Who’s Who in Tech: Arbor Energy is Cooling the Market

When Brad Hartwig and Andres Garcia Clark co-founded Arbor Energy in 2021, they didn’t know energy companies like theirs would one day be mobilized to cool down power-hungry data centers years later. 

The El Segundo-based company – which manufactures modular, turbine-centered power stations built to generate electricity with no operating emissions – came out of an idea to decarbonize the global economy. However, it was tapped four years later by investors to help shrink the carbon footprint of artificial intelligence-focused data centers.

Arbor Energy raised a $55 million series A round back in November as power plants accommodate artificial intelligence’s insatiable need for energy.

Right now, gas-fired turbines remain the traditional method for supplying power for data centers.

However there are only a handful of turbine manufacturers and suppliers in the world, and as demand grows, data centers are stuck waiting as long as seven years for these products. 

Arbor Energy may have an alternative. The company is building a smaller, more modular and scalable system that can grow as data center facilities expand.

Hartwig, who also serves as chief executive, hopes the result will be two-fold: these environmentally unfriendly data centers can be ever-so-slightly more carbon efficient, and sprawling data centers may take up less space by using more compact cooling systems. 

Hartwig sat down with the Business Journal is to discuss their venture and the outlook for modular, fuel-flexible power stations.

What was the genesis of your company? How did it come to be?
Arbor takes significant inspiration from my time at SpaceX here in Los Angeles, where I worked on developing and manufacturing high-performance propulsion systems.

I realized that many of these same technologies could benefit us right here on Earth – particularly in power generation and decarbonization. Rocket engines leverage technologies such as oxy-combustion, turbomachinery, additive manufacturing, fluid systems and more. The extreme ownership philosophy and first-principles approach to engineering also became central tenets of how we think about building Arbor.

I co-founded Arbor to bring these same technologies and approaches to energy, in part because abundant clean energy is one of the biggest unlocks for improving humanity’s quality of life. We’re already seeing this with hyperscalers and AI, where data center demand is causing energy consumption to outpace supply across the country.

Today, we’re building modular 25-megawatt turbines that can bring reliable, clean baseload power online far faster than traditional turbine manufacturers to help meet this growing demand.

Alternative energy received record-breaking venture funding in 2025. Why do you think that is?
Electricity has become a limiting factor for growth. AI, new data centers and expanding U.S. manufacturing are increasing demand faster than the grid can keep up. Companies are running into power shortages and long equipment backlogs. Energy is no longer a side conversation. It now sits at the center of economic competitiveness and security.

Your company started a little before the AI data center craze that started in 2024. What was your goal back then? Has it changed much from now?
From the beginning, our goal was to reduce emissions at a meaningful scale by rebuilding critical energy infrastructure.

What has changed is the urgency. The surge in electricity demand made it clear that clean, reliable power is the fastest path to impact. The mission hasn’t shifted, but the timeline has accelerated.

A lot of people associate the energy hype with AI and data centers. Beyond that, what are some overlooked use cases for a company like yours?
Advanced manufacturing is a big one. Semiconductor plants, chemicals, materials processing and heavy industry all require steady, around-the-clock power.

Many of these facilities are expanding in places where grid capacity is tight. Utilities also need dependable generation that can support renewables without committing to decades of additional fossil capacity.

What are some bottlenecks facing energy startups like yours?
The turbine market is concentrated among a few large manufacturers, and many are sold out for (more than five) years. That creates long delays for projects that need power now.

Permitting and grid connections can also slow deployment. One lesson we brought from SpaceX is designing systems that are simpler to manufacture and less dependent on fragile supply chains. This way, the technology can advance quickly even when the surrounding ecosystem doesn’t.