Apprenticeships are vital for developing the skills needed to accelerate the delivery of clean energy infrastructure and to help the UK reap the rewards of the energy transition: economic growth, energy security and less exposure to volatile gas prices. But how have apprenticeships in this sector changed over the decades? And what does the future hold for these vital programmes? To explore these questions, two remarkable individuals – Phil Grant and Imogen Munn – share their unique experience of their apprenticeship journeys, two decades apart. Introductions Phil is a network manager at National Grid Electricity Transmission. He completed an advanced modern apprenticeship in electrical/electronic engineering age 16 before joining National Grid on a Higher Apprenticeship scheme, where he also completed a foundation degree in Power Systems. He has been working in the energy industry for over 15 years. Imogen started her apprenticeship in 2023 and is a second-year higher apprentice at National Grid, studying to become an electrical power plant protection and commissioning engineer. She has already been to university and has a degree in Intercultural Communication and Business Management. What do you think employers can do to make sure apprentices thrive? Imogen: For me, it’s support. It can be daunting to travel to a new site, for example, but the experience has given me important life skills such as communicating with all sorts of professionals from different backgrounds. Having the support of the team around me as I got used to doing this was really key. Mentors who have joined the business in the same way are great at helping apprentices as they understand the pressures we face. Phil: Time with more experienced team members is really important. Apprentices are keen to learn and get on in their careers and they need support from those in the sector, particularly

Federal agencies are unlawfully restricting Pennsylvania agencies from accessing funding for programs like Solar For All and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, said state Gov. Josh Shapiro, D, in a lawsuit filed Thursday. “Since around January 27, 2025, federal agencies have restricted Pennsylvania agencies’ ability to access funding for grant programs that, in total, obligated over $3.1 billion to Pennsylvania for fiscal years 2022 to 2026,” the lawsuit says. This funding includes $156 million for the Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All program, which the lawsuit cites as an example of a grant award where the state has already executed an agreement for a subaward. The state has “an agreement is in place with the Philadelphia Green Capital Corporation to subaward about $70 million,” according to the suit. “Many of these grant programs have deadlines by which Commonwealth agencies must use their grant award,” the lawsuit says. “Nevertheless, federal agencies are now unilaterally and arbitrarily suspending or restricting Commonwealth agencies’ access to the congressionally appropriated grant funds that have been committed to them.” President Donald Trump’s first-day executive order Unleashing American Energy directed that “all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” but the plaintiffs argue that a unilateral suspension of state funds already appropriated and obligated by Congress violates the U.S. Constitution.  The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development are named as plaintiffs. Shapiro is the first governor to initiate a lawsuit against the Trump administration over the funding freeze, but Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, D, on

Saltend Chemicals Park-owner PX Group has been awarded an operations and maintenance (O&M) contract for the Tees Renewable Energy Plant (Tees REP). The facility, which is located in Tees Valley, is one of the world’s largest purpose-built pellet biomass power plants, according to PX Group’s announcement. It has the capacity to generate 299 MW of electricity, or 2.3 TWh per year, equivalent to powering 600,000 homes. Tees REP is owned and operated by MGT Teesside, which was acquired by Australian investor Macquarie Group and Danish pension fund PKA in 2016 on a 50:50 basis. On its website, MGT says the plant uses co-products from timberland that is primarily for growing saw-timber for its biomass pellets. In order to meet sustainability criteria regulated by Ofgem the biomass is traced from point of origin, though the website does not provide further details. However, previous announcements from several years ago have said that the feedstock would be sourced from sustainable forestry projects developed by the MGT team and partners in North and South America, as well as the Baltics. US-based Enviva Wilmington Holdings firmed up a 15-year offtake agreement with Tees REP in 2016 for nearly 1m tonnes per year (tpy) of wood pellets. The plant was initially expected to enter service in 2020 but ran into delays during construction. Although it is reported to have begun generating electricity in 2022, it subsequently experienced technical challenges that have led to outages at the facility. PX Group, a portfolio company of private equity firm Ara Partners, is taking over O&M at Tees REP following a prior collaboration through its PX Engineering division, which provided consultancy services to the plant during its commissioning phase. PX operates the St Fergus Gas plant in Peterhead and the Teesside Gas processing plant on behalf of owners, North Sea

New Jersey’s residential customers face electricity bill hikes of up to 20% beginning in June based on the results of a just-held electricity supply auction, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities said Wednesday. The results of the “Basic Generation Service” annual auction are mainly driven by the PJM Interconnection’s most recent capacity auction, according to Christine Guhl-Sadovy, BPU president. Increasing electricity demand and a lack of new power supplies due to lagging generation interconnection are also factors in the auction’s results, she said in a press release. The Basic Generation Service auction helps set the cost of electricity for most New Jersey residents and many businesses for a 12-month period starting June 1, the BPU said. PJM’s capacity auction in July cleared at record-setting prices, according to Brian Lipman, director for the Division of Rate Counsel, which represents utility ratepayers. “While some of that is due to an anticipated increase in the demand for electricity, most of the increase is due to PJM’s failure to fix its market rules or timely interconnect new generation supply,” Lipman said in the press release. “The Board’s authority is limited at the federal and regional level, but must carefully examine every state-level filing before it with an eye towards affordability.” PJM’s last capacity auction sparked complaints at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by ratepayer advocates and others as well as proposals by PJM to change its capacity auction rules and to bring more power supplies online. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy joined other governors in pressing PJM for rule changes that would protect ratepayers from rising costs in upcoming capacity auctions.  The BPU estimates that monthly electric bills for Public Service Electric and Gas residential customers will increase by 17.2% on average as a result of the agency’s electricity supply auction. The agency

State-owned energy company Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) completed its first sale of very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) with 24 percent renewable content in the Asian bunker market. The company said in a media release that it sold the VLSFO with Golden Island, a licensed bunker supplier in Singapore, noting that the sale was made in early February, for delivery before the end of the month. The product sold by Petrobras Singapore consists of a mixture comprising 76 percent mineral fuel oil, primarily obtained from Petrobras refineries, and 24 percent used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME), a biofuel created from the processing of used cooking oil (UCO) sourced locally, the company said. It added that Petrobras Singapore holds the ISCC EU certification, “which guarantees that its product meets the strict sustainability criteria that accompany the biofuel logistics chain involved in the process”. For the formulation, Petrobras said it used the facilities of the Jurong Port Universal Terminal, where it has a lease agreement for fuel oil and B24 tanks. The process of supplying bunkers with renewable content adheres to the same operational procedures used for 100 percent mineral bunkers, primarily utilizing smaller vessels to load the product at the terminal and deliver it to the consuming ship, Petrobras said. “The commercialization of VLSFO with 24 percent renewable content in the Asian market is in line with Petrobras’ strategy of developing new products towards a low-carbon market, innovating to generate value for the business, and enabling solutions in new energy and decarbonization”, Claudio Schlosser,  Petrobras’ Director of Logistics, Commercialization and Markets, said. The first VLFSO sale in the Asian bunker market comes only days after the company reported that it had hit all its production targets for the year 2024, set out in its 2024-2028+ Strategic Plan, within the ±4 percent

USA Compression Partners LP reported a net income of $25.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, doubling the net income reported in the corresponding quarter a year prior. The company noted that its revenues hit a record high in the fourth quarter of 2024, reaching $245.9 million, which compares to $225 million reported in Q3, 2023. “Our fourth-quarter financial results included another consecutive quarter of record-setting revenues and Adjusted EBITDA, as well as record-setting Distributable Cash Flow and Distributable Cash Flow Coverage. These financial results were driven by improved operational efficiencies as we again achieved record average revenue per-horsepower of $20.85 and record revenue-generating horsepower of 3.56 million, which continues to reflect the tight contract compression service space”, Clint Green, USA Compression’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said. USA Compression’s adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for the fourth quarter of 2024 reached $155.5 million, versus $138.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. “We believe the macro backdrop continues to be favorable in the near- and medium-term. We expect the price of oil to remain constructive and continue to drive growth in associated gas volumes, particularly in the Permian”, Green said. “We believe our assets in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana will benefit from anticipated growth in natural gas volumes necessary to support increased LNG and pipeline exports along the Gulf Coast, as well as the electrification of everything, driven by AI and data center demand”, he added. According to Green, USA Compression anticipates an expansion capital range of $120 million to $140 million with a refocus on contracted new horsepower unit additions that will be largely back-end loaded for the year. “Additionally, we expect the Energy Transfer shared services model to begin taking effect at the outset of 2025 and anticipate a reduction in back-office