing variations in renewable electricity output.
Grid Resilience: Growing capacity constraints on existing power grids that were not designed to support distributed and renewable generation infrastructure or technologies, such as electric vehicles, position energy storage assets as a key solution.
Declining Lithium-Ion Battery Prices: Growth of the industry and the continued adoption of energy storage solutions by our customers is driven by the declining cost of the lithium-ion energy storage hardware, mainly the cost of lithium-ion batteries. The cost of lithium-ion energy storage hardware has declined significantly in the last decade and has resulted in a large addressable market today. The cost of lithium-ion energy storage hardware has declined significantly in the aggregate in the last decade and has resulted in a large addressable market today. In fiscal year 2022, we saw prices for lithium-ion batteries increase from prior years, though prices returned to their historical trend of declining year-over-year in fiscal years 2023 through 2025, due in part to manufacturing overcapacity and saturation in the market and lower cost of the underlying raw materials, including lithium as well as softening demand from the electric vehicle (“EV”) sector. In fiscal year 2022, we saw prices for lithium-ion battery packs increase from prior years, though prices returned to their historical trend of declining year-over-year in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. The market for energy storage continues to rapidly evolve and while we believe lithium-ion battery pack costs will continue to decline over the long term, there is no guarantee that they will decline or decline at the rates we expect. The market for energy storage continues to rapidly evolve and while we believe lithium-ion battery costs will continue to decline over the long-term, they may not decline or decline at the rates we expect. If costs do not continue to decline long-term and instead remain steady or increase, as seen in fiscal year 2022, this could adversely affect demand for our products and services, our revenue, order intake, our market share, and ability to grow our business. If costs do not continue to decline long term and instead remain steady or increase as in fiscal year 2022, this could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenue, our order intake, and grow our business.
Increased Electricity Demand: Driven by factors such as the rise of data centers and AI. The surge in demand for electricity increases the need for energy storage systems to ensure grid stability, manage peak loads and provide reliability to power grids, especially during periods of elevated use. There is significant need for technology solutions that can be deployed in the next 5 years to keep up with AI data center build out and energy storage is well suited to be deployed at scale in this timeline. According to a publication from the U.S. Department of Energy in April 2024, electricity demand is forecasted to grow substantially in the United States over the next decade. This is being driven to some extent by data centers and AI, in another report by the U.S. Department of Energy in December 2024, data centers are expected to consume approximately 6.7% to 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028. We are seeing similar trends of increasing electricity demand in other countries, including those in which we operate.
Supportive Regulatory Frameworks: Governments across the globe have announced legislation, policies, and initiatives that are supportive of the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon forms of energy and support specifically energy storage deployment and development. Such government policies, regulations, legislation, and programs have become increasingly instrumental in stimulating adoption of energy storage solutions across different markets through a variety of methods, including by providing financial support and incentives, including tax incentives, facilitating grid integration, supporting research and development, and establishing favorable regulatory regimes. Such government policies, regulations, legislation, and programs are becoming increasingly instrumental in stimulating adoption of energy storage solutions across different markets through a variety of methods, including by providing financial support and incentives, facilitating grid integration, supporting research and development, and establishing favorable regulatory regimes.
Our Products and Services
Our business continues to evolve worldwide and is shaped by the varying ways in which our products can provide economically viable solutions to energy needs in certain markets. Our offerings include energy storage products and solutions, recurring O&M services, and digital applications for energy storage and other power assets. We may refer to our energy storage systems as “energy storage solutions” and use this term interchangeably as it is more reflective of the full offering available and provided to our customers. We may refer to our energy storage products as “energy storage solutions” and use this term interchangeably as it is more reflective of the full offering available and provided to our customers. We may also refer to battery-based energy storage systems, systems, integrated systems, enclosures, and cubes interchangeably. We have repeatedly pioneered new use cases for grid-scale energy storage. Some of the uses we have supported include frequency regulation, generation enhancement, capacity peak power, energy cost control, microgrids/islands, renewable integration, virtual dams, transmission and distribution (“T&D”) enhancement, and critical power.
Energy Storage Solutions
We sell configurable energy storage solutions with integrated hardware, software, and digital intelligence. Fluence’s energy storage solutions are built on years of development of prior generations, and reflect, among other things, ongoing safety and design improvements. Fluence’s energy storage solutions are built on more than 15 years of development in prior generations, and reflecting, among other things, ongoing safety and design improvements. We believe that Fluence’s energy storage solutions make it simpler for customers to deploy storage faster and more cost effectively without sacrificing quality and configurability. Our storage technology lays the foundation for better energy storage solutions with industry-leading safety, integrated controls systems, and factory-built, modular building blocks. By pairing the benefits of mass production with the flexibility of a configurable system architecture, we believe we are able to serve the diverse needs of
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customers around the world from a single, underlying product platform. Our energy storage solutions are optimized for common customer applications but can be configured for specific use cases and requirements. Our current solutions include:
Gridstack Pro®: Energy storage solution designed for large-scale front-of-the-meter applications. Gridstack Pro is sold to independent power producers (“IPPs”), developers, utilities, and other generators, and is designed to improve density and system performance with both 2- and 4-hour product configurations. Gridstack Pro is sold to independent power producers (IPPs), developers, utilities, and other generators. Gridstack Pro is intelligent energy storage for MW to GW scale projects with balanced power to energy matching and increased site density. This solution combines state-of-the-art battery modules, management systems, and monitoring equipment into a fully unified architecture designed to improve operations and system safety. It includes a system of multiple interoperable enclosures that provide different energy capacities and densities for diverse global project needs. Gridstack Pro includes a system of multiple interoperable enclosures that provide different energy capacities and densities for diverse global project needs. Gridstack Pro® 2000 series utilizes the Fluence-designed Battery Packs. Gridstack Pro utilizes the Fluence-designed Battery Packs.
Gridstack®: Energy storage solution designed for front-of-the-meter applications. This solution is sold to IPPs, developers, utilities, and other generators to deliver energy, capacity, and ancillary services in both regulated and deregulated electricity markets globally. Gridstack’s industrial-strength design is built for demanding front-of-the-meter energy storage applications including, but not limited to, flexible peaking capacity, frequency regulation, and renewable integration. Gridstack’s industrial-strength design is built for demanding front-of-the-meter energy storage applications including flexible peaking capacity, frequency regulation, renewable integration, and more.
Ultrastack®: Designed to meet the critical system requirements of distribution and transmission networks, including stringent requirements around availability, uptime, and information technology (“IT”) security, and advanced controls applications that deliver a suite of highly technical grid services, such as synthetic inertia and power oscillation damping.
Smartstack™: Announced during fiscal year 2025, this platform reflects a revolutionary split architecture design, incorporating embedded intelligence and higher energy density compared to traditional AC systems. This architectural design separates critical control systems from battery packs, and it combines a comprehensive network of sensors paired with edge computing to deliver real-time insights about all aspects of operation, security, and performance.
In addition, each of our energy storage solutions comes with our proprietary energy management system, Fluence OS, which enables asset owners to operate the storage system directly with pre-set modes and market dispatch applications or integrate directly with external ISO and EMS signals. Fluence OS provides real-time information through multiple systems views, alarm notifications, and dashboards. It is an integral part of all our energy storage solutions. Fluence OS enables Fluence energy storage solutions to deliver critical grid services such as primary frequency regulation, secondary frequency response, fast frequency response, peak shaving, voltage regulation, power factor regulation, non-spinning reserves, capacity peak power, solar energy time-shifting, firm solar export, and more.
Advanced safety features in all Fluence storage solutions work together to prevent, detect, and contain thermal events, minimizing damage and downtime. Fluence completes fire testing at the cell, module, unit, and installation levels for all systems. Fire testing incorporates the UL9540A standard and goes beyond industry standards with the purposeful inception of a full-scale fire to measure propagation, safe distances, gas emissions, incident times, and safety practices.
Fluence-designed Battery Pack
Our Fluence-designed Battery Packs are used in our Gridstack Pro 2000 solutions for optimized system performance and supply chain agility. The Fluence-designed Battery Packs combine state-of-the-art battery modules, management systems, and monitoring equipment into a unified product architecture designed to improve operations through advanced thermal and state of charge (“SOC”) management, which is intended to promote consistent product performance and safety at the system level. We initiated domestic production of these battery modules at our contract manufacturer’s facility in Utah in September 2024 and are incorporating battery cells manufactured in Tennessee for our domestic content offering in the U.S. We believe this will allow Fluence and its customers to capture certain incentives under the IRA, as amended by the OBBBA.
Services
In addition to energy storage solutions, our offerings include recurring operational and maintenance services. Our recurring operational and maintenance services are designed around customer business needs, in-house capabilities, performance requirements, and risk profiles. Our service plans provide varying levels of training, maintenance, guarantees, warranties, and support to address our customers’ desired level of active system management. Our service offerings provide varying levels of training, maintenance, guarantees, warranties, and support to address our customers’ desired level of active system management. Service levels range from providing comprehensive training for customers to performing all preventative and reactive maintenance, which includes comprehensive performance guarantees, system testing, and equipment warranties. Service levels range from providing comprehensive training for customers to performing full asset operation and management on behalf of the customer. All service plans we provide include remote monitoring and diagnostic services, which includes 24/7 real-time monitoring, diagnostics, and customer support to optimize the availability, reliability, and performance of battery energy storage systems for asset owners and operators.
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Digital Application Offerings
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) products for renewables and storage are critical for helping asset owners and managers navigate the complex, volatile, and quickly scaling nature of the clean energy market. As portfolios of renewable and storage assets continue to scale across the globe, we believe that asset owners and managers will require SaaS products that optimize the performance of such assets to maximize their revenues and lower their overall cost of ownership. As portfolios of renewable and storage assets quickly scale across the globe, asset owners and managers will require SaaS products that optimize the performance of those assets to maximize their revenues and lower their overall cost of ownership. Our digital applications allow us to offer digital capabilities that can be combined with our energy storage solutions and services to optimize revenue and lower the total cost of ownership and thereby provide our customers with enhanced value. Our Fluence digital offerings encompass proprietary machine learning, AI, data science technologies, and applied engineering to enable the advanced capabilities of our two cloud-based software products: Fluence Mosaic and Fluence Nispera.Digital ApplicationsOur Fluence digital offerings encompass proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and data science technologies to enable the advanced capabilities of our two cloud-based software products: Fluence Mosaic and Fluence Nispera.
Fluence Mosaic is an intelligent energy forecasting, bid optimization software and service offering for utility-scale storage and renewable assets, enabling customers to optimize asset trading in wholesale electricity markets.Fluence Mosaic is an intelligent bidding software for utility-scale storage and renewable assets, enabling customers to optimize asset trading in wholesale electricity markets. Fluence Mosaic is currently available in the NEM (Australia), CAISO (California), ERCOT (Texas), and Japan.
Fluence Nispera is our asset performance management (APM) software and related support team. Fluence Nispera helps customers improve how they monitor, analyze, and optimize the performance of their assets by providing greater visibility to equipment performance, enhancing ability to detect and prevent failures using advanced machine learning methods and AI tools to improve productivity and lower their TCO over the life of the asset. Fluence Nispera is an AI-driven utility-scale asset performance management platform that supports portfolios of energy storage, solar, and wind assets.
Our Growth Strategy

Our growth strategy includes leveraging our global scale, product development, and market share position to help transform the way we power our world for a more sustainable future. We have a number of core geographic markets with strong experience, market share, and demonstrated success which will continue to be a focus for us. As the cost of energy storage systems continues to decrease, we believe additional markets will scale and offer us additional opportunities for expansion.

We target new customers as the number of IPPs, utilities, and other key energy customers buying battery energy storage solutions continues to grow substantially throughout the world, including as a result of the rising demand for electricity and energy storage resulting from the expansion of data centers and traditionally focused renewable and thermal developers add energy storage to their portfolios.

Additionally, we develop and innovate to provide energy storage solutions and digital software offerings that aim to solve our customers’ energy challenges and expand our services with additional value-add offerings. We intend to continue to grow our customer base through new product launches and are also focused on expanding our business with standardized offerings that are optimized for each of our sales channels, and on moving towards an organizational structure better designed to support specific customer types, improving logistics, and enhancing market focus.
Our Customers
We sell our energy storage solutions, services, and digital offerings to a wide range of customers around the world, including utilities and load-serving entities, IPPs, developers, conglomerates, and commercial and industrial (“C&I”) customers. In fiscal year 2025, our two largest customers represented approximately 41% of our revenues. In addition, as of September 30, 2025, approximately 24% of our revenue was with related parties, primarily AES and its affiliates. As of September 30, 2025, the Company had $5.3 billion of remaining performance obligations related to our contractual commitments, which we refer to as our backlog, of which 13% is with AES. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had $4.5 billion of remaining performance obligations related to our contractual commitments, which we refer to as our backlog, of which 16% is with AES. As of September 30, 2025, we had a gross global pipeline of 128.8 GW, which includes 65.1 GW for energy storage solutions and services. As of September 30, 2024, we had a gross global pipeline of 115.9 GWs, which includes 51.4 GWs for energy storage solutions and services. Of the energy storage solutions and services global pipeline, United States customers composed the largest portion of our pipeline at 16.1 GW or approximately 25%, with Australia customers following at 13.8 GW or 21%, and Germany customers at 7.9 GW or 12%. Of the energy storage solutions and services global pipeline, United States customers composed the largest portion of our pipeline at 14.5 GWs or approximately 28%, with Australia customers following at 8.6 GWs or 17%, and Germany customers at 7.2 GWs or 14%.
Sustainability
We are a purpose-built, purpose-driven company on a mission to transform the way we power our world for a more sustainable future. The Company’s offerings are intended to enable and promote more sustainable, reliable, and resilient electric grids and infrastructure in a repeatable, scalable way. Our sustainability vision is grounded in data-driven accountability and transparency, which is intended to help guide us to evaluate our business holistically and prioritize sustainable practices across our organization. Our internal sustainability program is built upon three key pillars: (i) reporting & stakeholder engagement; (ii) environmental stewardship & compliance; and (iii) responsible sourcing & social compliance. Our ESG Steering Committee is responsible for prioritization and promoting alignment regarding sustainability initiatives and priorities across all internal stakeholders. The ESG
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Steering Committee is comprised of five management leaders (our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Product and Supply Chain Officer, and Chief Legal and Compliance Officer).

During fiscal year 2024, we developed our responsible sourcing framework and implemented it for our key strategic suppliers and later in the fiscal year, we advanced the responsible sourcing program by extending further into our supply chain to regional suppliers and logistics providers. We believe our responsible sourcing strategy sets expectations for our supply chain and drives accountability among our suppliers. As part of this program, we have developed a rigorous system of supplier selection, engagement, education, assessments, and auditing. Our sustainability team and our supply chain team members work closely together to advance our responsible sourcing mission.
Human Capital
We believe our workforce is critical to our success and we strive to create a positive, equitable, and safe work environment. To create a culture of transparency, we maintain a regular cadence of communications from the executive leadership team to our employees, including emails, all hands meetings, Q&A sessions, and employee resource groups with executive sponsors.
As of September 30, 2025, we had approximately 1670 full-time employees across 15 different countries. None of our employees in the United States are represented by a labor union. As of September 30, 2025, approximately 140 of our employees in Germany were represented by a works council. We have not experienced any employment-related work stoppages, and we consider relations with our employees to be good. As of September 30, 2025, women represent 28% and men represent 72% of our total workforce. As of September 30, 2024, women represent 29% of our total workforce.
Fluence is committed to cultivating an inclusive culture for our workforce. During fiscal year 2024, we adopted a more comprehensive culture, equity, and inclusion (CEI) approach, emphasizing a global perspective. During fiscal year 2024, as we continue to grow and scale, we adopted a more comprehensive culture, equity, and inclusion (CEI) approach, emphasizing a global perspective. This holistic approach reflects the different expectations and needs of our varying international operations, rooted in a foundation of applicable employment and civil rights laws, positioning us to continue to build a cohesive and respectful work environment that drives innovation and performance across all regions. This holistic approach is intended to reflect the different expectations and needs of our varying international operations, positioning us to continue to build a cohesive and respectful work environment that drives innovation and performance across all regions. We believe this holistic cultural approach positions the Company to attract, retain, and engage top talent from around the world while contributing to a more equitable and inclusive global energy sector.
Fluence is committed to supporting the well-being and professional growth of our employees through regionally tailored benefit offerings, with programs designed to reflect local market practices and regulatory standards.
Our incentive plans, including our executive compensation programs, are designed to deliver pay for performance and for employees at certain levels and within certain departments at Fluence, we offer annual incentives and long-term compensation to reinforce the alignment between our employees and the Company’s long-term financial and strategic growth.
Fluence is internationally certified to ISO 9001, a quality management standard focused on commitment to customer satisfaction, purpose-driven leadership, and equitable involvement for all employees. Fluence’s corporate headquarters is certified to SA8000, which is a standard focused on the fair and decent treatment of workers.
Safety
Fluence promotes progressive health, safety and environmental management in our operations. We are committed to reducing hazards and minimizing risks. Our safety management system, anchored in a plan-do-check-act methodology, is intended to encourage the active involvement of stakeholders. Incorporated into our framework are our Fluence Code of Conduct and Ethics and a stop work authorization. Fluence is also internationally certified to ISO 45001, an occupational health and safety standard which requires certain proactive measures to promote employee safety and reduce workplace risks. We seek to empower our employees to voice safety concerns and we emphasize transparent communication, purposeful education, continuous training, and harnessing lessons from past experience to promote safety in our operations. Fluence also engages proactively with permitting authorities and first responders through comprehensive training programs on battery storage safety and operations, covering system design, failure modes, and incident response to ensure effective hazard management.
Manufacturing
Mass manufacturing has been and continues to be a cornerstone of our product delivery approach and a key to driving down product cost and delivering at scale. Our manufacturing strategy has historically been designed to meet certain key objectives: (i) limit capital-intensive and low value-added activities that can be outsourced (ii) maintain a capital light business model, (iii) minimize labor and automate where possible, (iv) minimize the level of integration and assembly required at a project site, and (v) minimize materials and inventory movement. Manufacturing Our manufacturing strategy is designed to meet certain key objectives: (i) limit capital-intensive and low value-added activities that can be outsourced to other companies, (ii) maintain a capital light business model, (iii) minimize labor content where possible, (iv) minimize the amount of assembly our customers are required to do at any project site, and (v) minimize material movement both from vendors to us and within factories. As part of these strategic objectives, we rely on third party contract manufacturers to support production across multiple product lines and geographies.
In September 2022, we established a relationship with a contract manufacturer on a new manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Salt Lake facility supported regional domestic deliveries and helped us address previous supply chain constraints. In 2024 we added a second contract manufacturer for expanded manufacturing operations in Arizona. This second contract manufacturer in Arizona commissioned their new facility in 2025, and began scaling production.
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The onshoring of additional manufacturing capacity expands our assembly and production beyond Asia to meet increasing global demand. While the Company continues to evaluate and optimize its manufacturing footprint, these developments reflect a strategic commitment to operational scalability and risk mitigation.
In addition, we continue to use a contract manufacturer in South East Asia to support our global customer base.
As we move into fiscal year 2026, our contract manufacturing operations continue to evolve in response to changing customer requirements, technology advancements and global supply chain and geopolitical dynamics. We recognize the growing importance of flexible and resilient manufacturing networks. This shift toward a more flexible and distributed manufacturing model is intended to enable us to scale production more efficiently, access specialized capabilities, and respond more rapidly to market fluctuations. We are actively working with our contract manufacturers to implement advanced manufacturing technologies, including automation, digital quality control systems, and integrated planning platforms, in order to improve throughput, consistency, and traceability. As our reliance on contract manufacturing continues, we are also enhancing our oversight and governance frameworks to support compliance with our quality standards, regulatory obligations, and sustainability goals. This includes supplier audits, expanded data-sharing protocols, and collaborative risk management practices.
Supply Chain

Our energy storage business is supported by a strategically diversified and increasingly resilient global supply chain. As demand for grid-scale and commercial energy storage solutions continues to accelerate, we continue to expand our procurement and supplier engagement activities to support continuity, scalability, and innovation across key components, including battery systems, inverters, and thermal management technologies. Macroeconomic uncertainties, supply chain disruptions, geo-political conflicts, government regulations and incentives, and other factors could result in fluctuations in demand for and deployment of renewable energy resources, adversely affecting our revenue and ability to generate profits in the future. Many components and parts of our integrated energy storage solutions are sourced from suppliers and stakeholders from all over the world and are reliant on various raw materials including steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, iron phosphate, graphite, manganese, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and cobalt.Supply ChainMany components and parts of our integrated energy storage solutions are sourced from suppliers and stakeholders from all over the world and are reliant on various raw materials including, steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, iron phosphate, graphite, manganese, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and cobalt.
We source lithium-ion battery cells and modules from a mix of Tier 1 global manufacturers, with a focus on suppliers that demonstrate strong ESG compliance, and long-term capacity commitments. We have continued to expand our battery supplier base, which includes existing suppliers in North America and new suppliers in Asia, reducing reliance on single source and single-region sourcing. Inverters are also critical to the performance and grid compatibility of our energy storage systems. We maintain relationships with leading inverter manufacturers across Europe, North America, and Asia. In fiscal year 2025, we broadened our sourcing outlook to include modular and hybrid inverter platforms. Effective thermal regulation is furthermore essential for battery performance, safety, and longevity. We procure thermal management components—including liquid cooling systems, heat exchangers, and control units—from specialized vendors with expertise in high-density energy applications. In fiscal year 2025, we onboarded new suppliers with advanced thermal modeling capabilities and expanded our U.S. domestic sourcing footprint to support U.S. based manufacturing initiatives for thermal management systems. These efforts align with our broader strategy to localize critical supply chains and reduce carbon intensity.
We believe that regionalization allows Fluence to assemble products in proximity to major markets to minimize material movement, working capital investment, and cost of goods sold. Regionalization allows Fluence to assemble products in proximity to major markets to minimize material movement, working capital investment, and costs of goods sold. We continue to work to align our procurement strategy with federal initiatives under the OBBBA, the IRA and Section 45X advanced manufacturing production tax credits (“the AMPC”). Our current U.S. domestic manufacturing operations include suppliers, contract manufacturers and their facilities in Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Utah. We continue to explore additional U.S. based supply arrangements for our future U.S. operations. We believe that continued expansion and emphasis on domestic content under the IRA, as modified by the OBBBA, will provide Fluence with a competitive advantage. Our procurement operations, however, remain subject to a complex and evolving supply chain and regulatory landscape.
As of the date of this Annual Report, we believe that we have adequate access to our key components to meet the needs of our operations and demand of our customers.
Intellectual Property
The success of our business depends, in part, on our ability to maintain and protect our proprietary technology and intellectual property, some of which include patents, patentable ideas, methods, and technologies, proprietary information, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, processes and know-how. We rely primarily on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality agreements and procedures and other contractual arrangements with our employees, contractors, and third parties, to establish, maintain, and protect our methods, technology, and proprietary rights.
As of September 2025, we held over 165 granted patents worldwide and had over 161 patent applications pending with domestic and foreign patent offices. As of September 30, 2025, we also had over 114 registered trademarks with domestic and foreign trademark offices. As of September 2024, we also had over 108 registered trademarks with domestic and foreign trademark offices. Such trademarks include Fluence, Gridstack, and many other marks. We rely on both registration of our marks as well as common law protection where available.
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Additionally, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to safeguard our interests with respect to proprietary know-how and software that are not patented and processes for which patents are difficult to enforce. We believe that many elements of our manufacturing processes involve proprietary know-how, technology, or data that are not covered by patents or patent applications, including technical processes, test equipment designs, algorithms, and procedures. We pursue intellectual property protections that are aligned and advantageous to our business objectives and we require our customers and business partners to enter into confidentiality agreements before we disclose sensitive aspects of our technology or business plans. We may take legal action to prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating our intellectual property or from otherwise gaining access to our technology. Furthermore, during onboarding, Fluence employees agree to assign all the inventions, designs, and technologies they develop during the course of employment with us, to Fluence.
Fluence also has a series of intellectual property related assignments and licenses with Siemens and AES that were entered into in 2021. From time to time, we may enter into research and development agreements with our related parties, pursuant to which we may collaborate on evaluating and developing energy storage solutions.

On April 6, 2021, we entered into a patent assignment agreement with Siemens pursuant to which Siemens assigned, sold, and transferred to us the entire right, title, and interest in the United States and all foreign countries, in and to any and all inventions and improvements disclosed in certain identified patent applications, pending patent applications, and granted letter patents. On June 9, 2021, we entered into amended and restated intellectual property license agreements with each of Siemens and Siemens Industry pursuant to which Siemens entities granted the Company worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable, perpetual, royalty-free licenses to conduct certain non-exclusive activities for certain permitted business purposes and to engage in permitted sublicensing thereunder, subject to various exceptions. Similarly, we granted Siemens and Siemens Industry perpetual, non-exclusive, worldwide, non-transferable (subject to certain exceptions under the respective agreements), and sublicensable rights to do any acts within the current and future fields of the respective businesses of the Siemens group, which are not activities which are exclusive to us and which would otherwise infringe any of the contributed intellectual property, respectively, under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory royalty terms.

On September 9, 2021, we entered into an intellectual property assignment agreement with AES (the “Patent Transfer Agreement”), whereby AES assigned certain intellectual property to Fluence that we had previously utilized through a license from AES. In connection with the Patent Transfer Agreement, we entered into a license-back agreement with AES, whereby we granted AES with a worldwide, exclusive (except with respect to the Company), perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, non-transferable (except in certain situations), royalty-free, fully paid up license under the 'licensed patents' to develop, improve, make, have made, sell, offer for sale, distribute, import and use 'licensed products' and 'licensed processes', and otherwise commercially exploit the 'licensed patents' in a non-exclusive field of business.

On October 27, 2021, we amended our existing Company Name Affix and Trademark License Agreements with each of AES and Siemens. Pursuant to these amended agreements, we are granted the right to use the AES and Siemens marks in the Fluence “name affix”. Pursuant to the Siemens agreement, we are licensed the mark “Siestorage” and pursuant to the AES agreement, we are licensed the use of “AES Energy Storage.
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Competition
The energy storage sector is highly competitive and continuously evolving. Our energy storage products, solutions, services, and digital applications are designed to meet the unique demands of the energy industry. The intricacy involved in the design and integration of our offerings underscores their technical complexity. The intricacy involved in the design and integration of these offerings underscores their technical complexity. Nevertheless, new companies enter the market continuously and offer products and services that may compete with ours. Nevertheless, new companies enter the market annually and offer products and services that compete with ours. We remain committed to innovation in the design of our battery energy storage systems and exploring underserved market segments and use cases, many of which present lower levels of competition. We believe that competitive factors in the energy storage market include, but are not limited to:
safety, reliability, and quality;
price of energy storage solutions, services, and digital application offerings;
total cost of ownership;
ability to obtain and maximize financing based on system and Company performance;
integration approach (including if competitor has vertical integration);
performance guarantees, credit support, and product warranties;
site density capability; alternative duration success
shortened delivery, installation, and commissioning time;
stability in supply chain; approach to responsible sourcing and supply chain due diligence;
historical customer track record (as the market and industry continues to grow);
experience in the battery energy storage system market (of the respective competitor and the leadership team);
technological expertise and innovation;
comprehensive solutions and offerings from a single provider to scale with; ease of integration;
brand recognition;
ability to take advantage of certain government initiatives and tax credits, including those under the IRA and OBBBA;
size of projects companies are competing on;
cybersecurity components of energy storage solutions and components; and
seamless hardware and software-enabled service offerings.
The competitive landscape for battery energy storage is broad and varies significantly across geographies, countries, grid services, and customer segments.The competitive landscape for battery energy storage varies across different geographies, countries, grid services, and customer segments. As global demand for energy storage accelerates, the industry is experiencing heightened competition from both established players and new entrants. Certain competitors are larger in scale, particularly in certain regions. Additionally, some have greater manufacturing experience and capabilities in developing or acquiring new technologies and generating market awareness for their solutions.

Several competitors, especially those with ties to China, benefit from vertically integrated supply chains and state support. Historically, the lithium-ion battery cell supply chain has been heavily concentrated in China, encompassing everything from raw material processing to anode/cathode production and cell manufacturing. This integration has enabled many Chinese competitors to offer energy storage solutions at prices lower than other market participants. If Chinese competitors offer lower prices, bid below cost, or operate at sustained losses, it could negatively affect our pricing flexibility, market share, and overall financial performance.

Our key competitors currently include, but are not limited to, Tesla, Inc., Wärtsilä, Sungrow, and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (“CATL”). We believe we differentiate ourselves from our competitors through our ability to identify and meet customer needs with customized products, services, and use-case solutions. Our competitive advantage is rooted in delivering strong performance and value, supported by features such as a low total cost of ownership, long-term reliability, a broad range of service offerings, efficient sales and delivery processes, and cybersecurity capabilities within our energy storage solutions. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations, or other changes of control. Additionally, we expect that U.S. policies favoring domestic companies, such as the OBBBA and IRA, will continue to further enhance our competitive position in the U.S. market. Finally, the launch of our new innovative and market leading product Smartstack has successfully differentiated Fluence’s product offering versus standard market solutions.

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Regulation and Compliance
Our business operates within a constantly evolving landscape of laws and regulations at the federal, state, regional, local, and international levels. For instance, government policies, regulations, legislation, and programs are instrumental in stimulating adoption of energy storage solutions across different markets through a variety of methods, including by providing financial support and incentives, facilitating grid integration, supporting research and development, and establishing favorable regulatory regimes. Such government policies, regulations, legislation, and programs are becoming increasingly instrumental in stimulating adoption of energy storage solutions across different markets through a variety of methods, including by providing financial support and incentives, facilitating grid integration, supporting research and development, and establishing favorable regulatory regimes. In recent years, legislation and regulation addressing climate change have made lower GHG-emitting energy sources, such as solar and wind, increasingly desirable to consumers compared to higher GHG-emitting energy sources, such as coal and natural gas. Current legislation and regulation addressing climate change is making lower GHG-emitting energy sources, such as solar and wind, increasingly desirable to consumers compared to higher GHG-emitting energy sources, such as coal and natural gas and could continue to do so into the future. The new U.S. presidential administration has announced plans to roll back various of these regulations; however, we cannot guarantee the ultimate timeline or impact of any such developments. Moreover, such efforts may spur stronger actions from other actors, including some state and local policymakers Legislation and regulations with more stringent limitations on GHG emissions may potentially increase the demand for energy storage solutions and related services. However, to the extent that any existing government incentives are modified, reduced, eliminated, or are permitted to expire or there is the potential of such modifications, reductions, eliminations or expirations, or there is determination of inapplicability of such government incentives or regulations relating to or mandating or encouraging use of renewable energy and/or energy storage, there have been and there may in future be adverse effects on customer demand and our business.
Additionally, as a global company, our business is impacted by any sanctions, tariffs, and other government-imposed trade measures—whether through international agreements or unilateral decisions. Changes in tax laws, trade policies, and government regulation relating to or encouraging use of energy storage have in the past and could negatively impact our business operations and financial performance.
In addition, the U.S. and many non-U.S. countries have laws designed to protect national security or to restrict foreign direct investment. For example, under the U.S. Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act ("FIRRMA"), the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") has the authority to review, block or impose conditions on investments by non-U.S. persons in U.S. companies or real assets deemed critical or sensitive to the United States. Many non-U.S. jurisdictions have similar laws.

We are also subject to a range of complex U.S. and international laws and regulations, including those related to anti-bribery and corruption, antitrust and competition, and data privacy and security—such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). We are also subject to various federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment and occupational health and safety and are subject to government policies or laws intended to protect human rights. For example, we are subject to the requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, as amended, and comparable U.S. state laws that protect and regulate employee health and safety as well as comparable international laws that aim to protect and regulate employee health and safety. Changes in or adoption of domestic policies and policy initiatives, legislation and regulations on a federal, state, and local level as well as changes in or adoption of policies and policy initiatives, regulations and legislation in foreign jurisdictions in which we operate may pose risks or provide opportunities for the Company’s business that may impact our future operations and financial condition.Changes in or adoption of domestic policies and policy initiatives, legislation and regulations on a federal, state, and local level as well as changes in or adoption of policies and policy initiatives, regulations and legislation in foreign jurisdictions in which we operate may pose risks or provide opportunities for the Company’s business that may impact our future operations and financial condition.

For more information about the potential risks of adoption or changes to such policies, government incentives, legislation and regulations, see Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors.”
Some of the key energy storage-related legislation, policies, regulations, and guidelines that have impacted and may in the future impact our business and demand for our offerings are set forth below.
Key U.S. Related Policies, Regulation, and Legislation

IRA and OBBBA
The U.S. Congress is continuously reviewing and passing various proposals, incentives, regulations, and legislation that may support the energy storage industry, including in the form of tax credits and incentives. For example, in August 2022, the United States passed the IRA, which included incentives that supported the adoption of energy storage solutions, including a new “technology neutral” Section 48E investment tax credit (the “ITC”) and Section 45Y production tax credit (the “PTC”), changes to the previous Section 48 non-“technology neutral” investment tax credit and Section 45 production tax credit, and the AMPC. On July 4, 2025, the OBBBA was signed into law, which significantly modified certain provisions of the IRA, including those related to energy storage. The OBBBA supports energy storage in the United States, as the bill includes long-term continued availability of the ITC for energy storage projects and the AMPC for domestically manufactured cells, modules, and inverters in energy storage systems. Certain tax credits, notably including the ITC for energy storage, will begin to phase down for projects that start construction (in accordance with Internal Revenue Services (“IRS”) guidance) in 2033. The prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements enacted under the IRA continue to apply under the OBBBA for the project owner to receive the full ITC value, and the credit value can be further increased if the project owner also qualifies for a domestic content bonus credit and energy communities bonus credit. The OBBBA amended the provisions of the domestic content bonus credit for the ITC such that the project owner now must achieve higher minimum domestic
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content percentage thresholds. In addition, the OBBBA amended the ITC and AMPC establishing Prohibited Foreign Entity (“PFE”) restrictions.

The new PFE restrictions apply to virtually all key tax credits under the IRA and come in two forms: (i) for tax years beginning after July 4, 2025, the taxpayer taking the ITC and AMPC tax credit cannot be a PFE and (ii) for ITC projects that start construction in 2026 and after, and AMPC eligible components that are made and sold in the manufacturing facility’s tax year that begins after July 4, 2025, the ITC eligible project or AMPC eligible component must source a certain percentage of material from non-PFEs (known as the “material assistance”), and the percentage of material from non-PFEs increase annually over time. The OBBBA includes substantive details regarding PFE restriction compliance requirements and requires U.S. Department of Treasury to issue implementation regulations by December 31, 2026. In preparation for the potential application of PFE restrictions being applied to the energy storage tax credits arising out of the IRA, we developed a compliance strategy intended to address and mitigate risks relating thereto. We believe that under the current language of the OBBBA, which is subject to final rules and forthcoming guidance, certain of our U.S. domestic suppliers may be impacted by these new PFE restrictions. We are actively implementing our risk mitigation strategy with our U.S. suppliers utilizing the AMPC and working with such suppliers to achieve compliance with the OBBBA conditions for the AMPC, including the PFE restrictions, by the applicable compliance deadlines set forth in the OBBBA.
We believe we are well positioned to benefit from both the ITC provisions (including the revised domestic content bonus credit thresholds) and the AMPC, via our battery module manufacturing at our U.S. contract manufacturing facility, our supply agreement for U.S. manufactured battery cells, our supply agreement for U.S. manufactured inverters, and our complete U.S. supply chain of modules, cells, inverters, battery pack, enclosures, and thermal management systems.
Recent U.S. Tariffs and Trade Policies
In May 2024, the Biden administration announced a significant shift in the tariff framework for the energy storage industry. In May 2024, the Biden administration announced a significant shift in the tariff framework for the energy storage industry. Under this structure, the Section 301 tariff rate on lithium-ion non-EV batteries imported from China would increase from the current 7.5% to 25%, effective January 1, 2026. This change specifically targeted "batteries" as defined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, encompassing integrated battery energy storage systems, modules, and certain types of cells. Under the May 2024 structure announced by the Biden administration, the Section 301 tariff rate on battery "parts"–including separators, electrolytes, cans, and electrodes remains at its current 25% level. In April 2025, the Trump administration enacted additional tariffs on nearly all types of imports (including those used in our energy storage solutions) from countries around the world, including high tariffs on Chinese imports. Some of these additional tariffs have been modified further since they were imposed in April 2025. For example, in May 14, 2025, the United States and China agreed to reduce the reciprocal tariff rates between the countries, with the U.S. dropping the reciprocal tariff rate for Chinese imports to 10%, while maintaining the existing 20% fentanyl tariff on Chinese goods. As of the filing date of this Annual Report, covered imports from China relevant to our energy storage systems are subject to the current 10% China-specific “reciprocal tariff,” plus the current China-specific 10% “fentanyl-related tariff”, plus the 3.4% base tariff on all countries, plus the applicable Section 301 tariff. In addition, tariffs that have been imposed by the United States government against other countries have and may in the future increase, decrease, or change with little to no advance notice. The recent tariff policy changes and continued uncertainty relating to U.S. trade policy and the corresponding response from other foreign countries have impacted and may in the future impact the energy storage market, demand for our energy storage solutions by customers, our business, and results of operations as well as those of our customers, our contract manufacturers, and suppliers. The Company has exposure from the imposition of these new tariffs and from the tariff uncertainty in the global markets, as the Company imports components from overseas, including battery cells from China, into the United States for customers and projects in the United States. We may see impacts to customer contracting activity if there continues to be uncertainty relating to tariffs. This impact to customer contracting behavior from the uncertain trade environment has impacted and may in the future impact our revenue, business, operating metrics, and results of operations.
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In addition, currently there are ongoing investigations into certain additional tariffs on specific imports and trade practices that may result in tariffs and/or more restrictive trade duties and restrictions on components for our energy storage solutions that we import into the U.S. from overseas. For example, there is an active anti-dumping/countervailing (“AD/CV”) proceeding before the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Commerce (the “DOC”) regarding Chinese graphite active anode material (“AAM”) imports and downstream imports that utilize graphite AAM, which includes imports utilized in our energy storage systems. On May 20, 2025, there was a preliminary countervailing (“CV”) determination by the DOC that assigned a CV tariff at a rate of 11.58%. On July 18, 2025, there was a preliminary antidumping (“AD”) determination by the DOC that assigned a “separate” AD tariff at a rate of 93.5% to certain entities and an adverse AD tariff of 102.72% to all other entities. The AD/CV tariff rate and scope of imports subject to the tariffs may change at the final determination by DOC, which was previously expected by December 5, 2025, but is now likely to be delayed by approximately 30 to 60 days because of the U.S. government shutdown in 2025. We are taking actions to address risks associated with these preliminary increased graphite AAM AD/CV tariffs, including by building in such additional costs into our contracting process and exploring alternative sourcing strategies. Additionally, in response to President Trump’s Executive Order directing the DOC to do so, the DOC initiated a Section 232 tariff investigation related to critical minerals and derivatives. This investigation includes all critical minerals in batteries as well as derivatives that includes all batteries and related subcomponents. It is unclear when DOC will issue its investigation report and recommendations. We are currently assessing the ultimate impact these AD/CV tariffs and a potential Section 232 tariff on battery-related critical minerals and derivatives could have on our suppliers, our business, and our suppliers’ pricing decisions, while we wait for the DOC’s, final graphite AAM AD/CV tariff determination and, Section 232 critical minerals and derivatives investigation recommendations. Due to the uncertainty relating to the final outcome of the various ongoing tariff-related investigations, including the AD/CV proceeding described above, we cannot predict the ultimate impact the outcome of ongoing tariff investigations and any resulting tariffs or other trade actions could have on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”)

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has taken several steps to help to enable the participation of energy storage in wholesale energy markets over the last decade. For example, in February 2018, FERC issued Order 841 directing regional transmission operators and independent system operators to remove barriers to the participation of storage in wholesale electricity markets and to establish rules to help ensure storage resources are compensated for the services they provide. In September 2020, FERC issued Order 2222 opening U.S. wholesale energy markets to aggregations of distributed energy resources like rooftop solar, “behind the meter” batteries, and electric vehicles. In July 2023, FERC issued Order 2023, which was intended to speed up the process of connecting new energy projects to the grid due to the backlog of more than 10,000 energy projects awaiting interconnection in the United States at the time. In July 2023, FERC issued Order 2023, which is intended to speed up the process of connecting new energy projects to the grid due to the backlog of more than 10,000 energy projects awaiting interconnection in the United States. Order 2023 includes more stringent deadlines and has adjusted processes that had previously created barriers to battery projects obtaining interconnection and improves interconnection procedures with elements such as more accurate operational modeling of energy storage in interconnection studies. It includes more stringent deadlines and has adjusted processes that had previously created barriers to battery projects obtaining interconnection and improves interconnection procedures with elements such as more accurate operational modeling of energy storage in interconnection studies. In May 2024, FERC issued Order 1920, which required transmission operators to conduct and periodically update long-term transmission planning over a 20-year time horizon to anticipate future needs. It also provided for cost-effective expansion of transmission that is being replaced, when needed, known as “right-sizing” transmission facilities. Order 1920 was adopted to promote the more efficient and cost-effective integration of new renewable generation and battery energy storage resources and help meet the needs of a rapidly evolving grid. Order 1920 was adopted in an effort to promote the more efficient and cost-effective integration of new renewable generation and battery energy storage resources and help meet the needs of a rapidly evolving grid. More recently, FERC, at the direction of the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) via a Section 403 Directive, opened a preliminary rulemaking proceeding to assert jurisdiction over the interconnection of large electrical loads to the US bulk electrical transmission system and establish standardized interconnection procedures for those loads. A final rulemaking action is scheduled for April 30, 2026, with initial comments due November 21 and reply comments due December 5.
Energy storage products and solutions require interconnection agreements from the applicable authorities having jurisdiction to operate. In almost all cases, interconnection agreements are standard form agreements that have been pre-approved by the local public utility commission or other regulatory body with jurisdiction over interconnection agreements. As such, no additional regulatory approvals regarding grid interconnection are typically required once interconnection agreements are signed. As such, no additional regulatory approvals are typically required once interconnection agreements are signed.
U.S. State and Regional Policies

U.S. states and regional transmission service operators (“TSOs”) have various policies designed to support and accelerate adoption of clean and/or reliable renewable energy and battery storage technologies. One or more of the following policies exist within nearly every U.S. state as well as many regional TSOs: utility and/or TSO related capacity, ancillary services, or power purchase agreement procurement requirements or associated tariffs and wholesale market structures that spur project deployment, incentives for project deployment (e.g. tax credits, grants), and policies to streamline project permitting. These policies are driving and accelerating the growth of the utility-scale battery energy storage market across the U.S., although we cannot guarantee when and if we will realize the anticipated benefits of these policies. A recent example of a state policy accelerating such growth is newly passed legislation in Illinois, which is expected to be signed by Governor Pritzker, entitled the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act. The legislation requires the Illinois Power Agency to conduct energy storage procurements in 2026, 2027 and 2028 that result in electric utilities contracting for 3 gigawatts (GW) of energy storage projects, such that those projects reach commercial operation by 2030. The legislation also authorizes the potential for additional procurements via new state integrated resource planning processes.
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Although we generally are not regulated as a utility, federal, state, and local government statutes and regulations concerning electricity heavily influence the market for our energy storage solutions and services. These statutes and regulations, which are continuously modified, often relate to electricity pricing, net metering, incentives, taxation, competition with utilities, and the interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, also change and adopt different rates and rate tariff structures for industrial, commercial and residential customers on a regular basis. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, also change and adopt different rates for commercial (and residential) customers on a regular basis. These changes can have a positive or negative impact on our ability to deliver cost savings to customers for the purchase of electricity.
Non-U.S. Energy Storage Related Policies, Regulation, and Legislation
European Union (“EU”) Specific Policies
The European Union energy storage regulation environment is complicated by fragmented rules, slow national implementation of EU directives and mismatch between existing grid infrastructure and modern energy technologies. The EU continues to implement certain regulations aimed at incentivizing clean energy, including energy storage. For example, certain key European policies and initiatives include, but are not limited to:
The European Green Deal, adopted in 2019, sets a roadmap for Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Energy storage plays a crucial role in this transition by helping balance intermittent renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The EU has recognized that flexible, reliable, and scalable energy storage solutions are essential to meet these ambitious climate goals.
With the term of the second von der Leyen cabinet, the Green Deal has been reshaped by the Clean Industrial Deal, which aims to sustain Europe’s climate targets, while boosting competitiveness, focusing on clean energy, circularity and scaling up clean tech manufacturing. It includes a number of actions that could support an acceleration of energy storage deployments in Europe.
The EU Battery Regulation (2020) seeks to make batteries more sustainable, focusing on production, use, and disposal. Energy storage systems, especially those based on lithium-ion batteries, are directly impacted by this regulation. The EU’s focus on sustainability helps incentivize more reliable, efficient, and long-lasting energy storage solutions. The regulation establishes higher recycling rates for batteries, ensures that raw materials are sourced responsibly, and encourages innovation in the reuse and repurposing of used batteries. This regulation directly impacts the cost structure of energy storage systems, especially battery-based systems. As part of the EU’s omnibus procedures, in mid-2025, some due diligence obligations of the battery regulations were postponed by 2 years. Under other omnibus packages, other requirements, including under Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), were also delayed, and additional revisions are being negotiated that may further affect diligence and reporting requirements of Fluence in Europe.
The European Commission proposed the REPowerEU Plan in May 2022, which is centered around the goal of making Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030. It is meant to incentivize and accelerate the transition to clean energy alternatives and aims to increase the security of energy supply by building and connecting more renewable generation to the grid. In May 2025, the European Commission presented the REPowerEU roadmap, setting out a coordinated, secure and gradual phase out of Russian gas, oil and nuclear energy imports and in June 2025, the Commission proposed a regulation to gradually phase out the import of Russian gas and oil by the end of 2027.
In June 2024, the Net Zero Industrial Act (NZIA) was entered into by the European Commission, which aimed to improve the competitiveness of the European clean technology industry, attract investments, improve market access for clean technology in the EU and enhance manufacturing capacity for net-zero technologies and their key components. Within the NZIA, batteries and energy storage technologies are defined as net-zero technologies. The NZIA set a goal for net-zero manufacturing capacity to meet at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs by 2030. The NZIA further defines non-price and prequalification requirements for public procurement procedures and renewable energy auctions. While those don’t apply to energy storage, they could be seen as a precedence for increasing product requirements, for example in the area of cybersecurity.
In July 2024, a reform of the European Electricity Market Design went into effect, pursuant to which EU member states were asked to conduct a biennial assessment of estimated needs for flexibility for a period of at least the next five to ten years. Based on those assessments, EU member states are then asked to establish indicative national objectives for non-fossil flexibility, including the respective contribution of energy storage. Based on those flexibility need assessments, member states are asked to establish indicative national objectives for non-fossil flexibility, including the respective contribution of energy storage. The indicative storage objectives will be part of their respective national energy and climate plans. The indicative storage objectives will be part of the member states national energy and climate plans. While the implementation of the market design reform, and notably the development of the methodology for the flexibility assessment, is still underway, the new provisions around flexibility are likely to strengthen the role of energy storage in national power market design and allow EU member states to provide state support for the construction of energy storage projects.
In June 2025, the EU adopted new state aid guidelines, formally known as Clean Industrial Deal State Aid (“CIDSA”) Guidelines. The CIDSA are meant to replace the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (“TCTF”). The TCTF as well as energy storage auctions under the Recovery and Resiliency Facility (RRF) have been fundamental over the last years to
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support the roll out of energy storage in a number of EU member states, including but not limited to, Spain, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. The new CIDSA also provides guidance for accelerated approval of resource adequacy mechanisms, including Capacity markets and strategic reserves under state aid rules and the future alignment between capacity and non-fossil flexibility mechanisms.

The EU also continues to strengthen its cybersecurity framework, specifically as it relates to the energy sector. The NIS II Directive, which EU Member States were required to transpose into national law by October 2024, broadens cybersecurity and incident reporting obligations for operators of essential and important entities, including those in the energy sector. Revisions to the EU Cybersecurity Act, some of which took effect in early 2025, with further legislative updates expected in January 2026, are expected to expand EU-wide cybersecurity certification schemes and requirements for providers of managed security and digital services. The European Commission is developing updates to the EU Energy Security and Resilience Framework, with a legislative proposal anticipated in 2026,which may introduce stricter standards for critical energy infrastructure. Additionally, the Cyber Resilience Act (“CRA”), which entered into force in December 2024 and will apply fully from December 2027, establishes mandatory cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements. While implementing acts and standards are still under development, it is expected that the CRA will also introduce new requirements and potential 3rd party certification for battery energy storage systems or specific digital components.
European Country Specific Policies
Countries in the EU promote energy storage through both direct funding programs as well as market-based incentives, such as enabling participation in capacity markets. In a number of European countries, reforms on grid fees structures for energy storage, interconnection, and planning processes for energy storage projects and renewable projects are ongoing. Further opening of market opportunities across Europe may be expected in the future as EU member states continue to implement provisions from the European Electricity Market Design and the European Commission’s recommendation on energy storage. Many of these processes are not based on legislative action, but implementation of existing provisions by regulators and TSOs. Many of these processes are not based on legislative action, but implementation of existing provisions by regulators and transmission service operators (TSOs). Policy developments are also shaping the outlook in some of our core European Markets:
UK: The announcement of a floor-and-cap mechanism for Long-Duration Energy Storage projects has been a key development in the UK market. Whereas Li-Ion based storage technologies were originally excluded from the participation in the Ofgem-run procurement, Li-Ion based solutions have been granted participation in the tender scheme and represent approximately 70% of the projects that have been determined to be eligible to progress to the final assessment stage of the scheme, to be conducted in 2026.
Germany: Key developments for energy storage in Germany are the ongoing discussion on the introduction of a capacity market as well as a reform of grid fee structures for energy storage that was started by the Germany regulator in the beginning of 2025. A new grid fee structure will apply latest after the current grid fee exemption for energy storage is set to expire in August 2029. The recent ruling of the Federal Court of Justice, which states that BESS can be obligated to pay construction cost contributions, has clarified the previously uncertain legal situation regarding these contributions. Recent legislation also seeks to strengthen co-location of BESS and renewables and to provide battery installations clearer dispatch signals to reduce grid congestion and grid extension costs in Germany. Furthermore, the German government has recently proposed a draft law aimed at resolving planning law uncertainties relating to the construction of BESS.
Italy: In October 2025, Teena S.p.A., the Italian transmission service operator, awarded 10 GWh of battery storage assets to be delivered in 2028 under the first round of the tenders pursuant to the Electricity Storage Procurement Mechanism (“MACSE”) launched by Italy in 2024. MACSE is set to award 50 GWh of storage technologies by 2030 and, although future tender rounds will be subject to adjustments of the tender rules, all capacity to date has been awarded to Li-Ion based projects.

We believe current regulations in Europe are creating a favorable environment for the growth of energy storage technologies by providing financial incentives, policy frameworks, and market access to drive the transition to a clean, renewable energy future. These regulations not only support technological innovation in energy storage but also work to foster the grid’s becoming more flexible, resilient, and capable of handling large shares of renewable energy.

Asia Pacific Specific Policies

Countries in the APAC region, including Australia, are increasingly seen as key players in the global energy storage market, driven by a combination of economic growth, rising energy demand, renewable energy adoption, and government policies aimed at achieving sustainability goals. Several countries in the region have rapidly embraced energy storage technologies, both for grid stability and to facilitate the transition to renewable energy. For instance, Australia has been a pioneer in integrating energy storage into its grid, with policies supporting both residential storage (like home batteries) and large-scale storage systems. In September 2022, Australia passed climate change legislation containing a targeted 43% reduction in the emissions intensity of its economy of 2005 GHG levels by 2030 and a reduction to net-zero emissions by 2050 and some of its specific states have their own targets, including Victoria’s 95% renewable generation by 2035 target and 2.6 GW energy storage by 2030. Additionally, in December 2022,
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Australia established the Capacity Investment Scheme which is a government initiative that aims to encourage new investment in dispatchable renewable energy generation and storage to support reliability in Australia’s energy market. It is intended to help support Australia’s energy system to reach 82% of renewables by 2030. In addition to the Capacity Investment Scheme, some states are progressing their own government funding schemes, such as the NSW Energy Roadmap and South Australia Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism
Permits and Approvals
Each of our installations or customer installations must be designed, constructed, and operated in compliance with applicable international, federal, state, and local laws, regulations, codes, standards, and guidelines. To install, commission, and operate energy storage products and solutions on our platform, we, our customers, or our partners, as may be applicable, are required to obtain and maintain applicable permits and approvals from the relevant governmental or regulatory authorities having jurisdiction for the delivery and installation of energy storage products and solutions and to commission and interconnect the products with the local electrical utility and grid. To install and operate energy storage products and solutions on our platform, we, our customers, or our partners, as may be applicable, are required to obtain and maintain applicable permits and approvals from the relevant governmental or regulatory authorities having jurisdiction to install energy storage products and solutions and to interconnect the products with the local electrical utility. We often cannot predict whether or when all permits and approvals required for a given customer’s project will be granted or whether the conditions associated with the permits and approvals will be achievable. We cannot predict whether or when all permits required for a given customer’s project will be granted or whether the conditions associated with the permits will be achievable. Furthermore, unforeseen delays in the permitting applications and the permitting process have and may in the future delay the timing of fulfilling our energy storage contracts thereby adversely affecting our revenue and operating results.
Continuing Equity Owners
Our Continuing Equity Owners are AES Grid Stability, Siemens, SPT Investment Management, Sarl (“SPT Invest”) and QHL. Siemens is an affiliate of SPT Invest and may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the shares held of record by SPT Invest. SPT Invest is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens Pension-Trust e.V. (“Siemens e.V.”) and Siemens e.V. may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the shares of Class A Common Stock held of record by SPT Invest. As of September 30, 2025:
AES Grid Stability owns (1) 51,499,195 limited liability company interests of Fluence Energy, LLC (“LLC Interests”), representing approximately 28.5% of the economic interest in Fluence Energy, LLC and (2) 51,499,195 shares of Class B-1 common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, of Fluence Energy, Inc. (“Class B-1 common stock”), representing approximately 66.6% of the combined voting power of all of Fluence Energy, Inc.’s common stock;
Siemens owns 39,738,064 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, of Fluence Energy, Inc. (“Class A common stock”) and SPT Invest Management, Sarl (“SPT Invest”) owns 11,761,131 shares of Class A common stock. Siemens and SPT Invest collectively represent approximately 13.3% of the combined voting power of all of Fluence Energy, Inc.’s common stock and approximately 28.5% of the economic interest in Fluence Energy, Inc.; and
QHL owns 14,668,275 shares of Class A common stock, representing approximately 3.8% of the combined voting power of all of Fluence Energy, Inc.’s common stock and approximately 8.1% of the economic interest in Fluence Energy, Inc.

Since our Continuing Equity Owners, AES Grid Stability, Siemens, SPT Investment Management, Sarl (“SPT Invest”), and QHL have more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors, we are considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of the Nasdaq rules. As such, we qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements to have a majority of independent directors on our board of directors, an entirely independent compensation committee or to have director nominations be made, or recommended to the full board of directors, by its independent directors or by a nominations committee that is composed entirely of independent directors.
Corporate Information
We file or furnish periodic reports and amendments thereto, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In addition, the SEC maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically. Our website is located at https://fluenceenergy.com and our reports, amendments thereto, proxy statements and other information are also made available, free of charge, on our investor relations website at https://ir.fluenceenergy.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such information with the SEC. The information posted on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or any of our other securities filings unless specifically incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Our business, operations, financial results, and future prospects, plans, and objectives of the Company are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below, that could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and the trading price of our Class A common stock. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information set forth in this Annual Report, including Part II, Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included herein, which could materially affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and the trading price of our Class A common stock. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” above. See “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” above.

Risks Related to Our Business, Customer Demand, and Growth
Our business and customer demand for our offerings depends in part on government incentives and/or regulations relating to or mandating the use of renewable energy and/or energy storage. Changes or potential changes to government incentives or regulations has and could in the future impact demand for our energy storage solutions, which could lead to adverse effects to our business, operating results, and cash flows.Changes in the global trade environment, including the imposition of new tariffs or changes to existing tariffs, could adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenues, results of operations, and cash flows and could adversely impact our business overall.
Federal, state, local, and foreign government bodies provide incentives and/or regulations relating to mandating or encouraging use of renewable energy and/or energy storage to owners, end users, distributors, system integrators, and manufacturers of renewable energy and energy storage products and solutions to promote renewable electricity and energy storage in the form of rebates, tax credits, other financial incentives, procurement requirements and market structures. The range and duration of these incentives and regulations varies widely by jurisdiction and type of asset involved. The range and duration of these incentives varies widely by jurisdiction. Our customers typically use our energy storage solutions for grid-connected applications wherein power is sold under a power purchase agreement or into an organized electric market. Our customers typically use our products for grid-connected applications wherein power is sold under a power purchase agreement or into an organized electric market. The reduction, elimination, modification, expiration, or determination of inapplicability of government incentives or regulations related to mandating or encouraging the use of grid-connected renewable electricity and/or energy storage or the potential of any such reduction, elimination, modification, expiration, or determination of inapplicability of government incentives or regulations has and may in the future negatively affect the competitiveness of our offerings the growth of our industry and our business. Such government incentives and/or regulations may expire on a particular date, end when the allocated funding is exhausted or be reduced or terminated as renewable energy adoption rates increase or as a result of legal challenges, changing policies or priorities, the adoption of new statutes or regulations or changes to existing regulations, new regulatory guidance, or the passage of time. Reductions, modification, terminations, or determination of inapplicability of government incentives and/or regulations may occur without warning. Such policies, regulations, and incentives may not continue to exist in current form, or at all. The reduction, modification, elimination, or expiration or the potential of any such reduction, elimination, modification, expiration, of such government incentives or regulations or determination of inapplicability of such government incentives or regulations has impacted and may in the future impact customer demand for our offerings, may lead to a loss of customers and potential customer projects, and has and may in the future harm our business, operating results, and cash flows. For example, various policymakers, such as the SEC, the European Union, and the State of California, have adopted, or are considering adopting rules to require companies to provide significantly expanded climate- or other sustainability-related disclosures, which may require us to incur significant additional costs to comply, including the implementation of significant additional internal controls processes and procedures, and impose increased oversight obligations on our management and board of directors. From time to time, we may pursue acquisitions or other strategic transactions in order to take advantage of potential incentives. However, any such acquisition or transaction may not be consummated on the timeline we expect or at all, and it may not achieve its intended benefits.
For example, in August 2022, the United States passed the IRA, which included incentives that supported the adoption of energy storage solutions, including a new “technology neutral” Section 48E investment tax credit (the “ITC”) and Section 45Y production tax credit (the “PTC”), changes to the previous Section 48 non-“technology neutral” investment tax credit and Section 45 production tax credit, and the Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit (the “AMPC”). On July 4, 2025, the OBBBA was signed into law, which significantly modified certain provisions of the IRA, including those related to energy storage. The OBBBA supports energy storage in the United States, as the bill includes long-term continued availability of the ITC for energy storage projects and the AMPC for domestically manufactured cells, modules, and inverters in energy storage systems. Certain tax credits, notably including the ITC for energy storage, will begin to phase down for projects that start construction (in accordance with Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance) after 2033. The prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements enacted under the IRA continue to apply under the OBBBA for the project owner to receive the full ITC value, and the credit value can be further increased if the project owner also qualifies for a domestic content bonus credit and energy communities bonus credit. The OBBBA amended the provisions of the domestic content bonus credit for the ITC such that the project owner now must achieve higher minimum domestic content percentage thresholds. In addition, the OBBBA amended the ITC and AMPC establishing new Prohibited Foreign Entity (“PFE”) restrictions.
The new PFE restrictions apply to virtually all key tax credits under the IRA and come in two forms: (i) for tax years beginning after July 4, 2025, the taxpayer taking the ITC and AMPC tax credit cannot not be a PFE and (ii) for ITC projects that start construction in 2026 and after, and AMPC eligible components that are made and sold in the manufacturing facility’s tax year that begins after July 4, 2025, the ITC eligible project or AMPC eligible component must source a certain percentage of material from non-PFEs (known as “material assistance”), and the percentage of material from non-PFEs increases annually over time. The OBBBA includes substantive details regarding PFE restriction compliance requirements and requires U.S. Department of Treasury to issue implementation regulations by December 31, 2026. There is continuing uncertainty on certain aspects of the IRA and related guidance, the OBBBA and forthcoming related guidance (including with respect to PFE restrictions). In the past such uncertainty related to the IRA caused certain customers to take an extended period to evaluate, negotiate, and enter energy storage arrangements, which has impacted our business and results of operations. Current uncertainty related to changes imposed by the OBBBA may in the future
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similarly cause customers to delay contracting decisions or may cause customers to delay or cancel existing projects as they navigate such uncertainty, which could have a material negative effect on our business and results of operations.
If we are unable to provide energy storage solutions that qualify our customers for the ITC (with or without the domestic content bonus credit) under the OBBBA on the timeline and in such quantities that we currently anticipate, then there may be negative impacts to our reputation, ability to compete in the market, demand from our customers, and our financial condition. Our competitors may be able to build a more robust domestic supply chain than us and may be able to offer customers U.S. domestic content products in greater quantity, with better pricing, and on a faster timeline than we may be able to if our production of our battery components in the U.S. (e.g., modules, cells, enclosures, and thermal management systems) is delayed or hindered or otherwise negatively impacted (including through the PFE restrictions under the OBBBA). Such impacts would adversely impact our brand and ability to compete, and in turn would adversely affect our results of operations. Such impacts would adversely impact our results of operations as well as our brand.
The full impact of the modifications to the tax credits and PFE restrictions in the OBBBA, its accompanying guidance, and potential changes in law that may apply to our business and operations as well as our customers’ and suppliers’ businesses cannot be known with certainty and we may not recognize the full extent of benefits we currently anticipate, which may materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We are continuing to evaluate the potential overall impact and applicability of these tax credits, as modified by the OBBBA, and any potential future changes in law on our business and operations. We are continuing to evaluate the potential overall impact and applicability of the IRA on our business and operations.
The international markets in which we operate or may operate in the future have or may in the future put in place policies to promote renewable energy, including energy storage. These incentives and mechanisms vary from country to country. In seeking to achieve growth internationally, we have made and may in the future make investments that, to some extent, rely on governmental incentives and support in a new market. In seeking to achieve growth internationally, we have and may make investments that, to some extent, rely on governmental incentives and support in a new market. We may not be able to optimize the benefits offered by these incentives or realize the growth that we expect from investments in the incentives, particularly in relation to competitors whose products might benefit disproportionately from these incentives. Governments may not continue to provide sufficient incentives and support to the energy storage industry and the industry in any particular country may suffer significant downturns in the future as the result of changes in public policies or government interest in renewable energy, any of which would adversely affect demand for our energy storage solutions and services. There is no assurance that these governments will continue to provide sufficient incentives and support to the energy storage industry and that the industry in any particular country will not suffer significant downturns in the future as the result of changes in public policies or government interest in renewable energy, any of which would adversely affect demand for our energy storage solutions and services.
Several of the rules and regulations we are subject to are not fully defined by the U.S. government at this time, and there are risks related to the interpretations of and assumptions made about such rules and regulations by us and others as a result.
Changes in the global trade environment, including the imposition of new tariffs, changes to existing tariffs, and related general economic uncertainty, has impacted and may in the future impact our business and operations and has and may in the future adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenues, results of operations, and cash flows in the future. Furthermore, issues and incidents involving our customers or their facilities at which our energy storage solutions are located, including damage from fires, whether or not attributable to our energy storage solutions, has had and may in the future have an adverse effect on our reputation and customer relationships and has and may in the future lead to litigation.
In May 2024, the Biden administration announced a significant shift in the tariff framework for the energy storage industry. In May 2024, the Biden administration announced a significant shift in the tariff framework for the energy storage industry. Under this structure, the Section 301 tariff rate on lithium-ion non-EV batteries imported from China would increase from the current 7.5% to 25%, effective January 1, 2026. This change specifically targeted "batteries" as defined by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, encompassing integrated battery energy storage systems, modules, and certain types of cells. Under the May 2024 structure announced by the Biden administration, the Section 301 tariff rate on battery "parts"–including separators, electrolytes, cans, and electrodes remains at its current 25% level. In April 2025, the Trump administration enacted additional tariffs on nearly all types of imports (including those used in our energy storage solutions) from countries around the world, including high tariffs on Chinese imports. Some of these additional tariffs have been modified further since they were imposed in April 2025. For example, in May 14, 2025, the United States and China agreed to reduce the reciprocal tariff rates between the countries, with the U.S. dropping the reciprocal tariff rate for Chinese imports to 10%, while maintaining the existing 20% fentanyl tariff on Chinese goods. As of the filing date of this Annual Report, covered imports from China relevant to our energy storage systems are subject to the current 10% China-specific “reciprocal tariff,” plus the current China-specific 10% “fentanyl-related tariff”, plus the 3.4% base tariff on all countries, plus the applicable Section 301 tariff. In addition, tariffs that have been imposed by the United States government against other countries have and may in the future increase, decrease, or change with little to no advance notice. The recent tariff policy changes and continued uncertainty relating to U.S. trade policy and the corresponding response from other foreign countries have impacted and may in the future impact the energy storage market, demand for our energy storage solutions by customers, our business, and results of operations as well as those of our customers, our contract manufacturers, and suppliers. The Company has exposure from the imposition of these new tariffs and from the tariff uncertainty in the global markets, as the Company imports components from overseas, including battery cells from China, into the United States for customers and projects in the United States. We may see impacts to customer contracting activity if there continues to be uncertainty relating to tariffs. This impact to customer contracting behavior from the uncertain trade environment has impacted and may in the future impact our revenue, business, operating metrics, and results of operations.
In addition, there are ongoing investigations into certain additional tariffs on specific imports and trade practices that may result in tariffs and/or more restrictive trade duties and restrictions on components for our energy storage solutions that we import into the U.S. from overseas. For example, there is an active anti-dumping/countervailing (“AD/CV”) proceeding before the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Commerce (the “DOC”) regarding Chinese graphite active anode material (“AAM”) imports and downstream imports that utilize graphite AAM, which includes imports utilized in our energy storage systems. On May 20, 2025, there was a preliminary countervailing (“CV”) determination by the DOC that assigned a CV tariff at a rate of 11.58%. On July 18,
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2025, there was a preliminary antidumping (“AD”) determination by the DOC that assigned a “separate” AD tariff at a rate of 93.5% to certain entities and an adverse AD tariff of 102.72% to all other entities. The AD/CV tariff rate and scope of imports subject to the tariffs may change at the final determination by DOC, which was previously expected by December 5, 2025, but is now likely to be delayed by approximately 30 to 60 days because of the U.S. government shutdown in 2025. We are taking actions to address risks associated with these preliminary increased graphite AAM AD/CV tariffs, including by building in such additional costs into our contracting process and exploring alternative sourcing strategies. Additionally, in response to President Trump’s Executive Order directing the DOC to do so, the DOC initiated a Section 232 tariff investigation related to critical minerals and derivatives. This investigation includes all critical minerals in batteries as well as derivatives that includes all batteries and related subcomponents. It is unclear when DOC will issue its investigation report and recommendations.
We are currently assessing the ultimate impact these AD/CV tariffs and a potential Section 232 tariff on battery-related critical minerals and derivatives could have on our suppliers, our business, and our suppliers’ pricing decisions, while we wait for the DOC’s final graphite AAM AD/CV tariff determination and Section 232 critical minerals and derivatives investigation recommendations. Due to the uncertainty relating to the final outcome of the various ongoing tariff-related investigations, including the AD/CV proceeding described above, we cannot predict the ultimate impact the outcome of ongoing tariff investigations and any resulting tariffs or other trade actions could have on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
The steps we have taken to ramp up domestic production of key products and components of our energy storage solutions in the United States may not proceed on the anticipated timeline and such steps may not successfully mitigate the impacts of any tariffs or other trade restrictions. We have faced, and we may in the future face unanticipated costs and delays in developing our domestic supply chain, and we may not be able to scale domestic production to achieve required volumes or quality, as quickly as would be required to avoid a material adverse impact to our business and our results of operations.
Current and future trade policies and restrictions, including tariffs and resulting economic conditions in the markets in which we operate may materially increase costs of certain components and our inventory costs. These factors have impacted and may in the future materially adversely impact our strategy, demand for our solutions, our customers, our suppliers, and our contract manufacturers and their respective businesses and operations. Navigating these conditions, have and may in the future require significant attention from our management. Any of the foregoing may materially harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. Any of these events could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our order intake and operating metrics may fluctuate across fiscal periods, which could make our future performance difficult to predict and could cause results of operations for a particular period to fall below expectations, resulting in a decline in the price of our Class A common stock. Our order intake and results of operations may fluctuate across fiscal periods, which could make our future performance difficult to predict and could cause results of operations for a particular period to fall below expectations, resulting in a decline in the price of our Class A common stock.
Our order intake, operating metrics, and results of operations are difficult to predict quarter to quarter and have in the past and may in the future fluctuate significantly.Our order intake and results of operations are difficult to predict quarter to quarter and have in the past and may in the future fluctuate significantly. Through fiscal year 2021, we experienced variability in the timing of our order intake, with higher volumes of orders coming the second half of our fiscal year. However, in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, order intake was relatively consistent across each quarter. In fiscal year 2024, we saw a higher amount of our order intake in the second half of the fiscal year. The variability in our order intake in fiscal year 2025 was primarily driven by the uncertain timing of customer negotiations, the uncertainty arising out of the U.S. trade policy, and the OBBBA.
Our projects typically have a lead time from date of contract execution to substantial completion, typically ranging from approximately twelve up to eighteen months. Generally, we must design the project, as each storage solution is customized depending on the customer’s energy needs, procure the major equipment, obtain manufacturing slots from our contract manufacturers, coordinate the logistics, and assemble the battery energy storage systems prior to delivery and installation at our customer project sites. These actions must be completed timely to adhere to customer schedules and milestones. Depending on the scope of the project, we may be responsible for the installation of the equipment and commissioning. Delays in projects, from one period to another may cause our results of operations for a particular period to fall below expectations.
We have experienced fluctuations from fiscal period to fiscal period in the past and may experience such fluctuations in the future as a result of fluctuations in our customers’ businesses including as a result of permitting, approval, commissioning, and installation delays. Such permitting, approval, commissioning, and installation delays can impact the timing of orders for our products. Such permitting and installation delays can impact the timing of orders for our products. In addition, we have had, and may continue to have, customers experience project delays for a variety of other reasons including, but not limited to, issues with financing, changes in government regulations, including tariff uncertainty, supply chain challenges, tax incentives, macroeconomic factors, geopolitical uncertainty, or other circumstances unique to a customer. In addition, we have had, and may continue to have, customers experience project delays for a variety of other reasons including, but not limited to, issues with financing, changes in government regulations, including uncertainty relating to the imposition of additional potential tariffs, supply chain challenges, tax incentives, macroeconomic factors, geopolitical uncertainty, or other circumstances unique to a customer. Any unexpected delay in proceeding with an active material project or in signing a new material contract has and could materially adversely affect our financial performance in a fiscal period. In certain circumstances, our customers may cancel orders before the completion of the transaction. If we experience delays or cancellations in the permitting, approval, commissioning, and installation process or other delays noted above in the future, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. If we experience delays or cancellations in the permitting and installation process in the future, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
As a result of the factors discussed above, our future financial performance, sales, working capital requirements and cash flow may fluctuate, and our past order intake, operating metrics, and results of operations may not be good indicators of future performance. The variability and unpredictability of our operating metrics and quarterly operating results could result in our failure to
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meet our expectations or those of analysts that cover us or investors with respect to order intake, revenue or other operating or financial results for a particular period. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely impacted.
A significant portion of our revenue comes from only a relatively small number of customers. If there is a significant reduction in order volume or loss of one or more of these significant customers or there is an inability of our customers to perform under their contracts with us, it could materially harm our business and negatively impact revenue, business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow. If there is a significant reduction in pricing or order volume or loss of one or more of these significant customers, it could materially harm our business and negatively impact revenue, business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flow.
We are dependent on a relatively small number of customers for the sales of our energy storage solution and a small number of customers have historically accounted for a material portion of our total revenue. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, our two largest customers, in the aggregate, accounted for approximately 41% of our annual revenue. Specifically, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, revenue from AES and its affiliates accounted for approximately 24% of our annual revenue. Specifically, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024, revenue from AES and its affiliates accounted for approximately 41% of our annual revenue. The reduction in order volume or loss of any one of the Company’s significant customers, including AES and its affiliates, a significant customer’s inability to perform under its respective contracts, including any default in payment, a significant dispute with one of these customers, a significant downturn or deterioration in the business or financial condition of any of these customers, any delay of contracting processes with customers due to economic uncertainty, or any other event significantly negatively impacting the contractual relationship with one of these customers could have a materially adverse effect on the brand, business, revenues, financial condition, and cash flows of the Company. For the near future, we may continue to derive a significant portion of our total revenue from a small number of customers. For the near future, we may continue to derive a significant portion of our net sales from a small number of customers. Accordingly, loss of a significant customer or a significant reduction in order volume from a significant customer or a change in contracting behavior by a significant customer could materially reduce revenue recognized and operating results in any reporting period compared to prior periods and/or expectations and impact our results of operations and order intake.
In addition, at the time of the IPO, the Company entered into an amended and restated storage core frame purchase agreement with AES Grid Stability, pursuant to which AES Grid Stability and its affiliates may purchase energy storage solutions and related services from us under preferred purchasing conditions.In addition, at the time of the IPO, the Company entered into an amended and restated storage core frame purchase agreement with AES Grid Stability, pursuant to which AES Grid Stability may purchase energy storage solutions and related services from us under preferred purchasing conditions. This agreement continues until the earlier of (x) October 27, 2028 and (y) the date on which AES Grid Stability holds less than 10% of the then outstanding voting power. If AES Grid Stability holds at least 20% of the then-outstanding voting power, they must continue to purchase certain of our energy storage offerings exclusively from us. If AES Grid Stability holds at least 10% of the then-outstanding voting power, neither it nor its affiliates will directly or indirectly engage in any of the defined exclusive activities set forth in this agreement, subject to us maintaining certain sales volume requirements. On such date that AES Grid Stability and its affiliates are no longer bound by the exclusivity terms of this agreement, AES may decide to explore different energy storage suppliers and we may see a negative impact to our aggregate order volume and revenues from decreased sales with AES and there may be a corresponding material adverse impact to our business, financial condition, and results of operations. On such date that AES Grid Stability and its affiliates are no longer bound by the exclusivity terms of this storage core frame agreement, AES may decide to explore different energy storage suppliers and we may see a negative impact to our aggregate order volume and revenues from decreased sales with AES and there may be a corresponding material adverse impact to our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, broader strategic or commercial decisions by AES regarding its engagement with our offerings, or its focus on energy storage more generally, could reduce order volumes or otherwise adversely affect our business, results of operations, and cash flows.

We face strong competition for our energy storage solutions, services, and digital application offerings from both established and new competitors. We face increasing competition for our energy storage solutions, services, and digital application offerings from both more established and new competitors. If we are unable to attract new customers and retain existing customers, our revenue growth, business, and operating results may be adversely affected. If we are unable to attract new customers and retain existing customers, our revenue growth and operating results may be adversely affected.

We operate in an intensely competitive business environment for our energy storage solutions, services, and digital application offerings. To increase our revenue and market share, our business strategy depends on our ability to attract new customers and retain our existing customers. Certain of our competitors have financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, and other resources that are greater than ours, which may allow them to devote greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their offerings than we may be able to and therefore more effectively compete for new projects and customers. Certain of our competitors have financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, and other resources that are greater than ours, which may allow them to devote greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their solutions, services, and digital application offerings than we may be able to and therefore more effectively compete in new and old markets for new projects and customers. We have seen an increase in competition since the time of our inception and continue to expect competition in the energy storage industry to increase primarily due to increased demand from customers and recent regulatory changes and incentives, both domestically and internationally, geared towards encouraging the adoption of increased renewable energy assets as well as energy storage solutions, including as a result of the IRA and the OBBBA and their current anticipated impacts in the United States. We have seen increase in competition and continue to expect competition in the energy storage industry to increase due to increased demand from customers and recent regulatory changes and incentives, both domestically and internationally, geared towards both adoption of increased renewable energy assets and adoption of energy storage solutions and related digital applications, including as a result of the IRA and its current anticipated impacts in the United States.

Consolidation by other industry participants could further increase their resources and result in competitors with expanded market share, larger customer bases, greater diversified product and service offerings and greater technological and marketing expertise, which may allow them to compete more effectively against us in the future. Moreover, our competitors may have or may develop solutions, services, or digital applications that are superior, more efficient, and more effective compared to our offerings (on a price-to-value basis, operational impact, or otherwise), may offer products with a lower total cost of ownership, or may adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies or regulatory regimes implemented across the globe. Moreover, our competitors may have or may develop solutions, services, or digital applications that are superior, more efficient, and more effective compared to our solutions, services, or digital applications (on a price-to-value basis, operational impact, or otherwise) or may adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies or regulatory regimes implemented across the globe. There are also several competing alternatives for battery energy storage solutions, as well as non-intermittent energy generation that does not require storage, including but not limited to, pumped hydro, hydrogen, biofuels, thermal, and generation paired with carbon sequestration. If we are unable to convince potential customers of the benefits and superiority of our offerings, effectively differentiate our offerings from our competitors, or if potential or existing customers prefer the offerings of our competitors, we may not be able to effectively implement our growth
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strategy, which in turn may adversely impact our business. Additionally, a significant portion of our annual sales in the years since our IPO were direct sales to AES and its affiliates. Additionally, a significant portion of our annual sales in fiscal year 2024, 2023 and 2022 were direct sales to AES and its affiliates. If we fail to maintain this relationship or if this relationship weakens, or if AES decides to reduce or modify its energy storage activities, it could materially impact our business prospects, financial condition, cash flows, or sales. If we fail to maintain this relationship or if this relationship weakens, or if AES decides to reduce its energy storage activities, it could materially impact our business prospects, financial condition, cash flows, or sales. Our future growth would then be even more reliant on our ability to compete for and retain new customers and our inability to do so would harm our ability to execute our growth strategy and may have a material adverse effect on our business operations and financial position.

Additionally, our competitors may lower their sales prices in response to market competition. Some competitors, particularly in China, may have lower operating expenses due to greater vertical integration and supportive regulatory frameworks, allowing them to operate with minimal or even negative margins over time. This has hindered and may in the future hinder our ability to compete in certain markets, which may lead to reduced net sales and negatively impact our operating results. In response to such competitive pressures, we may also choose to adjust our pricing strategy in certain markets or reduce our margin expectations, which could further affect our financial performance.

Maintaining and enhancing our reputation and brand recognition is critical in a competitive energy storage market. If we are not able to maintain and strengthen our reputation and brand recognition, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

As the markets for energy storage and related SaaS products for renewables and storage become increasingly competitive, marketing initiatives are becoming increasingly time-consuming and expensive. Our marketing activities may not be successful or yield the anticipated increased revenue, the increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incur as part of any marketing initiatives, and our results of operations could be harmed. Our ability to maintain and strengthen the Fluence brand depends heavily on our ability to provide quality offerings to our customers and to continue to meet our performance commitments in our underlying contracts with both suppliers and customers. Our ability to maintain and strengthen Fluence brand depends heavily on our ability to provide quality solutions, services, and digital applications offerings to our customers and to continue to meet our performance commitments in our underlying contracts with both suppliers and customers. In order to protect our brand, we may also expend substantial resources to register our intellectual property rights and to prevent others from using similar intellectual property, including similar patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Any factor that diminishes our reputation or that of our management, including failing to meet the expectations of or provide quality products and services to our customers on a timely basis, or any adverse publicity, litigation, or regulatory proceeding, has in the past and could in the future make it more difficult for us to attract new customers and to maintain our existing customers. Our ability to successfully position our brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions of our competitors’ energy storage solutions, services, and digital applications. If we do not successfully maintain and strengthen our reputation and brand recognition, our business may not grow as we expect, if at all, and we could lose our relationships with existing customers. If we do not successfully maintain and strengthen our reputation and brand recognition, our business may not grow, and we could lose our relationships with existing customers. This would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

If we fail to effectively manage our recent and future growth and expansion of our business and operations, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of customer service, and/or adequately address competitive challenges.

We have experienced significant and rapid growth since the time of our inception. We intend to continue to expand our business significantly within existing and new market segments of the larger clean energy industry. Our growth has placed, and any future growth may place, a significant strain on our management, operational, and financial infrastructure. In the continued growth and expansion of the Company, our management will also be required to maintain and expand our relationships with customers, suppliers, and other third parties and attract new customers and suppliers, as well as manage multiple geographic locations. To manage our growth, we must continue to improve and expand our information technology and financial infrastructure and systems, our operating and administrative systems and controls, our ability to manage headcount, capital, and other systems and processes in an efficient manner. Our current and planned future infrastructure, plans, and processes might be inadequate to support our future growth and may require us to make additional unanticipated investment and improvements, which may adversely impact our financial condition and may disrupt our operations and business.

Our success and ability to further scale our business depends, in part, on our ability to manage expansion and growth in a cost-effective and efficient manner. If we cannot manage our growth, we may be unable to take advantage of market opportunities, execute our business strategies, or respond appropriately and quickly to competitive pressures. This could also result in declines in product quality and customer satisfaction, reputational damage, increased costs, difficulties in introducing new offerings, reduce demand for our offerings, or other operational difficulties. Our future operating results depend on a large extent on our ability to manage our continued expansion and growth successfully and any failure to effectively manage expansion and growth could adversely impact our business and reputation.

If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, including members of the senior management team, in order to execute our business strategy and growth plan and successfully integrate key talent into our team, our business and ability to compete may be adversely affected.
Competition for highly qualified personnel is intense in the energy storage industry. We depend on the continued services of our senior management and highly-skilled employees across all levels and departments of our organization to run and grow our business. We have experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. The challenging markets in which we compete for talent has in the past and may in the future cause us to invest
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significant amounts of cash and equity to attract and retain employees. In addition, a significant portion of compensation for key senior employees is in the form of stock-related grants. In addition, a significant portion of our compensation to key senior employees is in the form of stock-related grants. A prolonged depression in our stock price could make it difficult for us to retain key members of management and other senior employees as well as recruit additional qualified personnel. A prolonged depression in our stock price could make it difficult for us to retain our key members of management and other senior employees and recruit additional qualified personnel and we may have to pay 25additional compensation to employees to incentivize them to join or stay with us. We may have to pay additional compensation to employees to incentivize them to join or stay with us in the case of any depression in our stock price. Further, many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater financial resources than we have. In addition, if we hire employees from competitors or other companies in related industries, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees or the Company has breached certain legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources.
Since inception, Fluence had historically provided flexible work arrangements for its employees, including in many instances, offering fully remote working arrangements for its employees. At the end of fiscal year 2025, the Company implemented an updated “return-to-office” model at its U.S. offices for local employees and implemented similar such policies, in compliance with applicable laws, at many of our foreign offices as well. There may be challenges that arise with such “return-to-office” plans and reduction of flexible remote working arrangements for our employees. Many companies, including companies that we compete with for talent, have adopted full time remote work arrangements or hybrid work arrangements more flexible than ours, which has impacted and may in the future impact our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel if potential or current employees prefer these policies.
In addition, current trends in the labor market have exacerbated and may continue to exacerbate the challenges of attracting and retaining talented employees. Differences in demands, expectations, and priorities of the workforce may require us to modify our recruiting and retention and compensation strategies to attract and retain employees. Differences in demands, expectations, and priorities of the workforce (such as remote work expectations) may require us to modify our recruiting and retention strategies to attract and retain employees. These modifications could have a significant financial impact should we need to meet higher salary demands, or buy out compensation packages for new hires. These modifications could have a significant financial impact should we need to offset relocation to hubs, meet higher salary demands, or buy out compensation packages for new hires. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, including as a result of our incentive structure or otherwise, our business and future growth prospects and ability to compete could be adversely impacted. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, our business and future growth prospects and ability to compete could be adversely impacted. Continuous turnover could also result in negative brand reputation. Continuous turnover could also result in negative brand reputation. As we continue to expand domestically and internationally, we may encounter regional laws that mandate union representation or associates who desire union representation or a collective bargaining agreement. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified associates, or otherwise experience unexpected labor disruptions within our business, we may be materially and adversely affected. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, including members of the senior management team, in order to execute our business strategy and growth plan, our business and ability to compete may be adversely affected.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services and leadership of our senior management team and other key senior personnel.Moreover, our success depends largely upon the continued services and leadership of our senior management team and other key senior personnel. Our senior management and other key senior personnel have acquired specialized knowledge and skills with respect to our business, and the loss of any of these individuals could harm our business. From time to time, there may be changes in our senior management team and other key senior personnel, including as a result from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. Our officers are not subject to any restrictions that would require them to continue to work for us for any specified period and, therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time.
Our growth depends in part on the success of our relationships with third party contractors.
We rely on third-party general contractors to install energy storage solutions at our customers’ sites. We currently work with a limited number of general contractors, which has impacted and may continue to impact our ability to facilitate customer installations in a timely and efficient manner. We currently work with a limited number of general contractors, which has impacted in the past and may continue in the future to impact our ability to facilitate customer installations as planned in a timely and efficient manner. Our work with contractors or their subcontractors may require us to comply with additional rules and policies (including rules unique to our customers), working conditions requirements, site remediation requirements, and other union requirements, which can add unanticipated costs and complexity to a project. Our work with contractors or their subcontractors may result in us being required to comply with additional rules and policies (including rules unique to our customers), working conditions, site remediation, and other union requirements, which can add costs and complexity to a project. The timeliness, thoroughness, and quality of the installation-related services performed by our general contractors and their subcontractors have not always met our or our customers’ expectations or standards and may not do so in the future, and it may be difficult to find and train third-party general contractors that meet our standards at a competitive cost. The timeliness, thoroughness, and quality of the installation-related services performed by our general contractors and their subcontractors in the past have not always met our or our customers’ expectations or standards and in the future may not meet our or our customers’ expectations and standards, and it may be difficult to find and train third-party general contractors that meet our standards at a competitive cost. Subpar, unsatisfactory, incomplete, or untimely contractor work for our customers could lead to adverse consequences on our reputation, business and results of operations.
Risks Related to our Operations, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing Capabilities
We have and may continue to experience delays, disruptions, and quality control problems in our manufacturing operations, in part due to third-party manufacturer concentration, which in turn impacts our ability to meet anticipated production volumes and achieve full-rate manufacturing. These delays, disruptions, and quality control problems in our manufacturing operations have and may continue to adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and future prospects.
Our product development, manufacturing, and testing protocols are complex and require significant technological and production process expertise. We are exposed to risks associated with scaling up manufacturing to larger commercial volumes and with the launch of new products which may require alterations to existing manufacturing processes. We continue to depend on a limited number of third-party contract manufacturers for production. Our manufacturing strategy currently relies on three key contract manufacturers. Manufacturing delays or disruptions could cause a delay or disruption in our ability to meet customers’ requirements which may impact our business, reputation, results of operations, and financial condition. Any manufacturing delay or disruption could cause a delay or disruption in our ability to meet customers’ requirements which may result in financial impacts to the Company and potential loss of customers. Qualifying new manufacturers can be a lengthy, time-consuming process and we may not be able to qualify manufacturers on the timeline we anticipate, if at all, which would lead us to rely more heavily on our existing manufacturers and their current operating abilities. Although options to rapidly shift manufacturing capacity to alternative providers remain limited, we are committed to mitigating these risks through continuous improvement and
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strategic planning. By prioritizing operational excellence and maintaining strong relationships with our partners and customers, we are confident in our ability to navigate these challenges and support sustainable growth in future periods. We recognize the importance of a resilient and diversified supply chain and believe our forward-thinking approach has positioned us favorably to navigate these new tariff structures with minimal disruption to our operations.
Two of the contract manufacturers are located in the United States, with their facilities in Utah and Arizona, and the other is located in South East Asia. This second contract manufacturer in Arizona commissioned their new facility in 2025, and began scaling production. During the fiscal year, however, this contract manufacturer in Arizona encountered delays and inefficiencies in scaling production to meet demand forecasts, this was primarily attributable to labor availability and the long lead times with training their workforce.
While these factors have presented challenges to achieving full-rate production, we have worked with this contract manufacturer to put in place appropriate corrective measures to remediate the production issues going forward. We currently believe these corrective measures will remediate the adverse impact on the contract manufacturers production issues. However, if our remediation efforts are not successful, they could have an adverse impact on our customers and our business and results of operations and could cause our results to vary materially from period to period. Failure to meet production expectations could result in delayed product deliveries, increased costs, reduced revenue, and reputational harm and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects.
We have experienced and may continue to be exposed to risks associated with engineering and construction, utility interconnection, commissioning and installation of our energy storage solutions, and other project delays and disruptions, including those related to obtaining government authorizations and permits, issues relating to customer financing, and other contingencies that may arise in the course of delivering equipment and completing installations.

Although we generally are not regulated as a utility, international, federal, state, and local government laws and regulations concerning electricity heavily influence the market for our energy storage solutions and services. These laws and regulations often relate to electricity pricing, net metering, incentives, taxation, and the rules surrounding the interconnection of customer-owned electricity generation for specific technologies. In the U.S., government authorities frequently modify these statutes and regulations. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, may change and adopt different requirements for utilities and rates for commercial customers on a regular basis. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, change and adopt different requirements for utilities and rates for commercial customers on a regular basis. Changes, or in some cases a lack of change, in any of the laws, regulations, ordinances, or other rules that apply to customer installations and new technology could make it more costly for our customers to install and operate our energy storage products at particular customer project sites, and in turn, could negatively affect our ability to deliver cost savings to customers for the purchase of electricity, thereby making our energy storage solutions and services less appealing to current and potential customers. Changes, or in some cases a lack of change, in any of the laws, regulations, ordinances, or other rules that apply to customer installations and new technology could make it more costly for our customers to install and operate our energy storage products on particular projects’ sites, and in turn, could negatively affect our ability to deliver cost savings to customers for the purchase of electricity, thereby making our energy storage solutions less appealing to current and potential customers.
The installation and operation of our energy storage solutions at a particular site are also generally subject to oversight and regulation in accordance with applicable international, federal, state, and local laws and ordinances relating to building codes, safety, environmental protection, labor practices, and related matters. It also typically requires obtaining and keeping in good standing applicable governmental approvals and permits, including environmental approvals and permits, which vary by jurisdiction. It also typically requires obtaining and keeping in good standing various governmental approvals and permits, including environmental approvals and permits, that vary by jurisdiction. In some cases, these approvals and permits require periodic renewal. It is difficult and costly to monitor the requirements of every individual authority having jurisdiction over our energy storage solution installations, to design our energy storage solutions to comply with these varying standards, and for our customers to obtain and maintain all applicable necessary approvals and permits. It is difficult and costly to track the requirements of every individual authority having jurisdiction over our energy storage solution installations, to design our energy storage solutions to comply with these varying standards, and for our customers to obtain and maintain all applicable necessary approvals and permits. We cannot predict whether or when all permits required for a given customer’s project will be granted or whether the conditions associated with the permits will be achievable. The denial of a permit or utility connection essential to a project or the imposition of impractical conditions impairs our customers’ ability to develop a project, and potential disagreement, public opposition, or litigation over a project approval could lead to additional delays. In addition, we cannot predict whether the permitting process for a project will be lengthened due to complexities and appeals. Delay in the review and permitting process for a project (or litigation challenges to a project approval) can impair or delay our customers’ abilities to develop that project or increase the cost so substantially that a project is no longer feasible. Furthermore, unforeseen delays in the review and permitting process have and could in the future delay the timing of fulfillment of our energy storage products and could therefore adversely affect the amount of revenue recognition related to the sale of our energy storage solutions, which could in turn adversely affect our operating results. Furthermore, unforeseen delays in the review and permitting process has and could in the future delay the timing of the delivery and/or installation of our energy storage products and could therefore adversely affect the amount revenue recognition related to the sale of our energy storage solutions, which could in turn adversely affect our operating results. Delays may result from environmental review or environmental permits required under local, state or federal laws, and litigation over approvals obtained pursuant such laws. Delays in the review and permitting process have in the past and may in the future lead to cost overruns, which may affect our business and operating results.
The production, delivery, and installation of our energy storage solutions also involves various project costs and can entail eventual project scope modifications, typically in the form of change orders.26The production and installation of our energy storage solutions also involves the incurrence of various project costs and can entail project modifications, typically in the form of change orders. We have policies and procedures regarding approval of project costs and modifications. In connection with our operating history and our recent significant growth, we have and may in the future experience the incurrence of project costs in excess of those budgeted. In connection with our operating history and our recent significant growth, we have in the past experienced and may in the future experience incurrence of project costs in excess of those budgeted. In addition, disagreements with our customers and suppliers have and may in the future arise with respect to project schedules and scopes of work, including but not limited to, other customer contractors, completion of work, and contract modifications, which can result in the need to find different suppliers, loss of future business, additional costs to us and not fully realizing the anticipated profit from the project. In addition, disagreements with our customers and suppliers have arisen and may in the future arise with respect to project schedules, other customer contractors, work, and modifications, which can result in the need to find different suppliers, loss of future business, additional costs to us and not fully realizing the anticipated profit from the project.
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In addition, the successful commissioning of our energy storage products and solutions is dependent upon the availability of and timely connection of systems to the local electric grid. Our customers have been and may in the future be unable to timely obtain the required consent and authorization of local utilities to ensure successful interconnection to energy grids to enable the successful discharge of energy, if at all. Our customers has in the past and may in the future be unable to timely obtain the required consent and authorization of local utilities to ensure successful interconnection to energy grids to enable the successful discharge of energy, if at all. For example, although FERC issued Order 2023 in July 2023, to accelerate the process of connecting new energy projects to the grid due to the backlog of interconnection requests, there continues to be a growing queue of energy projects awaiting approval in the United States. For example, although FERC issued Order 2023 in July 2023, which is intended to speed up the process of connecting new energy projects to the grid due to the backlog of interconnection requests, there continues to be a build up of renewables projects awaiting approval in the United States. Any delays in our customers’ ability to connect with utilities and the grid may delay deliveries of products, the performance of installation-related services, or may result in the poor performance of installation-related services that may in turn have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations and could cause our results to vary materially from period to period. Any delays in our customers’ ability to connect with utilities, delays in the performance of installation-related services, or poor performance of installation-related services may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations and could cause our results to vary materially from period to period.

We have experienced and may continue to be exposed to risks from supplier concentration and limited supplier capacity for battery energy storage solutions and their failure to perform could impair our ability to deliver our energy storage solutions to our customers.
Our reliance on a small group of suppliers for batteries, enclosures, inverters, and other components has subjected us to certain risks, and we may continue to face these challenges in the future. Changing suppliers often leads to significant expenses, lengthy timelines, and interruptions to our business activities. Additionally, such transitions may necessitate the redevelopment of our products and solutions, a process that is both time-intensive and can substantially affect our operational performance. Additionally, monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is cumbersome and costly and there is no guarantee that any steps taken to prevent misappropriation will be successful.
In addition, certain of our suppliers also supply products and components to other businesses, including competitors and other businesses engaged in the production of electric vehicles, renewable energy production, consumer electronics, and other industries unrelated to energy storage products, and these other businesses may be of greater priority to our Suppliers. As Fluence continues to grow and strengthen its position within our suppliers’ customer base, we anticipate increased opportunities to secure supply on more favorable and preferential terms. However, until Fluence is able to establish itself as a significant portion of our suppliers’ customer base, we may not be able to secure supply on favorable or preferential terms. In addition, as we scale our domestic content offerings, we currently rely on a single U.S. battery cell supplier for U.S. manufactured battery cells.
There is risk associated with reliance on a limited number of suppliers, including ability to obtain sufficient inventory at the level of quality or provenance required to meet customer or regulatory requirements. If any of our suppliers are unable or unwilling to provide us with contracted quantities in a timely manner at prices, quality levels (including environmental, social, and/or geographic provenance), and volumes acceptable to us and which are contracted for, we will have limited alternatives for supply of such components, and we may not be able to contract for and receive suitable alternative components in a timely manner for our customers, if at all. If any of our suppliers is unable or unwilling to provide us with contracted quantities in a timely manner at prices, quality levels (including environmental, social, and/or geographic provenance), and volumes acceptable to us and which are contracted for, we would have limited alternatives for supply of such components, and we may not be able to contract for and receive suitable alternative components in a timely manner for our customers, if at all. Such an event may impair our ability to meet scheduled deliveries of our products to customers, which may cause our customers to cancel orders, subject us to liability and potential litigation and materially adversely affect our customer relationships, reputation, business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. Such an event may impair our ability to meet scheduled deliveries of our products to customers, which may cause our customers to cancel orders and subject us to liability and potential litigation and may materially adversely affect our customer relationships, reputation, business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations. Further, these particular risks may increase as market demand for our offerings grows.
We have experienced and may continue to experience risk of exposure that our suppliers may not be able to provide us with the quality or quantity of components on the terms or timeline that we have contracted for which could result in insufficient inventory as well as negatively affect our results of operations and impact our customer relationships. In addition, if we are unable to provide energy storage solutions that qualify for the US domestic content requirements on the timeline and in such quantities that we currently anticipate while our competitors are able to do so, we might experience a decline in sales in the Americas region for our energy storage solutions.

Our suppliers’ own caution and uncertainty in their upstream supply chains has resulted in the adoption of a variety of pricing mechanisms that are designed to mitigate unforeseen fluctuations in materials availability and costs. Our suppliers’ caution and uncertainty in their own downstream supply chains has resulted in a variety of pricing mechanisms designed to mitigate unforeseen fluctuations in materials availability and pricing. To obtain advantageous pricing, secure quantities, and favorable payment conditions, certain supply agreements require us to commit to specific volumes and fulfill prepayment responsibilities. These types of arrangements impact our working capital resources. We are committed to maintaining strong relationships with our suppliers and proactively managing our supply chain for consistent inventory quality and provenance that meets both customer and regulatory requirements.

As we introduce new energy storage products and develop supplier relationships while expanding our regional supply chains both domestically and internationally, we encounter risks related to the quality and availability of components. These risks stem from engaging with new suppliers, particularly those recently entering the energy storage sector, who may have limited experience and lack advanced production planning capabilities. Additionally, these suppliers may need to scale up their operations or alter current manufacturing processes, which can further contribute to uncertainties regarding the quality of their products.
We are a global company with operations in many countries and maintain a global supply chain which comes with a number of risks that may impact our business, results of operations, and future growth. 21We are a global company with operations in many countries and maintain a global supply chain which comes with a number of risks that may impact our business, results of operations, and future growth.
Our energy storage solutions incorporate many components and materials sourced from a variety of countries, resulting in exposure to international supply chain risks and logistics disruptions. In fiscal year 2025, we saw impacts to our contracting activity in the United States and corresponding impacts to our business due to the uncertainty relating to U.S. tariff and trade policy. Trade and shipping disruptions, delays and factors beyond our suppliers’ control, including changes in policy and regulation, have in the past and may in the future have a compounding effect on our business and results of operations. Trade and shipping disruptions and factors beyond our suppliers’ control have in the past and we expect in the future could have a compounding effect on our business and results of operations.
International political, social, or economic instability, including as the result of health pandemics, further uncertainty on U.S. trade and tariff policy, geopolitical tension, may lead to future disruptions, impacting our supply chain and ability to complete projects
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in a timely and efficient manner. Uncertain potential actions, policies, and legislation of various government authorities on international and domestic trade, including new or increased tariffs or quotas, border taxes, embargoes, safeguards, duties arising out of various governmental investigations, trade controls, and customs restrictions impact our ability to manage our costs of production. The degree of our exposure is dependent on, among other things, the type of materials and components that may be impacted, the proposed rates imposed, and timing of such tariffs or other trade restrictions. Disruptions in the availability of key components or materials and their associated price volatility therefore create challenges for stability of our business operations, customer relationships, and our ability to accurately plan for future growth. See the separate risk factor titled “Changes in the global trade environment, including the imposition of new tariffs, changes to existing tariffs, and related general economic uncertainty, has impacted and may in the future impact our business and operations and has and may in the future adversely affect the amount or timing of our revenues, results of operations, and cash flows in the future.” above for more information about risks relating to the global trade environment.
Other events that could disrupt our global supply chain and result in reduced or delayed supply of materials and components along with potential increased cost relating to such supply include, but are not limited to:
the imposition of additional trade or national security legislation or regulations both internationally and domestically in countries in which we operate;
the imposition of additional duties, tariffs, and other charges on imports and exports;
changes to the interpretation or enforcement priorities of existing trade or national security laws and regulations;
disruption of manufacturing and supply lines due to stringent government mandated sanctions on production continuity and the movement of goods;
breaches of supply contracts by suppliers and vendors;
quotas imposed by bilateral trade agreements;
foreign currency fluctuations;
logistics and shipping constraints;
natural disasters, including but not limited to hurricanes, typhoons, flooding, wildfires and tornados;
geopolitical tensions and instability;
public health issues and epidemic diseases, their effects (including any disruptions they may cause) and/or the perception of their effects;
theft;
restrictions on the transfer of funds;
the financial instability or bankruptcy of vendors; and
significant labor disputes, including labor strikes, work stoppages, and boycotts.
Certain of these events have occurred in past and adversely impacted, and may in the future materially adversely impact, the Company’s operations. Additionally, there are expectations in various jurisdictions and by customers that companies monitor the environmental and social performance of their suppliers, including compliance with a variety of labor practices, and otherwise consider a wider range of potential environmental and social matters for their products and value chain.Additionally, there are increasing expectations in various jurisdictions and by customers that companies monitor the environmental and social performance of their suppliers, including compliance with a variety of labor practices, and otherwise consider a wider range of potential environmental and social matters for their products and value chain. For example, numerous laws prohibit importation of goods made with forced labor or compulsory prison labor, including for example the Tariff Act of 1930, as well as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”). Certain of our suppliers operate and source materials in China, and their presence in our supply chain could present unique risks for us due to risks associated with the UFLPA, as well as the strain in U.S.-China relations, and China’s unique regulatory landscape. The UFLPA imposes a presumptive ban on the importation of articles, merchandise, apparel, and goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) of the People’s Republic of China, or by entities identified by the U.S. government on the UFLPA Entity List. From time to time, congressional committees have investigated and called for the inclusion of certain companies that provide materials or components for the battery supply chain to the UFLPA Entity List. Such a listing may adversely impact our ability to source necessary inputs or otherwise adversely impact our operations. Prohibitions on forced labor have also been adopted in other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, and is a topic that will likely be subject to further regulations or prohibitions in the markets we operate within.

These issues could result in a delay or complete inability to import materials (including potentially non-lithium materials), which could result in inventory shortages or greater supply chain compliance costs, particularly to the extent we need to identify new suppliers or to otherwise modify supply chains to address evolving regulatory requirements and/or interpretations.Such a process could result in a delay or complete inability to import such materials (including potentially non-lithium materials), which could result in inventory shortages or greater supply chain compliance costs, particularly to the extent we need to identify new suppliers or to otherwise modify supply chains to address evolving regulatory requirements and/or interpretations. We could also be subject to penalties, such as denial of import eligibility, or fines if our imports are found to have been in violation of the UFLPA or other customs-related laws and regulations. Even if we are not subject to any fines or penalties, any perceived link between our products and Xinjiang, designated entities, or labor practices not in keeping with industry expectations may result in increased costs,
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affect our business and damage our reputation. Overcoming the UFLPA’s presumption can be a time- and information-intensive process, and we may not be able to obtain sufficient information to satisfy policymakers, particularly as in many cases the relevant suppliers are buried multiple layers deep in the supply chain. Overcoming the UFLPA’s presumption can be a time- and information-intensive process, and we may not be able to obtain sufficient information to satisfy policymakers that products are not connected to forced labor, particularly as in many cases the relevant suppliers are buried multiple layers deep in the supply chain. Xinjiang is the source of significant amounts of raw and refined materials and components in the global lithium-ion battery broader minerals supply chains, and there is ongoing scrutiny of this value chain and companies associated therewith, including for human rights and national security concerns. Xinjiang is the source of significant amounts of raw and refined materials and components in the global lithium-ion battery supply chain, and there is ongoing scrutiny of this value chain and companies associated therewith, including for human rights and national security concerns. For example, in August 2025, the Department of Homeland Security announced that they were adding copper, lithium, and steel, among others, to the list of priority sectors. As such, there is a risk that our operations may be impacted by related supply chain disruptions or costs. Moreover, there are also increasing obligations on supply chain diligence on products more generally, such as under the European Union’s Batteries Regulation Compliance with such laws, as well as any responsive measures by customers, impacted jurisdictions, other policymakers or otherwise, may have other effects on the global supply chain, the price and availability of traceable minerals or other materials of focus, and could lead to increases in our cost of goods sold, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Significant changes in the cost and/or availability of raw materials that are incorporated into component pieces of our energy storage products could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and future prospects.Significant changes in the cost and/or availability of raw materials and components that are incorporated into our energy storage products could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and future prospects.
We are subject to risk from availability and fluctuating market prices of certain commodity raw materials, including, but not limited to, steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, iron phosphate, graphite, manganese, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and cobalt. These raw materials form an essential and integral part of our energy storage products. Pricing and availability for these materials is governed in large part by market conditions and fluctuate due to various factors outside of our control, such as global supply and demand imbalances, changes in interest rates, speculative market activities, tariffs, import/export controls, and other geopolitical uncertainty.
Our revenue growth is directly tied to the continued adoption of energy storage products by our customers, which are affected by commodity raw material price fluctuations and component price fluctuations. As we have not historically been the buyer of raw materials for our components and energy storage products, we have not historically entered into hedging arrangements to mitigate commodity risk. Significant price changes or reduced availability for raw materials underlying our energy storage solutions and components that are comprised of such raw materials have a deleterious effect on supply chain certainty with potential knock on effects for reduced operating margin, and in turn, could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Significant price changes or reduced availability for our raw materials and components has a deleterious effect on supply chain certainty with potential knock on effects for reduced operating margin, and in turn, could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. For example, the cost of lithium-ion energy storage hardware has declined significantly in the aggregate in the last decade and has resulted in a large addressable market today. In fiscal year 2022, we saw prices for lithium-ion batteries increase from prior years, though prices returned to their historical trend of declining year-over-year in fiscal years 2023 through 2025. While the market for energy storage continues to rapidly evolve, the price for battery products and their respective components may not continue to decline or decline at the rates we expect. In fiscal year 2022, we saw prices for lithium-ion battery packs increase from prior years, though prices returned to their historical trend of declining year-over-year in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. The market for energy storage continues to rapidly evolve and while we believe lithium-ion battery pack costs will continue to decline over the long term, there is no guarantee that they will decline or decline at the rates we expect. If costs do not continue to decline long-term and instead remain steady or increase as they did in fiscal year 2022, this could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenue, our order intake, and grow our business. If costs do not continue to decline long term and instead remain steady or increase, as seen in fiscal year 2022, this could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenue, our order intake, and grow our business.
The sales and installation cycle of our energy storage solutions is lengthy, and if we fail to close sales as we anticipate and forecast and on a regular and timely basis, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our sales and installation cycle is lengthy and often varies considerably on a project by project basis and across regions. In order to make a sale, we must often provide a significant level of education upfront to prospective new customers regarding the use and benefits of our energy storage solutions and services which may take time and resources away from other matters. In order to make a sale, we must often provide a significant level of education upfront to prospective customers regarding the use and benefits of our energy storage solutions and services which may take management time and resources from other matters. The period between initial discussions with a potential customer and the sale of an energy storage solution typically depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to the potential customer’s budget and decision as to the type of financing it chooses to use, as well as the arrangement of such financing and any regulatory changes, anticipated regulatory changes, or changes in market condition that may occur during the sales cycle. The period between initial discussions with a potential customer and the sale of an energy storage solution typically depends on a number of factors, including the potential customer’s budget and decision as to the type of financing it chooses to use, as well as the arrangement of such financing and any regulatory changes that may occur during the sales cycle. Prospective customers often undertake a significant internal evaluation process, which has and may in the future further extend the sales cycle of our energy storage solutions. Prospective customers often undertake a significant internal evaluation process, which may further extend the sales cycle of our energy storage solutions. Because of the long sales cycle, we previously have and may in the future expend significant resources without having certainty of generating a sale. This lengthy sales cycle subjects us to a number of significant risks over which we have little or no control. If we are unsuccessful in closing sales after expending significant resources, our business, financial condition, and results of operations has in the past and in the future could be adversely affected.
Our energy storage solutions, including components thereof, and underlying technology as well as our digital application offerings could have undetected defects, errors, vulnerabilities, and bugs which could reduce market adoption, cause reputational damage, and expose us to legal claims that could materially and adversely affect our business.
The energy storage solutions we develop are complex and have in the past and may in the future contain bugs, vulnerabilities, as well as design and manufacturing-related defects and errors. Defective and non-conforming products have a harmful impact on the operational reliability and certainty of our customer projects. Defective and non-conforming products have a harmful impact on the operational reliability and certainty of our customer projects. Identification, mitigation and corrective actions are important considerations when managing the installation, construction, commissioning and servicing of our customer projects. We have from time to time discovered latent defects in the various component and contingent parts of our energy storage solutions and in the future we may face similar such defects. We have experienced a combination of design defects, defects in workmanship and quality, production errors, and specification shortfalls. We have experienced a combination of design defects, defects in workmanship, production errors, and specification shortfalls. As we expand and grow with new stakeholders and technologies, we may face similar
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non-conformities that will require a collective approach to effectively and efficiently address any such defect and nonconformity concerns with our suppliers and with our contract manufacturers, including for our Fluence-made battery modules.

Defects may exist within the various components and parts sourced from our suppliers or that arise during any manufacturing processes, and quality control programs may not work as intended and prevent all, if any of the defects and other issues in our products. Defects may occur in the future which may result in significant expenses or disruptions of our operations. We continue to evolve the features and functionality of our products and technology platforms through updates and enhancements and introduce new product offerings to our customers, and as we do, we may introduce inadvertent additional defects or errors that may not be detected until after deployment. We continue to evolve the features and functionality of our products and technology platforms through updates and enhancements, and as we do, we may introduce inadvertent additional defects or errors that may not be detected until after deployment. The uniqueness and complexity of our offerings often requires input from multiple stakeholders to detect, mitigate and correct any non-conformities, potentially resulting in extending time to fix. The uniqueness and complexity of our offerings often requires input from multiple stakeholders to detect, mitigate and correct any non-conformities, potentially resulting in extending time to fix. If we are unable to prevent or timely and effectively remedy errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or defects in our offerings, we could potentially suffer reputational damage, increased costs, and potential impact to our customer relationships, any of which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

The Company’s solutions rely on multiple components sourced from third-party suppliers that are integrated into our broader systems and offerings. These components, while individually procured, form an essential part of the overall functionality and performance of our products and services delivered to customers. In the event of a defect or failure in a supplier-provided component, the resulting impact to the Company may be significantly greater than the remedy or recovery available under the supplier’s contractual obligations. In addition, the agreements under which we license intellectual property or technology from third parties are generally complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. This is due to the integrated nature of our solutions, where a single component failure can lead to broader system-level issues, customer dissatisfaction, and potential liability exposure that exceeds the value or scope of the defective parts and components. The owners of these non-exclusively licensed technologies are therefore free to license them to third parties, including our competitors, on terms that may be superior to those offered to us, which could place us at a competitive disadvantage. As a result, the Company may face a disproportionate risk profile in comparison to the limited remedies available from suppliers. This misalignment between supplier liability and customer exposure could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, and reputation, particularly if such defects lead to warranty claims, service disruptions, or regulatory scrutiny. Defects in design, failure to meet specifications, and workmanship issues therefore have the potential to adversely affect customer satisfaction, market acceptance, and our business reputation. Defects in design, failure to meet specifications and workmanship issues therefore have the potential to adversely affect customer satisfaction, market acceptance, and our business reputation.

On rare occasions, defects in energy storage solutions may impact the lithium-ion batteries that have been incorporated into such solution which may lead to a rapid release of the energy such batteries contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion batteries. General negative public perception regarding the suitability of lithium-ion batteries for energy applications or any future incident involving lithium-ion batteries, such as a plant fire, vehicle fire, or other type of fire incident, even if such incident does not involve Fluence, could adversely affect our business and reputation, such as through additional regulations or fire-safety standards being imposed on energy storage projects. Plant fires or other events that result in negative public attention could increase community or agency opposition to new or expanded energy storage or could increase demand for alternative energy storage technologies that have or are perceived to have reduced fire risks.
We have been and may in the future be subject, in the ordinary course of business, to legal claims and potential losses relating to products liability, accidents, acts of God, and other legal claims against us arising out of defects or errors in our energy storage solutions, services, and digital application offerings. For example, on September 4, 2021, a 300 MW energy storage facility owned by one of our customers experienced an overheating event and the customer’s stated findings, if ultimately confirmed and proven, could relate to certain scopes of work for which Fluence or its subcontractors could be responsible. See Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings for greater discussion of this ongoing matter.
We have not historically manufactured batteries or other components of our energy storage solutions and have historically relied on our component suppliers and contract manufacturers to control the quality of such components; however, in September 2024, we initiated production of the Fluence-made battery modules at our contract manufacturing site in Utah. The Fluence-made battery modules include a new technology agnostic battery management system that allows Fluence to source battery cells from various battery OEMs for integration into the Fluence-made battery modules. The Fluence-made battery modules will include a new technology agnostic battery management system that will allow Fluence to source battery cells from various battery OEMs for integration into the Fluence-made battery modules. There may be unique defects and errors in these Fluence-made battery modules that have not yet been identified and any such unanticipated defects or errors may impact the Company’s business and relationship with customers. If we manufacture or produce other Fluence-developed components in the future, we may have greater exposure of any defects relating thereto.
In addition, our digital application offerings may also have bugs or defects incorporated therein and could experience a software anomaly, cybersecurity event, or unplanned downtime, that could result in an unexpected, material adverse event for customers, and may therefore damage our reputation, business, and future prospects.
Any defects, errors, or performance problems in our offerings, or the perception of such them, could result in any of the following, each of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations:
expenditure of significant financial and product development resources, including recalls, in efforts to analyze, correct, eliminate, or work around errors or defects;
significant re-engineering costs;
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loss of existing or potential customers;
interruptions or delays in sales;
delayed or lost revenue;
delay or failure to attain market acceptance;
delay in the development or release of new functionality or improvements;
negative publicity and reputational harm;
sales credits or refunds;
security vulnerabilities, data breaches, and exposure of confidential or proprietary information;
diversion of development and customer service resources;
breach of warranty claims;
legal claims and regulatory actions under applicable laws, rules, and regulations; and
the expense and risk of litigation.
Although we have contractual protections, including indemnification, warranty disclaimers, and limitation of liability provisions, in many of our agreements with customers, resellers, and other business partners, such protections may not be uniformly implemented in all contracts and, where implemented, may not fully or effectively protect from claims by customers, resellers, other business partners, or other third parties. Any insurance coverage or indemnification obligations of suppliers may not adequately cover all such claims or cover only a portion of such claims. A successful product liability, warranty, or other similar claim could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, even unsuccessful claims could result in expenditure of funds in litigation, divert management’s time and other resources, and cause reputational harm as well as lead to potential loss of existing or future customers. In addition, even claims that ultimately are unsuccessful could result in expenditure of funds in litigation, divert management’s time and other resources, and cause reputational harm as well as lead to potential loss of existing or future customers.
Our energy storage products and solutions, which are complex, could contain defects, or may not operate at expected performance levels, which may cause us to incur warranty expenses beyond current estimates and could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We offer standard limited assurance type product warranties, as well as extended service type warranties. Our limited warranties cover defects in materials and workmanship of our products for normal use and service conditions typically between one and five years following commercial operation date or substantial completion depending on the contract. As a result, we bear the risk of warranty claims long after we have sold the product and recognized revenue. Our estimated costs of warranty for previously sold products may change to the extent future products may not be compatible with earlier generation products under warranty. Furthermore, as we are in a evolving, nascent industry, there is a degree of uncertainty regarding estimated warranty costs due to limited data. We have a relatively limited operating history as an independent entity and therefore must project how our solutions will perform over the estimated warranty period and the estimated reserve may have material changes. We ourselves have a relatively limited operating history as an independent entity and therefore must project how our solutions will perform over the estimated warranty period and the estimated reserve may have material changes. In addition, under real world operating conditions, which may vary by location and design, as well as environmental conditions, our product may perform in a different way than under standard test conditions or other failure data sets. We depend significantly on our reputation for safety and reliability and high-quality products and services, exceptional customer service, and our brand name to attract new customers and maintain our current customers, and grow our business. If our products and services do not perform as anticipated or we experience unexpected reliability problems or widespread product failures, our brand and market reputation could be significantly impaired and we may lose, or be unable to gain or retain, customers which could impact our business and results of operations.
We have been required to make assumptions and apply judgments, including the durability and reliability of our products, regarding their performance over the estimated warranty period and our anticipated rate of warranty claims. Our assumptions could prove to be materially different from the actual performance of our products, causing us to incur substantial expense to repair or replace defective products in the future. An increase in our estimates of future warranty obligations due to product failure rates, field service obligations, and rework costs incurred in correcting product failures could cause us to increase the amount of warranty obligations and may adversely impact on our results of operations. If our warranty reserves are inadequate to cover future warranty claims on our energy storage products, our financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected. Warranty reserves include our management’s best estimates of the projected costs to repair or to replace items under warranty, which is based on estimated failure rates. Such estimates are inherently uncertain and changes to our historical or projected experience, especially with respect to energy storage products solutions are still in development and which we expect to produce at significantly greater volumes than our past products, may cause material changes to our warranty reserves in the future.

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Our customer relationships, business, financial results, and reputation may be adversely impacted due to events and incidents relating to storage, delivery, installation, operation, maintenance, and shutdowns of our energy storage solutions.
Our customer relationships, business, financial results, and reputation may be adversely impacted due to events and incidents relating to storage, delivery, installation, operation, and shutdowns of our energy storage solutions, including events and incidents outside of our control. We are subject to various risks as a result of the size, weight, technology, and sophisticated nature of our energy storage solutions, including exposure to production, delivery, supply chain, inventory, installation, and maintenance issues. Such issues may, and from time to time have, result in financial losses, including losses resulting from our failure to deliver or install our energy storage solutions on a contractually agreed timeframe, or losses resulting from agreed warranty or indemnity terms. Furthermore, issues and incidents involving our customers or their facilities at which our energy storage solutions are located, including damage from fires, whether or not attributable to our energy storage solutions, has had and may in the future have an adverse effect on our reputation and customer relationships and has and may in the future lead to litigation. Any of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our current and planned foreign operations expose us to additional business, financial, regulatory, geopolitical, and other related risks which may have a material adverse effect on our business.
We offer and sell our energy storage solutions, services, and digital application offerings globally and have operations in a number of different countries, including, but not limited to, the United States, the United Kingdom, multiple European Union countries, Chile, Australia, Taiwan, India, Japan, Canada, Singapore, and the Philippines and may in the future, evaluate and take advantage of opportunities to expand into new geographic markets. We also may from time to time engage in acquisitions of businesses or product lines in those geographic markets we currently are in or in other geographic markets that we have not yet penetrated. Operating globally requires significant resources and management attention and subjects us to business, financial, regulatory, geopolitical, and other related risks, relating to, but not limited to, the following:
compliance with multiple, potentially conflicting and changing laws, regulations, policies, and permitting processes, including trade, labor, environmental, health, safety, banking, employment, privacy and data protection laws and regulations, as well as tariffs, export quotas, customs duties, and other trade restrictions;
compliance with U.S. and foreign anti-bribery laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended;
compliance with potentially conflicting and changing laws of taxing jurisdictions where we conduct business and applicable U.S. tax laws as they relate to international operations, the complexity and adverse consequences of such tax laws and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in such tax laws;
limited or unfavorable intellectual property protection and practical difficulties associated with enforcing our legal rights abroad;
geopolitical or economic conditions or uncertainty, which may include war, political instability or unrest, or terrorism, and natural disasters and pandemics;
increased costs, including oversight, management, travel, infrastructure, regulatory compliance, fire-safety compliance, and legal compliance costs, associated with having operations in many countries;
increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities;
changes in diplomatic and trade relationships, including political risk and customer perceptions based on such changes and risks;
potential unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies that may impact our financial results and result in restatements of our consolidated financial statements;
restrictions on the repatriation of earnings;
customer and sales practices varying region to region, including potentially longer sales cycles and differing warranty expectations;
differing technical standards, existing or future regulatory and certification requirements, including relating to fire safety, and required features and functionality as well as different cost, performance, and compatibility requirements; and
fluctuations in the value of foreign currencies and global inflation.
If we are unable to successfully control, manage, influence, or predict these risks, they could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, and liquidity.
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Failure by our contract manufacturers, vendors, and suppliers to use ethical business practices and comply with applicable laws and regulations, including labor, health, safety, and environmental laws, may adversely affect our business.
We do not control our contract manufacturers, vendors, or suppliers nor their business practices.We do not control our vendors or suppliers nor their business practices. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee that they follow ethical business practices, such as with respect to child labor, wages and benefits, forced labor, discrimination, safe and healthy working conditions, environmental concerns, and all applicable legal and regulatory requirements relating to the conduct of their businesses. A lack of demonstrated compliance could lead us to seek alternative manufacturers, vendors, or suppliers, which could increase our costs and result in delayed delivery of energy storage solutions, shortages, or other disruptions to our operations. Violation of applicable labor (including forced labor and child labor) laws and standards, human rights standards, environmental standards, safety codes, quality standards, production practices, or other applicable laws and regulations by our manufacturers, vendors, or suppliers or the divergence of labor or other work practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the U.S. or other markets in which we do business could attract negative publicity for us and otherwise adversely harm our business. We could be exposed to litigation, investigations, enforcement actions, monetary liability, including fines, and additional costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, we could lose customers who have concerns about vendor business practices, responsible sourcing, and traceability of our energy storage solutions. In addition, we could lose customers who have concerns about vendor business practices and traceability of our energy storage solutions. For more information, see our risk factor titled “We are a global company with operations in many countries and maintain a global supply chain which comes with a number of risks that may impact our business, results of operations, and future growth.”
Actual or threatened health epidemics, pandemics, or similar public health threats have had and could in the future have a material adverse effect on our business, outlook, financial condition, results of operations, and liquidity.
The global markets in which we operate were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and could in the future be materially adversely affected by other health pandemics, epidemics, or similar public health threats. For example, in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our ground operations at project sites, our contract manufacturer’s facilities, and our suppliers and vendors were disrupted by worker absenteeism, quarantines, shortage of COVID-19 test kits, and personal protection equipment for employees, office and factory closures, disruptions to ports and other shipping infrastructure, and other travel and health-related restrictions. For example, in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our ground operations at project sites, our manufacturing facilities, and our suppliers and vendors were disrupted by worker absenteeism, quarantines, shortage of COVID-19 test kits, and personal protection equipment for employees, office and factory closures, disruptions to ports and other shipping infrastructure, and other travel and health-related restrictions. Additionally, we saw COVID-19 driven lockdowns in key areas for our battery suppliers, such as China, that resulted in our battery suppliers issuing delay notices to us. Due to the delays from our battery suppliers, some of our intended projects were delayed, resulting in lower revenue recognition. Additionally, some of our projects that were delayed because of COVID-19 supply chain disruptions also incurred liquidated damages payable to our customers resulting in decreased profitability. If our ground operations at project sites, our contract manufacturers’ facilities and our suppliers or vendors are so affected in the future, our supply chain, manufacturing, and product shipments may be delayed, which could adversely affect our business, operations, and customer relationships.
We have encountered and could encounter in the future project delays and resulting liquidated damage claims from customers due to impacts arising from or related to actual or threatened health epidemics, pandemics, similar public health threats on suppliers, customers, or others.We have encountered and could encounter in the future project delays and resulting liquidated damages claims from customers due to impacts arising from or related to actual or threatened health epidemics, pandemics, similar public health threats on suppliers, customers, or others. The extent to which these events may impact our business as well as their duration and intensity will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time. The extent to which these events may impact our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.
The scope and duration of a pandemic, epidemic, or other similar public health threat, including any future resurgences, the pace at which government restrictions, if any, are implemented to contain a virus and then lifted, the impact on our customers and suppliers, the speed and extent to which markets recover from the disruptions caused by a pandemic, epidemic, or other similar public health threat, and the impact of these factors on our business will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence. The impact of a pandemic, epidemic, or other similar public health threat may also exacerbate other risks discussed herein, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Severe weather events, including the effects of climate change, are inherently unpredictable and may have a material adverse effect on our financial results and financial condition.
Our operations and those of our customers and suppliers face exposure to severe weather events and natural disasters, such as tornadoes, tsunamis, tropical storms (including hurricanes and typhoons), earthquakes, windstorms, hailstorms, heat waves, floods, droughts, severe thunderstorms, wildfires, and other fires, which could cause operating results to vary significantly from one period to the next. For example, one of our contract manufacturers’ facilities is located in Vietnam and their ability to timely ship out of port is impacted at times by the occurrence of typhoons or other tropical types of storms. We may incur losses in our business in excess of: those experienced in prior years, the average expected level used in pricing, or current insurance coverage limits due to such weather events and natural disasters. We may incur losses in our business in excess of: (1) those experienced in prior years, (2) the average expected level used in pricing, or (3) current insurance coverage limits. The incidence and severity of severe weather conditions and other natural disasters are inherently unpredictable.
Climate change is increasing and is expected to continue to increase the frequency and severity of certain natural events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, droughts, hail and ice, extreme temperatures, wind and thunderstorm events as well as subsequent events. Climate change may also result in chronic physical changes, such as changes to temperature or precipitation patterns or rising sea levels that may also adversely impact the suitability of certain project sites, disrupt our supply chain and
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operations, or otherwise adversely impact our business. Evolving market conditions, shifts in global policies on climate change, and the increase in frequency and impact of extreme weather events on critical infrastructure globally as a result of climate change have the potential to disrupt our business, the business of our suppliers and the business of our customers, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain or resume operations. Evolving market conditions, shift in global policy on climate change, and the increase in frequency and impact of extreme weather events on critical infrastructure globally as a result of climate change have the potential to disrupt our business, the business of our suppliers and the business of our customers, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain or resume operations. Additionally, climate change may adversely impact the demand, price, and availability of insurance that may be available to us, our suppliers, and to our customers at project sites. Any actions we may take to mitigate our business risks associated with climate change, may require us to incur substantial costs and may not be successful, due to, among other things, the uncertainty associated with the longer-term projections associated with managing climate risks. While we may take various actions to mitigate our business risks associated with climate change, this may require us to incur substantial costs and may not be successful, due to, among other things, the uncertainty associated with the longer-term projections associated with managing climate risks.
Risks Related to Acquisitions

As part of growing our business, we have in the past made acquisitions and expect to continue to evaluate acquisitions and other strategic transactions into the future. If we fail to successfully select, execute, or integrate our acquisitions or other transactions, then our business and operating results could be adversely affected and our stock price could decline. If we fail to successfully select, execute, or integrate our acquisitions, then our business and operating results could be adversely affected and our stock price could decline.
We continuously evaluate potential acquisitions and strategic transactions to expand commercial production capacity, add new product lines and technologies, gain new sales channels, enter into new sales territories, expand our market share, and capture certain tax or other incentives. For example, in 2022, we acquired Fluence Nispera and in 2020, we acquired a software and digital intelligence platform, which has become Fluence Mosaic. We may not be successful in completing any contemplated strategic transaction and any such strategic transaction may not achieve its intended benefits or have a positive impact on our financial condition or business on the timeline that we expect or at all. Further, acquisitions and strategic transactions involve numerous risks and challenges, including, but not limited to, the following:
integrating assets, systems, internal controls, products, sales channels, and personnel;
inability to successfully manage transaction-related strain on our management, operations and financial resources;
higher than anticipated transaction and integration costs and expenses, and regulatory costs, expenses and scrutiny;
reliance on third parties to provide transition services for a period of time after closing to ensure an orderly transition of the business or, in the case of a joint venture, to continue operation of the business;
growing or maintaining revenues to justify the purchase price and the increased expenses associated with transactions;
entering into territories or markets with which we have limited or no prior experience;
establishing or maintaining business relationships with customers, vendors, regulators, and suppliers who may be new to us;
overcoming the employee, customers, vendor, and supplier turnover that may occur as a result of the transaction;
disruption of, and demands on, our ongoing business as a result of integration activities including diversion of management’s time and attention from running the day to day operations of our business;
unfavorable tax, regulatory or accounting treatment;
inability to implement uniform standards, disclosure controls and procedures, internal controls over financial reporting, and other procedures and policies in a timely manner, if at all;
inability to realize the anticipated benefits of or successfully integrate with our existing business the businesses, products, technologies, or personnel;
failure to appropriately and holistically identify all the problems, liabilities, risks, or other challenges of any transaction, technology or solution at the time of closing;
changes in tax laws, tax treaties, regulations or interpretations thereof;
known and unknown liabilities including contract, tax, regulatory or other legal, and other obligations incurred or fines or penalties, for which indemnity obligations, escrow arrangements or insurance may not be available or may not be sufficient to provide coverage; and
potential post-closing disputes.
As part of pursuing an acquisition or other transaction, we may also significantly revise our capital structure or operational budget, including through issuing common stock that would dilute the ownership percentage of our stockholders, assuming or incurring liabilities or debt, utilizing a substantial portion of our cash resources to pay for the acquisition, or significantly increasing operating expenses. In addition, our effective tax rate in any particular quarter may also be impacted by acquisitions or other
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transactions. Following the closing of an acquisition or other transaction, we may also have disputes with the seller, counterparty or regulators regarding contractual requirements and covenants, purchase price adjustments, contingent payments, regulatory restrictions or indemnifiable losses. There are also several competing alternatives for battery energy storage solutions, as well as non-intermittent energy generation that does not require storage, including but not limited to, pumped hydro, hydrogen, biofuels, thermal, and generation paired with carbon sequestration. Any such disputes may be time consuming and distract management from other aspects of our business. In addition, if we increase the pace or size of transactions, we will have to expend significant management time and effort into the transactions and integrations, and we may not have the proper human resources bandwidth to ensure successful integrations and accordingly, our business could be harmed or the benefits of transactions we pursue may not be realized. In addition, if we increase the pace or size of acquisitions, we will have to expend significant management time and effort into the transactions and integrations, and we may not have the proper human resources bandwidth to ensure successful integrations and accordingly, our business could be harmed or the benefits of our acquisitions may not be realized. Any of the foregoing can have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, stock price, or financial condition. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Liquidity
We may not be able to obtain letters of credit, surety bonds, or other financial assurances for our projects, if and when needed on favorable terms, if at all, and we may not have sufficient liquidity to satisfy any indemnification obligations thereunder.
Certain of our projects require that we issue letters of credit, surety bonds, or other financial assurances to our customers in order to secure advance payments or guarantee performance under our contracts. Our continued ability to obtain surety bonds, letters of credit, or other financial assurances will depend on our capitalization, working capital, and financial performance. Our ability to issue letters of credit is dependent upon the availability of adequate credit issued by our banks and could be negatively impacted by our compliance with our financial covenants under our current credit agreement and any future debt agreements. Future compliance with such financial covenants may be affected by factors beyond our control, including general or industry-specific economic downturns. With respect to letters of credit under our 2024 Revolver (as defined in Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—2024 Revolver”), any advance in the event of non-performance under a contract would become a direct obligation of ours and would reduce our cash. With respect to surety bonds, payments by a surety pursuant to a bond in the event of non-performance are subject to reimbursement to the surety by us under a general indemnity agreement. Such indemnification obligations may include the face amount of the surety bond, or portions thereof, as well as other reimbursable items such as interest and certain investigative expenses and legal fees of the surety. Such indemnification obligations would require us to use our cash, cash equivalents or short-term investments, and we may not have sufficient liquidity to satisfy such indemnification obligations. When a contract is complete, the contingent obligation terminates, and letters of credit, surety bonds, or other financial assurances are returned and terminated. Necessary letters of credit, bonding capacity, or other financial assurances may not be available to support all, or any, future project requirements and we may not have sufficient liquidity to satisfy any future indemnification obligations relating to these surety bonds. We can provide no assurances that necessary letters of credit, bonding capacity, or other financial assurances will be available to support all, if any, future project requirements or that we will have sufficient liquidity to satisfy any future indemnification obligations relating to these surety bonds.
Our relatively limited operating and revenue history as an independent entity and the endlessly evolving clean energy industry in which we operate makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult.
We were established in January 2018 as a joint venture between Siemens and AES. Since then, we have continued to evolve, grow, and expand our business and operations, completing our IPO in the first quarter of our fiscal year 2022. We have a relatively limited history operating our business and generating revenue as an independent entity after the time of our IPO, and therefore a limited history upon which you can base an investment decision. Since then, we have continued to evolve, grow, and expand our business and operations, completing our IPO in the first quarter of our fiscal year 2022. We have benefited and continue to benefit from the industry experience and support AES and Siemens have provided and continue to provide, but we have a relatively limited history operating our business and generating revenue as an independent entity after the time of our IPO, and therefore a limited history upon which you can base an investment decision. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks by companies in the earlier stages of development, especially those in newer and rapidly evolving industries. Our ability to plan for future operations, predict future results of operations, and plan for and model future growth in revenue, costs and expenses, order intake and backlog, and other prospects is subject to significant risk and uncertainty as compared to companies with longer and more consistent operating histories and in more stable macroeconomic environments and industries.
Our potential future growth in a nascent and rapidly-evolving industry is dependent on a number of factors, including rising demand for clean electric power solutions that can provide electric power with lower carbon emissions and replacement of conventional generation sources, the adoption speed of digital software applications to modernize the efficiency of power assets and the electric grid, and regulatory regimes that incentivize the use of clean energy and energy storage. Among other renewable energy market trends, we have seen and expect to continue to see our business results be driven by declines in the cost of generation of renewable power, decreases in the cost of manufacturing battery modules and cells, customer needs for energy storage products and related services and digital applications, commercial and legal, and in some jurisdictions political pressure for the reduced use of and reliance on fossil fuels and electric power generation that relies on fossil or other non-renewable fuels, regulatory and governmental incentives towards reduced use of fossil fuels and increased use of renewable energy and energy storage solutions, including through the IRA and OBBBA, and a rapidly growing and evolving global energy storage market driven by increasing demand from C&I customers, IPPs, developers, utilities, and grid operators. Additionally, we are seeing an increase in demand for electricity in multiple markets in response to transformations in technologies like AI, data center expansion, new domestic manufacturing, and electrification in different sectors, some of which are rapidly evolving. Additionally, we are seeing an increase in demand for electricity in multiple markets in response to transformations in technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), data center expansion, new domestic manufacturing, and electrification in different sectors. However, predicting future revenues and appropriately forecasting and budgeting for our expenses is difficult, and we have limited insight into trends or economic conditions that may emerge and take hold and materially affect our business. Our future operations and growth strategy is therefore subject to all of the risks inherent in light of the expenses, difficulties, complications, and delays frequently encountered in connection with the growth of a business in a nascent industry, as well as those that are specific to our business in particular as which are further described herein.
If our assumptions regarding the risks and uncertainties that we consider in planning and operating our business are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks and uncertainties successfully, including due to the lack of historical data from and
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experience in operating our business at its current scale and as an independent entity, as well as the evolution of our business, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations, and our business and our financial condition could be adversely affected.
We may increase our expenses in the future and we may not be able to achieve or maintain prolonged profitability.We anticipate increasing our expenses in the future and we may not be able to maintain prolonged profitability.
Except for fiscal year 2024, we have historically incurred net losses, including in fiscal year 2025, on an annual basis since our inception. We expect our aggregate costs will increase in the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in increasing our customer base, expanding our operations, investing in research and development of our products and solutions, and operating as a public company, which in turn, may impact our ability to achieve, maintain, or increase profitability. These efforts have in the past been more expensive than anticipated and may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we have not and may not succeed in increasing our revenue sufficiently to offset higher than anticipated expenses. We may not achieve profitability in any given period and our relatively limited operating history as an independent entity may make it difficult for you to evaluate our current business and our future prospects. We may not generate positive cash flow from operations or profitability in any given period and our relatively limited operating history as an independent entity may make it difficult for you to evaluate our current business and our future prospects. Operating results for future periods are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks and we cannot assure you that we will maintain, achieve, or increase prolonged profitability. Our ability to maintain, achieve, or increase prolonged profitability in the future depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, customer acceptance of our energy storage solutions, services, and digital applications, our ability to obtain components from suppliers on cost-effective terms and on a timely basis, our ability to timely and effectively ramp up production as the Company continues to grow, our ability to maintain and grow our market share and effectively compete against others in the industry, and favorable regulatory conditions, as well as our ability to effectively manage our operating and capital expenditures. Our ability to maintain and increase prolonged profitability in the future depends on a number of factors, including the continued successful development and customer acceptance of our energy storage solutions, services, and digital applications, our ability to obtain components from suppliers on cost-effective terms and on a timely basis, our ability to maintain and grow our market share and effectively compete against others in the industry, as well as our ability to effectively manage both our operating and capital expenditures.
We have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by growing companies in new and rapidly changing industries. We expect our operating expenses to continue to increase over the next several years as we continue to hire additional personnel, expand our operations and infrastructure, and continue to expand to reach more customers. We expect our operating expenses to continue to increase significantly over the next several years as we continue to hire additional personnel, expand our operations and infrastructure, and continue to expand to reach more customers. Further, we may encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other factors as we expand our business and execute our business plans, including, but not limited to, factors relating to macroeconomic uncertainties and market conditions, supply chain disruptions, contract manufacturing delays, and enactment of new government policies and regulations, which may result in losses or a failure to generate profitable growth in future periods. If our growth rate were to decline significantly or become negative in the future, it could adversely affect our future financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to successfully address these risks and challenges as we encounter them, our business, results of operations, and financial condition may be adversely affected. Our failure to maintain prolonged profitability could negatively impact the value of our Class A common stock and the value of our business.
Amounts included in our pipeline and contracted backlog may not result in actual revenue or translate into profits.
Information about our pipeline and contracted backlog included in this Annual Report and our other public disclosures is based on numerous assumptions and limitations, calculated using our internal data which may not provide an accurate indication of our future or expected results as we cannot guarantee that our pipeline or contracted backlog will result in actual revenue in the originally anticipated period, if at all, or will result in meaningful revenue or profitability. Our customers operate in an evolving, nascent industry and have based their commitments to us on assumptions about future energy prices, demand levels, and current and anticipated regulatory regimes and tax incentives, including those currently anticipated under the IRA and OBBBA, among other factors. Further, certain customers may need to obtain financing to fulfill their commitments to us. If the market does not grow as expected, the regulatory environment changes, including potential changes to tariffs or other trade restrictions or to the IRA and OBBBA, or customers fail to obtain and maintain necessary levels of financial backing, our pipeline may be adversely affected and customers may fail to satisfy their minimum purchase commitments to us, causing us to fail to realize our anticipated pipeline or contracted backlog. If the market does not grow as expected, the regulatory environment changes, including potential impacts to tariffs or to the IRA, or customers fail to obtain and maintain necessary levels of financial backing, our pipeline may be adversely affected and customers may fail to satisfy their minimum purchase commitments to us and we would fail to realize our contracted backlog. Furthermore, our pipeline or contracted backlog may not generate margins equal to historical operating results or to the expected level guided to by management. Our customers may experience delays that could result in project delays or cancelled orders as a result of external market factors and economic or other factors beyond our or their control. If our pipeline or contracted backlog fails to result in revenue or margins as anticipated or in a timely manner, we could experience a reduction in revenue, profitability, and liquidity.
Our current credit agreement imposes, and future debt agreements may impose, certain restrictions that may affect our ability to operate our business and make payments on our indebtedness.
We are party to the 2024 Credit Agreement (as defined herein), which contains covenants that, among other things, restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness; incur liens; sell, transfer, or dispose of property and assets; invest; make dividends or distributions or other restricted payments; and engage in affiliate transactions. In addition, we are required to maintain minimum liquidity, minimum consolidated leverage ratio, and certain other financial requirements relating to the guarantor coverage test on certain applicable dates. See Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—2024 Credit Agreement” for further discussion of the 2024 Revolver. The 2024 Credit Agreement limits our ability to make certain payments, including dividends or distributions on Fluence Energy, LLC’s equity and other restricted payments, provided, however, that payments in respect of certain tax distributions under the Third Amended and
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Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement of Fluence Energy, LLC and certain payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are permitted. See Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Tax Receivable Agreement” for further discussion of the Tax Receivable Agreement. Such restrictions may restrict our current and future operations, particularly our ability to respond to certain changes in our business or industry or take future actions, including raising additional debt or equity financing to operate during general economic or business downturns, to compete effectively, or to take advantage of new business opportunities.
Our ability to meet the restrictive covenants under the 2024 Credit Agreement may be impacted by events beyond our control. Our 2024 Credit Agreement and related security agreements provide that our breach or failure to satisfy certain covenants constitutes an event of default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, our lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under their debt agreements with us to be immediately due and payable. In addition, our lenders, to whom we granted a security interest in substantially all of our assets, would have the right to proceed against such assets we provided as collateral pursuant to the 2024 Credit Agreement and related security agreements. If our borrowings under our 2024 Revolver were to be accelerated, we may not have sufficient cash on hand or be able to sell sufficient collateral to repay outstanding borrowings or be able to borrow sufficient funds to refinance, which would have an immediate adverse effect on our business and operating results. Any such acceleration could potentially cause us to cease operations and result in a complete loss of your investment in our Class A common stock.
Moreover, the 2024 Revolver requires us to dedicate a portion of our cash flow from operations to interest payments and other fees, including relating to the issuance of letters of credit thereunder, thereby reducing the availability of cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, and other general corporate purposes; increasing our vulnerability to adverse general economic, industry, or competitive developments or conditions; and limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate or in pursuing our strategic objectives.
We may not be able to raise additional capital to execute on our current or future business opportunities on favorable terms, if at all, or without dilution to our stockholders.
We may seek to raise funds from capital or debt financing, including potentially public and private stock offerings, borrowings under our existing or new credit facilities, or other sources, to execute on our current or future business strategies. Our capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
market acceptance of our solutions, services, and digital offerings;
the revenue generated by sales of our solutions, services, and digital offerings;
the costs associated with expanding our sales and marketing efforts;
the expenses we incur in manufacturing and selling our products;
the costs of developing and commercializing new products or technologies;
the cost of filing and prosecuting patent applications and defending and enforcing our patents and other intellectual property rights;
the cost of defending, in litigation or otherwise, any claims that we infringe third-party patents or other intellectual property rights;
the cost of enforcing or defending against non-competition claims;
the number and timing of acquisitions and other strategic transactions;
the costs associated with our planned international expansion; and
unanticipated general and administrative expenses.
As a result of these factors, we may seek to raise additional capital to, among others:
provide additional cash reserves to support our operations and growth;
maintain appropriate product inventory levels;
continue our research and development and protect our intellectual property rights;
defend claims, in litigation, cooperate with governmental investigations, or otherwise;
expand our geographic reach;
commercialize our new products; and
acquire companies, assets, and license products or intellectual property or enter into other strategic transactions.
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Such capital or financings may not be available on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Furthermore, if we issue equity or debt securities to raise additional capital, our existing stockholders may experience dilution, and the new equity or debt securities may have rights, preferences, and privileges senior to those of our existing stockholders. In addition, if we raise additional capital through collaboration, licensing, or other similar arrangements, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our products, potential products, or proprietary technologies, or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If we are unable to rely on our standalone credit quality or utilize such credit support tools like parent company guarantees, letters of credit, or surety bonds going forward, it may impact our ability to sell products or establish customer and supplier relationships going forward. If we cannot raise capital on acceptable terms, we may not be able to develop or enhance our product, service, and digital application offerings, execute our business plan, take advantage of future opportunities, or respond to competitive pressures, changes in our supplier relationships, or unanticipated customer requirements. Any of these events could adversely affect our ability to achieve our development and commercialization goals, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our operating results.
The Company enters into contracts for energy storage projects globally, which may be denominated in foreign currencies, such as the Euro, the Pound, the Australian Dollar, and the Canadian Dollar, and are therefore subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In particular, geopolitical instability and fiscal and monetary policies have caused in the past, and may in the future cause, significant volatility in currency exchange rates. If our exposure to currency fluctuations increases and we are not able to successfully hedge against all, if any, of the risks associated with currency fluctuations, our operating results could be adversely affected. Furthermore, such currency fluctuations may also adversely impact our ability to accurately predict our future financial results. Therefore, from time to time, we seek to manage our exposure to foreign currency risk relating to these cash flow projects through entering into different types of hedging arrangements designed to reduce such risk exposure. Our hedging activities may not successfully reduce our risk exposure. In addition, there may be unforeseen events affecting our business that could lead us to be long in positions that we did not anticipate when such hedging transactions were put into place which in turn could lead to adverse effects on our financial position.

Risks Related to the Clean Energy Industry

If renewable energy technologies are not suitable for widespread adoption or sufficient demand for our offerings does not develop or takes longer to develop than we anticipate, our sales may decline, and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.
The market for renewable, distributed energy generation is emerging and rapidly evolving, and its future success and trajectory is uncertain and subject to a number of risks. If renewable energy generation proves unsuitable for widespread commercial deployment or if demand for our energy storage solutions, software-enabled services, and digital application offerings fails to develop as currently anticipated, our revenue, market share, and our ability to achieve and/or sustain profitability may be adversely affected.

Many factors may influence the widespread adoption of renewable energy generation and demand for our offerings, including, but not limited to, the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy technologies as compared with conventional and competitive technologies, the performance and reliability of renewable energy products as compared with conventional and non-renewable products, fluctuations in economic and market conditions that impact the viability of conventional and competitive alternative energy sources, increases or decreases in the prices of oil, coal and natural gas, continued deregulation of the electric power industry and broader energy industry, policy priorities of different political administrations at the international, federal, state and local level, including the scope of governmental regulations regarding renewable energy generation as well as government regulations regarding oil, coal and natural gas, and the availability or effectiveness of government subsidies and incentives, including from the IRA and OBBBA. The growth of renewable energy generation is relevant to the demand for energy storage because increases in intermittent solar and wind power in many jurisdictions have spurred the demand for energy storage to help maintain reliability and support the integration of solar and wind power into the electrical grid. Additionally, the growth of conventional energy generation and steeply rising electricity demand, particularly from large electricity loads, including AI data centers which often have 99.999% reliability requirements has, independently from renewable energy generation, spurred increasing demand for energy storage. This is because energy storage can be charged by all electricity power generation resources, can discharge the power to serve electricity loads within milliseconds, and can serve as a transmission asset.

The growth and profitability of our business is largely dependent upon the continued decline in the overall cost of battery energy storage. Over the last decade the cost of battery storage products, particularly lithium-ion based battery storage products, have declined significantly. This lower cost has been driven by advances in battery technology, maturation of the battery supply chain, the scale of battery production by the leading manufacturers, and other factors. The growth of sales of our energy storage solutions and related services is dependent upon the continued decrease in the price and efficiency of battery storage products of our component OEM suppliers. In fiscal year 2022, we saw lithium-ion battery prices increase for the first time and as a result, we had to evolve and adopt a different contracting strategy to ensure preservation of margin in such instance but since then, battery prices have decreased during fiscal years 2023 through 2025. If for any reason going forward our component OEM suppliers are unable to continue to reduce
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the price of their components, including, but not limited to batteries, our business and financial condition may be negatively impacted. Additionally, we believe the growth and profitability of our business is increasingly reliant on U.S. domestic supply chains that are still in the early stages of commercial operations. Delays in the construction and ramp up of these U.S. domestic supply chains and U.S. manufacturing or unanticipated increased costs relating to such supply chains could cause delays to our projects and could result in lower sales, profitability, and potentially canceled contracts. This could harm our relationships with our customers if projects are delayed. In addition, such delays in construction and ramp up of the U.S. domestic supply chains has caused and may in the future adversely impact our results of operations.

If the estimates and assumptions we use to determine the size of our total addressable market are inaccurate, our future growth rate may be affected, and the potential growth of our business could be limited.

Market estimates and growth forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the markets in which we compete meet our size estimates and forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all. The assumptions relating to our market opportunities include, but are not limited to, the following:(i) the global transition toward renewable energy, (ii) heightened focus on grid resilience, (iii) declining lithium-ion battery prices, (iv) increased electricity demand, and (v) supportive regulatory frameworks. Our market opportunities are also based on the assumption that our existing and future offerings will be more attractive to our customers and potential customers than competing products and services. If these assumptions prove inaccurate, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected. For more information regarding our estimates of market opportunity and the forecasts of market growth included herein, see the section entitled Part I, Item 1. “Business.”

Macroeconomic uncertainty and market conditions may adversely affect our industry, business, and financial results.
Our business depends on the overall demand for our solutions, services, and digital application offerings and on the economic health and willingness of our customers and potential customers to make capital commitments to purchase our energy storage solutions, services, and digital applications. Macroeconomic or market uncertainty, including increased interest rates, high inflation, trade restrictions or other policies, or expectations regarding future interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, may cause, and has caused, customers to delay purchasing our energy storage solutions and services or not purchase at all.
Macroeconomic uncertainty or weakness could result in:
reduced demand for our solutions, services, and digital offerings as a result of constraints on spending by our customers or changes in contracting behavior by customers;
decreased ability to forecast operating results and make decisions about budgeting, planning, and future investments;
business and financial difficulties faced by our suppliers, distributors or our contract manufacturers, including impacts to material costs, sales, liquidity levels, ability to continue investing in their businesses, ability to import or export goods, ability to meet development commitments, and manufacturing capability;
increased overhead and production costs as a percentage of revenue; and
reductions in anticipated order intake and pipeline and other operating metrics.

In addition, adverse economic conditions may increase in likelihood, magnitude, or duration of the impact of certain other risks associated with our business, discussed herein.

An increase in interest rates or a reduction in the availability of tax equity, project debt capital, or project financing in the global financial markets could make it difficult for customers to finance the cost of a battery energy storage system and could reduce the demand for our energy storage solutions.

Many end users depend on financing to fund the initial capital expenditure required to purchase our energy storage solutions as a result of the significant up-front costs. Customers’ ability to attract third-party financing depends on many factors that are outside of our control, including the ability of third parties to utilize tax credits and other government incentives, including under the IRA and OBBBA, interest rate and/or currency exchange fluctuations, their perceived creditworthiness as well as the Company’s perceived financial stability, and the condition of credit markets generally. Customers’ ability to attract third-party financing depends on many factors that are outside of our control, including the ability of third parties to utilize tax credits and other government incentives, including under the IRA, interest rate and/or currency exchange fluctuations, their perceived creditworthiness, and the condition of credit markets generally. As a result, an increase in interest rates or a reduction in the supply of project debt, project finance, or tax equity financing could reduce the number of customer projects that receive financing or otherwise make it difficult for our customers or their customers to secure the financing necessary to construct a renewable energy system on favorable terms, or at all, and thus lower demand for our products, which could limit our growth or reduce our net sales. In addition, we believe that a significant percentage of end-users construct renewable energy storage systems as an investment, funding a significant portion of the initial capital expenditure with financing from third parties. An increase in interest rates could lower an investor’s return on investment, increase equity requirements, or make alternative investments more attractive relative to our energy
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storage solutions and, in each case, could cause these end users to seek alternative investments, which would have an adverse impact to our business and results of operations.
The economic benefit of our offerings to our customers depends on the cost of energy and capacity, as well as its availability from alternative sources, including existing infrastructure and /or new natural gas power plants.

The economic benefit of our energy storage solutions to our customers includes, among other things, the benefit of reducing such customers’ payments to the local electric utility company. The rates at which electricity is available from a customer’s local electric utility company is subject to change and any changes in such rates may affect the relative benefits of our energy storage products. Factors that could influence these rates include the effect of energy conservation initiatives that reduce electricity consumption, construction of additional power generation plants (including nuclear, coal, or natural gas), and technological developments by others in the electric power industry. Further, the local electric utility may impose “departing load,” “standby”, or other charges on our customers in connection with their acquisition of our energy storage products, the amounts of which are outside of our control and which may have a material impact on the overall economic benefit of our energy storage products to and cost analysis for our customers of our energy storage products. Changes in the rates offered by local electric utilities and/or in the applicability or amounts of charges and other fees imposed by such utilities on customers acquiring our energy storage products has and could in the future adversely affect the demand for our energy storage products.

Revenue from any projects we support may be adversely affected if there is a decline in public acceptance or support of renewable energy, or regulatory agencies, local communities, or other third parties delay, prevent, or increase the cost of constructing and operating customer projects.
Certain persons, associations, and groups could oppose renewable energy projects in general or our customers’ projects specifically, citing, for example, misuse of water resources, landscape degradation, land use, food scarcity or price increase, and harm to the environment. Moreover, regulation may restrict the development of renewable energy plants or facilities in certain areas. In order to develop a renewable energy project, our customers are typically required to obtain, among other things, environmental impact permits and other authorizations and building permits, which in turn require environmental impact studies to be undertaken and public hearings and comment periods to be held during which any person, association, or group may oppose a project. Any such opposition may be taken into account by government officials responsible for granting the relevant permits, which could result in the permits being delayed or not being granted or being granted solely on the condition that our customers carry out certain corrective measures to the proposed project, and opposition to a project could lead to legal challenges by opponents to an agency’s approval of the project permits.
Increasing attention to, and evolving expectations regarding, ESG matters may impact the clean energy industry as well as our business and reputation.Increasing attention to, and evolving expectations regarding, ESG matters may impact our business and reputation.
Companies across industries are facing increasing scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders related to their ESG and sustainability practices. Expectations regarding voluntary ESG initiatives and disclosures may result in increased costs (including but not limited to increased costs related to compliance, stakeholder engagement, contracting, and insurance), changes in demand for certain products, enhanced compliance or disclosure obligations, or other impacts to our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
While we have in past engaged, and expect in future to continue to engage, in voluntary initiatives (such as voluntary disclosures, certifications, or goals, among others) to improve the ESG profile of our Company and/or products or to respond to stakeholder expectations, such initiatives may be costly and may not have the desired effect. Expectations around the Company’s management of ESG matters continues to evolve rapidly, in many instances due to factors that are out of our control. For example, we may engage in initiatives or make statements based on estimates, assumptions, methodologies, or third-party information that is subsequently determined to be inaccurate or to not align with best practices. Our approaches to such matters may evolve as well, and we cannot guarantee that our approaches will align with the expectations of any particular stakeholder. We may ultimately be unable to complete certain initiatives or targets, either on the timelines initially announced or at all, due to technological, legal, cost, or other constraints, which may be within or outside of our control. If we fail to, or are perceived to fail to, comply with or advance certain ESG initiatives (including the timeline and manner in which we complete such initiatives), we may be subject to various adverse impacts, including reputational damage and potential stakeholder engagement and/or litigation, even if such initiatives are currently voluntary. For example, there have been increasing allegations of greenwashing against companies making significant ESG claims due to a variety of perceived deficiencies in disclosure, methodology, or performance, including as stakeholder perceptions of sustainability continue to evolve. Companies, such as us, involved in the energy transition may be especially impacted by such criticisms, due to our efforts to position our business plan focusing on helping customers achieve sustainability-related goals and objectives.
We expect there will likely be increasing levels of regulation, disclosure-related and otherwise, with respect to ESG matters, as well as potential opposition to certain ESG matters.We expect there will likely be increasing levels of regulation, disclosure-related and otherwise, with respect to ESG matters. For example, various policymakers, such as the European Union and the State of California (e.g., California’s Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261)), have adopted, or are considering adopting rules which will require companies to provide additional disclosures or take other actions related to sustainability, whereas other policymakers have restricted or are considering restricting the application of ESG-related disclosures. However, these requirements and policy decisions are not uniform, which can increase the cost and complexity of
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compliance and associated risks. Simultaneously, there are efforts by some stakeholders to reduce companies’ efforts on certain ESG-related matters. Both advocates and opponents to certain ESG matters are increasingly resorting to a range of activism forms, including media campaigns and litigation, to advance their perspectives. To the extent we are subject to such activism, it may require us to incur costs or otherwise adversely impact our business. This and other stakeholder expectations will likely lead to increased costs as well as scrutiny that could heighten all of the risks identified in this risk factor. Additionally, many of our customers and suppliers are subject to similar expectations, which may augment or create additional risks, including risks that may not be known to us. Additionally, many of our customers and suppliers may be subject to similar expectations, which may augment or create additional risks, including risks that may not be known to us.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Technology
If we are unable to obtain, maintain, and enforce adequate protection for our intellectual property or if the scope of our intellectual property protection is not sufficiently broad, others may be able to develop, commercialize, and/or receive patents for technology and intellectual property substantially similar to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology or intellectual property may be adversely affected.
Our business depends on internally developed technology or other internally developed intellectual property, including software, databases, systems, confidential information, and know-how, the protection of which is crucial to the success of our business. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, trade-secret, copyright, and other intellectual property protection laws as well as internal confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to establish, maintain, and protect our intellectual property rights in our internally developed technology and other intellectual property. However, our rights under these laws and agreements only afford us limited protection and the actions we take to establish, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights may not leave us free from adverse effects. We will, over time, take additional steps in protecting our intellectual property through growing our internal intellectual property team and through additional trademark, patent, and other intellectual property filings both in the United States and abroad that will be expensive and time-consuming. Effective intellectual property protection is expensive to develop and maintain and the aggregate costs of maintaining a portfolio of patents and registered copyrights and trademarks and trade secrets can be substantial, both in terms of initial and ongoing prosecution and maintenance requirements and the costs of enforcing and defending our rights. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property, these measures taken to date cannot guarantee us complete protection from our competitors or from other third parties attempting to copy, reverse engineer, or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could be harmed, business opportunities and demand for our products, services and digital application offerings could decrease, and our business could be adversely impacted as third parties may be able to commercialize and use technologies, software products and intellectual property that are substantially the same as ours without incurring the development and licensing costs that we have incurred.
Any of our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, or misappropriated, and our trade secrets and other confidential information could be disclosed in an unauthorized manner to third parties. Some of our services rely on technologies and software developed by or licensed from third parties, and we may not be able to maintain our relationships with such third parties or enter into similar relationships in the future on reasonable terms or at all. Further, in some cases, our intellectual property rights may not be sufficient to circumvent third party intellectual property and thereby not permit us to take advantage of market trends nor providing us with competitive advantages, which could result in costly redesign efforts, discontinuance of certain offerings, or other competitive harm.
Additionally, monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is cumbersome and costly and any steps taken to prevent misappropriation may not be successful. In the future, we may seek to enforce our rights against potential infringers, however, the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property rights still may not prevent actual infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. We may not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. We may also have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources.
Uncertainty may result from changes in intellectual property laws as a result of new legislation and from new interpretations of intellectual property laws by applicable courts and agencies throughout the world. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to obtain and maintain the intellectual property rights necessary to provide us with a competitive advantage. Our failure to obtain, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights could therefore have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
As a technology company selling commercial products, we run the risk of being sued by third parties for infringement, misappropriation, dilution, or other violation of their intellectual property or proprietary rights.
Technology, internet, advertising, and in general most companies involved with commercially selling products, frequently are subject to litigation based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation, dilution, or other violations of intellectual property rights. Some of these companies, including some of our competitors, as well as non-practicing entities, own or have rights to large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, which they may use to assert claims against us. For instance, the use of our technology to provide our offerings could be challenged by claims that such use infringes, dilutes, misappropriates, or otherwise
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violates the intellectual property rights of a third party. In addition, we may in the future be exposed to claims that content published or made available through our applications or websites violates third-party intellectual property rights.
As we face increasing competition and as a public company, the possibility of intellectual property right claims against us grows. Such claims and litigation may involve patent holding companies or other adverse intellectual property rights holders who have no relevant product revenue, and therefore our own pending patents and other intellectual property rights may provide little or no deterrence to these rights holders in bringing intellectual property right claims against us. Third parties may hold vast and/or undisclosed intellectual property rights that cover significant aspects of our technologies, content, branding, or business methods, and we cannot completely and consistently assure that we are not infringing or violating, and have not violated or infringed, any third-party intellectual property rights or that we will not be held to have done so or be accused of doing so in the future. We may not be aware of existing patents or patent applications that could be pertinent to our business as many patent applications are filed confidentially in the United States and are not published until 18 months following the applicable filing date. We expect that we may receive in the future notices that claim we or our customers using our energy storage solutions, services or digital applications, have infringed or misappropriated, other parties’ intellectual property rights, particularly as the number of competitors in our market grows and the functionality of applications amongst competitors overlaps.
Any claim that we have violated intellectual property or other proprietary rights of third parties, with or without merit, and whether or not it results in litigation, settlement out of court, or is determined in our favor, could be time-consuming and costly to address and resolve, and could divert the time and attention of management and technical personnel from our business and the day-to-day operations. Furthermore, an adverse outcome of a dispute may result in an injunction and could require us to pay substantial monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have infringed a party’s intellectual property rights. Any settlement or adverse judgment resulting from such a claim could require us to enter into a licensing agreement to continue using the technology, content, or other intellectual property that is the subject of the claim; restrict or prohibit our use of such technology, content, or other intellectual property; require us to expend significant resources to redesign our technology or solutions; and require us to indemnify third parties. Royalty or licensing agreements, if required or desirable, may require significant royalty payments and other expenditures, or, they may be unavailable on commercially reasonable terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. We may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, which could require significant time and expense and diversion of resources. We may not be able to develop or license suitable alternative technology, content, or other intellectual property to permit us to continue offering the affected technology, content, or services to our customers. There also can be no assurance that we would be able to develop or license suitable alternative technology, content, or other intellectual property to permit us to continue offering the affected technology, content, or services to our customers. If we cannot develop or license technology for any allegedly infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit our offerings and may be unable to compete as effectively, if at all. Any of these events could materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected or protectable, we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest, and our competitive position may be harmed.
The registered and unregistered trademarks and trade names that we own may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic, lapsed, or determined to be infringing on or dilutive of other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights in these trademarks and trade names, which we need in order to build name recognition with potential members, partners, and clients. In addition, third parties may file for registration of trademarks similar or identical to our trademarks, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. If they succeed in registering or developing common-law rights in such trademarks, and if we are not successful in challenging such third-party rights, we may not be able to use these trademarks to develop brand recognition of our technologies, products, or services. In addition, there could be potential trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered or unregistered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names. If we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, we may not be able to compete effectively, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be able to enforce our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
As the geographic scope of our business expands, we will need to consider protecting our proprietary technology and other intellectual property in an increasing number of jurisdictions, a process that is expensive and may not be successful, and accordingly we may choose not to do so in every location. Filing, prosecuting, maintaining, defending, and enforcing intellectual property rights on our products, services, digital applications, and technologies in all countries throughout the world could be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. We do not own and have not registered or applied for intellectual property registrations in all countries outside the United States. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained protection to develop their own products, services, digital applications, and technologies and, further, may export otherwise violating products and services to territories where we have protection but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products, services, digital applications, and technologies may compete with our products, services, digital applications, and technologies, and we may not be effective or sufficient at preventing them from competing. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect certain proprietary and intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and many other companies have encountered significant challenges in establishing and enforcing certain of their proprietary and intellectual property rights outside of the United States. These challenges
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can be caused by the absence or inconsistency of the application of rules and methods for the establishment and enforcement of intellectual property rights outside of the United States. For instance, there is no uniform worldwide policy regarding patentable subject matter or the scope of claims allowable for business methods. As such, we cannot ascertain the degree of future protection that we will have on our technologies, products, services, and digital applications.
In addition, the legal systems of some countries, particularly developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of intellectual property rights to the same degree at the United States. This could make it difficult for us to stop the misappropriation, dilution, infringement, or other violation of certain of our intellectual property rights. Accordingly, we may choose not to seek protection in certain countries, and thus, we will not have the benefit of intellectual property protection in such countries. Proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business. In addition, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate. Changes in the law and the interpretation thereof as well as legal decisions by courts in the United States and foreign countries may affect our ability to obtain, maintain, and enforce adequate intellectual property protection for our products, services, digital applications, and other technologies. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants, or advisors have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their current or former employers or claims asserting ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.
Many of our employees, consultants, and advisors are currently or were previously employed at other companies in our field, including our competitors or potential future competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants, and advisors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these individuals have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such individual’s current or former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.
In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. The assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing, or the assignment agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

If our existing patents expire or are not maintained, or our pending patent applications are not granted or our patent rights are contested, circumvented, invalidated, or limited in scope, we may not be able to prevent others from selling, developing or exploiting competing technologies, products, services, or digital applications, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.
Our pending patent applications may not issue as patents. Even if our patent applications result in issued patents, these patents may be contested, circumvented, or invalidated in the future. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with adequate or complete protection or competitive advantages that we anticipate against competitors or other third parties. The claims under any patents that issue from our patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing competing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to ours. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar us from licensing and exploiting any patents that issue from our pending applications. There are a number of patents and pending patent applications owned by competitors that exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology. These existing patents and patent applications might have priority over our patent applications and could subject our patents to invalidation or our patent applications to rejection. Finally, in addition to patents with an earlier priority date and patent applications that were filed before our patent applications that may affect the likelihood of issuance of patents we are seeking, any of our existing or future patents may also be challenged by others on grounds that may render our patent applications or issued patents invalid or unenforceable. In addition, patents issued to us may be infringed upon or designed around by others which may adversely affect our business, prospects, and operating results.
Our business depends on our ability to implement improvements to and properly maintain and protect the continuous operation and data integrity of our technology infrastructure, data and other business systems and the inability to do so may have a material adverse effect on our reputation and harm our business prospects, financial conditions, and operating results.Our business depends on our ability to implement improvements to and properly maintain and protect the continuous operation and data integrity of our technology infrastructure and other business systems and the inability to do so may have a material adverse effect on our reputation and harm our business prospects, financial conditions, and operating results.
Our business is highly dependent on maintaining effective information and operational technology systems as well as the integrity of the data we use to serve our customers and operate our business. Because of the large amount of data that we collect and manage, it is possible that hardware failures or errors in our systems could result in data loss or corruption or cause the information that we collect to be incomplete or contain inaccuracies that our customers or other parties may regard as significant. If our data were found to
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be inaccurate or unreliable due to fraud or other error, or if we, or any of the third-party service providers we engage, were to fail to maintain information systems and data integrity effectively, we could experience operational disruptions that may impact our operations and hinder our ability to provide services, establish appropriate pricing, establish reserves, report financial results timely and accurately and maintain regulatory compliance, among other things. If any such failure of our information technology systems or data integrity were to result in the theft, corruption or other harm to the data or operations of our customers, our ability to retain and attract customers may be harmed.
We must continue to invest in long-term solutions that will enable us to anticipate customer needs and expectations, enhance the customer experience, act as a differentiator in the market, and protect against cybersecurity risks and threats. Despite implementation of reasonable security measures designed to prevent cybersecurity risks and threats, we are vulnerable to potential harm and damages from computer viruses, natural disasters, fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, personnel misconduct or theft, human error, unauthorized access, physical or electronic security breaches, cyber-attacks (including malicious and destructive code, misconfigurations, “bugs” or other vulnerabilities in commercial software that is integrated into our (or our suppliers’) IT systems, products, or services, social engineering attacks, phishing attacks, ransomware, and denial of service attacks), and other similar disruptions and incidents. Such harm, damages, attacks, security breaches or disruptions may be perpetrated by bad actors internally or externally (including computer hackers, persons involved with organized crime, or foreign state or foreign state-supported actors) and create risks that threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability for our (as well as our suppliers’ and our customers’) internal networks, IT infrastructure, and other business systems and the data and information they store and process. Such harm, damages, attacks, or security breaches may be perpetrated by bad actors internally or externally (including computer hackers, persons involved with organized crime, or foreign state or foreign state-supported actors) and create risks that threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability for our (as well as our suppliers’ and our customers’) internal networks, IT infrastructure, and other business systems and the data and information they store and process. Additionally, we are unable to comprehensively apply patches or confirm that measures are in place to mitigate all such vulnerabilities, or that patches will be applied before vulnerabilities are exploited by a threat actor. Cybersecurity threat actors employ a wide variety of methods and techniques that are constantly evolving, increasingly sophisticated, and difficult to detect and successfully defend against, including artificial intelligence that circumvent security controls, evade detection and remove forensic evidence. Geopolitical tensions or conflicts, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and heightened tensions in the Middle East, may further heighten the risk of cyber-attacks. We have experienced such cybersecurity incidents in the past, and any future incidents could expose us to claims, litigation, regulatory or other governmental investigations, administrative fines, and potential liability. Moreover, while we have implemented remedial measures in response to such incidents, we cannot guarantee that such measures will prevent all incidents in the future. Any system failure, accident, or security breach could result in disruptions to our operations. A material breach in the security of our IT systems could include the theft of our trade secrets, customer information, human resources information, or other confidential data, including but not limited to personal information. Material breaches could also include denial of service attacks resulting in disruption to our or our supplier’s supply chain systems, or targeted attacks against the control plane of remotely serviced battery energy storage systems within our customers’ environments, resulting in operational disruption to energy storage or physical damage to batteries.
Although past incidents have not had a material effect on our business operations or financial performance, to the extent that any disruption or security breach results in the compromise of the control plane of one or more of our serviced customer sites, or a loss or damage to our data, or an inadvertent disclosure of confidential, proprietary personal, or customer information, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers and strategic partners, lead to claims against us from governments and private plaintiffs (including class actions), and adversely affect our business. We cannot guarantee that future cyberattacks and cybersecurity incidents, if successful, will not have a material effect on our business or financial results. We cannot guarantee that future cyberattacks, if successful, will not have a material effect on our business or financial results.
In 2023, the SEC issued final rules related to cybersecurity risk management, strategy governance, and incident disclosure, which further increased our regulatory burden and the cost of compliance.In 2023, the SEC issued final rules related to cybersecurity risk management, strategy governance, and incident disclosure, which may further increase our regulatory burden and the cost of compliance in such events. In addition, many governments have enacted laws requiring companies to provide notice of cyber incidents involving certain types of data, including personal information. In addition, many governments have enacted 40laws requiring companies to provide notice of cyber incidents involving certain types of data, including personal information. For example, laws in all 50 U.S. states and in the EU and UK may require businesses to notify regulators and/or individuals whose personal information has been impacted as a result of a data breach or security incident. Complying with such numerous and complex regulations in the event of a data breach or security incident would be expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and additional liability. Complying with such numerous and complex regulations in the event of a data security breach would be expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and additional liability. These laws may be subject to alterations and revisions, and if we fail to comply with our obligations under such laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, we could be subject to regulatory action and lawsuits (including class actions). We may also have other obligations, for example, under contracts, to notify customers or other counterparties of a security incident, including a data breach. Regardless of our contractual protections, if an actual or perceived cybersecurity breach of security measures, unauthorized access to our system or the systems of the third-party vendors that we rely upon, or any other cybersecurity threat occurs, we may incur liability, costs, or damages, contract termination, our reputation may be compromised, our ability to attract new customers could be negatively affected, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Any compromise of our security could also result in a violation of applicable domestic and foreign security, privacy or data protection, consumer protection, and other laws, regulatory or other governmental investigations, enforcement actions, and legal and financial exposure, including potential contractual liability. In addition, we may be required to incur significant costs to protect against and remediate damage caused by these disruptions or security breaches in the future. While we carry cyber insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
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We utilize open-source software, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary software and solutions.
We use open-source software in our offerings and expect to continue to use open-source software in the future. Companies that incorporate open-source software into their solutions and offerings have, from time to time, faced claims challenging the use of open-source software and compliance with open-source license terms. Some licenses governing the use of open-source software contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open-source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open-source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. By the terms of certain open-source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, and to make our proprietary software available under open-source licenses to third parties at no cost, if we combine or distribute our proprietary software with open-source software in certain manners. Although we monitor our use of open-source software, we cannot assure you that all open-source software is reviewed prior to use in our solutions, that our developers have not incorporated open-source software into our solutions, or that they will not do so in the future. Additionally, the terms of many open-source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts. There is a risk that open-source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market or provide our solutions as currently marketed or provided. Companies that incorporate open-source software into their products have, in the past, faced claims seeking enforcement of open-source license provisions and claims asserting ownership of open-source software incorporated into their product. If an author or other third party that distributes such open-source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of an open-source license, we could incur significant legal costs defending ourselves against such allegations. In the event such claims were successful, we could be subject to significant damages or be enjoined from the distribution of our software. In addition, the terms of open-source software licenses may require us to provide source code that we develop using such open-source software to others on unfavorable license terms. As a result of our current or future use of open-source software, we may face claims or litigation, be required to release our proprietary source code, pay damages for breach of contract, re-engineer our solutions, discontinue making our solutions available in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis, or take other remedial action. Any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts could require significant additional research and development resources, and we may not be able to successfully complete any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts. Further, in addition to risks related to license requirements, use of certain open-source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of software. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
If we fail to comply with our obligations under license or technology agreements with third parties, including AES and Siemens, we may be required to pay damages, and we could lose license rights that are critical to our business.

We license certain intellectual property, including patents, technologies, and software from third parties and related parties, including AES and Siemens, that are important to our business, and in the future, we may enter into additional agreements that provide us with licenses to valuable intellectual property or technology. If we fail to comply with any of the obligations under our license agreements, we may be required to pay damages and the licensor may have the right to terminate the license. Termination by the licensor would cause us to lose valuable rights, and could prevent us from selling our products and services, or adversely impact our ability to commercialize current and future solutions and services. Our business would suffer if any current or future licenses terminate, if the licensors fail to abide by the terms of the license, if the licensors fail to enforce licensed patents against infringing third parties, if the licensed intellectual property is found to be invalid or unenforceable, if the licensed intellectual property expires or if we are unable to enter into necessary licenses on acceptable terms. In addition, our rights to certain intellectual property, technologies, and software, are licensed to us on a non-exclusive basis. The owners of these non-exclusively licensed technologies are therefore free to license them to third parties, including our competitors, on terms that may be superior to those offered to us, which could place us at a competitive disadvantage. For example, because certain of our rights are licensed from AES and Siemens, changes in their licensing posture, priorities, or support could limit or alter our access to technology critical to our offerings and could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. An increase in our estimates of future warranty obligations due to product failure rates, field service obligations, and rework costs incurred in correcting product failures could cause us to increase the amount of warranty obligations and may adversely impact on our results of operations. Moreover, our licensors may own or control intellectual property that has not been licensed to us and, as a result, we may be subject to claims, regardless of their merit, that we are infringing or otherwise violating the licensor’s rights. In addition, the agreements under which we license intellectual property or technology from third parties are generally complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement. Any of the foregoing could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
If we cannot license rights to use technologies on reasonable terms, we may not be able to commercialize new solutions or services in the future.
In the future, we may identify additional third-party intellectual property we may need to license in order to engage in our business, including to develop or commercialize new products or services. However, such licenses may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. The licensing or acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and several more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources, and
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greater development or commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. Even if such licenses are available, we may be required to pay the licensor substantial royalties based on sales of our products and services. Such royalties are a component of the cost of our products or services and may affect the margins on our products and services. In addition, such licenses may be non-exclusive, which could give our competitors access to the same intellectual property licensed to us. If we are unable to enter into the necessary licenses on acceptable terms or at all, if any necessary licenses are subsequently terminated, if our licensors fail to abide by the terms of the licenses, if our licensors fail to prevent infringement by third parties, or if the licensed intellectual property rights are found to be invalid or unenforceable, or if the licensed intellectual property rights expire, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects could be affected. If licenses to third-party intellectual property rights are or become required for us to engage in our business, the rights may be non-exclusive, which could give our competitors access to the same technology or intellectual property rights licensed to us. Moreover, we could encounter delays and other obstacles in our attempt to develop alternatives. Defense of any lawsuit or failure to obtain any of these licenses on favorable terms could prevent us from commercializing solutions and services, which could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Compromises, interruptions, and shutdowns of our systems, including those managed by third parties, whether intentional or inadvertent, could lead to delays in our business operations and, if significant or extreme, affect our results of operations.
From time to time, our systems require modifications and updates, including by adding new hardware, software, and applications, maintaining, updating, or replacing legacy programs, and integrating new service providers and adding enhanced or new functionality. There are inherent risks associated with modifying or replacing systems, and with new or changed relationships, including accurately capturing and maintaining data, realizing the expected benefit of the change, and managing the potential disruption of the operation of the systems as the changes are implemented. Potential issues associated with implementation of these technology initiatives has previously and could in the future reduce the efficiency of our operations in the short term. Potential issues associated with implementation of these technology initiatives has previously and could reduce the efficiency of our operations in the short term. The efficient operation and successful growth of our business depends upon functional and efficient systems, including our financial, information technology, operating, and other systems. The failure of our systems and related third-party systems we rely on to perform as designed, or our failure to implement and operate them effectively, could disrupt our business or subject us to liability and thereby may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

We utilize AI technologies in connection with our business, which may expose us to operational, reputational and/or other risks.

We use AI, machine learning, and automated decision-making technologies, including proprietary AI and machine learning algorithms and models, (collectively, “AI Technologies”) throughout our business, and are making significant investments in this area. For example, we use AI Technologies in connection with our proprietary cloud-based software products, Fluence Mosaic and Fluence Nispera. See Part I, Item 1. “Our Products and Services” for a description of these digital application offerings. As with many technological innovations, there are significant risks involved in developing, maintaining and deploying these technologies and there can be no assurance that the usage of or our investments in such technologies will always enhance our products or services or be beneficial to our business, including our efficiency or profitability.

With respect to our products or services that incorporate AI Technologies, the market for such products and services is rapidly evolving and important assumptions about the characteristics of targeted markets, pricing, sales cycles, cost, performance, and perceived value associated with our services or products may be inaccurate. We cannot be sure that the market will continue to grow or that it will grow in ways we anticipate. In addition, market acceptance and consumer perceptions of products and services that incorporate AI Technologies is uncertain. Our failure to successfully develop and commercialize our products or services involving AI Technologies could depress the market price of our stock and impair our ability to: raise capital; expand our business; provide, improve and diversify our product offerings; continue our operations and efficiently manage our operating expenses; and respond effectively to competitive developments.

In addition to our proprietary AI Technologies, we use AI Technologies licensed from third parties in our technologies and our ability to continue to use such technologies at the scale we need may be dependent on access to specific third-party software and infrastructure. We cannot control the availability or pricing of such third-party AI Technologies, especially in a highly competitive environment, and we may be unable to negotiate favorable economic terms with the applicable providers. If any such third-party AI Technologies become incompatible with our solutions or unavailable for use, or if the providers of such models unfavorably change the terms on which their AI Technologies are offered or terminate their relationship with us, our solutions may become less appealing to our customers and our business will be harmed. In addition, to the extent any third party AI Technologies are used as a hosted service, any disruption, outage, or loss of information through such hosted services could disrupt our operations or solutions, damage our reputation, cause a loss of confidence in our solutions, or result in legal claims or proceedings, for which we may be unable to recover damages from the affected provider.Our business and customer demand for our offerings depends in part on government incentives and the reduction, elimination, or expiration of government incentives for, or regulations mandating the use of, renewable energy could reduce customer demand for energy storage solutions and lead to a loss of customers, which could lead to adverse effects to our business, operating results, and cash flows.

A number of aspects of intellectual property protection in the field of AI and machine learning are currently under development, and there is uncertainty and ongoing litigation in different jurisdictions as to the degree and extent of protection warranted for AI and
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machine learning systems and relevant system input and outputs. The law is also uncertain across jurisdictions regarding the copyright ownership of content that is produced in whole or in part by generative AI tools. If we fail to obtain protection for the intellectual property rights concerning our AI Technologies, or later have our intellectual property rights invalidated or otherwise diminished, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our research and development efforts to develop competing products which could adversely affect our business, reputation and financial condition. We believe there is an opportunity to not only deploy digital applications and software solutions on individual assets but also across entire energy storage fleets and portfolios of generation assets to improve their collective performance and economic output, and to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the electric grid by optimizing the interactions between different asset types.

We may use AI Technologies, including tools provided by third parties, to develop or assist in the development of our own software code. While use of such tools makes our development process more efficient, AI Technologies have sometimes generated content that is “substantially similar” to proprietary or open source code on which the AI tool was trained. If the AI Technologies we use generate code that is too similar to other proprietary code, or to software processes that are protected by patent, we could be subject to intellectual property infringement claims. We may also not be able to anticipate and detect security vulnerabilities in such AI generated software code. If our tools generate code that is too similar to open source code, we risk losing protection of our own proprietary code that is commingled with such code. Finally, to the extent we use third-party AI Technologies to develop software code, the terms of use of these tools may state that the third-party provider retains rights in the generated code.
Risk Factors Related to Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance Matters
Changes in tax laws or regulations could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Changes in corporate tax rates, tax incentives for renewable energy projects, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our U.S. operations, the taxation of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses under future tax reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges in the current or future taxable years, and could increase our future U.S. tax expense, any and all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Governmental agencies in the jurisdictions in which we and our affiliates do business, as well as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD”), have focused on issues related to the taxation of multinational business, including issues relating to “base erosion and profit shifting,” where profits are reported as earned for tax purposes in relatively low-tax jurisdictions or payments are made between affiliates in jurisdictions with different tax rates. The OECD has released several components of its comprehensive plan to create an agreed set of international rules for addressing base erosion and profit shifting, and governmental authorities from various jurisdictions (including the United States) continue to discuss potential legislation and other reforms, including proposals for global minimum tax rates. For example, the OECD agreed to a two-pillar approach to global taxation focusing on global profit allocation, referred to as Pillar One, and a global minimum corporate tax rate, referred to as Pillar Two. In December 2022, the EU agreed to implement the OECD’s global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% under Pillar Two, with a subset of the rules effective for tax periods beginning after January 2024, and the remaining rules becoming effective for tax periods beginning after January 2025, or in later periods. As this framework is subject to further negotiation and implementation by each member country, particularly Fluence’s headquarter country, the United States, the timing and ultimate impact of any such changes on our tax obligations is uncertain.
As we operate in numerous jurisdictions, the application of tax laws can be subject to diverging and sometimes conflicting interpretations by tax authorities of these jurisdictions. It is not uncommon for taxing authorities in different countries to have conflicting views, for instance with respect to whether a permanent establishment exists in a particular jurisdiction, the manner in which an arm’s length standard is applied for transfer pricing purposes, or with respect to the valuations of intellectual property. For example, if a taxing authority in one country where we operate were to reallocate income from another country where we operate, and if the taxing authority in the second country did not agree with the reallocation asserted by the first country, then we could be subject to tax on the same income in both countries, resulting in double taxation. If taxing authorities were to allocate income to a higher tax jurisdiction, subject our income to double taxation or assess interest and penalties, our tax liabilities could increase, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Due to the potential for changes to tax laws and regulations or changes to the interpretation thereof (including regulations and interpretations pertaining to recent tax reforms in the United States), the ambiguity of tax laws and regulations, the subjectivity of factual interpretations, the complexity of our intercompany arrangements, uncertainties regarding the geographic mix of earnings in any particular period, and other factors, our estimates of effective tax rate and income tax assets and liabilities are subject to change and our financial statements could be adversely affected, and the resulting impacts may vary substantially from period to period.
In particular, in the United States, there have been multiple significant changes recently proposed or enacted to the taxation of business entities (including the passing of the IRA and subsequent issuance of guidance thereto as well as the OBBBA), including, among other things, implementing a 15% corporate minimum tax on book income of certain large corporations, a 1% excise tax on net stock repurchases after December 31, 2022, and several tax incentives to promote clean energy (as well as subsequent revisions to those incentives). We are still evaluating the impact these IRA-related tax incentives, the guidance thereto and the OBBBA may have on our financial results. We are still evaluating the impact these IRA-related tax 45incentives and the guidance thereto may have on our financial results. Additionally, we are currently unable to predict whether other proposed changes to tax laws will be enacted
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and, if so, when they would be effective or the ultimate impact on us or our business. To the extent that such changes have a negative impact on us or our business, these changes may materially and adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, the amounts of taxes we pay are subject to current or future audits by taxing authorities in the United States and all other jurisdictions in which we operate. If audits result in additional payments or assessments, our future results may include unfavorable adjustments to our tax liabilities, and our financial statements could be adversely affected.
Existing electric utility industry policies and regulations, and any subsequent changes or new related policies and regulations, may present technical, regulatory, and economic barriers to the purchase and use of energy storage solutions or our digital offerings that may significantly reduce demand for our offerings or harm our ability to compete.
Federal, state, local, and foreign government regulations and policies concerning the broader electric utility industry, as well as internal policies and regulations promulgated by electric utilities and organized electric markets with respect to fees, practices, and rate design, can influence the market for energy storage products and services. These regulations and policies often affect electricity pricing and the interconnection of generation facilities, and can be subject to frequent modifications by governments, regulatory bodies, utilities, and market operators. For example, changes in fee structures, electricity pricing structures, regional market rules, system permitting, interconnection, and operating requirements can deter purchases of renewable energy products, including energy storage solutions, by reducing anticipated revenues or increasing costs or regulatory burdens for would-be system purchasers. The resulting reductions in demand for energy storage products could harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
On July 16, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a final rule amending regulations that implement the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (“PURPA”). Among other requirements, PURPA mandates that electric utilities buy the output of certain renewable generators below established capacity thresholds. PURPA also requires that such sales occur at a utility’s “avoided cost” rate. FERC’s PURPA reforms include modifications (1) to how regulators and electric utilities may establish avoided cost rates for new contracts; (2) that reduce from 20 MW to 5 MW, the capacity threshold above which there is a rebuttable presumption that a renewable-energy qualifying facility has nondiscriminatory market access, thereby removing the requirement for certain utilities to purchase its output; (3) that require regulators to establish criteria for determining when an electric utility incurs a legally enforceable obligation to purchase from a PURPA facility; and (4) that reduce barriers for third parties to challenge PURPA eligibility. In general, FERC’s PURPA 2020 reforms have the potential to reduce prices for the output from certain new renewable generation projects while also narrowing the scope of PURPA eligibility for new projects. These effects could reduce opportunities for PURPA-eligible battery energy storage products, which could have a material adverse effect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, there is an ongoing dispute regarding how to calculate the maximum net power production capacity for qualifying facilities under PURPA. Historically, FERC has looked at a facility’s net output, rather than total nameplate capability of a facility for purposes of PURPA eligibility. On appeal from a 2021 FERC order, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld FERC’s approach to calculating capacity for PURPA eligibility, relying on Chevron deference, whereby courts may defer to an administrative agency’s reasonable statutory interpretation. In June 2024, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference doctrine and found that courts should instead rely on their own statutory interpretations. The Supreme Court later directed the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its ruling on FERC’s approach to calculating capacity for PURPA eligibility. On remand, the D.C. Circuit again affirmed FERC’s methodology for determining qualifying facility eligibility under PURPA. However, the petitioners challenging FERC’s methodology may still appeal the D.C. Circuit’s decision. If a different methodology for determining qualifying facility eligibility under PURPA prevails on appeal, facilities that are currently eligible for qualifying facility status or certain exemptions from the Federal Power Act could lose their status or exemptions. This change could also reduce demand for PURPA-eligible products and could harm our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations.
FERC is also taking steps to encourage the integration of new forms of generation into the electric grid and remove barriers to grid access, which could have positive impacts on the energy storage industry. For example, on July 28, 2023, FERC issued a final rule, designated as Order No. 2023, to reform procedures and agreements that electric transmission providers use to interconnect new generating facilities to the existing transmission system. If this final rule does not have its intended effect or if it is overturned on an appeal, this could negatively impact our business, prospects, and results of operations.
While we are generally not regulated as a utility or a broker-dealer, customers of our digital offerings may be regulated market participants. We could experience scrutiny from regulators on the provision of Fluence Mosaic bid recommendations to our customers and use of such application, the use of Fluence Nispera, and the related technologies by our customers.
Changes in other current laws or regulations applicable to us or the imposition of new laws, regulations, or policies in jurisdictions in which we do business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any changes to government, utility, or electric market regulations or policies that favor electric utilities or other market participants could reduce the competitiveness of battery energy storage products or our digital offerings and cause a significant
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reduction in demand for our products and services and adversely impact our growth. In addition, changes in export and import laws and implementing regulations may create delays in the introduction of new products in international markets, prevent our customers from deploying our products internationally or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries altogether. Any such event could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may incur obligations, liabilities, or costs under environmental, health, and safety laws, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We may incur obligations, liabilities, or costs under environmental, health, and safety laws, which could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are required to comply with federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations regarding the protection of the environment, health, and safety. We have in the past and may in the future incur expenses, or be subject to liability, related to the transportation, storage, or disposal of lithium-ion batteries, or other materials used in our products, including potential permitting obligations, operational requirements, or liabilities associated with the generation, handling, transport or disposal of hazardous materials or hazardous wastes, (including new or expanded definitions of hazardous materials or hazardous wastes, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”)),or associated with air emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, water quality discharges, or other environmental criteria. We have in the past and may in the future incur expenses, or be subject to liability, related to the transportation, storage, or disposal of lithium-ion batteries, or other materials used in our products, including potential permitting obligations, operational requirements, or liabilities associated with the generation, handling, transport or disposal of hazardous materials or hazardous wastes, or associated with air emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, water quality discharges, or other environmental criteria. Adoption of more stringent such laws and regulations in the future, or novel interpretations or increased enforcement of existing laws, could require us to incur substantial costs to come into compliance with these laws and regulations. Adoption of more stringent such laws and regulations in the future, or increased enforcement of existing laws, could require us to incur substantial costs to come into compliance with these laws and regulations. In addition, violations of, or liabilities under, these laws and regulations may result in restrictions being imposed on our operating activities or in our being subject to adverse publicity, substantial fines, penalties, criminal proceedings, administrative enforcement actions or proceedings, third-party property damage or personal injury claims, cleanup costs, or other costs. Liability under various laws and regulations can be imposed on a joint and several basis and without regard to fault or the legality of the activities giving rise to the claim, including related to past or present contamination of the soil or groundwater associated with leased or owned real property. Liability under these laws and regulations can be imposed on a joint and several basis and without regard to fault or the legality of the activities giving rise to the claim, including related to past or present contamination of the soil or groundwater associated with leased or owned real property. In addition, future developments such as more aggressive enforcement policies, classification of additional substances as hazardous, or the discovery of presently unknown environmental conditions may require expenditures that could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, future developments such as more aggressive enforcement policies or the discovery of presently unknown environmental conditions may require expenditures that could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Additionally, most existing environmental laws and regulations preceded the introduction of energy storage technology and were adopted to apply to technologies existing at the time, (e.g., large coal, oil, or gas-fired power plants). These laws therefore do not necessarily reflect the realities of new technologies, and as policymakers work to adapt or establish regulatory frameworks or standards that apply to energy storage, we may be subject to various challenges. For example, it is possible that regulators could delay or prevent us from conducting our business in some way pending agreement on, and compliance with, shifting or expanding regulatory requirements. It is also possible that regulators could delay or prevent us from conducting our business in some way pending agreement on, and compliance with, shifting regulatory requirements. Safety laws and compliance related to energy storage may change over time, including standards related to fire safety and minimizing the risk of starting or being impacted by a fire. Such actions could delay the sale to and installation by customers of energy storage systems, require their modification or replacement, result in fines or trigger claims of performance warranties and defaults under customer contracts. Any of these developments could adversely affect our business, financial performance and reputation.
Any actual or perceived failure to comply with data privacy and data security laws, regulations, industry standards, and other requirements related to the privacy, security, and processing of personal information could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition or have other adverse consequences.
We are subject to various laws, related regulations, industry standards and other requirements involving data privacy and information security.We are subject to various laws, related regulations, and industry standards involving data privacy and information security. Such laws and regulations relating to data privacy and information security are continuously evolving and subject to potentially differing interpretations. These requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. As a result, we cannot guarantee that all of our practices have complied in the past, comply now, or that they will fully comply in the future with all such laws, regulations, requirements, and obligations.
In the United States, there are numerous federal and state data privacy and security laws, rules, and regulations governing the collection, use, storage, sharing, transmission, and other processing of data relating to individuals or “personal information”, including federal and state data privacy laws, data breach notification laws, and consumer protection laws.In the United States, there are numerous federal and state data privacy and security laws, rules, and regulations governing the collection, use, storage, sharing, transmission, and other processing of data relating to an identifiable living individual or “personal information”, including federal and state data privacy laws, data breach notification laws, and consumer protection laws. Many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses can process personal information, including measures relating to privacy, and data security. Many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses operate online, including measures relating to privacy, data security, and data breaches. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, requires businesses that process the personal information of California residents to, among other things: provide certain disclosures to California residents regarding the business’s collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information; receive and respond to requests from California residents to access, delete, and correct their personal information, or to opt-out of certain disclosures of their personal information; and enter into specific contractual provisions with service providers that process California resident personal information on the business’s behalf. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action has increased the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation.

The enactment of the CCPA prompted a wave of similar laws in other states in the United States, which creates a patchwork of overlapping but different state laws. Furthermore, other states, such as New York and Massachusetts, have passed specific laws
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mandating reasonable security measures for the handling of personal information. Similar privacy laws have been considered or passed in other states, and there remains increased interest in regulating data privacy issues at the federal level. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission continues to actively enforce against unfair or deceptive practices relating to privacy and data security, adding another layer of regulatory exposure at the U.S. federal level.
Collectively, these developments contribute to an increasingly fragmented and complex U.S. regulatory landscape, requiring significant compliance investments and operational adjustments. If we do not timely make such necessary compliance investments and operational adjustments with new and evolving privacy laws, there may be adverse impacts to our business.
In Europe, we are subject to data protection laws such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 and applicable national supplementing laws (“EU GDPR”) and the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 (“UK GDPR”), (the EU GDPR and UK GDPR together referred to as the “GDPR”). The GDPR imposes comprehensive compliance obligations regarding our processing of personal information, including a principle of transparency, accountability, and the obligation to demonstrate compliance through policies, procedures, training and audit, as well as requirements regarding cross-border transfers of personal information out of the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and the UK. In relation to such cross border transfers of personal information, we expect the existing legal complexity and uncertainty regarding international personal information transfers to continue. As the regulatory guidance and enforcement landscape in relation to processing of personal information continue to develop, we could suffer additional costs, complaints and/or regulatory investigations or fines; we may have to stop using certain tools and vendors and make other operational changes; we may have to implement alternative data transfer mechanisms under the GDPR and/or take additional compliance and operational measures; and/or the manner in which we provide our services and our business, operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. Since we are under the supervision of relevant data protection authorities in both the EEA and the UK, we may be fined under both the EU GDPR and UK GDPR for the same breach.
In addition to the GDPR and UK GDPR, our European operations are also subject to the revised Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (“nFADP”), effective September 2023, which introduces GDPR-like obligations and enforcement mechanisms. This adds further compliance requirements for our activities in Switzerland and additional costs and potential liability.
We are also subject to evolving EEA and UK privacy laws on cookies, tracking technologies, and e-marketing. Recent European court and regulatory decisions are driving increased attention to cookies and tracking technologies. If the trend of increasing enforcement by regulators of the strict approach to opt-in consent for all but essential use cases, as seen in recent guidance and decisions, continues, and given the complex and evolving nature of EU, EU Member State and UK privacy laws, this may lead to additional costs, require significant systems changes, may lead customers to demand certain standards due to strict privacy laws, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, divert the attention of our technology personnel, adversely affect our margins, and subject us to additional liabilities and there can be no assurances that we will be successful in our compliance efforts. If the trend of increasing enforcement by regulators of the strict approach to opt-in consent for all but essential use cases, as seen in recent guidance and decisions, continues, and given the complex and evolving nature of EEA and UK privacy laws, this may lead to additional costs, require significant systems changes, may lead customers to demand certain standards due to strict privacy laws, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, divert the attention of our technology personnel, adversely affect our margins, and subject us to additional liabilities and there can be no assurances that we will be successful in our compliance efforts.
Beyond Europe and the United States, our global operations are also subject to comprehensive privacy frameworks in the Asia-Pacific region, including, but not limited to, the Singapore Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”), the Philippines Data Privacy Act of 2012, Japan’s Act on the Protection of Personal Information ((“APPI”), amended in 2022), Australia’s Privacy Act 1988 (currently under reform), India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (2023, with phased implementation), and Taiwan’s Personal Data Protection Act. Each of these regimes imposes distinct compliance obligations and regulatory enforcement risks, and failure to comply may result in fines, sanctions, reputational harm, or operational disruption. Governments, often acting through state utility or public service commissions, also change and adopt different rates for commercial (and residential) customers on a regular basis.
The foregoing laws, regulations, and industry standards may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment in resources to compliance programs, could impact strategies and availability of previously useful data, and could result in increased compliance costs and/or changes in business practices and policies. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our posted privacy policies or with any federal, state, or international privacy and security laws, regulations, industry standards, or other legal obligations relating to data privacy and information security could adversely affect our reputation, brand, and business, and may result in claims (including class actions), liabilities, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices, assessment notices (for a compulsory audit) proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, or may require us to change our operations (including by ceasing or changing our data processing activities and applying serious additional controls). Any such claims, proceedings, or actions could hurt our reputation, brand and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceedings or actions, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, and result in the imposition of monetary penalties.
As we increasingly integrate emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning into our operations, we face the risk associated with compliance of evolving and changing privacy regulations, such as the GDPR's principle of 'privacy by design.As we increasingly integrate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into our operations, we face the risk associated with compliance of evolving and changing privacy regulations, such as the GDPR's principle of 'privacy by design. ' The regulatory framework for AI Technologies is rapidly evolving as many federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have introduced or are currently considering additional laws and regulations. Additionally, existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would affect the operation of our AI Technologies or could be rescinded or amended as new administrations take differing approaches to evolving AI Technologies. As a result, implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and we cannot yet completely determine the impact future laws, regulations, standards, or
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market perception of their requirements may have on our business and may not always be able to anticipate how to respond to these laws or regulations. Failure to quickly and appropriately incorporate such evolving regulatory requirements into the design and deployment of new technologies could result in significant compliance challenges, potential regulatory scrutiny, and the potential for increased liability. Furthermore, the rapid pace of technological advancement may outstrip our ability to adapt, thereby exposing us to the risk of operational inefficiencies, legal penalties, and reputational harm.

In particular, the European Union’s AI Act, adopted in 2024, introduces comprehensive new requirements for the design, development, and deployment of AI systems, with extraterritorial reach. Non-compliance could result in significant fines, restrictions on the use of AI technologies, and reputational harm. AI regulation has also been adopted in the United States. For example, Colorado adopted the Colorado AI Act in 2024, which introduces onerous requirements for certain uses of AI. Additionally, California has enacted several AI laws, including laws requiring certain AI providers to implement transparency and safety measures. AI laws have also been passed and are currently being contemplated in numerous other jurisdictions, and AI regulation continues to evolve across multiple jurisdictions, our ability to implement compliant AI solutions in a timely and effective manner will be a critical factor in mitigating future compliance risks. Further, the cost to comply with such laws, regulations, or decisions and/or guidance interpreting existing laws, could be significant and would increase our operating expenses (such as by imposing additional reporting obligations regarding our use of AI Technologies). Changes in other current laws or regulations applicable to us or the imposition of new laws, regulations, or policies in jurisdictions in which we do business could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Such an increase in operating expenses, as well as any actual or perceived failure to comply with such laws and regulations, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings, regulatory disputes, and governmental investigations and inquiries that could cause us to incur significant expenses, divert our management’s attention, and materially harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We have been and continue to be subject to claims, lawsuits, government investigations, including the ongoing SEC investigation and consolidated securities class action matter, and other regulatory or legal proceedings that arise out of our operations and business and that cover a wide range of matters, including, among others, intellectual property matters, commercial and contract disputes, insurance and property damage claims, labor and employment claims, personal injury claims, product liability claims, environmental claims, fire safety claims, and warranty claims. In addition, since we are marketing and selling our energy storage products in a nascent market, we have in the past needed and may in the future need to seek the amendment of existing regulations or, in some cases, the creation of new regulations, in order to operate our business in some jurisdictions. Such regulatory processes may require public hearings concerning our business, which could expose us to subsequent litigation. Generally, litigation, regulatory proceedings, and government investigations may be protracted and expensive, and may divert management attention and resources and the ultimate results may be difficult to predict. Certain of these matters may include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages. Certain of these matters may include speculative claims for substantial or indeterminate amounts of damages. Any of these actions could expose us to adverse publicity that could harm our reputation and operations and relationships with customers. Unfavorable outcomes or developments relating to proceedings to which we are a party or transactions involving our offerings, such as judgments for monetary damages, injunctions, or denial or revocation of permits, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, settlement of claims and outcomes of government investigations could materially adversely also affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Risks related to Ownership of our Class A Common Stock
Certain provisions of Delaware law and antitakeover provisions in our organizational documents could delay or prevent a change of control.
Certain provisions of Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws, and our Stockholders Agreement dated October 27, 2021 by and among Fluence Energy, LLC, Fluence Energy, Inc., and the Stockholders (as defined therein) (the “Stockholders Agreement”) may have an antitakeover effect and may delay, defer, or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt, or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by our stockholders. These provisions provide for, among other things:
the ability of our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock;
advance notice for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at our annual meetings;
certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings;
prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors;
that certain provisions of amended and restated certificate of incorporation may be amended only by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power represented by our then-outstanding common stock;
the right of each of the AES Related Parties, Siemens Related Parties, and the QIA Related Parties (each as defined in the Stockholders Agreement) to nominate certain of our directors;
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the shares of our Class B-1 common stock held by AES entitle them to five votes per share on all matters presented to our stockholders generally; and
the consent rights of the Continuing Equity Owners in the Stockholders Agreement.
These antitakeover provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if the third party’s offer may be considered beneficial by many of our stockholders. As a result, our stockholders may be limited in their ability to obtain a premium for their shares.
In addition, we have opted out of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”), but our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder (any stockholder with 15% or more of our voting stock) for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder is prohibited, subject to certain exceptions.
Because we have no current plans to pay regular cash dividends on our Class A common stock for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your Class A common stock for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
We do not anticipate paying any regular cash dividends on our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, general and economic conditions, our results of operations and financial condition, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, and such other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to pay dividends is, and may be, limited by covenants of any future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur. Therefore, any return on investment in our Class A common stock is solely dependent upon the appreciation of the price of our Class A common stock on the open market, which may not occur.
The dual class structure of our common stock may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A common stock. We cannot predict the effect our multiple class structure may have on the market price of our Class A common stock.
We cannot predict whether our multi-class structure will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock, in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. Certain stockholder advisory firms and large institutional investors may prefer companies that do not have multiple share classes or may have investment guidelines that preclude them from investing in companies that have multiple share classes. In addition, certain index providers have previously implemented, and may in the future determine to implement, restrictions on including companies with multiple class share in certain of their indices. For example, from July 2017 to April 2023, S&P Dow Jones excluded companies with multiple share classes from the S&P Composite 1500 (composed of the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600). Indices have discretion to reassess and implement such policies with respect to multi-class differing voting right structures. Under any such policies, our dual class capital structure would make us ineligible for inclusion in any of these indices. Any exclusion from stock indices could result in a less active trading market for our Class A common stock. Any actions or publications by stockholder advisory firms or institutional investors critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could also adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such corporate governance requirements.
Our Continuing Equity Owners have more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors, and, as a result, we are considered a “controlled company” for the purposes of the Nasdaq rules. As such, we qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements to have a majority of independent directors on our board of directors, an entirely independent compensation committee or to have director nominations be made, or recommended to the full board of directors, by its independent directors or by a nominations committee that is composed entirely of independent directors. The corporate governance requirements and, specifically, the independence standards are intended to ensure directors who are considered independent are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors.
Accordingly, you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the Nasdaq rules. Our status as a controlled company could make our Class A common stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price.
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for certain stockholder litigation matters, and the federal district courts of the United States shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, employees, or stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides (A) (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, other employee, or stockholder of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws (as either may be amended or restated) or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine of the law of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be exclusively brought in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware or, if such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court of the State of Delaware; and (B) the federal district courts of the United States shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the exclusive forum provision shall not apply to claims seeking to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act. The choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” does not apply with respect to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries.
The doctrine of corporate opportunity generally provides that a corporate fiduciary may not develop an opportunity using corporate resources, acquire an interest adverse to that of the corporation or acquire property that is reasonably incident to the present or prospective business of the corporation or in which the corporation has a present or expectancy interest, unless that opportunity is first presented to the corporation and the corporation chooses not to pursue that opportunity. The doctrine of corporate opportunity is intended to preclude officers or directors or other fiduciaries from personally benefiting from opportunities that belong to the corporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the doctrine of “corporate opportunity” will not apply with respect to any of our Continuing Equity Owners, any of our directors who are employees or affiliates of the Continuing Equity Owners, or any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries, except as provided in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Any of the foregoing persons therefore, has no duty to communicate or present corporate opportunities to us, and has the right to either hold any corporate opportunity for their (and their affiliates’) own account and benefit or to recommend, assign or otherwise transfer such corporate opportunity to persons other than us, including to any director or stockholder who is not employed by us or our subsidiaries, and will not be liable to us or to our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary duty by reason of any of these activities.
As a result, the Continuing Equity Owners, and any of our directors nominated by them that are not employed by us or our subsidiaries, are not prohibited from operating or investing in competing us in the energy storage business, including as a result of acquiring a company that operates an energy storage business. Due to the significant resources of our Continuing Equity Owners, including their intellectual property (all of which our Continuing Equity Owners retain and certain of which they license to us under applicable intellectual property license agreements), financial resources, name recognition and know-how resulting from the previous management of our business, our Continuing Equity Owners could have a significant competitive advantage over us should any of them decide to utilize these resources to engage in the type of business we conduct, which may in turn cause our operating results and financial condition to be materially adversely affected.

You may be diluted by future issuances of additional Class A common stock or LLC Interests in connection with our incentive plans, acquisitions, or otherwise; future sales of such shares in the public market, or the expectations that such sales may occur, could lower our stock price.
The sale of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our Class A common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
As of September 30, 2025, we had a total of 131,164,365 shares of Class A common stock outstanding. Of the outstanding shares, 64,996,895 shares held by public investors are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act. Any shares of Class A common stock held by our affiliates are eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act, subject to the volume, manner of sale, holding period and other limitations of Rule 144.
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In addition, we, Fluence Energy, LLC and the Founders are party to the Third Amended and Restated Limited Liability Agreement of Fluence Energy, LLC, dated October 27, 2021, as may be amended from time to time (the “Fluence Energy, LLC Agreement”) under which Founders (or certain permitted transferees thereof) were granted the right (subject to the terms of the Fluence Energy, LLC Agreement) to have their LLC Interests redeemed from time to time at our election (determined solely by our independent directors (within the meaning of the rules of the Nasdaq) who are disinterested), newly-issued shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis or a cash payment from the sale of newly issued shares of Class A common stock equal to a volume weighted average market price of one share of Class A common stock for each LLC Interest so redeemed, in each case, in accordance with the terms of the Fluence Energy, LLC Agreement; provided that, at our election (determined solely by our independent directors (within the meaning of the rules of the Nasdaq) who are disinterested), we may effect a direct exchange by us of such Class A common stock or such cash, as applicable, for such LLC Interests. The Founders may exercise such redemption right, subject to certain exceptions, for as long as their LLC Interests remain outstanding. As of the date of this Annual Report, AES Grid Stability maintains ownership of 51,499,195 LLC Interests, and may in the future exercise its redemption rights pursuant to the Fluence Energy, LLC Agreement which the Company may choose to settle through the issuance of 51,499,195 shares of our Class A common stock. The market price of shares of our Class A common stock could decline as a result of these redemptions or exchanges or the perception that a redemption or exchange any subsequent sale could occur, which might make it more difficult for holders of our Class A common stock to sell such stock in the future at a time and at a price that they deem appropriate.
In addition, there are outstanding vested options to acquire shares of Class A common stock pursuant to equity incentive awards issued previously pursuant to the 2020 Unit Option Plan of Fluence Energy, LLC (the “Existing Equity Plan”). Finally, we have reserved 9,500,000 shares of Class A common stock for issuance under the Fluence Energy, Inc. 2021 Incentive Award Plan (the “2021 Equity Plan”) and there are 3,011,899 shares still available for grant under the 2021 Equity Plan as of September 30, 2025. Any Class A common stock that we issue under the 2021 Equity Plan or other equity incentive plans that we may adopt in the future as well as exercise of the outstanding options under any of equity plans would be dilutive to Class A common stockholders.
In the future, we may also issue securities in connection with investments, acquisitions, strategic transactions, or capital raising activities, which could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of Class A common stock.50In the future, we may also issue securities in connection with investments, acquisitions, or capital raising activities, which could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of Class A common stock. Further in connection with the completion of the IPO, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with certain of the Continuing Equity Owners. Any such issuance of additional securities or any exercise of registration rights or the prospect of any such sales, could materially impact the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities.
Short sellers may engage in manipulative activity intended to drive down the market price of our Class A common stock, which has and could in the future result in related governmental and regulatory scrutiny, among other effects.
Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed or intends to borrow from a third party with the intention of later buying lower priced identical securities to return to the lender. Accordingly, it is in the interest of a short seller of our Class A common stock for the price to decline. At any time, short sellers may publish, or arrange for the publication of, opinions or characterizations that are intended to create negative market momentum. Short selling reports can cause increased volatility in an issuer’s stock price, and result in regulatory and governmental inquiries. For example, on February 22, 2024, as previously disclosed, a short seller report was published which contained certain allegations against the Company (the “Short Seller Report”). In response to the Short Seller Report, the Audit Committee of our board of directors completed an internal investigation, with the assistance of outside counsel and forensic accountants, into the allegations in the Short Seller Report. We, after consultation with the Audit Committee, believe that the internal investigation demonstrated that the allegations of wrongdoing contained in the Short Seller Report are without merit. We have been informed that the SEC is conducting a formal investigation and asking for certain information regarding our financial reporting. We are fully cooperating with the SEC’s investigation. Based on the information requested by the SEC, we believe that the SEC is reviewing the Company’s revenue recognition practices, a previously-disclosed material weakness in internal controls, capitalization of internal-use software costs, as well as certain service contracts with related parties. These areas were the subject of assertions in the Short Seller Report and were included in the Audit Committee’s internal investigation. Any inquiries or investigations conducted by a governmental organization or other regulatory body, such as the ongoing SEC investigation, or any internal investigation, such as the one conducted by our Audit Committee, could result in a material diversion of our management’s time and result in substantial cost and, in the event of an adverse finding, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, any perceived or actual failure by us to comply with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and standards could have a significant impact on our reputation and expose us to legal risk and potential criminal and civil liability.
Risks Related to Our Existing Shareholders
We are controlled by the Continuing Equity Owners, whose interests may differ from those of our public stockholders.
As of September 30, 2025, the Continuing Equity Owners control approximately 83.7% of the combined voting power of our common stock through their ownership of both Class A common stock and Class B-1 common stock. The Continuing Equity Owners have the ability to substantially influence our corporate management and affairs through their ownership, including, subject to applicable law, and the voting arrangements, to elect a majority of the members of our board of directors. The directors so elected
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have the ability to control actions to be taken by our board of directors, including amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and approval of significant corporate transactions, including mergers and sales of substantially all of our assets, and, subject to the terms of our indebtedness and applicable rules and regulations, to approve the issuance of additional stock, implement stock repurchase programs, declare dividends and make other decisions. It is possible that the interests of the Continuing Equity Owners may in some circumstances conflict with our interests and the interests of our other stockholders, including you. For example, the Continuing Equity Owners may have different tax positions from us, especially in light of the Tax Receivable Agreement, that could influence our decisions regarding whether and when to dispose of assets, whether and when to incur new or refinance existing indebtedness, and whether and when we should terminate the Tax Receivable Agreement and accelerate its obligations thereunder. In addition, the determination of future tax reporting positions and the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration the Continuing Equity Owners’ tax or other considerations, which may differ from the considerations of us or our other stockholders.
Certain of our officers and directors may have actual or potential conflicts of interest because of their positions with our Continuing Equity Owners.
Ricardo Falu, Letitia (“Tish”) Mendoza, Peter Chi-Shun Luk, Axel Meier, John Christopher Shelton, and Simon James Smith serve on our board of directors and are employed by and have retained their positions with AES, Siemens, or QIA, or any of their respective affiliates, as applicable. These individuals’ holdings in and compensation from the relevant Continuing Equity Owners or their affiliates may be significant for some of these persons. Their positions at AES, Siemens, or QIA or their respective affiliates, their compensation from AES, Siemens, or QIA or their respective affiliates, and the ownership of any equity or outstanding equity awards in AES, Siemens, or QIA or their respective affiliates may create the appearance of conflicts of interest when these individuals are faced with decisions that could have different implications for our Continuing Equity Owners than the decisions have for us.
We rely on our access to our Founders’ brands and reputation for establishing and building relationships with customers, and on our strategic relationships with our Founders.
We believe the association with our Founders has and continues to contribute to our establishing and building relationships with our customers due to the Founders’ recognized brands and products, as well as resources such as their intellectual property and access to other third parties’ intellectual property. Any perceived loss of our Founders’ scale, capital base, and financial strength, or any actual loss or reduction in the Founders’ ownership of the Company in the future, may prompt business partners to reprice, modify, or terminate their relationships with us. In addition, our Founders’ reduction of their ownership of the Company may cause some of our existing agreements and licenses to be terminated.
In addition, our relationship with our Founders is critical to our business operations and strategic direction. Any decisions they make or changes in their plans regarding their involvement with us, including changes in their strategic priorities, business focus, or investment levels, could materially impact our business operations, financial condition, and growth prospects. As significant stakeholders, their actions could influence our strategic decisions, access to resources, and market perception. Any reduction in their support or changes in their business strategies could adversely affect our business.
Third parties may seek to hold us responsible for liabilities of our Founders, which could result in a decrease in our income. Third parties may seek to hold us responsible for liabilities of our Founders, which could result in a decrease in our income.
Third parties may seek to hold us responsible for our Founders’ liabilities. If those liabilities are significant and we are ultimately held liable for them, we cannot assure that we will be able to recover the full amount of our losses from our Founders.
We may be required to pay additional taxes as a result of partnership tax audit rules.
We may be required to pay additional taxes as a result of partnership audit rules under U.S. federal and other applicable income tax law. Subject to certain exceptions, audit adjustments to items of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit of a partnership such as Fluence Energy, LLC (and any holder’s share thereof) are determined, and taxes, interest, and penalties attributable thereto, are assessed and collected, at the partnership level. Therefore it is possible that income tax audits could result in Fluence Energy, LLC (or any of its subsidiaries that are or have been treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes) being required to pay additional taxes, interest, and penalties as a result of an audit adjustment, and we, as an owner of Fluence Energy, LLC (or as an indirect owner of such other entities), could be required to indirectly bear the economic burden of those taxes, interest, and penalties even if they relate to periods prior to the IPO and even though we may not otherwise have been required to pay additional corporate-level taxes as a result of the related audit adjustment.
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If we were deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), including as a result of our ownership of Fluence Energy, LLC, applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the 1940 Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the 1940 Act if (1) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities, or (2) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding, or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in either of those sections of the 1940 Act.
We and Fluence Energy, LLC conduct our operations and intend to continue to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed an investment company. As the sole managing member of Fluence Energy, LLC, we will control and operate Fluence Energy, LLC. On that basis, we believe that our interest in Fluence Energy, LLC is not an “investment security” as that term is used in the 1940 Act. However, if we were to cease participation in the management of Fluence Energy, LLC, or if Fluence Energy, LLC itself becomes an investment company, our interest in Fluence Energy, LLC could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the 1940 Act. If it were established that we were an unregistered investment company, there would be a risk that we would be subject to monetary penalties and injunctive relief in an action brought by the SEC, that we would be unable to enforce contracts with third parties and that third parties could seek to obtain rescission of transactions undertaken during the period it was established that we were an unregistered investment company. If we were required to register as an investment company, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure
Our principal asset is our interest in Fluence Energy, LLC, and, as a result, we depend on distributions from Fluence Energy, LLC to pay our taxes and expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Fluence Energy, LLC’s ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitations and restrictions.
We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our ownership of LLC Interests. As such, we have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flow, and our ability to pay our taxes and operating expenses or declare and pay dividends in the future, if any, are dependent upon the financial results and cash flows of Fluence Energy, LLC and its subsidiaries and distributions we receive from Fluence Energy, LLC. Fluence Energy, LLC and its subsidiaries may not generate sufficient cash flow to distribute funds to us or that applicable state law and contractual restrictions, including negative covenants in our debt instruments, will permit such distributions. There can be no assurance that Fluence Energy, LLC and its subsidiaries will generate sufficient cash flow to distribute funds to us or that applicable state law and contractual restrictions, including negative covenants in our debt instruments, will permit such distributions. The 2024 Credit Agreement limits, and our future debt agreements may similarly limit, our ability to make certain payments, including dividends and distributions on Fluence Energy, LLC’s equity, Fluence Energy, Inc.’s equity and other restricted payments.
Fluence Energy, LLC continues to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, generally is not subject to any entity-level U.S. federal income tax. Instead, any taxable income of Fluence Energy, LLC will be allocated to holders of LLC Interests, including us. Accordingly, we incur income taxes on our allocable share of any net taxable income of Fluence Energy, LLC. We expect to use distributions from Fluence Energy, LLC to fund any payments that we are required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Under the terms of the Fluence Energy LLC Agreement, Fluence Energy, LLC is obligated, subject to various limitations and restrictions, including with respect to our debt agreements, to make tax distributions to holders of LLC Interests, although tax distributions may not be paid in whole or in part in certain circumstances, including if Fluence Energy, LLC does not have available cash to make such distributions. In addition to tax expenses, we will also incur expenses related to our operations, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, which we expect could be significant. We intend, as its managing member, to cause Fluence Energy, LLC to make cash distributions to the holders of LLC Interests in an amount sufficient to (1) fund all or part of their tax obligations in respect of taxable income allocated to them and (2) cover our operating expenses, including payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. If we do not have sufficient funds to pay tax or other liabilities, or to fund our operations (including, if applicable, as a result of an acceleration of our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement), we may have to borrow funds, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition, and subject us to various restrictions imposed by any lenders of such funds. To the extent we are unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments generally will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid; provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement resulting in the acceleration of payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. In addition, if Fluence Energy, LLC does not have sufficient funds to make distributions, our ability to declare and pay cash dividends will also be restricted or impaired.
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As a result of (1) potential differences in the amount of net taxable income allocable to us and to Fluence Energy, LLC’s other equity holders, (2) the lower tax rate applicable to corporations as opposed to individuals, and (3) certain tax benefits that we anticipate from (a) future redemptions or exchanges of LLC Interests from the Founders, (b) payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and (c) certain other transactions, tax distributions to us may be in amounts that exceed our tax liabilities. Our board of directors will determine the appropriate uses for any excess cash so accumulated, which may include, among other uses, the payment of obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. We have no obligation to distribute such cash (or other available cash) to our stockholders. No adjustments to the redemption or exchange ratio or price for LLC Interests and corresponding shares of Class B-1 or Class B-2 common stock will be made as a result of any cash distribution or retention of cash by us. To the extent we do not distribute such excess cash as dividends on our Class A common stock, we may take other actions with respect to such excess cash, for example, holding such excess cash, or lending it (or a portion thereof) to Fluence Energy, LLC or its subsidiaries, which may result in shares of our Class A common stock increasing in value relative to the value of LLC Interests. The holders of LLC Interests may benefit from any value attributable to such cash balances or loan receivables if they acquire shares of Class A common stock in exchange for their LLC Interests or otherwise exercise their rights to redeem or exchange their LLC Interests, notwithstanding that such holders may have participated previously as holders of LLC Interests in distributions by Fluence Energy, LLC that resulted in the excess cash balances.
The Tax Receivable Agreement with the Founders requires us to make cash payments to them in respect of certain tax benefits to which we may become entitled, and we expect that such payments will be substantial.
We are party to a Tax Receivable Agreement with Fluence Energy, LLC and the Founders. Under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we are required to make cash payments to such Founders equal to 85% of the tax benefits, if any, that we actually realize, or in certain circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of (1) the increases in our share of the tax basis of assets of Fluence Energy, LLC and its subsidiaries resulting from any redemptions or exchanges of LLC Interests from the Founders and certain distributions (or deemed distributions) by Fluence Energy, LLC; and (2) certain other tax benefits arising from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The payment obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement is an obligation of Fluence Energy, Inc. and not of Fluence Energy, LLC. We expect to use distributions from Fluence Energy, LLC to fund any payments that we will be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement. To the extent that we are unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, the unpaid amounts generally will be deferred and will accrued interest until paid; provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement resulting in the acceleration of payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Fluence Energy, Inc. expects to benefit from the remaining 15% of cash tax benefits, if any, it realizes from such tax benefits. For purposes of the Tax Receivable Agreement, the cash tax benefits will be computed by comparing the actual income tax liability of Fluence Energy, Inc. to the amount of such taxes that Fluence Energy, Inc. would have been required to pay had there been no such tax basis adjustments of the assets of Fluence Energy, LLC or its subsidiaries as a result of redemptions or exchanges and had Fluence Energy, Inc. not entered into the Tax Receivable Agreement.
On June 30, 2022, Siemens Industry, Inc. exercised its redemption right pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement with respect to its entire holding of 58,586,695 LLC Interests of Fluence Energy, LLC, together with the corresponding cancellation of an equivalent number of shares of Class B-1 common stock of Fluence Energy, Inc., par value $0.00001 per share (the “Siemens Redemption”). On December 8, 2023, AES Grid Stability exercised its redemption right pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement with respect to 7,087,500 LLC Interests of Fluence Energy, LLC, together with the corresponding cancellation of an equivalent number of shares of Class B-1 common stock of Fluence Energy, Inc., par value $0.00001 per share (the “AES Redemption”).
As a result of the tax basis adjustments of the assets of Fluence Energy, LLC and its subsidiaries upon the redemptions and our possible utilization of certain tax attributes, the payments that we may make under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. The redemptions will result in future tax savings of $137.6 million. Siemens and AES will be entitled to receive payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement equaling 85% of such amount, or $117 million; assuming, among other factors, (i) we will have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the tax benefits; (ii) Fluence Energy, LLC is able to fully depreciate or amortize its assets; and (iii) there are no material changes in applicable tax law. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned upon continued ownership of us by the redeeming or exchanging Founders.
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Although the timing and extent of future payments could vary significantly under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we anticipate funding ordinary course payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement from cash flow from operations of our subsidiaries, available cash, or available borrowings under any current or future debt agreements. In the future, at a time that is not currently predictable, we expect that the amount of the cash payments we will be required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be substantial. Any payments made by us to the Founders under the Tax Receivable Agreement will not be available for reinvestment in our business and will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to us and have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity. Furthermore, our future obligation to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement could make us a less attractive target for an acquisition, particularly in the case of an acquirer that cannot use some or all of the tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement. The actual increase in tax basis, and the actual utilization of any resulting tax benefits, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors: including the timing of redemptions of exchanges by the Founders; the price of shares of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchange; the extent to which such redemptions or exchanges are taxable; the amount of gain recognized by such Founders; the amount and timing of the taxable income allocated to us or otherwise generated by us in the future; the portion of our payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement constituting imputed interest; and the federal and state tax rates then applicable.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Founders that will not benefit holders of our Class A common stock to the same extent that it will benefit the Founders.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the Founders that will not benefit the holders of our Class A common stock to the same extent that it will benefit such Founders. We are party to the Tax Receivable Agreement with Fluence Energy, LLC and certain Founders, which provides for the payment by us to such Founders of 85% of the amount of tax benefits, if any, that we actually realize, or in some circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of (1) the increases in our share of the tax basis of assets of Fluence Energy, LLC and its subsidiaries resulting from any future redemptions or exchanges of LLC Interests from the Founders and certain distributions (or deemed distributions) by Fluence Energy, LLC and (2) certain other tax benefits arising from payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Although we will retain 15% of the amount of such tax benefits, this and other aspects of our organizational structure may adversely impact the future trading market for our Class A common stock.
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement may be accelerated or significantly exceed any actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The Tax Receivable Agreement provides that if (1) we materially breach any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement and the Founders elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, (2) certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations, or other changes of control were to occur after the consummation of the IPO and the Founders elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, or (3) we elect, at any time, an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, then our obligations, or our successor’s obligations, under the Tax Receivable Agreement to make payments would be based on certain assumptions, including an assumption that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize all potential future tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
As a result of the foregoing, we would be required to make an immediate cash payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement, based on certain assumptions, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of such future tax benefits. We could also be required to make cash payments to the Founders that are greater than the specified percentage of any actual benefits we ultimately realize in respect of the tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring, or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations, or other changes of control. We may not be able to fund or finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement. To the extent we are unable to make timely payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement for any reason, such payments generally will be deferred and will accrue interest until paid; provided, however, that nonpayment for a specified period may constitute a material breach of a material obligation under the Tax Receivable Agreement resulting in the acceleration of payments due under the Tax Receivable Agreement. We may need to incur debt to finance payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise.
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We will not be reimbursed for any payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are disallowed.
Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, or another tax authority, may challenge all or part of the tax basis increases or other tax benefits we claim, as well as other related tax positions we take, and a court could sustain such challenge. If the outcome of any audit of us or our subsidiaries is reasonably expected to adversely affect the rights and obligations of the Founders under the Tax Receivable Agreement in a material respect, then we will notify the Founders of such audit, keep them reasonably informed with respect thereto, provide them with a reasonable opportunity to provide information and other input concerning the audit or the relevant portion thereof and consider such information and other input in good faith. The interests of such Founders in any such challenge may differ from or conflict with our interests and your interests, and the Founders may exercise their rights relating to any such challenge in a manner adverse to our interests and your interests. We will not be reimbursed for any cash payments previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits initially claimed by us and for which payment has been made are subsequently challenged by a taxing authority and are ultimately disallowed. Instead, any excess cash payments made by us will be netted against any future cash payments we might otherwise be required to make to the applicable Founder under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, we might not determine that we have effectively made an excess cash payment to a Founder for a number of years following the initial time of such payment and, if any of our tax reporting positions are challenged by a taxing authority, we will not be permitted to reduce any future cash payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement until any such challenge is finally settled or determined. Moreover, the excess cash payments we made previously under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be greater than the amount of future cash payments against which we would otherwise be permitted to net such excess. The applicable U.S. federal income tax rules for determining applicable tax benefits we may claim are complex and factual in nature, the IRS or a court may disagree with our tax reporting positions. As a result, payments could be made under the Tax Receivable Agreement significantly in excess of any actual cash tax savings that we realize in respect of the tax attributes that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to taxes by U.S. federal, state, local, and foreign tax authorities. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
allocation of expenses to and among different jurisdictions;
changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
tax effects of stock-based compensation;
costs related to intercompany restructurings;
changes in tax laws, tax treaties, regulations or interpretations thereof; or
lower than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory tax rates.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales, and other taxes by U.S. federal, state, and local, and foreign taxing authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Risks Related to the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes
Our indebtedness and liabilities could limit the cash flow available for our operations, expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations and impair our ability to satisfy our obligations under the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes.
In December 2024, the Company issued $400.0 million aggregate principal amount of 2.25% convertible senior notes due 2030 (the “2030 Convertible Senior Notes”) and as of September 30, 2025, we had approximately $400.0 million of indebtedness outstanding under the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes. Further as of September 30, 2025, we had $194.4 million letters of credit outstanding and no cash borrowings outstanding Under the 2024 Revolver. All borrowings and obligations under the 2024 Revolver will be effectively senior to our obligations under the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes to the extent of the value of the assets securing such borrowings and obligations, and structurally senior to the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes as the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes are not guaranteed by Fluence Energy, LLC, a borrower under the 2024 Revolver.
We may also incur additional indebtedness to meet future financing needs. Our indebtedness could have significant negative consequences for our security holders and our business, results of operations, and financial condition by, among other things:
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making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and our other debt;
limiting our ability to obtain additional financing to fund future working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, or other general corporate requirements;
requiring a substantial portion of our cash flows to be dedicated to debt service payments instead of other purposes, thereby reducing the amount of cash flows available for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes;
increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions;
exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates to the extent any of our borrowings are at variable rates of interest;
limiting our flexibility in planning for and reacting to changes in the industry in which we compete;
placing us at a disadvantage compared to other, less leveraged competitors; and
increasing our cost of borrowing.
Any additional indebtedness we incur will heighten the potential for the consequences discussed above and could negatively impact our credit ratings, if any, in the future.
Our business may not generate sufficient funds, and we may otherwise be unable to maintain sufficient cash reserves, to pay amounts due under our indebtedness, including the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, and our cash needs may increase in the future. In addition, the 2024 Revolver contains restrictions that limits future indebtedness that we may incur and contains financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our ability to operate our business, raise capital, or make payments under our other indebtedness. If we fail to comply with these covenants or to make payments under our indebtedness when due, then we would be in default under that indebtedness, which could, in turn, result in that and our other indebtedness becoming immediately payable in full.
We conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries, including Fluence Energy, LLC, and may not be able to receive dividends or other distributions in needed amounts from our subsidiaries; Fluence Energy, Inc. is a holding company.
We conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries, including Fluence Energy, LLC; Fluence Energy, Inc. is a holding company. Accordingly, payment of interest or repayment of principal on our indebtedness, including the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, is significantly dependent on the generation of cash flow by our subsidiaries and their ability to make such cash available to us, by dividend, interest payment on debt they owe to us (including interest payments on the 2.25% Intercompany Subordinated Convertible Note issued by Fluence Energy, LLC to Fluence Energy, Inc., dated December 12, 2024 (the “Intercompany Convertible Note”)), debt repayment, or otherwise. None of our subsidiaries have guaranteed or will guarantee the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and our subsidiaries will not have any obligation to pay amounts due on the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes or to make funds available for that purpose. Noteholders are not entitled to rights under the Intercompany Convertible Note. Fluence Energy, LLC’s failure to make interest payments thereunder will not itself constitute a default or event of default under the indenture governing the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes. We have pledged our interest in the Intercompany Convertible Note to secure our obligations under the 2024 Revolver, and the Intercompany Convertible Note is subordinated in right of payment to Fluence Energy, LLC’s obligations under the 2024 Revolver and its other indebtedness. Our subsidiaries may not be able to, or may not be permitted to, make distributions to enable us to make payments in respect of our indebtedness, including the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes. Each subsidiary is a distinct legal entity, and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries. While the agreement governing our 2024 Revolver limits the ability of certain of our subsidiaries to incur restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or make other intercompany payments to us, these limitations are subject to qualifications and exceptions. Additionally, the agreement governing our 2024 Revolver limits the ability of Fluence Energy, LLC to pay dividends or make other distributions to us, and substantially limits our ability to prepay or repay the principal amount of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes with cash, upon conversion, maturity or otherwise. Furthermore, other holders of LLC Interests are entitled to participate pro rata with Fluence Energy, Inc. in dividends from Fluence Energy, LLC. In the event that we do not receive distributions from our subsidiaries, we may be unable to make required principal and interest payments on our indebtedness, including the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes.
Higher interest rates could increase the cost of refinancing our indebtedness and could cause our debt service obligations to increase significantly.
The current high interest rate environment could adversely impact us. If interest rates remain at their current elevated levels or continue to increase, this could adversely impact our ability to refinance existing indebtedness or obtain additional debt financing on acceptable terms or at all. In addition, we expect this refinancing effort will, and future debt refinancings may, increase our debt service obligations as we refinance lower interest rate debt with higher interest rate debt.
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The conditional conversion feature of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
In the event the conditional conversion feature of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes is triggered, noteholders will be entitled to convert the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, we may, to the extent permitted by, and subject to compliance with the terms of, the agreement governing the 2024 Revolver and our other indebtedness in existence at such time, settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity.
The issuance or sale of shares of our Class A common stock, or rights to acquire shares of our Class A common stock, could depress the trading price of our Class A common stock and the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes.
We may conduct future offerings of our Class A common stock, preferred stock, or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for our Class A common stock to finance our operations, fund acquisitions, or for other purposes. The sale of shares of our Class A common stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our Class A common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. In addition, upon conversion of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, we will pay consideration that consists of cash, shares of our Class A common stock, or a combination of cash and shares of our Class A common stock (together with cash in lieu of any fractional shares, if applicable), at our election. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to raise additional funds through future offerings of our shares of Class A common stock or other securities. We have also reserved 9,500,000 shares of our Class A common stock for issuance under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan.
The Indenture governing the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes does not restrict our ability to issue additional equity securities. If we issue additional shares of our Class A common stock or rights to acquire shares of our Class A common stock, if any of our existing stockholders sells a substantial amount of our Class A common stock, or if the market perceives that such issuances or sales may occur, then the trading price of our Class A common stock, and, accordingly, the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes may significantly decline. In addition, our issuance of additional shares of Class A common stock will dilute the ownership interests of our existing common stockholders, including noteholders who have received shares of our Class A common stock upon conversion of their 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, and any Class A common stock issued upon conversion of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes may dilute the interests of our existing common stockholders.
The accounting method for the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes could adversely affect our reported financial condition and results.
The accounting method for reflecting the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes on our balance sheet, accruing interest expense for the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and reflecting the underlying shares of our Class A common stock in our reported diluted earnings per share may adversely affect our reported earnings and financial condition.
In accordance with applicable accounting standards, the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes are reflected as a liability on our balance sheets, with the initial carrying amount equal to the principal amount of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, net of issuance costs. The issuance costs are treated as a debt discount for accounting purposes, which will be amortized into interest expense over the term of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes. As a result of this amortization, the interest expense that we expect to recognize for the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes for accounting purposes will be greater than the cash interest payments we will pay on the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, which will result in lower reported income.
In addition, the potential dilutive shares underlying the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes are reflected in our diluted earnings per share using the “if converted” method. The denominator of diluted earnings per share for the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes is determined by multiplying the principal amount of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes by the applicable conversion rate for the reporting period. The after-tax interest expense associated with the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes is added back to the numerator of the diluted earnings per share calculation for these purposes. However, if reflecting the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes in diluted earnings per share in this manner is anti-dilutive, then the shares underlying the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes will not be reflected in our diluted earnings per share. The application of the if-converted method may reduce our reported diluted earnings per share, and accounting standards may change in the future in a manner that may adversely affect our diluted earnings per share.
Furthermore, if any of the conditions to the convertibility of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes is satisfied, then we may be required under applicable accounting standards to reclassify the liability carrying value of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes as a current, rather than a long-term liability. This reclassification could be required even if no noteholders convert their 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and could materially reduce our reported working capital.
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Provisions in the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and the Indenture governing the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes could delay or prevent an otherwise beneficial takeover of us.
Certain provisions in the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and its Indenture could make a third-party attempt to acquire us more difficult or expensive. For example, if a takeover constitutes a “fundamental change”, then noteholders will have the right to require us to repurchase their 2030 Convertible Senior Notes for cash. In addition, if a takeover constitutes a “make-whole fundamental change” (as defined in the Indenture), then we may be required to temporarily increase the conversion rate. In either case, and in other cases, our obligations under the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and the Indenture could increase the cost of acquiring us or otherwise discourage a third party from acquiring us or removing incumbent management, including in a transaction that noteholders or holders of our Class A common stock may view as favorable.
The capped call transactions may affect the value of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and our Class A common stock.
In connection with the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, we entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions with the option counterparties. The capped call transactions cover, subject to customary adjustments, the number of shares of our Class A common stock underlying the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes. The capped call transactions are expected to offset the potential dilution and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, as the case may be, as a result of conversion of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, with such offset subject to a cap.
We have been advised that, in connection with establishing their initial hedges of the capped call transactions, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our Class A common stock and/or purchased shares of our Class A common stock.
In addition, the counterparties and/or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our Class A common stock and/or purchasing or selling our Class A common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions following the pricing of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes and prior to the maturity of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes (and are likely to do so (i) during any observation period related to a conversion of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes or following any redemption or fundamental change repurchase of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes, (ii) following any other repurchase of the 2030 Convertible Senior Notes if we unwind a corresponding portion of the capped call transactions in connection with such repurchase and (iii) if we otherwise unwind all or a portion of the capped call transactions). This activity could also cause or avoid an increase or a decrease in the market price of our Class A common stock.
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the capped call transactions.
The counterparties to the capped call transactions are financial institutions, or their affiliates, and we will be subject to the risk that one or more of the counterparties may default or otherwise fail to perform, or may exercise certain rights to terminate, their obligations under the capped call transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the counterparties is not secured by any collateral.
Global economic conditions have in the past resulted in the actual or perceived potential failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions. If a counterparty to one or more capped call transactions becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at the time under such transactions. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, our exposure will increase if the market price or the volatility of our Class A common stock increases. In addition, upon a default or other failure to perform, or a termination of obligations, by a counterparty, the counterparty may fail to deliver the shares of common stock required to be delivered to us under the capped call transactions and we may experience adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our Class A common stock. The tariffs described above, the adoption and expansion of trade restrictions, the occurrence of a trade war, or other governmental action related to tariffs, trade agreements or related policies have the potential to adversely impact our supply chain and access to equipment, and our costs and ability to economically serve certain markets. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of any of the counterparties.
In addition, the capped call transactions are complex, and they may not operate as planned. For example, the terms of the capped call transactions may be subject to adjustment, modification or, in some cases, renegotiation if certain corporate or other transactions occur. Accordingly, these transactions may not operate as we intend if we are required to adjust their terms as a result of transactions in the future or upon unanticipated developments that may adversely affect the functioning of the capped call transactions.
Risk Factors Related to Accounting Matters
Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and stock price and may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock and your investment.
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), requires us to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year, including a management report assessing the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, and a report issued by our independent registered public accounting firm on that assessment. Our ability to comply with the annual internal control reporting requirements will depend on the effectiveness of our financial reporting and data systems and controls across our company. We expect these systems and controls to require additional investment as we become increasingly more complex and our business grows. To effectively manage this complexity, we will need to
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continue to maintain and revise our operational, financial. and management controls, and our reporting systems and procedures. Certain weaknesses or deficiencies or failures to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in the implementation or operation of these controls, could harm our operating results and cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, or result in material misstatements in our financial statements, which could adversely affect our business and reduce our the stock price of our Class A common stock. When evaluating our internal control over financial reporting, we have identified, and we may in the future identify additional material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in a timely manner.
In fiscal 2024, we determined that a material weakness in the internal control over revenue recognition existed. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The Company did not consistently apply controls in its revenue recognition process related to the evaluation of contract terms for purposes of determining their impact on when costs are included in the measure of progress. Management enhanced controls over the evaluation of contract terms and placed them into operation in fiscal year 2024 which continued throughout the first quarter of fiscal year 2025. As result of these efforts and our own testing, management concluded the material weakness was remediated as of December 31, 2024.
Any future material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could result in an increased probability of fraud, the potential loss of customers, litigation from our stockholders, reduction in our ability to obtain financing, and require additional expenditures to remediate. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in loss of investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and a decline in our stock price, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

If we are not able to adhere to the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act with adequate compliance, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue an adverse opinion due to ineffective internal controls over financial reporting, and we may be subject to sanctions or investigation by regulatory authorities, such as the Nasdaq or SEC.If we are not able to implement the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue an adverse opinion due to ineffective internal controls over financial reporting, and we may be subject to sanctions or investigation by regulatory authorities, such as the Nasdaq or SEC. As a result, there could be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. In addition, we may be required to incur costs in improving our internal control system and the hiring of additional personnel. Any such action could negatively affect our results of operations and cash flows.
Changes in accounting principles or their application to us could result in unfavorable accounting charges or effects, which could adversely affect our operating results and prospects.

We prepare our financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The accounting for our business is subject to change based on the evolution of our business model, interpretations of relevant accounting principles, enforcement of existing or new regulations, and changes in policies, rules, regulations, and interpretations, of accounting and financial reporting requirements of the SEC or other regulatory agencies. A change in any of these principles or guidance, or in their interpretations or application to us, may have a significant effect on our reported results, as well as our processes and related controls, and may retroactively affect previously reported results, which may negatively impact our financial statements, which may in turn adversely affect our prospects. It is difficult to predict the impact of future changes to accounting principles and accounting policies over financial reporting, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition and could require significant investment in systems and personnel.

If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our operating results could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.

The preparation of our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. We base estimates and assumptions on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. We may make estimates regarding activities for which the accounting treatment is still uncertain. Actual results could differ from those estimates. If our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from our assumptions, our operating results may be adversely affected and could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our Class A common stock.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
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ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY
Cybersecurity Risk Management
We manage our cybersecurity risks through an information security management system (ISMS) that falls under our overarching integrated management system (IMS) for quality and safety. Our cybersecurity risk management program and supporting ISMS focus our efforts on reducing residual risks to our critical corporate assets. The materiality of these risks drives the selection of appropriate controls and the prioritization of the projects and operational tasks of our cybersecurity teams.
Our approach to controlling these risks is designed and assessed based on our selection and implementation of certain controls from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (CSF). This does not imply that we meet any particular technical standards, specifications, or requirements, only that we use NIST CSF as a guide to help us identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks relevant to our business. These controls are implemented to help us identify our critical assets and systems, protect them through preventative measures, detect attempts to compromise their confidentiality, integrity, and availability, respond to attacks by containing their progression and notifying relevant parties, and recover effectively if successfully compromised.

Key elements of our cybersecurity risk management program include but are not limited to: authentication and authorization procedures, employee security awareness training, logging and monitoring procedures, network segmentation requirements, in transit and at rest encryption of certain data we deem sensitive, periodic vulnerability scanning, periodic control validation through penetration testing, periodic phishing attack simulations, production change control requirements, periodic tabletop exercises, and written incident response plans. We also use external service providers, where appropriate, to assess, test or otherwise assist with aspects of our security processes. We maintain a third-party risk management process for key service providers based on our assessment of their criticality to our operations and respective risk profile.
To date, we are not aware of any risks from known cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect Fluence. We face risks from cybersecurity threats that, if realized, are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. For more information on potential cybersecurity risks, please see Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” for the risk factor entitled “Our business depends on our ability to implement improvements to and properly maintain and protect the continuous operation and data integrity of our information technology infrastructure, data, and other business systems and the inability to do so may have a material adverse effect on our reputation and harm our business prospects, financial conditions, and operating results.”
Cybersecurity Governance
Our cybersecurity program and supporting ISMS are governed by our Cybersecurity Steering Committee, which is includes our Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) and is comprised of other members of our management team, including individuals from our finance, supply chain, product, information technology (“IT”), and legal departments. The Cybersecurity Steering Committee convenes quarterly to review the ISMS, identify new material risks and potential treatment plans that are recorded in our cybersecurity risk register, and review the overall health of security key risk indicators, technical key performance indicators, and roadmaps for the expected delivery of new and updated controls.
Cybersecurity oversight and related risk-management activities are currently led by the CIO, who has more than 20 years of experience in information technology, cybersecurity governance, and enterprise-risk management. The CIO has implemented defense-in-depth cybersecurity frameworks and controls aligned with industry standards such as COBIT and ITIL and has regularly reported on cybersecurity risks and mitigation activities to boards of directors and audit committees throughout his career. Management is informed about cybersecurity risks through ongoing monitoring and reporting processes, including real-time incident dashboards, periodic risk assessments, and collaboration with internal and external cybersecurity experts. The CIO provides updates on cybersecurity risks, incident response readiness, and mitigation efforts to executive leadership and Fluence’s board of directors through the Audit Committee as part of the Company’s enterprise-risk-management program.
We have a written cybersecurity incident escalation process overseen by senior leadership, and when senior leadership deems appropriate, a materiality committee is convened comprised of certain members of management who assess whether incidents must be reported to the SEC and/or the appropriate authorities.
While Fluence’s board of directors oversees all enterprise risks, the Audit Committee of our board of directors has primary responsibility for overseeing cybersecurity risks and management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program. The Audit Committee receives quarterly updates from CIO. These updates typically cover topics such as: overview of material cybersecurity incidents that have occurred since the last update, overview of residual cybersecurity risks to our critical business assets, recent investments in our cybersecurity program, and relevant cybersecurity operational metrics. The Audit Committee will report updates regarding cybersecurity to the Board, as it deems appropriate.
Our management team takes steps to stay informed about and monitor efforts to prevent, detect, mitigate, and remediate cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, which may include: briefings from internal security personnel; threat
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intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, including external consultants engaged by us; and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in our IT environment.
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