Movers and shakers: Top executive moves in Houston energy transition of 2023

year in review

Promotions, corporate ladder climbing, and other top mover and shaker stories on EnergyCapital this year. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, EnergyCapital is looking back at the year's top stories in Houston energy transition. From new board seats to internal promotions, this year marked a big one for some of Houston's energy leaders. Here were the top five most-read articles covering the mover and shaker news of 2023 — be sure to click through to read the full story.

Global consulting firm names new Houston energy practice leader

Alvarez & Marsal announced the appointment of Jay Johnson as senior adviser to its energy practice. Photo via alvarezandmarsal.com

A top global professional services firm named a Houston-based energy leader amid industry evolution and regulatory changes.

Alvarez & Marsal, or A&M, announced the appointment of Jay Johnson as senior adviser to its energy practice.

“I enjoy bringing together teams of people to solve the complex challenges facing companies today,” Johnson says in a news release. “I’m looking forward to working with A&M’s energy team to build leadership and capabilities to address industry challenges.”

Click here to read the article from November.

Houston carbon storage solutions company names new energy transition leader at pivotal time of growth

Graham Payne, the new director of energy transition at Caliche Development Partners II, is bullish on Houston. Photo courtesy

Graham Payne sees a bright future for the multibillion-dollar energy transition economy in Houston.

“It’s been said that Houston is poised, like no other city, to lead the energy transition. And I’d have to agree, because we have all the requisite natural resources, industry, and talent,” says Payne, the new director of energy transition at Houston-based carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) company Caliche Development Partners II.

Caliche and other Houston-based energy transition companies secured $6.1 billion in private funding last year, up 62 percent from 2022, according to the Greater Houston Partnership.

Click here to read the article from October.

Investment banking firm launches cleantech group, names Houston-based co-leader

Moelis hired Arash Nazhad as Houston-based managing director and co-head of its newly formed clean energy technology group. Photo via rice.edu

A Houston investment banker has been tapped as co-leader of a new team at investment bank Moelis & Co. that will mine the energy sector for cleantech deals.

Publicly traded Moelis said September 7 that it hired Arash Nazhad as Houston-based managing director and co-head of its newly formed clean energy technology group. Nazhad joins Moelis from financial services giant Citigroup, where he was managing director of its clean energy investment team. He worked at Citigroup for nine years.

During his tenure at Citigroup and, before that, Norwegian energy company Equinor (which operates a Houston office), Nazhad helped carry out more than $50 billion in M&A advisory activities and helped raise over $40 billion in capital for clients. He’s been involved in the rollout of more than 20 IPOs.

Click here to read the article from September.

Houston energy transition leader joins California company's board with investment

Bobby Tudor has joined the board of an energy tech company. Photo via Houston.org

A Houston business leader has taken a seat at the table of a San Francisco-based tech company.

Puloli, an IoT solutions-as-a-service company has announced an investment from, Artemis Energy Partners, a Houston group founded by Bobby Tudor. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

With the transaction, Tudor joins Puloli's board of directors, bringing expertise from a storied career in energy transition from his roles at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. and the Greater Houston Partnership.

"Bobby brings a tremendous amount of credibility and energy industry insight to Puloli and complements what Jodi Jahic and Aligned Partners bring to Puloli," Kethees Ketheesan, CEO of Puloli, says in a news release. "Bobby's endorsement of Puloli solution will be a big boost in accelerating our growth."

Click here to read the article from July.

Energy exec to take the reins of the Greater Houston Partnership

Steve Kean will transition from leading Kinder Morgan to assuming the role of president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership later this year. Photo courtesy of the GHP

A longtime energy executive has been named the next president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership. He'll take on the new role this fall.

The GHP named Steve Kean, who currently serves as the CEO of Kinder Morgan Inc., to the position. He's expected to transition from CEO to board of directors member at Kinder Morgan on August 1. Kean will then assume his new position at GHP no later than Dec. 1.

Dr. Marc L. Boom, GHP board chair and president and CEO of Houston Methodist, made the announcement at a press conference June 21.

“Steve brings incredible business acumen and leadership skills to the organization," Boom says in a statement. "Coupled with an extraordinary passion for Houston, he will build on the Partnership’s momentum to continue to advance greater Houston as a region of extraordinary growth and opportunity.”

Click here to read the article from June.

Bobby Tudor has joined the board of an energy tech company. Photo via Houston.org

Houston energy transition leader joins California company's board with investment

seat at the table

A Houston business leader has taken a seat at the table of a San Francisco-based tech company.

Puloli, an IoT solutions-as-a-service company has announced an investment from, Artemis Energy Partners, a Houston group founded by Bobby Tudor. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The investment from Artemis Energy Partners will be used to support research and development, operations, and more at Puloli, which recently launched a continuous methane monitoring service for energy producers. The funding will also support this new technology, called the Paradigm M-Series, as it rolls out across North America.

"I'm very pleased and excited to be a part of the Puloli team," Tudor says in the release. "The energy industry is hungry for solutions I'm confident Puloli can provide. Kethees and his team are poised to become a leader in the methane detection and measurement space, and I look forward to supporting that growth opportunity."

Tudor was the 2020 chair of the GHP and currently serves as the chairman of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, or HETI. He founded Artemis Energy Partners in 2017 after his firm TPH merged with Perella Weinberg Partners in 2016.

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CenterPoint's resiliency plan, Chevron starts up new site, and more trending Houston energy transition news

what's trending

Editor'snote: From Chevron's new deepwater project going online to two Texas companies collaborating on energy storage, these are the top headlines that resonated with EnergyCapital readers on social media and daily newsletter this week.

CenterPoint Energy releases details of resiliency plan

To improve resiliency and reduce the risk of outages from storms or hurricanes, CenterPoint Energy announced its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

The initiative will include an “accelerated timeline to execute specific actions to strengthen electric infrastructure across Houston, and more than 40 critical actions in total to strengthen the electric grid, and improve the company's customer communications and emergency coordination before the next hurricane,” according to a news release.

As part of the “Taking Action Now” section, more than 2,500 CenterPoint frontline workers and contractors will be taking a series of targeted actions to strengthen the grid and reduce the risk of outages before the next major storm that includes installing stronger and more storm-resilient poles, trimming or removal of vegetation from lines, and installing 300 automated devices, which CenterPoint says can help reenergize certain lines and lead to less without power. Continue reading.

Chevron launches production at deepwater project that aims to lower carbon intensity off offshore activity

Chevron's newest deepwater oil and natural gas production project, called the Anchor, is an all-electric facility. Photo courtesy of Chevron

Chevron's new massive deepwater oil and natural gas project in the Gulf of Mexico is officially up and running.

Chevron Corp., which recently announced its relocating its global headquarters to Houston, has officially started oil and natural gas production from its Anchor project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The semi-submersible floating production unit features a high-pressure technology that operates at up to 20,000 psi with reservoir depths reaching 34,000 feet below sea level, Chevron reports, and has a capacity of 75,000 gross barrels of oil per day and 28 million gross cubic feet of natural gas per day. Continue reading.

Two Texas companies combine to enhance hydrogen fueling, storage infrastructure

Celly offers logistics, storage, and dispensing to innovative modular refueling station services. Photo via cellyh2.com

A provider of hydrogen infrastructure solutions Celly H2 has announced its acquisition of ChemTech Energy (CNE) to continue Celly's mission of leading hydrogen fueling and storage infrastructure.

The Willis, Texas-based company offers logistics, storage, and dispensing to innovative modular refueling station services. Montgomery’s Chemtec Energy has a 25-year legacy in the oil and gas market and specializes in modular hydrogen fueling and storage infrastructure solutions.

"This acquisition marks a significant milestone for Celly as we continue to expand our portfolio in the renewable energy market," Founder and CEO of Celly Austin Terry says in a news release. Continue reading.

Houston clean energy provider raises $10.8M series A

Branch Energy aims to provide customers with clean energy at a lower cost than competitors. Photo via Getty Images

A tech-driven retail energy provider based in Houston has secured an oversubscribed series A round of funding.

Branch Energy raised a $10.8 million round led by climate-focused venture capital firm Prelude Ventures with co-investor Zero Infinity Partners, an infrastructure tech-focused firm. The fresh funding will go toward accelerating the company's battery management tech and build out the infrastructure of its field services.

A vertically integrated power provider, Branch Energy aims to provide customers with demand management software and battery storage systems to ensure long-term, stable, and clean energy at a lower cost than competitors. Continue reading.

Woodside to acquire clean ammonia project outside of Houston in $2.4B deal

OCI broke ground on the project in 2022. Photo via oci-global.com

Woodside Energy has announced its acquiring a Beaumont, Texas, clean ammonia project that's slated to deliver its first ammonia by 2025 and lower carbon ammonia by 2026.

The agreement is for Woodside to acquire 100 percent of OCI Clean Ammonia Holding and its lower carbon ammonia project in Beaumont in an all-cash deal of approximately $2.35 billion. According to Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill, the acquisition positions Woodside as an early mover in clean ammonia within the energy transition.

“This transaction positions Woodside in the growing lower carbon ammonia market," O’Neill says in a news release. "The potential applications for lower carbon ammonia are in power generation, marine fuels and as an industrial feedstock, as it displaces higher-emitting fuels. Continue reading.

New report maps Houston workforce development strategies as companies transition to cleaner energy

to-do list

The University of Houston’s Energy University latest study with UH’s Division of Energy and Innovation with stakeholders from the energy industry, academia have released findings from a collaborative white paper, titled "Workforce Development for the Future of Energy.”

UH Energy’s workforce analysis found that the greatest workforce gains occur with an “all-of-the-above” strategy to address the global shift towards low-carbon energy solutions. This would balance electrification and increased attention to renewables with liquid fuels, biomass, hydrogen, carbon capture, utilization and storage commonly known as CCUS, and carbon dioxide removal, according to a news release.

The authors of the paper believe this would support economic and employment growth, which would leverage workers from traditional energy sectors that may lose jobs during the transition.

The emerging hydrogen ecosystem is expected to create about 180,000 new jobs in the greater Houston area, which will offer an average annual income of approximately $75,000. Currently, 40 percent of Houston’s employment is tied to the energy sector.

“To sustain the Houston region’s growth, it’s important that we broaden workforce participation and opportunities,” Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president of energy and innovation at UH, says in a news release. “Ensuring workforce readiness for new energy jobs and making sure we include disadvantaged communities is crucial.”

Some of the key takeaways include strategies that include partnering for success, hands-on training programs, flexible education pathways, comprehensive support services, and early and ongoing outreach initiatives.

“The greater Houston area’s journey towards a low-carbon future is both a challenge and an opportunity,” Krishnamoorti continues. “The region’s ability to adapt and lead in this new era will depend on its commitment to collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity. By preparing its workforce, engaging its communities, and leveraging its industrial heritage, we can redefine our region and continue to thrive as a global energy leader.”

The study was backed by federal funding from the Department of the Treasury through the State of Texas under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012.

Houston geothermal startup selects Texas location for first energy storage facility

major milestone

Houston-based geothermal energy startup Sage Geosystems has teamed up with a utility provider for an energy storage facility in the San Antonio metro area.

The three-megawatt EarthStore facility will be on land controlled by the San Miguel Electric Cooperative, which produces electricity for customers in 47 South Texas counties. The facility will be located in the town of Christine, near the cooperative’s coal-fired power plant.

Sage says its energy storage system will be paired with solar energy to supply power for the grid operated by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The facility is set to open later this year.

“Once operational, our EarthStore facility in Christine will be the first geothermal energy storage system to store potential energy deep in the earth and supply electrons to a power grid,” Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, says in a news release.

The facility is being designed to store geothermal energy during six- to 10-hour periods.

“Long-duration energy storage is crucial for the ERCOT utility grid, especially with the increasing integration of intermittent wind and solar power generation,” says Craig Courter, CEO of the San Miguel Electric Cooperative.

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