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Houston energy co. names new COO to scale offshore decommissioning

new hire

Promethean Energy has named Martyn Fear as its new COO. Photo courtesy Promethean Energy.

Houston-based Promethean Energy has named a new COO as it looks to scale.

Martyn Fear, former CEO of Altamesa Energy Canada Inc., will assume the role, the company announced last week. He brings decades of experience at energy companies such as BP and Maersk Oil and has held board positions at several private equity and venture-backed firms.

“Promethean has built a differentiated platform for managing and retiring late-life assets safely, efficiently, and responsibly,” Fear said in a news release. “The industry is facing a structural shift as decommissioning moves to the forefront, and the opportunity to combine operational excellence, disciplined project delivery, and innovative commercial models is incredibly compelling."

Promethean has developed an environmentally sustainable, integrated model for late-life asset management and offshore well decommissioning. Fear will oversee day-to-day operations at Promethean and the execution of this integrated operator-service model as the company looks to scale and expand to new markets.

“Martyn is a proven leader with a deep operational track record and a passion for building high-performance, safety-first organizations,” Aditya Singh, Promethean's CEO, added in the release. “As Promethean enters its next phase—scaling our integrated operator-service model and delivering first-time-right decommissioning at pace—his experience in transforming complex asset portfolios and leading global teams makes him the ideal COO to drive operational execution while we continue to advance our strategic vision.”

Last May, the company successfully decommissioned offshore orphaned wells in the Matagorda Island lease area. In November, it also announced that it had completed a multi-client project to safely plug and abandon an orphaned well on a storm-damaged platform in the South Timbalier lease area.

Both projects were based in the Gulf of Mexico, where Promethean is looking to grow.

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Jesus Soto Jr., an energy executive with deep Houston ties, will join CenterPoint Energy as COO and executive vice president on Aug. 11. Photo courtesy CenterPoint Energy.

CenterPoint Energy names new COO as resiliency initiatives continue

new hire

CenterPoint Energy has named Jesus Soto Jr. as its new executive vice president and chief operating officer.

An energy industry veteran with deep ties to Texas, Soto will oversee the company's electric operations, gas operations, safety, supply chain, and customer care functions. The company says Soto will also focus on improving reliability and meeting the increased energy needs in the states CenterPoint serves.

"We are pleased to be able to welcome a leader of Jesus Soto's caliber to CenterPoint's executive team,” Jason Wells, CEO and president of CenterPoint, said in a news release. “We have one of the most dynamic growth stories in the industry, and over the next five years we will deliver over $31 billion of investments across our footprint as part of our capital plan. Jesus's deep understanding and background are the perfect match to help us deliver this incredible scope of work at-pace that will foster the economic development and growth demands in our key markets. He will also be instrumental in helping us continue to focus on improving safety and delivering better reliability for all the communities we are fortunate to serve.”

Soto comes to CenterPoint with over 30 years of experience in leading large teams and executing large scale capital projects. As a longtime Houstonian, he served in roles as executive vice president of Quanta Services and COO for Mears Group Inc. He also served in senior leadership roles at other utility and energy companies, including PG&E Corporation in Northern California and El Paso Corp. in Houston.

Soto has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a master's degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University. He has a second master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

“I'm excited to join CenterPoint's high-performing team,” Soto said in the news release. “It's a true privilege to be able to serve our 7 million customers in Texas, Indiana, Ohio and Minnesota. We have an incredible amount of capital work ahead of us to help meet the growing energy needs of our customers and communities, especially across Texas.”

Soto will join the company on Aug. 11 and report to Wells as CenterPoint continues on its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative and Systemwide Resiliency Plan.

“To help realize our resiliency and growth goals, I look forward to helping our teams deliver this work safely while helping our customers experience better outcomes,” Soto added in the news release. “They expect, and deserve, no less.”

Debalina Sengupta has been named as the chief operating officer of UH's Energy Transition Institute. Photo via UH.edu

University of Houston names new energy transition-focused executive

leading the way

The University of Houston has named a new C-level executive to its energy transition-focused initiative.

Debalina Sengupta has been named as the chief operating officer of UH's Energy Transition Institute, which was established in 2022 by a $10 million commitment from Shell USA Inc. and Shell Global Solutions (US) Inc. The institute focuses on hydrogen, carbon management and circular plastics and works closely with UH’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data Science Institute and researchers across the university.

Sengupta, who was previously a chemical engineer with over 18 years of experience with sustainability and resilience issues, was called to ETI’s mission and its focus on Houston, which is home to more than 4,500 energy companies and a pivotal international oil and gas hub.

“UH Energy Transition Institute is the first of its kind Institute setup in Texas that focuses solely on the transition of energy,” she says in a news release. “A two-way communication between the academic community and various stakeholders is necessary to implement the transition and I saw the UH ETI role enabling me to achieve this critical goal.”

Originally from India, where she saw first-hand the impact of natural disasters, she has been working with Texas coastal communities over the past two years to not help bring coastal resilience projects along the coast. The Texas coast will serve potentially as an economic development zone for several energy transition projects.

“It is necessary that we think deeply about sustainability quantification for our energy systems, diversify and expand from fossil to non-fossil resources, and understand how it can impact our future generations,” Sengupta continues. “This requires rigorous training and adopting new technologies that will enable the change, and I am dedicated to work towards this goal for UH ETI.”

Sengupta has also worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Jadavpur University in India and a doctorate from Louisiana State University with a focus on process systems engineering. Sengupta previously was at Texas A&M University where she was the Coastal Resilience Program director for Texas Sea Grant,which is a federal-state partnership program funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She has served as the associate director of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s Gas and Fuels Research Center; coordinator of the Water, Energy and Food Nexus at Texas A&M Energy Institute; and lecturer at the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

The ETI has helped catalyze “cross-disciplinary cooperation” to expand funding opportunities for UH faculty, which includes direct funding of over 24 projects via seed grants. As the new COO, Sengupta will work alongside founding executive director of the institute, Joe Powell, their executive team and the ETI advisory board to develop and implement strategic plans. Her position is partially funded by a $500,000 grant from the Houston-based Cullen Foundation.

“We are excited to have Dr. Sengupta join us at UH to help drive the Energy Transition Institute to fulfill its mission in educating students, expanding top-tier research, and providing thought leadership in sustainable energy and chemicals for the Houston area and beyond,” Powell adds. “Dr. Sengupta brings a strong background and network in collaborating with academic, community, governmental and industry partners to build the coalitions needed for success.”

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Houston’s Fervo Energy amasses $12B backlog of orders

q3 results

Houston-based geothermal power company Fervo Energy saw a 65 percent spike in purchase orders during the third quarter.

During Fervo’s third-quarter earnings call, Tim Latimer, co-founder, chair, president and CEO, said the company had a $11.9 billion backlog of orders, up from $7.2 billion in the previous quarter.

Those numbers didn’t translate to robust financial results in the third quarter, though. It closed the quarter with an operating loss of $43 million on revenue of just $116,000.

Beyond the billions of dollars in signed purchase agreements, Fervo is in talks with prospective customers in the utility, industrial data-center sectors, Latimer said. About half the potential customers are in the data-center sector, 35 percent in the utility sector and 15 percent in the industrial sector.

Latimer said the broad-based demand reflected by the backlog and the discussions with potential customers reinforces the critical need for reliable, readily available power.

“Our approach to power delivery will continue to blend front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter development,” he said. “Grid-connected assets remain the foundation, though behind-the-meter gives customers a faster path to power when transmission time lines lag their need.”

Front-of-the-meter refers to power plants, utility-scale solar and wind farms, large grid batteries, and transmission and distribution infrastructure. Behind-the-meter assets sit on the customer side of the meter, such as backup generators and EV chargers at homes, businesses, factories and other everyday places.

The order backlog isn’t Fervo’s only recent milestone. In late September, the company’s Cape Station geothermal plant in Utah started delivering its first utility-scale geothermal power to the grid. The plant is producing about 33 megawatts of power.

Earlier in September, Fervo signed a 15-year deal to supply about 396 megawatts of power for Google data centers. The power will be delivered in four 99-megawatt batches. The company filed its $1.89 billion IPO this spring.

3 Houston incubators supporting hard tech, energy transition, and beyond

Meet The Finalists

It takes a village to launch a business. That's where Houston's network of incubators and accelerators can step in, providing the resources, mentorship and community needed to push a fledgling company forward.

As part of InnovationMap's 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, the Incubator/Accelerator of the Year category honors a local organization that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups.

Three incubators and accelerators have been named finalists for the 2026 award. They support startups ranging from hard tech companies to food and youth concepts.

Read more about these organizations below. The 2026 winners will be announced on InnovationMap.com in mid-November.

Activate

Hard tech incubator Activate supports scientists in "the outset of their entrepreneurial journey." The Houston hub was introduced in 2024, and joins others in Boston, New York, and Berkley, California—where Activate is headquartered. It named its third Houston cohort this summer.

The two-year program graduated its first class of Houston fellows in 2026 and saw its first alumni IPO from Houston-based Fervo Energy, which previously participated in a Berkley cohort. Nationally, it has supported 346 fellows and 276 companies since 2015. Those companies have raised more than $6 billion in follow-on funding, according to Activate. In Houston, it has supported Houston startups like energy transition leaders Solidec and FlowCellutions. Activate Houston is led by managing director Jeremy Pitts, who co-founded Greentown Labs in Boston. It is based out of the Ion.

Impact Hub Houston

Impact Hub Houston supports early-stage ventures at various stages of development through innovative programs that address pressing societal issues. The nonprofit organization supports social impact startups through mentorship, connections and training opportunities.

There are more than 110 Impact Hubs globally with members spanning 72 countries. Launched in 2018, Impact Hub Houston says its membership tripled by the beginning of 2026. This year brought major milestones for the community, including the launch of its Ideas to Impact Accelerator, which supported 11 founders across the health, education, food systems, civic technology and workforce development sectors. It also received funding from more than 20 international Impact Hubs to develop SYNC, a collaboration platform that 25 Impact Hubs across five continents have committed to pilot. The organization has worked with local startups including Myoviva Health, The Change Lab and INNERVERSE Inc.

MarMo Innovation

Galveston-based business incubator MarMo Innovation is focused on removing barriers to entrepreneurship. It aims to provide affordable space, education, mentorship, market access, connections and real-world opportunities that help entrepreneurs move from idea to launch to sustainable growth. The "industry-agnostic" incubator was founded in 2022 and is led by Executive Director Erica Delgadillo.

This year, the organization moved from primarily serving as a coworking and community space into a more comprehensive entrepreneurial incubator by expanding its MarMo Market, MarMo Market Jr. and Lunch LineUp programs. A major focus for MarMo is food entrepreneurship. It is developing an Incubator Kitchen, which MarMo says will support programs like its Cottage to Commercial Bootcamp and Food Biz 101. The organization also expanded its board this year and says it is diversifying its revenue through memberships, events, markets, equipment and space rentals, sponsorships, grants and new entrepreneurial programming.

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This article first appeared on InnovationMap.com.

Sage Geosystems taps Halliburton to advance Nevada geothermal project

power partnership

Houston-based Sage Geosystems has selected oil and gas powerhouse Halliburton to provide cementing and stimulation services at its enhanced geothermal project in Nevada known as Project Vector.

“Our technology and experience will support Sage as it advances its geopressured geothermal technology,” Shawn Skobel, vice president at Halliburton, said in a news release.

Halliburton will provide Sage with technical modeling, engineering design, and field execution support as part of its specialized cementing and stimulation services at Project Vector at Ormat Technologies' Blue Mountain geothermal power plant. Sage announced the location of the geothermal project in September.

At the time, Sage said it expected to begin drilling the first well at Project Vector this year, with the first electricity to be generated in 2027 and full-scale production to start in 2028.

The project will use Sage’s enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) method in a two-well system to convert geothermal heat into electricity. The project aims to help meet industrial and residential demand, especially as data centers strain energy grids.

Founded in 2020, Sage has raised $159 million across three funding rounds. Its technology aims to reach Earth’s natural heat source deep underground for more consistent power generation and utilizes engineered subsurface reservoirs to minimize water and energy losses and increase net power output. Through the process, Sage says it can enable reliable, 24/7 power generation.

“One of the keys to scaling next-generation geothermal is combining innovative subsurface technology with the proven capabilities and execution of the oil and gas industry,” Jason Peart, Chief Operating Officer of Sage Geosystems, added in the news release. “Halliburton brings decades of experience in well integrity and reservoir stimulation, two critical components of our development approach. By selecting an established industry leader, we are strengthening our ability to execute Project Vector and demonstrate that Sage’s technology can be replicated and deployed commercially across a broad range of geologies.”

Sage is building off prior success of its South Texas SMECI facility, which began operations in August. Project Vector supports Sage’s growing commercial pipeline, which includes a 150-megawatt geothermal power agreement with Meta.

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