fresh funding

Houston microgrid company scores $2.1M grant for hydrogen blending tech research

Enchanted Rock specializes in electrical-resiliency-as-a-service for sectors such as health care, manufacturing, and government infrastructure. Photo via enchantedrock.com

A Houston-based provider of electric microgrids has scooped up a $2.1 million grant from the California Energy Commission for development of technology aimed at reducing greenhouse gasses and other natural gas emissions.

Enchanted Rock shares the grant with the University of California Riverside, or UCR.

“This is an exciting opportunity to further advance the potential use of hydrogen fuel blends for commercialization and market adoption,” Thomas McAndrew, founder and CEO of Enchanted Rock, says in a news release. “We believe in using the cleanest fuel available without compromising on reliability or performance for our customers and are dedicated to helping California, and the nation, achieve its climate and energy goals.”

The use of a hydrogen and natural gas blend for fueling generators shows promise for reducing emissions and improving efficiency, according to Enchanted Rock. The company says the funding will enable it to identify the ideal blend of natural gas and hydrogen for operating a natural generator while improving performance and minimizing emissions.

As part of the grant, UCR’s College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) will play a key role in measuring emissions and combustion performance. Meanwhile, Palomar College in San Marcos, California, will host a field demonstration site.

”Hydrogen is one of the ‘low-hanging fruit’ solutions to decarbonize our transportation system and other sectors where emissions are hard to abate, and it can serve as a zero-carbon green fuel for internal combustion off-road and highway engines,” says UCR professor Georgios Karavalakis.

Founded in 2006, Enchanted Rock specializes in electrical-resiliency-as-a-service for sectors such as health care, manufacturing, and government infrastructure. The company’s dual-purpose microgrids rely on natural gas and renewable natural gas to produce lower carbon emissions and air pollutants than diesel generators.

In December, Enchanted Rock said it had teamed up with U.S. Energy to supply renewable natural gas for Microsoft’s new data center in San Jose, California, during grid outages and when businesses are directed to reduce power usage.

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A View From HETI

Twenty-six Houston-area companies landed on the latest Fortune 500 list. Photo via Getty Images

Houston maintained its No. 3 status this year among U.S. metro areas with the most Fortune 500 headquarters. Fortune magazine tallied 26 Fortune 500 headquarters in the Houston area, behind only the New York City area (62) and the Chicago area (30).

Last year, 23 Houston-area companies landed on the Fortune 500 list. Fortune bases the list on revenue that a public or private company earns during its 2024 budget year.

On the Fortune 500 list for 2025, Spring-based ExxonMobil remained the highest-ranked company based in the Houston area as well as in Texas, sitting at No. 8 nationally. That’s down one spot from its No. 7 perch on the 2024 list. During its 2024 budget year, ExxonMobil reported revenue of $349.6 billion, up from $344.6 billion the previous year.

Here are the rankings and 2024 revenue for the 25 other Houston-area companies that made this year’s Fortune 500:

  • No. 16 Chevron, $202.8 billion
  • No. 28 Phillips 66, $145.5 billion
  • No. 56 Sysco, $78.8 billion
  • No. 75 Conoco Phillips, $56.9 million
  • No. 78 Enterprise Products Partners, $56.2 billion
  • No. 92 Plains GP Holdings, $50 billion
  • No. 143 Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, $30.1 billion
  • No. 153 NRG Energy, $28.1 billion
  • No. 155 Baker Hughes, $27.8 billion
  • No. 159 Occidental Petroleum, $26.9 billion
  • No. 183 EOG Resources, $23.7 billion
  • No. 184 Quanta Services, $23.7 billion
  • No. 194 Halliburton, $23 billion
  • No. 197 Waste Management, $22.1 billion
  • No. 214 Group 1 Automotive, $19.9 billion
  • No. 224 Corebridge Financial, $18.8 billion
  • No. 256 Targa Resources, $16.4 billion
  • No. 275 Cheniere Energy, $15.7 billion
  • No. 289 Kinder Morgan, $15.1 billion
  • No. 345 Westlake Corp., $12.1 billion
  • No. 422 APA, $9.7 billion
  • No. 443 NOV, $8.9 billion
  • No. 450 CenterPoint Energy, $8.6 billion
  • No. 474 Par Pacific Holdings, $8 billion
  • No. 480 KBR Inc., $7.7 billion

Nationally, the top five Fortune 500 companies are:

  • Walmart
  • Amazon
  • UnitedHealth Group
  • Apple
  • CVS Health

“The Fortune 500 is a literal roadmap to the rise and fall of markets, a reliable playbook of the world's most important regions, services, and products, and an indispensable roster of those companies' dynamic leaders,” Anastasia Nyrkovskaya, CEO of Fortune Media, said in a news release.

Among the states, Texas ranks second for the number of Fortune 500 headquarters (54), preceded by California (58) and followed by New York (53).

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