Direct Energy CFO Andrew Sunderman on M&A, Consolidation

"We are, at our core, a retail consolidator," Andrew Sunderman, Chief Financial Officer of Direct Energy, said this week during a keynote at the Gulf Coast Power Association spring conference

Sunderman noted that in 14 years, Direct Energy has acquired about 33 companies, across retail gas and power, C&I, and E&P.

"We continue to want to, for the right reasons, build and create scale, for the right capabilities and obviously for the right price," Sunderman said.

"Coming out of the polar vortex, I do believe that certainly in the Northeast, we've already seen several retailers announce that they can't meet the call for margin or collateral to maintain their positions. You've also seen several large players either announce that their books are up for sale, or that they're going to begin a strategic process to look at their business," Sunderman said.

"We will compete for those if the value is right and if it gives us capabilities," Sunderman said.

Sunderman said that for the retail space to continue to thrive and continue to convince regulators that it provides value to the consumer, "we have to be companies that are going to be there for the long haul."