Powering AI
Infrastructure, capital and resource challenges
The rapid expansion of data centre financing, driven by developments in artificial intelligence and digitalisation, is placing new demands on electricity systems, natural resources and local communities. At the same time, this is creating substantial investment opportunities in infrastructure and introducing new capital requirements across the economy.
As developers race to expand capacity, policy-makers, investors and infrastructure providers face a central challenge: how to support digital growth while managing affordability, environmental impacts and resource constraints.
Taking place during New York Climate Week, this roundtable, hosted by Moody’s Ratings and OMFIF, will discuss how stakeholders are responding and what the accelerating buildout of digital infrastructure means for energy systems, sustainable investment and the transition to a lower-carbon economy.
Discussion topics include:
- Rising power demand, grid constraints, water use, and energy affordability
- Renewable energy, storage and infrastructure solutions to support growth
- How capital markets – from project finance to sustainable debt – are evolving to finance the next generation of data centre and energy infrastructure
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Roundtables are small closed-door forums where registration is required. It is our intention to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas amongst all participants, and we welcome your ideas and suggestions for additional topics.
Speakers
Jim Hempstead
Managing Director
Moody's Ratings
Savannah Irving
Vice President, Fixed Income ESG Engagement
Neuberger Berman
Lucia Lopez
Senior Vice President - Sustainable Finance, Global Head of Credit
Moody's Ratings
Sarah Moloney
Editorial Director
OMFIF
Matt Kuchtyak
Senior Vice President, Sustainable Finance Assessments
Moody's Ratings
Venue
Moody's Global Headquarters, New York
10007 NY
New York
United States
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Jim Hempstead is a Managing Director in Moody’s Global Project & Infrastructure Finance Group, where he heads both the North American Regulated Utility & Power Team and the North American Public Infrastructure Team.
Jim acts as a rating chair across all segments of Moody’s Global Infrastructure & Project Finance franchise, and is a member of both the firm’s Infrastructure Finance Franchise Committee and Global Infrastructure Focus Editorial Board.
Jim also manages the Moody’s Cyber Risk Team, which looks to incorporate cyber security risk into global credit analyses.
Jim helped manage the firm’s global Environmental, Social and Governance efforts between 2017 – 2020.
Prior to joining Moody’s in 2002, Jim was an investment banker with Merrill Lynch &Co., working in the Global Energy & Power Group, providing financial and advisory services to electric, natural gas distribution, interstate pipeline, energy merchant, water and energy technology companies. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Jim worked with Salomon Smith Barney Corporate Finance, working in their Global Energy &Power Group.
Jim graduated with a B.S.B.A. from Villanova University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University. From 2011 - 2013, Jim served as the Director of Emergency Management for his hometown in New Jersey, and is a registered EMT for his local, volunteer first aid squad. Jim is a member of the Wall Street Utility Group and served as a Trustee with the Society of Utility and Regulatory Financial Analysts (SURFA) between 2012 -2020. He served on the Advisory Council for the Electric Power Research Institute(EPRI) from 2014-2019.
Lucia Lopez is the Global Head of Credit in Moody’s Ratings Sustainable Finance group.
In her role, Lucia manages a global team of talented analysts responsible for developing and implementing initiatives to transparently integrate the impact of environmental, social, and governance considerations into credit ratings, analytics, research and outreach. This includes building data platforms, tools, and insights to assess the credit impact of these considerations in Moody’s Ratings rated universe.
The team also produces thematic research that continue to cement Moody's Ratings' thought leadership in Sustainable Finance and lead related outreach efforts with regulators, investors, and other market participants.
Lucia frequently represents the firm as a speaker through conversations with investors, policymakers and other market participants around the world.
Lucia brings multi-disciplinary expertise through past positions as a senior credit officer and senior underwriter in leading investment banks.
Before moving to the Sustainable Finance team, Lucia was a lead analyst in the EMEA Corporate Finance Group since 2018.
Prior to Moody’s, Lucia held several roles over 15 years at a number of banks including Deutsche Bank and Barclays, specializing in leverage finance, commodities and natural resources.
Lucia holds a Masters in European Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Sarah Moloney is Editorial Director at OMFIF. She manages OMFIF’s editorial agenda and publications output, publishing a wide range of research, journals, articles and podcasts. She also leads OMFIF’s transition finance workstream, shaping research and events relating to sustainability and climate finance. As part of this, she moderates roundtable and panel discussions with OMFIF’s global network of public and private sector members.
Matt Kuchtyakis Senior Vice President –Sustainable Finance for Moody’s Ratings. In this capacity, Matt heads the Sustainable Finance Assessments team in the Americas, leading a team of analysts primarily responsible for the publication of Second Party Opinions (SPOs) –which provide an opinion on the overall sustainability quality of financial instruments or financing frameworks –and Net Zero Assessments (NZAs) –which provide an independent and comparable view on the strength of an entity’s carbon emissions reduction plans compared to a global net zero pathway.
In his role, Matt is also responsible for the origination and publication of thematic research related to the global sustainable finance markets. He also leads outreach and engagement on sustainable finance issues, cultivating relationships with investors, intermediaries, issuers and other market participants. He frequently participates in high-profile outreach including investor briefings, webinars, third-party conferences and media engagements. Matt also represents
Moody’s Ratings on a variety of industry initiatives, such as the International Capital Market Association’s sustainable finance working groups.
Before his current role, Matt was an analyst on the ESG team at Moody’s Ratings, where he advanced the rating agency’s efforts to incorporate ESG considerations systematically and transparently into its credit ratings. He was a key contributor to the development of the cross-sector ESG methodology, launch of the ESG Issuer Profile Scores and Credit Impact Scores and the development of the Carbon Transition Assessments. He was also the lead analyst for the Moody’s Ratings Green Bond Assessments. Previously, Matt was a credit analyst in the US Public Finance Group, where he served as a lead analyst for a diverse portfolio of hospitals, public and private universities and other not-for-profits.
Matt holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science summa cum laude from Rutgers University-New Brunswick and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa