Clearway Energy, Inc. CWEN

Competitive advantage analysis · utilities

Regulated Utilities
Overall moat score
58/100
Moderate

About Clearway Energy, Inc.

Clearway Energy, Inc. operates in the clean energy generation assets business in the United States. It operates through Flexible Generation and Renewables & Storage segments. The company's portfolio comprises approximately 12.9 GW of gross capacity in 27 states, including approximately 10.1 GW of wind, solar, and battery energy storage systems; and approximately 2.8 GW of dispatchable combustion-based power generation assets … Full CWEN analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong Operating Cash Generation Operating cash generation is strong (score 0.75), supporting dividend sustainability.
  • Earning the Allowed ROE Return on equity is strong vs peers (score 0.76), suggesting rate-base growth is translating into earnings.

Key risks

  • Leverage Above Peer Norms Leverage is elevated vs peers (score 0.29), constraining financial flexibility.
  • Deteriorating Operational Efficiency Efficiency trend is negative (score 0.15), which warrants monitoring.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Regulatory Franchise

Moderate
50

Where CWEN ranks in Utilities - Renewable

Clearway Energy, Inc. ranks #10 of 24 scored companies in Utilities - Renewable by moat score — the top 42%. The widest moat in the group is Ormat Technologies, Inc. (ORA) at 81/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near CWEN in Utilities - Renewable
# Company Moat score Rating
6 GE Vernova Inc. GEV 70/100 Moderate
7 Constellation Energy Corporatio CEG 65/100 Moderate
8 Brookfield Renewable Partners L BEP 63/100 Moderate
9 Clearway Energy, Inc. CWEN-A 59/100 Moderate
10 Clearway Energy, Inc. CWEN 58/100 Moderate
11 Ellomay Capital Ltd ELLO 53/100 Moderate
12 Brookfield Renewable Corporatio BEPC 49/100 Developing
13 XPLR Infrastructure, LP XIFR 45/100 Developing
14 Verde Clean Fuels, Inc. VGAS 41/100 Developing

See every Regulated Utilities company ranked by moat score →

How CWEN scores on the Regulated Utilities defenses

Regulatory Franchise

Score 50 · 25% of the moat score

The franchise is the moat, granted rather than earned: an exclusive right to serve a territory in exchange for regulated prices and an obligation to supply.

Rate-Base Return Quality

Score 63 · 20% of the moat score

A utility earns an allowed return on the capital invested in its network, the rate base.

Dividend Sustainability

Score 82 · 18% of the moat score

Utilities are owned largely for income, and the dividend is only as safe as the operating cash flow behind it.

Capital Structure Discipline

Score 47 · 17% of the moat score

Regulated utilities carry more debt than almost any other sector, which suits how predictable their revenue is but makes credit quality a core competitive asset.

Operational Efficiency

Score 32 · 12% of the moat score

Efficiency is unusually consequential under regulation.

Essential Service Resilience

Score 70 · 8% of the moat score

Electricity, gas and water are bought in a recession at close to the volume bought in an expansion, which is why utility revenue barely tracks the economic cycle.

How each Regulated Utilities defense is measured, in full →

Understanding CWEN's moat

What is Clearway Energy, Inc.'s moat score?

Clearway Energy, Inc. (CWEN) scores 58 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #10 of 24 scored companies in Utilities - Renewable, the top 42%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 24 companies in Utilities - Renewable. Its strongest defense is Dividend Sustainability (82/100) and its weakest is Operational Efficiency (32/100).

How does Clearway Energy, Inc. compare with other Utilities - Renewable companies?

Clearway Energy, Inc. ranks #10 of 24 scored companies in Utilities - Renewable by moat score. The widest moat in Utilities - Renewable is Ormat Technologies, Inc. (ORA) at 80/100. The companies ranked closest are Clearway Energy, Inc. (CWEN-A) at 59 just above it and Ellomay Capital Ltd (ELLO) at 53 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Regulated Utilities in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 24 companies in Utilities - Renewable. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Clearway Energy, Inc. scored with the Regulated Utilities template?

A regulated utility is a legal monopoly whose prices are set by a regulator rather than by a market. It cannot raise prices at will and it cannot be undercut, so most of the usual questions about competitive advantage barely apply. What matters is the quality of the regulatory bargain: whether the company earns the return it is allowed, funds its capital programme cheaply, and sustains the dividend investors own it for.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Clearway Energy, Inc.?

The Regulated Utilities template measures 6 defenses, and CWEN scores: Regulatory Franchise (50), Rate-Base Return Quality (63), Dividend Sustainability (82), Capital Structure Discipline (47), Operational Efficiency (32), Essential Service Resilience (70). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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