movers and shakers

New power infrastructure firm forms, appoints Houston-based execs

Four Houston energy execs have been appointed to a newly formed firm. Photo via Getty Images

A leading middle market infrastructure firm has formed a new entity to oversee its power infrastructure portfolio.

ArcLight Capital Partners announced that it has formed Alpha Generation to provide strategic management and oversight of its power infrastructure portfolio. ArcLight and AlphaGen will focus on secure, safe, and sustainable access to power to help meet the growing infrastructure needs created by electrification.

The power infrastructure portfolio will be managed by AlphaGen and includes low-cost, low-carbon strategically located assets that provide critical supply to key demand centers, including throughout the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The portfolio will represent a competitive fleet and one of the nation's largest natural gas-fired power portfolio.

AlphaGen also announces its executive leadership team that features four Houstonians in prominent roles. Mary Anne Brelinsky has been named as president and chief commercial officer, Stacey Peterson as CFO, Nick Rahn as COO, and Jason Buchman will serve as general counsel.

Brelinsky is in charge of leading the commercial-facing aspects of AlphaGen. She served as president of EDF Energy North America, which she helped grow to become the third largest energy retail business in North America. Previously, Peterson was CEO of utility-scale battery storage developer and operator, Broad Reach Power. She has 20 years of experience in power and utilities. Rahn was formerly the Senior Vice President of Asset Management at Competitive Power Ventures (CPV), was CEO of Optim Energy, and Vice President of Resource Development, Environmental and Construction at PacifiCorp,which is a division of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Buchman has over 25 years of experience, as he has held senior and executive roles at public and private companies specializing in wholesale power generation, oilfield and analytical services, and infrastructure development.

Additional non-local appointments include: Curt Morgan as CEO and Chairman, effective May 1, 2024; Mark Sudbey will serve as interim CEO until May; and Michael Bruneau as executive vice president of corporate development and strategy.

"AlphaGen has brought together a highly accomplished and experienced executive team responsible for creating a common culture and vision, capturing efficiencies, leveraging economies of scale, and driving a standard of operational excellence across ArcLight's funds' power generating portfolio," Curt Morgan, CEO and chairman of AlphaGen, says in a news release.

"We believe we are well positioned to serve the current and future needs of the portfolios' customers as the demand for safe, reliable, and dispatchable power continues to grow. We believe our power assets will continue to play a critical role in grid reliability and energy security for decades to come," he continues.

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A View From HETI

A team led by UH professor Xuqing "Jason" Wu (center) is working to introduce high school and community college students to the U.S. mineral industry. Photo courtesy UH.

The University of Houston has launched a $1 million initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to address the gap in the U.S. mineral industry and bring young experts to the field.

The program will bring UH and key industry partners together to expand workforce development and drive research that fuels innovation. It will be led by Xuqing "Jason" Wu, an associate professor of information science technology.

“The program aims to reshape public perception of the critical minerals industry, highlighting its role in energy, defense and advanced manufacturing,” Wu said in a news release. “Our program aims to showcase the industry’s true, high-tech nature.”

The project will sponsor 10 high school students and 10 community college students in Houston each year. It will include industry mentors and participation in a four-week training camp that features “immersive field-based learning experiences.”

“High school and community college students often lack exposure to career pathways in mining, geoscience, materials science and data science,” Wu added in the release. “This project is meant to ignite student interest and strengthen the U.S. workforce pipeline in the minerals industry by equipping students with technical skills, industry knowledge and career readiness.”

This interdisciplinary initiative will also work with co-principal investigators across fields at UH:

  • Jiajia Sun, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
  • Yan Yao and Jiefu Chen, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Yueqin Huang, Information Science Technology

According to UH, minerals and rare earth elements have become “essential building blocks of modern life” and are integral components in technology and devices, roads, the energy industry and more.

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