In the waning days of the Biden administration, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office announced nearly $23 billion in conditional loan commitments for eight utility generation, transmission and grid modernization initiatives spanning 12 states. Recipients of low-interest LPO loans “incur lower financing costs for their qualifying infrastructure projects than if they had used commercial capital markets [and] will pass along the savings to customers” while fulfilling LPO’s mandate to “make the clean energy transformation affordable and achievable for everyone,” DOE said on Jan. 16.  But these conditional commitments find themselves in limbo amid the Trump administration’s Jan. 20 pause of “green new deal” spending and a much broader Jan. 27 freeze — now temporarily on hold as lawsuits pile up in federal court — on virtually all discretionary federal spending. So do dozens of other conditional and finalized LPO commitments, along with tens of billions more in funding from other federal programs authorized by Biden-era energy and infrastructure legislation. On Jan. 28, the Environmental Protection Agency notified awardees of its $7 billion, IRA-authorized Solar for All program that it was pausing grants until further notice, and several awardees were unable to access its online portal, E&E News reported Thursday. So far, utilities affected by the spending freeze and broader federal policy turmoil appear content to wait for more clarity. But the administration’s early actions have already caused deep concern across the U.S. clean energy sector, and experts interviewed by Utility Dive said the ordeal could raise questions about the federal government’s future as a reliable counterparty. “It’s important to look at these actions around preventing disbursements in the context of the broader set of actions the administration has taken in its first weeks,” such as its Jan. 20 halt to permitting activities for onshore and offshore wind projects

Solaris Energy Infrastructure Inc. has expanded its Board of Directors to ten members with the recent addition of Max Yzaguirre as an independent member. Solaris said that Yzaguirre’s career spans more than 35 years, encompassing leadership roles in domestic and international business, government, and law, with expertise across diverse sectors such as electricity, oil and gas, banking, real estate, telecommunications, and private equity. He served on the Boards of Directors of publicly listed and privately-held companies, as well as non-profit organizations, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of WaFD Bank, Altria Group, and Aris Water Solutions, the company said. He also served as Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas from 2001 to 2002, a period marked by the state’s transition from a regulated to a competitive retail electricity market.  During his time as PUC Chairman, Yzaguirre also sat on the Board of Directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Solaris noted. “We are pleased to welcome Max to our Board and look forward to the value he will bring Solaris”, Bill Zartler, Solaris Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said. “His experience developing energy and power-related projects as well as his former roles as Chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission and an ERCOT Board Member will provide unique insight to Solaris as we continue to grow and develop our Power Solutions business”. “Max is an accomplished executive with extensive leadership, strategic, operational, financial, and governance experience. The Board welcomes his appointment and believes his expertise and invaluable perspective will help Solaris continue to drive value for its shareholders”, Laurie H. Argo, Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee of Solaris’ Board, stated. To contact the author, email [email protected] WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views

Baker Hughes Co. said it has bagged a “significant” award to supply production chemicals for the fifth and sixth hydrocarbon production projects in the Exxon Mobil Corp.-operated Stabroek block in Guyanese waters. The contract will serve two floating production, storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) being built for the Uaru and Whiptail greenfield developments, approved by the Stabroek consortium 2023 and 2024 respectively. “The multi-year contract includes all topsides, subsea, water injection and utility chemicals for the Errea Wittu and Jaguar floating production storage and offloading vessels, which are currently under development, and are targeted to begin production in 2026 and 2027 respectively”, Baker Hughes said in a press release. Erea Wittu, for Uaru, is being constructed by MODEC Inc. SBM Offshore, which delivered the three FPSOs currently serving Stabroek, is building Jaguar for Whiptail. “Baker Hughes has extensive experience in Guyana and has established local supply chains to create a reliable and efficient source of chemicals to address the unique needs of these developments”, the Houston, Texas-based energy tech company added. Amerino Gatti, executive vice president for oilfield services and equipment at Baker Hughes, commented, “Our experience operating across the country’s energy supply chain and unmatched expertise in oilfield and industrial chemicals make Baker Hughes uniquely suited to support complex FPSO operations such as these”. Baker Hughes did not disclose the contract value. Uaru and Whiptail, each with an investment of $12.7 billion, will each have a production capacity of 250,000 barrels per day (bpd). The projects will raise production in Stabroek, Guyana’s only producing block, to 1.3 million bpd, according to the owners. Stabroek’s fifth and sixth developments – after Liza Phase 1, Liza Phase 2, Payara and Yellowtail – include up to 20 drill centers and 92 production and injection wells, according to ExxonMobil’s announcements of the projects’ final investment decisions. The fourth, Yellowtail, is

Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. has closed an underwritten public offering of 11.5 million common shares with about $254.1 million in net proceeds. The underwriters are allowed to buy up to 1.725 million additional common shares in 30 days. The offering has a price of $23 per share. Atlas executive chair Ben M Brigham increased his shareholding by buying about 200,000 shares in the offering, a regulatory filing showed. An earlier press release by Austin, Texas-based Atlas announcing the pricing of the offering listed Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Piper Sandler & Co. as lead book-running managers. Barclays Capital Inc., BofA Securities Inc. and Johnson Rice & Company LLC were named as book-running managers. Listed as co-managers were Capital One Securities Inc., Drexel Hamilton LLC, PEP Advisory LLC, Perella Weinberg Partners LP, Raymond James & Associates Inc., Stephens Inc. and The Benchmark Company LLC. Atlas intends to use the proceeds to pay down indebtedness and help fund the cash portion of its acquisition of Moser Engine Service Inc. On January 27 Atlas announced a deal to purchase 100 percent of Casper, Wyoming-based Moser’s outstanding capital stock for $220 million. “The combination of Atlas’s completion platform and Moser’s distributed power platform creates an innovative, diversified energy solutions provider with a leading portfolio of proppant, logistics (including the Dune Express) and distributed power solutions”, a joint statement said. Moser’s “dynamic fleet of natural gas-powered assets (~212MWs) expands Atlas’s current operations into production and distributed power end markets supported by strong macro tailwinds expected to reduce through-cycle volatility associated with completions operations”, the companies added. The merger “increases Atlas’s customer reach with a vital power service offering in Atlas’s core geography, the Permian Basin, while providing geographic diversity with operating locations in key oil and gas basins across the central United States”, the statement said. Atlas expects to

In a radio interview with Michael Berry on The Michael Berry Show, which aired recently, Rigzone President Chad Norville highlighted some of the latest U.S. oil and gas hiring trends. “What we’re hearing from the medium to larger sized firms is that they’re expecting a relatively flat 2025 relative to 2024 … there’s a lot of optimism in the marketplace, but there are headwinds,” Norville told Berry in the interview. “The discussions we’re having … [are] kind of a ‘wait and see’ approach but … cautiously optimistic. That’s what we’re hearing from the larger producers,” he added. “[From] the medium and smallers, we’re hearing more optimism … more near-term optimism, on hiring, fast-tracking projects … getting permits, doing different things of that nature,” he continued. Looking at the type of positions hiring now, Norville, who highlighted in the interview that Rigzone conducts job fairs “in all the key [U.S.] oil and gas markets” said, “what we’re seeing is a lot of tech roles, field operations types [of] roles”. “Those are the things that I’ve been seeing and I’m still seeing with the job fairs that we’re putting together now, and who we’re talking to,” he added. “You can go on Rigzone and find a petroleum engineer, a mechanical, electrical engineer, geophysical roles, those are always there, but we see large changes as the cycles change,” Norville continued. “We saw things during the pandemic, for instance, it went to a lot of white-collar office roles. Now we’re seeing a lot of tech roles. So, field service technicians, I&E technicians, that’s instrumentation and electrical, mechanics. Those are the types of roles right now we’re seeing,” he noted. “A lot of instrumentation, a lot of electrical, a lot of valve technicians. Those types of field roles are the things that we’re really seeing

Canada’s Scovan Group Inc. is delving into the carbon capture business with the acquisition of the carbon capture and solvent reclamation assets and employees of Delta CleanTech Inc. Scovan Group is the parent company of Scovan Inc., a private Western Canadian engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction management (EPFC) company. “This strategic acquisition represents a significant step forward in Scovan’s commitment to driving innovation and delivering sustainable engineering solutions,” the company said in a news release. The acquisition will result in a new entity that will partner with Scovan while operating as a separate organization. The entity, focused on carbon capture, will maintain continuity with key technical personnel, including Delta CleanTech’s Jeff Allison who will assume the position of VP for Operations. Scovan’s Kelly Mantei will become the organization’s COO, the company stated. According to a statement from Delta CleanTech, Scovan will acquire certain assets related to Delta’s liquids, purification, carbon capture, and OExperts divisions for an aggregate purchase price of up to an aggregate purchase price of $0.73 million (CAD 1.05 million) with project royalties payable of up to $10.69 million (CAD 15.3 million) over a maximum seven-year term. “This deal signifies a new chapter for carbon capture advancement in Western Canada. Delta CleanTech’s products and team are the perfect partner to Scovan’s EPFC services,” Mantei said. “This partnership enables us to leverage complementary strengths, innovate together, and provide unparalleled value to our clients”. “Having the opportunity to continue Delta’s legacy of carbon capture excellence in partnership with Scovan is truly exciting,” Allison said in the release. “This allows us to build on our expertise, scale up our impact, and support clients in achieving their sustainability goals”. “The strategic merger of Delta’s CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions reduction and related purification division with Scovan, will provide the engineering and fabrication capabilities