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Table of Contents
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
 
 
FORM
10-K
 
 
(Mark One)
☒
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021;
or
 
☐
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from                to                
Commission File
No. 001-39919
 
 
MONTAUK RENEWABLES, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 
 
 
Delaware
  
85-3189583
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
   
680 Andersen Drive, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh,
PA
  
15220
(Address of principal executive offices)
  
(Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (412)
747-8700
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
 
Title of each class
  
Trading Symbol
  
Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share
  
MNTK
  
The Nasdaq Capital Market
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
 
 
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation
S-T
(§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a
non-accelerated
filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule
12b-2
of the Exchange Act:
 
Large Accelerated Filer   ☐    Accelerated Filer   ☒
       
Non-accelerated
filer		   ☐    Smaller Reporting Company   ☐
       
         Emerging Growth Company   ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.  ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule
12b-2
of the Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒
The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price for the registrant’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $
317,682,659
.
The number of outstanding shares of the registrant’s common stock on March 5, 2022 w
as 143,603,681
 
shares.
 
 
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The information required by Part III of this Annual Report on Form
10-K,
to the extent not set forth herein, is incorporated herein by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to the registrant’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held in 2022 (the “Proxy Statement”), which definitive proxy statement shall be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.
 
 
 
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
 
  
Page
 
  
 
1
 
 
ITEM 1.
 
  
 
1
 
 
ITEM 1A.
 
  
 
19
 
 
ITEM 1B.
 
  
 
47
 
 
ITEM 2.
 
  
 
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ITEM 3.
 
  
 
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ITEM 4.
 
  
 
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ITEM 5.
 
  
 
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ITEM 6.
 
  
 
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ITEM 7.
 
  
 
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ITEM 7A.
 
  
 
68
 
 
ITEM 8.
 
  
 
70
 
 
ITEM 9.
 
  
 
103
 
 
ITEM 9A.
 
  
 
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ITEM 9B.
 
  
 
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ITEM 9C.
 
  
 
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ITEM 10.
 
  
 
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ITEM 11.
 
  
 
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ITEM 12.
 
  
 
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ITEM 13.
 
  
 
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ITEM 14.
 
  
 
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ITEM 15.
 
  
 
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ITEM 16.
 
  
 
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-i-
Glossary of Key Terms
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
uses several terms of art that are specific to our industry and business. For the convenience of the reader, a glossary of such terms is provided here. Unless we otherwise indicate, or unless the context requires otherwise, any references in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
to:
 
  •  
“
ADG
” refers to anaerobic digested gas.
 
  •  
“
CARB
” refers to the California Air Resource Board.
 
  •  
“
CNG
” refers to compressed natural gas.
 
  •  
“
CI
” refers to carbon intensity.
 
  •  
“
CWCs
” refers to cellulosic waiver credits.
 
  •  
“
D3
” refers to cellulosic biofuel with a 60% GHG reduction requirement.
 
  •  
“
D5
” refers to advanced biofuels with a 50% GHG reduction requirement.
 
  •  
“
EHS
” refers to environment, health and safety.
 
  •  
“
EIA
” refers to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
 
  •  
“
EPA
” refers to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
 
  •  
“
Environmental Attributes
” refer to federal, state and local government incentives in the United States, provided in the form of RINs, RECs, LCFS credits, rebates, tax credits and other incentives to end users, distributors, system integrators and manufacturers of renewable energy projects, that promote the use of renewable energy.
 
  •  
“
FERC
” refers to the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
 
  •  
“
GHG
” refers to greenhouse gases.
 
  •  
“
JSE
” refers to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
 
  •  
“
LCFS
” refers to Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
 
  •  
“
LFG
” refers to landfill gas.
 
  •  
“
LNG
” refers to liquefied natural gas.
 
  •  
“
PPAs
” refers to power purchase agreements.
 
  •  
“
RECs
” refers to Renewable Energy Credits.
 
  •  
“
Renewable Electricity
” refers to electricity generated from renewable sources.
 
  •  
“
RFS
” refers to the EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard.
 
  •  
“
RINs
” refers to Renewable Identification Numbers.
 
  •  
“
RNG
” refers to renewable natural gas.
 
  •  
“
RPS
” refers to Renewable Portfolio Standards.
 
  •  
“
RVOs
” refers to renewable volume obligations.
 
  •  
“
WRRFs
” refers to water resource recovery facilities.
 
-ii-
Table of Contents
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this report are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements refer to our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, strategies, future performance, and business. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “can have,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “design,” “due,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operational performance or other events. For example, all statements we make relating to future results of operations, financial condition, expectations and plans of the Company, including expected benefits of the Pico amendment and the Montauk Ag project in North Carolina, the anticipated completion of the engine repairs and resumption of operations at the Security facility, the resolution of gas collection issues at the McCarty facility, our estimated and projected costs, expenditures, and growth rates, our plans and objectives for future operations, growth, or initiatives, or strategies are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expect and, therefore, you should not unduly rely on such statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause those actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to:
 
  •  
the impact of the ongoing
COVID-19
pandemic on our business, financial condition and results of operations;
 
  •  
our ability to develop and operate new renewable energy projects, including with livestock farms;
 
  •  
reduction or elimination of government economic incentives to the renewable energy market;
 
  •  
delays in acquisition, financing, construction and development of new projects, including expansion plans into new areas such as agricultural waste;
 
  •  
disruptions in our supply chain due to transportation delays, travel restrictions, raw material cost increases and shortages, closures of businesses or facilities, and the associated costs and inflation related thereto;
 
  •  
the length of development and optimization cycles for new projects, including the design and construction processes for our renewable energy projects;
 
  •  
dependence on third parties for the manufacture of products and services;
 
  •  
the quantity, quality and consistency of our feedstock volumes from both landfill and livestock farm operations;
 
  •  
identifying suitable locations for new projects;
 
  •  
reliance on interconnections to distribution and transmission products for our Renewable Natural Gas and Renewable Electricity Generation segments;
 
  •  
our projects not producing expected levels of output;
 
  •  
the anticipated benefits of the Pico feedstock amendment and the Montauk Ag project in North Carolina and the anticipated completion of engine repairs and resumption of operations at the Security facility;
 
  •  
resolution of gas collection issues at the McCarty facility;
 
  •  
concentration of revenues from a small number of customers and projects;
 
  •  
dependence on our landfill operators;
 
  •  
our outstanding indebtedness and restrictions under our credit facility;
 
  •  
our ability to extend our fuel supply agreements prior to expiration;
 
  •  
our ability to meet milestone requirements under our PPAs;
 
-iii-
Table of Contents
  •  
existing regulations and changes to regulations and policies that effect our operations;
 
  •  
decline in public acceptance and support of renewable energy development and projects;
 
  •  
our expectations regarding Environmental Attributes;
 
  •  
our expectations regarding Environmental Attribute and commodity prices;
 
  •  
our expectations regarding the period during which we qualify as an emerging growth company under the Jumpstart Our Business Startup Act (“JOBS Act”);
 
  •  
our expectations regarding future capital expenditures, including for the maintenance of facilities;
 
  •  
our expectations regarding the use of net operating losses before expiration;
 
  •  
our expectations regarding more attractive CI scores by regulatory agencies for our livestock farm projects;
 
  •  
market volatility and fluctuations in commodity prices and the market prices of Environmental Attributes and the impact of any related hedging activity;
 
  •  
regulatory changes in federal, state and international environmental attribute programs;
 
  •  
profitability of our planned livestock farm projects;
 
  •  
sustained demand for renewable energy;
 
  •  
security threats, including cyber-security attacks;
 
  •  
the need to obtain and maintain regulatory permits, approvals and consents;
 
  •  
potential liabilities from contamination and environmental conditions;
 
  •  
potential exposure to costs and liabilities due to extensive environmental, health and safety laws;
 
  •  
impacts of climate change, changing weather patterns and conditions, and natural disasters;
 
  •  
failure of our information technology and data security systems;
 
  •  
increased competition in our markets;
 
  •  
continuing to keep up with technology innovations;
 
  •  
concentrated stock ownership by a few stockholders and related control over the outcome of all matters subject to a stockholder vote; and
 
  •  
the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the section titled “Risk Factors.”
We make many of our forward-looking statements based on our operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon detailed assumptions. While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that could affect our actual results.
See the “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this report for a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties mentioned above and for discussion of other risks and uncertainties we face that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements as well as others made in our other Securities and Exchange Commission (“
SEC
”) filings and public communications. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made by us in the context of these risks and uncertainties.
We caution you that the risks and uncertainties identified by us may not be all of the factors that are important to you. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements included in this report are made only as of the date hereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
 
-iv-
Table of Contents
Summary of Risks Associated with Our Business
Our business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
Some of these principal risks include the following and may be further exacerbated by the
COVID-19
pandemic:
 
  •  
Public health threats or outbreaks of communicable diseases could have a material effect on our operations and financial results.
 
  •  
Our renewable energy projects may not generate expected levels of output.
 
  •  
The concentration in revenues from five of our projects and geographic concentration of our projects expose us to greater risks of production interruptions from severe weather or other interruptions of production or transmission.
 
  •  
Our use and enjoyment of real property rights for our projects may be adversely affected by the rights of lienholders and leaseholders that are superior to those of the grantors of those real property rights to our projects.
 
  •  
Our projects are not able to insure against all potential risks and may become subject to higher insurance premiums.
 
  •  
We may face intense competition and may not be able to successfully compete.
 
  •  
Technological innovation may render us uncompetitive or our processes obsolete.
 
  •  
We may not be able to obtain long-term contracts for the sale of power produced by our projects on favorable terms and we may not meet certain milestones and other performance criteria under existing PPAs.
 
  •  
Our commercial success depends on our ability to identify, acquire, develop and operate individual renewable energy projects, as well as our ability to maintain and expand production at our current projects.
 
  •  
If there is insufficient demand for renewable energy, or if renewable energy projects do not develop or take longer to develop than we anticipate, we may be unable to achieve our investment objectives.
 
  •  
Acquisition, financing, construction and development of new projects and project expansions and conversions may not commence on anticipated timelines or at all.
 
  •  
Our fuel supply agreements with site hosts have defined contractual periods, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully extend these agreements.
 
  •  
Our PPAs, fuel-supply agreements, RNG
off-take
agreements and other agreements contain complex price adjustments, calculations and other terms based on gas price indices and other metrics, the interpretation of which could result in disputes with counterparties that could affect our results of operations and customer relationships.
 
  •  
In order to secure contracts for new projects, we typically face a long and variable development cycle that requires significant resource commitments and a long lead time before we realize revenues.
 
  •  
We plan to expand our business in part through developing RNG recovery projects at landfills and livestock farms, but we may not be able to identify suitable locations or complete development of new projects.
 
  •  
Our dairy farm project has, and any future digester project will have, different economic models and risk profiles than our landfill facilities, and we may not be able to achieve the operating results we expect from these projects.
 
-v-
Table of Contents
  •  
While we currently focus on converting methane into renewable energy, in the future we may decide to expand our strategy to include other types of projects. Any future energy projects may present unforeseen challenges and result in a competitive disadvantage relative to our more established competitors.
 
  •  
Any future acquisitions, investments or other strategic relationships that we make could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our stockholders or harm our business, financial condition or operating results.
 
  •  
Our revenues may be subject to the risk of fluctuations in commodity prices and pricing volatility of Environmental Attributes.
 
  •  
We are exposed to the risk of failing to meet our contractual commitments to sell RINs from our production.
 
  •  
We may be unable obtain, modify, or maintain the regulatory permits, approvals and consents required to construct and operate our projects.
 
  •  
Negative attitudes toward renewable energy projects from the U.S. government, other lawmakers and regulators, and activists could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
 
  •  
Revenue from any projects we complete may be adversely affected if there is a decline in public acceptance or support of renewable energy, or regulatory agencies, local communities, or other third parties delay, prevent, or increase the cost of constructing and operating our projects.
 
  •  
Existing regulations and policies, and future changes to these regulations and policies, may present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to the generation, purchase and use of renewable energy, and may adversely affect the market for credits associated with the production of renewable energy.
 
  •  
Our business is subject to the risk of climate change and extreme or changing weather patterns.
 
  •  
Our business could be negatively affected by security threats, including cybersecurity threats and other information technology-related disruptions.
 
  •  
Failure of third parties to manufacture quality products or provide reliable services in a timely manner could cause delays in developing and operating our projects, which could damage our reputation, adversely affect our partner relationships or adversely affect our growth.
 
  •  
Our projects rely on interconnections to distribution and transmission facilities that are owned and operated by third parties, and as a result, are exposed to interconnection and transmission facility development and curtailment risks.
 
  •  
We are dependent upon our relationships with Waste Management and Republic Services for the operation and maintenance of landfills on which several of our RNG and Renewable Electricity projects operate.
 
  •  
We have significant customer concentration, with a limited number of customers accounting for a substantial portion of our revenues.
 
  •  
Our fuel supply agreements with site hosts have defined contractual periods, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully extend these agreements.
 
  •  
Our senior credit facility contains financial and operating restrictions that may limit our business activities and our access to credit.
 
  •  
We may be required to
write-off
or impair capitalized costs or intangible assets in the future or we may incur restructuring costs or other charges, each of which would harm our earnings.
 
  •  
Our ability to use our U.S. net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
 
  •  
We also face risks related to our common stock, being a controlled company, being an emerging growth company, and risks generally applicable to publicly-traded companies.
 
-vi-
Table of Contents
PART I
 
ITEM 1.
BUSINESS.
Unless the context requires otherwise, references to “Montauk,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Montauk Renewables, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Business Overview
We are a renewable energy company specializing in the recovery and processing of biogas from landfills and other
non-fossil
fuel sources for beneficial use as a replacement to fossil fuels. We develop, own, and operate RNG projects, using proven technologies that supply renewable fuel into the transportation and electrical power sectors. We are one of the largest U.S. producers of RNG, having participated in the industry for over 30 years. We established our operating portfolio of 12 RNG and three Renewable Electricity projects through self-development, partnerships, and acquisitions that span six states and have grown our revenues from $33.8 million in 2014 to $148.1 million in 2021.
Biogas is produced by microbes as they break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen (during a process called anaerobic digestion). Our two current sources of commercial scale biogas are LFG or ADG. We typically secure our biogas feedstock through long-term fuel supply agreements and property lease agreements with biogas site hosts. Once we secure long-term fuel supply rights, we design, build, own, and operate facilities that convert the biogas into RNG or use the processed biogas to produce Renewable Electricity. We sell the RNG and Renewable Electricity through a variety of term length agreements. Because we are capturing waste methane and making use of a renewable source of energy, our RNG and Renewable Electricity generate valuable Environmental Attributes which we can monetize under federal and state renewable initiatives.
Demand for RNG produced from biogas remains strong due to increasing public policy initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, as well as continued public and private sector interest in the development of additional renewable energy sources to offset traditional fossil fuels. The Biden Administration has noted the importance of regulating the emission of methane as a key part of mitigating climate change, including through, among other actions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s November 15, 2021 proposed regulation of methane emissions associated with oil and gas operations. We believe the renewed regulatory focus on controlling methane emissions as part of a wider greenhouse gas reduction strategy, relatively untapped domestic agricultural waste feedstock and continued strong public and private support for renewable energy development supports the continued expansion of RNG production from landfill and agriculturally derived sources of biogas in the U.S.
Montauk continuously evaluates sources of waste methane in the United States that could serve as potential future commercial-scale project opportunities. We also continue our growth through optimization of our existing assets and project portfolio, securing greenfield developments and acquiring existing projects. We also include in our growth other vertical integration opportunities adjacent to our core operations. Additionally, we are actively exploring third-party service offerings to further monetize Montauk’s deep experience in operating LFG and ADG projects. Our successful evaluation and execution of project opportunities is based on our ability to leverage our significant industry experience, relationships with customers and vendors, access to interconnections for
rights-of-way,
and capabilities to construct pipeline and electrical interconnections that ensure the economic viability of opportunities we pursue. We exercise financial discipline in pursuing these projects by targeting project returns that are in line with the relative risk of the specific projects and associated feedstock costs, offtake contracts and any other related attributes that can be monetized.
Our current operating projects produce either RNG or Renewable Electricity by processing biogas from landfill sites or agricultural waste from livestock farms. We view agricultural waste from livestock farms as a significant opportunity for us to expand our RNG business, while we continue to evaluate other agricultural feedstock opportunities. We believe that our business model and technology are highly scalable given availability of biogas from agriculturally derived sources, which will allow us to continue to grow through prudent development and complimentary acquisitions.
 
-1-
Table of Contents
Our projects provide our landfill and agriculture partners with a variety of benefits, including a means to monetize biogas from their sites, support their regulatory compliance, and provide them with value-added environmental services. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors based on our long history of working with leading vendors and technologies and through our extensive expertise in designing, tuning and managing gas control collection systems at our host sites. We have significant experience with commercialized beneficial uses of processed biogas, including pipeline-quality RNG, power generation, carbon capture and boiler fuel gas products.
Our revenues are generated from the sale of RNG and Renewable Electricity under termed agreements, along with the Environmental Attributes that are derived from these products. RNG has the same chemical composition as natural gas from fossil sources, but has unique Environmental Attributes assigned to it through government incentive programs due to its origin from
low-carbon,
renewable sources, which we can also monetize. Virtually all of the RNG we produce is used as a transportation fuel because this market generally provides the most value for our RNG production. The RNG we process is pipeline-quality and can be used for transportation fuel when converted to CNG or LNG. CNG has been the most common fuel used by fleets where medium-duty trucks are close to the fueling station, such as city fleets, local delivery trucks and waste haulers.
When used as a transportation fuel or to produce electricity, RNG can generate additional revenue streams through the generation and sale of Environmental Attributes under various programs, including the national renewable fuels standard and state-level California LCFS. The Environmental Attributes that we generate and sell are composed of RINs and LCFS credits, which are generated from the conversion of biogas to RNG that is used as a transportation fuel, as well as RECs generated from the conversion of biogas to Renewable Electricity. In addition to revenues generated from our product sales, we also generate revenues by providing various value-added services to certain of our biogas site partners. In 2021 and 2020, our projects generated approximately 11.0% and 13.5%, respectively, of all D3 RINs in the United States. During 2021, we entered into an agreement to sell a portion of our production as a renewable component of refinery fuel exports into the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive from certain RNG production facilities that have achieved International Sustainability & Carbon Certification registration. This diversification strategy accounted for approximately 0.7% of the reduction in generation of D3 RINs.
Whenever possible, we seek to mitigate our exposure to commodity and Environmental Attribute pricing volatility. Through contractual arrangements with our site hosts and counterparties, we typically share pricing and production risks while retaining our ability to benefit from potential upside. A portion of the RNG volume we produce is sold under bundled fixed-price arrangements for the RNG and Environmental Attributes, some of which include a sharing arrangement where we benefit from prices above certain thresholds. For our remaining RNG projects, we may enter into
in-kind
sharing arrangements where our partners receive the Environmental Attributes instead of a cash payment, thereby sharing in Environmental Attribute pricing risk.
On the electricity side of our business, all of our products and related Environmental Attributes are sold under fixed-price contracts with escalators, limiting our pricing risk. Finally, our contracts with site hosts often require payments to our site hosts in the form of royalties based on realized revenues, direct development contributions, or, in some select cases, based on production volumes.
P
r
oducts
Sold
The revenues Montauk receives from selling renewable energy consist of two main components. The first component is revenues from the commodity value of the natural gas or electricity generated. The second component is from the Environmental Attributes derived from the production of RNG and Renewable Electricity. For RNG, Environmental Attribute revenues are substantially generated from RINs when used as a transportation fuel. In addition, RNG can generate an additional revenue stream when used as a transportation fuel in states that have adopted low-carbon fuel incentive programs. The primary Environmental Attributes derived from the production of electricity from renewable resources are RECs, which translate into additional revenues for units of Renewable Electricity produced.
 
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RNG.
LFG and gas from livestock digesters can be processed into pipeline-quality RNG by removing the majority of the non-methane components including carbon dioxide, water, sulfur, nitrogen, and other trace compounds. RNG can be used for transportation fuel when compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG) and virtually all of the RNG we produce is used in this manner.
RNG, like traditional natural gas, is traded nationally. Once in an interstate pipeline, RNG can be transported to vehicle fueling stations to be used as a transportation fuel, to utilities to generate power, or for use in generating fuel cell energy anywhere within the North American pipeline system. This flexibility enables us to capture value from the renewable attributes of biogas by delivering RNG to markets and customers that place a premium on renewable energy.
RNG is priced in-line with the wholesale natural gas market, based on Henry Hub pricing, with regional variation according to demand. We sell the RNG produced from our projects under a variety of short-term and medium-term agreements to counterparties, with tenures varying from three years to five years. Our contracts with counterparties are typically structured to be based on varying natural gas price indices for the RNG produced. We also share a portion of our Environmental Attributes with certain pathway providers as consideration for the counterparty using our RNG as a transportation fuel.
D3 RINs.
RNG has the same chemical composition as natural gas from fossil sources, but has unique Environmental Attributes assigned to it due to its origin from organic sources. These attributes qualify RNG as a renewable fuel under the federal RFS program, established pursuant to the EPACT 2005 and EISA, allowing RNG to generate renewable fuel credits called RINs when the RNG is used as a transportation fuel.
RINs are saleable regulatory credits that represent a quantity of qualifying fuel and are used by refiners and importers to evidence compliance with their RFS obligations. Given that the RFS is a national program, the price of a RIN is the same anywhere in the United States. The RFS program originally contemplated 1.75 billion gallons of fuel from cellulosic biofuels by 2014, the use of which would be tracked through D3 RINs. However, cellulosic biofuel production grew slower than expected and prompted the EPA to expand the definition of biofuels that could qualify for D3 RINs to include fuels from cellulosic biogas, including biogas from landfills, livestock farms, and WRRFs. This significantly increased the quantity of D3 RINs produced, with production increasing to approximately 33 million net RINs in 2014 and 505 million net RINs in 2021. In addition, given the historic shortage in supply of D3 RINs to meet blending requirements, the EPA allows obligated refiners to satisfy RFS compliance obligations for D3 RINs by either purchasing CWC plus D5 RINs or by purchasing D3 RINs. CWC prices are set annually and are typically published by the EPA each November, with an estimated CWC price for 2022 of approximately $2.23 based on calculation methodology. The value of a D3 RIN is therefore a derivative of the market price for D5 RINs and CWCs, which in turn, are inversely linked to the wholesale price of gasoline.
We have been active in the RFS program since 2014 and expect to remain a significant contributor to the overall generation of RINs from RNG. We monetize our portion of the RINs, directly, at auction or through third-party agents or marketers.
CA LCFS.
CA LCFS credits are environmental credits generated in California in order to stimulate the use of cleaner, low-carbon fuels. This program encourages the production of low-carbon fuels by setting annual CI standards, which are intended to reduce GHG emissions from the state’s transportation sector. One of the key aspects of the program is that it encourages the use of low-carbon transportation fuel, such as CNG, in vehicles instead of gasoline. This program further encourages use of renewable fuels in vehicles over CNG from fossil fuels.
The value of an CA LCFS credit varies according to the CI value of the fuel source as determined by CARB. Fuels that have a lower CI score benefit from a higher percentage of a CA LCFS credit. RNG from LFG
 
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and livestock digester biogas that are used as a transportation fuel both qualify for CA LCFS credits. The number of CA LCFS credits for RNG from livestock digesters is significantly higher than the number of CA LCFS credits for RNG from landfills, due to the relative CI scores of the two fuels. Fuel that is eligible for RINs can also receive CA LCFS credits. As a result, CA LCFS credits represent a revenue stream incremental to the value RNG producers receive for RINs. For livestock digester RNG projects, CA LCFS credits are a substantial revenue driver. We have seven projects which are currently approved and eligible to earn CA LCFS credits, and we expect the revenue generated by CA LCFS credits to increase as we continue to develop and bring additional livestock digester projects online over the next few years.
Several states in the United States also have or are considering adopting this model. Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program, enacted in 2009 and implemented in 2016, which operates using a credit system similar to the CA LCFS program. Similar to RINs, LCFS credits can be sold separately from the RNG fuel sold, allowing us to monetize LCFS credits for fuel produced and purchased outside of states that have LCFS programs.
Renewable Electricity.
Electricity is a commodity that trades and is priced on a regional basis in and among regional control areas. Pricing for commodity-sold electricity can be based on day-ahead prices for scheduled deliveries or hourly, real-time prices for unscheduled deliveries. Prices vary across the country based on weather, load patterns and local power and transmission restrictions. The Renewable Electricity produced at our biogas-to-electricity projects is sold under long-term contracts to credit-worthy counterparties, typically under a fixed price with escalators. The terms of these contracts range from 5 to 22 years, with a weighted average remaining tenure of 14 years, based on 2021 expected electricity production.
RECs
. Biogas is considered to be a renewable resource in all 37 states that encourage or mandate the use of renewable energy. Thirty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have RPS that require utilities to supply a percentage of power from renewable resources, and seven states have a Renewable Portfolio Goal that is similar to RPS, but it is an objective or goal and not a requirement. Many states allow utilities to comply with RPS through tradable RECs, which provide an additional revenue stream to RNG projects that produce electricity from biogas.
The value of a REC is dependent on each state’s renewable energy requirements as mandated by its RPS. REC values are higher in states which require a percentage of total electricity to come from renewable resources. In states with no renewable energy requirements, RECs can have no value at all. In some markets, we have entered into PPAs under which we sell RECs bundled with the power being sold at a combined price. This occurs where the utility off-take counterparty offers a combined rate for the renewable energy it needs to satisfy RPS or other business requirements that is the best combined price for one of our projects.
Reorganization Transactions
On January 4, 2021, the Company, Montauk Holdings Limited (“MNK”) and Montauk Holdings USA, LLC (a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of MNK at the time, “Montauk USA”) entered into a series of transactions, including an equity exchange (the “Equity Exchange”) and a distribution collectively referred to as the “Reorganization Transactions,” that resulted in the Company owning all of the assets and entities (other than Montauk USA) previously owned by Montauk USA, and Montauk Renewables became a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of MNK. Prior to the Reorganization Transactions, MNK’s business and operations were conducted entirely through Montauk USA and its U.S. subsidiaries, and MNK held no substantial assets other than equity of Montauk USA. The Company had no significant operations or assets prior to January 4, 2021 when it engaged in the equity exchange with Montauk USA and MNK.
After completion of the Reorganization Transactions, (i) Montauk USA ceased to own any substantial assets and (ii) all entities through which MNK’s business and operations were conducted became owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company. MNK adopted a plan contemporaneously with the completion of the Reorganization Transactions that authorized the future liquidation and dissolution of MNK.
 
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On January 15, 2021, MNK sold the membership interest of Montauk USA to a third party. On January 26, 2021, MNK distributed all of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock as a pro rata dividend to the holders of MNK’s ordinary shares (the “Distribution”), subject to any tax withholding obligations under applicable South African law. Each ordinary share of MNK outstanding on January 21, 2021, the record date for the Distribution, entitled the holder thereof to receive one share of the Company’s common stock.
On January 26, 2021, the Company closed the initial public offering of its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market (the “IPO”) with the shares traded under the symbol “MNTK.” Montauk Renewables issued 2,702,500 shares at $8.50 per share and received gross proceeds of $22,971. The Company’s common stock was also secondarily listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “MKR.”
On January 26, 2021, the Company entered into a Loan Agreement and Secured Promissory Note (the “Initial Promissory Note”) with MNK. MNK is currently an affiliate of the Company and certain of the Company’s directors and executive officers are also directors and executive officers of MNK. Pursuant to the Initial Promissory Note, the Company advanced a cash loan of $5,000 to MNK for MNK to pay its dividends tax liability arising from the Reorganization Transactions under the South African Income Tax Act, 1962 (Act No. 58 of 1962), as amended (the “South African Income Tax Act”). On February 22, 2021, the Company and MNK entered into an Amended and Restated Promissory Note (the “Amended Promissory Note”) to increase the principal amount of the loan to a total of $7,140, in the aggregate, and on December 22, 2021 entered into the Second Amended and Restated Loan Agreement and Secured Promissory Note (the “Second Amended Promissory Note”) to increase the principal amount of the loan to a total of $8,940, in the aggregate, each in accordance with the Company’s obligations set forth in the Transaction Implementation Agreement entered into by and among the Company, MNK and the other party thereto, dated November 6, 2020, and amended on January 14, 2021.
MNK was delisted from the JSE on January 26, 2021. MNK is expected to be liquidated within 24 months of the Distribution.
Strategy Overview
We further refined our business strategy in fiscal 2021 to focus on the following three areas that present the greatest growth opportunities for the Company at this time. A detailed discussion of each strategy pillar is included in the narrative below.
Continued Expansion into Agricultural Feedstocks for RNG Production
 
  •  
In May 2021, Montauk acquired a privately-held entity in North Carolina through a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary, Montauk Ag Renewables, LLC (“Montauk Ag”), and its associated technologies and assets (the “Asset Acquisition”). We subsequently secured U.S. patent protection on certain related technology.
 
  •  
We believe the technology acquired from the Montauk Ag Renewables acquisition opens new feedstock opportunities in the agricultural sector for the development of additional RNG projects nationwide.
Optimize Existing Assets and Project Portfolio and Opportunistically Develop New Project
 
  •  
We continued to optimize our existing assets and project portfolio to maximize our return on those investments.
 
  •  
Montauk continues to evaluate the conversion of electricity projects to RNG, which have higher economic value.
 
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Valued-added Service Offerings
 
  •  
We enhanced our focus on monetizing value-added service offerings to third parties, leveraging Montauk’s expertise in operating renewable energy projects.
Continued Expansion into Agricultural Feedstocks for RNG Production
As part of our long-term strategy, we are focused on diversifying our project portfolio beyond LFG through expansion into additional methane producing assets, while opportunistically adding third-party developed technology capabilities to boost financial performance and our overall cost competitiveness. We are commercially operating our first agricultural waste project (dairy manure), actively pursuing new fuel supply opportunities in WRRFs, and looking at long-term organic waste and sludge opportunities for the generation of biogas.
We view dairy farms and other forms of organic agricultural waste as a significant opportunity for us to expand our RNG business, as processing biogas from dairy farms and from other forms of organic agricultural waste requires similar expertise and capabilities as processing biogas from landfills. Many of the existing biogas processing in these industries is for electricity production, which creates additional opportunities for acquisition and conversion to higher-value RNG facilities.
We undertook an agricultural project when we closed on the acquisition of Pico, the anaerobic digester and two Jenbacher engines at the Bettencourt dairy farm in Jerome, Idaho in September 2018
.
The project sources manure from a dairy farm with up to approximately 18,500 milking cows. While Pico was initially a Renewable Electricity site, we brought an RNG facility at that location online in 2020. The facility sells transportation fuel into the California transportation market
.
The collection of the fuel supply is much easier at dairy farms than at landfills due to higher quality, more uniform feedstock, less volatility in inlet gas and biogas collection in a more controlled environment. During the second quarter of 2021, we completed an amendment to our Pico feedstock agreement (“Pico Feedstock Amendment”). The amendment will increase the amount of feedstock supplied to the facility for processing over a one to three-year period.
During the third quarter of 2021, and as part of our overall capacity expansion at the Pico facility, we undertook significant efforts to improve the performance of the existing digestion process at our Pico facility. We temporarily idled RNG production at this facility in order to clean out settled solids in the digester, replace the cover of the digester, and make various other efficiency improvements. We have subsequently resumed operations during the first quarter of 2022. The improvement project has impacted the timeline for modeling Pico’s initial CI Score pathway model and subsequent auditing approval by CARB. We did not receive a temporary CI pathway in 2021 and were not able to generate LCFS credit revenue on 2021 production. We will be storing 2022 production while CARB completes its CI Score Pathway. We expect to receive the results of this approval during the second half of 2022. However, we do not currently expect to receive LCFS credit revenue on 2022 production until 2023.
During the second quarter of 2021, we, through a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary, Montauk Ag Renewables, LLC (“Montauk Ag”), completed a series of transactions with Joseph P. Carroll, Jr. (“Carroll”), Martin A. Redeker (“Redeker”) and certain of their affiliates to purchase identified assets related to developing technology to recover residual natural resources from waste streams of modern agriculture and to refine and recycle such waste products through proprietary and other processes in order to produce high quality renewable natural gas,
bio-oil
and biochar (the “Montauk Ag Renewables Acquisition”). The assets acquired include real property, intellectual property, mobile equipment, and other equipment related to operating the business. The real property includes the purchase of an approximate 9.35-acre parcel in Duplin County, North Carolina. Additionally, Messrs. Carroll and Redeker joined Montauk as full-time employees, focused on refining and scaling the technology and capabilities to develop new agricultural waste stream projects.
Other industries that present opportunities of scale for biogas conversion include swine farms and WRRFs. Like dairy farms, biogas production from swine farms is a nascent biogas industry, with less than 1% of swine
 
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farms with biogas processing capabilities. Additionally, roughly 23% of WRRFs have biogas processing facilities, however, most process biogas for electricity production creating additional opportunities for acquisition and conversion to RNG facilities. As with LFG and dairy farms, biogas from both swine farms and WRRFs qualify for D3 RINs under the RFS program. We believe our demonstrated versatility to operate processing facilities using multiple fuel supply sources will give us a competitive advantage in these markets relative to other new entrants who have only demonstrated capabilities with one fuel supply source. Our Montauk Ag venture is currently evaluating a
5-year,
approximately
20-unit
development cluster project that will seek to optimize revenue streams from swine waste lagoon close-outs, and in particular, lagoon waste that cannot otherwise be processed through conventional digestion technology.
The drive toward voluntary and most likely regulatory-required organic waste diversion from landfills is of particular interest as we leverage our current experience base, and we believe this trend will provide long-term growth opportunities and that the market has not yet unlocked the full potential of RNG and Renewable Electricity. In August of 2021, Montauk Ag Renewables was granted a patent on technology to convert agricultural waste into multiple
non-fossil
renewable fuel alternatives. We believe this technology will provide a competitive advantage that will enable us to utilize a broader range of organic waste materials from the agricultural and WRFF sectors for the production of biogas and associated new RNG and/or Renewable Electricity projects. As our biogas processing technology continues to improve and the required energy intensity of the RNG and Renewable Electricity production process is reduced, we expect that we will be able to enter new markets for our products.
Optimize Existing Assets and Project Portfolio and Opportunistically Develop New Projects
Expanding Operations at Existing Project Sites
. We monitor biogas supply availability across our portfolio and seek to maximize production at
existing projects by expanding operations when economically feasible. Most of our landfill locations continue to accept waste deliveries and the available LFG at these sites is expected to increase over time, which we expect to support expanded production. In 2021, this has allowed us to maintain average production availability of approximately 87% at our RNG projects and 61% at our Renewable Electricity projects. The 2021 average production availability of our Renewable Electricity projects was lower compared to 2020 due to the delayed restoration of production at our Security facility.
We treat our existing assets as an integrated portfolio rather than a collection of individual projects. This allows us to utilize any new business practices or technologies across our entire project portfolio quickly, including advances with respect to troubleshooting, optimization, cost savings, and host site interaction. Our integrated,
pro-active
and
value-add
approach helps us maintain strong relationships with our partners, which we seek to leverage to optimize the performance of our existing projects.
We also experience organic growth in production at our existing projects as a result of increases in biogas supply at our projects and on-going optimization initiatives. We size our projects to account for this increase in the biogas supply curve over time
.
For example, at many of our newer projects, such as Apex and Galveston, we expect gradual increases in production as those landfill sites continue to grow
.
Additionally, many of our capacity expansion efforts to date, such as those at McCarty and Rumpke, have helped to optimize our project capacity to take advantage of excess biogas at older landfills that are still open and growing
.
Not only have our projects achieved an initial increase in production following the capacity expansion project, but we also expect to see continued gradual increases in production over time.
Converting Existing Renewable Electricity Projects to RNG.
We periodically evaluate opportunities to convert existing projects from electricity generation
to RNG production
.
These opportunities tend to be attractive for our merchant electricity projects given the favorable economics for RNG plus RIN sales relative to merchant electricity rates plus REC sales
.
To date, we have converted two projects from
LFG-to-electricity
to
LFG-to-RNG
and a third project from
ADG-to-electricity
to
ADG-to-RNG.
We will continue to explore the feasibility of other opportunities across our existing Renewable Electricity portfolio.
 
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Opportunistic Development of New Projects
. We apply a financially disciplined model toward new project development that considers the relative risk of a given project and associated feedstock costs, offtake contracts and any other related Environmental Attributes that can be monetized. We are currently evaluating three project expansion opportunities at existing project sites. We regularly analyze potential new projects that are at various stages of negotiation, engineering design and financial review. The potential projects typically include a mix of new project sites and strategic acquisitions. Currently, no new potential projects are subject to definitive agreements and each potential opportunity is subject to competitive market conditions
.
The RNG industry remains highly fragmented. We believe continued industry fragmentation presents an opportunity for further industry consolidation. We are well-positioned to take advantage of this consolidation opportunity because of our scale, operational and managerial capabilities, and execution track record in integrating acquisitions. Over the last ten years, we have acquired 13 projects and members of our current management team have led all of those acquisitions. We expect that as we continue to scale up our business, our increased size, capabilities and access to capital will provide us with increased strategic acquisition opportunities.
Valued-added Service Offerings
Over our three decades of experience, we have developed the full range of RNG project related capabilities from engineering, construction, management and operations, through EHS oversight and Environmental Attributes management. By vertically integrating across RNG services, we are able to reduce development and operations costs, optimize efficiencies and improve operations. Our full suite of capabilities allows us to serve a multi-project partner for certain project hosts across multiple transactions, including through strategic transactions. To that end, we actively identify and evaluate opportunities to acquire entities that will further our vertically-integrated services.
 
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Our Current Operating Portfolio
We currently own and operate 15 projects, 12 of which are RNG projects and three of which are Renewable Electricity projects. Of our three Renewable Electricity projects we currently operate, we are considering options to convert one of them to produce RNG. In addition to the
electricity-to-RNG
conversion project, we are currently in the process of developing one additional RNG project from LFG. We are also working on other projects which will repurpose equipment from existing biogas facilities for use at new project sites. The below graphic does not include the Montauk Ag project, which is currently under development.
 
 
 
Renewable Electricity Generation
Site
  
COD (1)
  
Capacity
(MW)
  
Source
Bowerman
Irvine, CA
   2016   23.6   Landfill
Security
Houston, TX
   2003   3.4   Landfill
AEL
Sand Spring, OK
   2013   3.2   Landfill
Total Capacity (MW)
   30.2  
 
 
Renewable Natural Gas
Site
  
COD(1)
  
Capacity
(MMBtu/
day) (2)
  
Source
Rumpke
Cincinnati, OH
   1986   7,271   Landfill
Atascocita
Humble, TX
   2002*/ 2018   5,570   Landfill
McCarty
Houston, TX
   1986   4,415   Landfill
Apex
Amsterdam, OH
   2018   2,673   Landfill
Monroeville
Monroeville, PA
   2004   2,372   Landfill
Valley
Harrison City, PA
   2004   2,372   Landfill
Galveston
Galveston, TX
   2019   1,857   Landfill
Raeger
Johnston, PA
   2006   1,857   Landfill
Shade
Cairnbrook, PA
   2007   1,857   Landfill (3)
Coastal
Plains Alvin, TX
   2020   1,775   Landfill
Southern
Davidsville, PA
   2007   928   Landfill
Pico
Jerome, ID
   2020   903   Livestock (Dairy)
Total Capacity (MMBtu/day)
   33,850  
 
 
 
  
  
 
=  Renewable Natural Gas Project
 
  
 
   
 
=  Renewable Electricity Project
 
 
(1)
“COD” refers to the commercial operation date of each site.
(2)
This is equivalent to the project’s design capacity and assumes inlet methane content of 56% for all sites other than Pico, which assumes inlet methane content of 62%, and process efficiency of 91%.
(3)
All of our landfill sites are accepting waste except our Shade site. Our Shade site is closed to accepting new waste, but is currently expected to continue to generate a commercial level of RNG for an additional ten years. Our operating RNG projects have an average expected remaining useful life of approximately 19 years.
We have a long history of operating our projects with partners, with our oldest relationship going back 48 years. On average, we have had an
19-year
history with our current project site owners. As of December 31, 2021, our operating RNG projects have an average expected remaining useful life of approximately 19 years and our operating Renewable Electricity projects have an average expected remaining useful life of approximately 25 years.
Approximately 93% of our 2021 RNG production has been monetized under fuel supply agreements with expiration dates more than 15 years from December 31, 2021. Additionally, nearly all of our 2021 Renewable
 
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Electricity production has been monetized under fuel supply agreements with expiration dates more than 15 years from December 31, 2021. Concurrent with our fuel supply agreements, we typically enter into property leases with our project hosts, which govern access rights, permitted activities, easements and other property rights. We own all equipment and facilities on each leased property, other than equipment provided by utility companies providing services
on-site.
Lease termination typically requires the restoration of the leased area to its original condition. We have successfully ended leases on four facilities and completed associated restoration activities, and are currently completing restoration of two other facilities.
Once collected, biogas can be processed into pipeline-quality RNG or converted into electricity. The conversion facility is typically located on landfill property away from the active fill operations where additional waste is added to the landfill site.
Our projects currently utilize three of the four proven commercial technologies available to process raw biogas into RNG, including: pressure swing absorption (“PSA”), Membrane Filtration and solvent scrubbing. We are capable of working with virtually all available biogas processing technologies at our sites. We attend industry conferences and maintain an ongoing dialogue with key equipment providers to ensure we stay informed of the latest technology that could be deployed at our current and future facilities.
Electricity is generated using
gas-fueled
engines or turbine-driven electrical generators, which are designed to operate efficiently on
medium-Btu
gas. As such, electricity generation typically involves producing
medium-Btu
gas, which is then pumped into a generating facility. The electricity is metered and sold under long-term contracts to utilities and municipalities or at spot prices.
Stated capacity reflects the design capacity of each facility. Several of our projects have reserve capacity when comparing design capacity to available biogas feedstock. Several previous acquisitions are gas limited and therefore do not operate at their design capacity. Our larger projects have expansions planned or are being evaluated for future expansions dependent on the availability of excess biogas feedstock.
RNG Projects
We currently own and operate 12 RNG projects in Ohio (two), Pennsylvania (five), Texas (four) and Idaho (one) which, in the aggregate, have a total design capacity of approximately 33,850 MMBtu/day.
RNG Projects
 
Site
   
Location
   
Capacity*
Rumpke    Cincinnati, OH      7,271 MMBtu/day
Atascocita    Humble, TX      5,570 MMBtu/day
McCarty    Houston, TX      4,415 MMBtu/day
Apex    Amsterdam, OH      2,673 MMBtu/day
Monroeville    Monroeville, PA      2,372 MMBtu/day
Valley    Harrison City, PA      2,372 MMBtu/day
Galveston    Galveston, TX      1,857 MMBtu/day
Raeger Mountain    Johnstown, PA      1,857 MMBtu/day
Shade    Cairnbrook, PA      1,857 MMBtu/day
Coastal Plains    Alvin, TX      1,775 MMBtu/day
Southern    Davidsville, PA         928 MMBtu/day
Pico    Jerome, ID   
     903 MMBtu/day
Total    33,850 MMBtu/day
 
*
Assumes inlet methane content of 56% for all sites other than Pico, which assumes inlet methane content of 62%, and process efficiency of 91%.
 
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Renewable Electricity Projects
We currently own and operate the following three Renewable Electricity projects in California, Oklahoma, and Texas which, in the aggregate, have a total design capacity of approximately 30.2 MW. During 2021, our Renewable Electricity projects collectively produced 183,000 MWh. Our Renewable Electricity projects utilize reciprocating engine generator sets to generate electricity at landfills.
Renewable Electricity Projects
 
Site
   
Location
   
Capacity(1)
Bowerman Power    Irvine, CA    23.6 MW
Security    Cleveland, TX      3.4 MW
Tulsa/AEL    Sand Springs, OK      3.2 MW
Pico(2)    Jerome, ID   
  2.3 MW
   
Total    32.5 MW
 
(1)
Assumes inlet methane content of 56% and process efficiency of 91%,
(2)
Beginning in October 2020, we began reporting the result of operations of Pico within RNG, but Pico continues to generate Renewable Electricity.
A critical component of our business is our ability to negotiate and maintain long-term fuel supply agreements at our project sites. We have developed strong working relationships with our landfill site owners, including ten of 14 operating projects and other potential development projects each with Waste Management and Republic Services, the two largest waste companies in the United States, and actively seek to strategically extend our tenure at our project sites.
Our projects provide our landfill and agricultural partners a solution to monetize biogas from their sites, support their regulatory compliance and provide them with environmental services. We have had working relationships with Republic Services since 1986 and with Waste Management since 2004 and we enable monetization of their biogas while maintaining regulatory compliance. We seek to differentiate ourselves from our competitors through our extensive experience across a variety of commercialized beneficial uses of processed biogas, including pipeline-quality natural gas, power generation and boiler fuel gas products. To date, we have not had any fuel supply agreement terminated by any site partner once we have established a facility on the site, which we believe serves as evidence of our operational expertise, reliability and consistent value delivered to our site partners. The table below is a summary of the expiration periods of those agreements. We are consistently reviewing and pursuing extensions for all of our fuel supply agreements well before their expirations and for future agreements, we continue to target contracts with expirations of 20 years from commencement of operation with options for extension.
Fuel Supply Agreement Summary
RNG Projects
 
Fuel Supply Agreement Expiration Dates
   
Current Sites as
of December 31,
2021
     
% of 2021
Total RNG
Production
  
Within
0-5
years
      3        6.7 % 
Between
6-15
years
      0        0 % 
Greater than 15 years
      9        93.3 % 
 
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Renewable Electricity Projects
 
Fuel Supply Agreement Expiration Dates
   
Current Sites as
of December 31,
2021
     
% of 2021 Total
Renewable
Electricity
Production
  
Within
0-5
years
      1        0 % 
Between
6-15
years
      0        0 % 
Greater than 15 years(1)
      2        100.0 % 
 
(1)
Our Pico project continues to generate both RNG and Renewable Electricity and is accounted for above in the RNG Projects summary.
Customers
Our customers for RNG and RINs typically include large, long-term owner-operators of landfills and livestock farms, local utilities, and large refiners in the natural gas and refining sectors. Royalty structures included in our agreements, as well as the large size of our counterparties, limit their credit risk. Victory Renewables, LLC and Valero each represented approximately 13.1% and 12.4%, respectively, of our operating revenues in 2021 from the sale of Environmental Attributes. We sell RINs to numerous RIN
off-take
parties and our largest RIN
off-taker
as a percentage of revenue can vary year to year given the short-term nature of these contracts. In addition to revenues from sales of RNG and RINs, we also share a portion of our Environmental Attributes with our pathway providers as
in-kind
consideration for the counterparty using our RNG as a transportation fuel.
Our customers for electricity typically include investor-owned and municipal electricity utilities. For the sale of Renewable Electricity and RECs, the City of Anaheim represented approximately 9.6% of our operating revenues in 2021. These sales occurred under a PPA between us and the City of Anaheim, in which electricity and RECs are sold at fixed prices. In 2021, we converted 100% of the monetization of our Renewable Electricity production and Environmental Attributes under fixed-price agreements. For our electricity sales, all of our customers with whom we have
off-take
agreements are investment-grade entities with low credit risk.
No other single customer represented more than 10% of our total 2021 operating revenues.
Suppliers and Equipment Vendors
The major technologies used by our projects for gas processing include solvent scrubbing PSA, and membrane separation. For electricity generation, we use reciprocating engines. This affords Montauk experience with substantially all major vendors in the sector, and technical expertise in numerous technologies.
We source equipment from a variety of major suppliers with specialties in each technology. We enter into written ordinary-course agreements with suppliers to obtain industry-standard equipment for use in our operations. The contracts generally do not include any intellectual property rights other than for the intended use of the equipment. Membrane separation equipment is primarily provided by UOP and Air Liquide. PSA equipment is primarily provided by Xebec, Guild, Air Products, and BioFerm. Solvent scrubbing is primarily provided by Selexol. RNG ancillary constituent removal is done using equipment provided by Iron Sponge, MV Technologies, Thiopaq, Guild Associates, and PSB Industries. Electricity generation equipment is provided by Solar Turbines, Caterpillar, and Jenbacher.
We have made substantial investments in a centralized Enterprise Resource Planning (“
ERP
”) system (Microsoft Dynamics) to better integrate operations across our projects. This system centralizes maintenance operations across all of our projects. Our proactive approach to maintenance, corrective maintenance, root cause analysis, failure reporting, project management, and budgeting are all completed using the ERP system.
 
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Competition
There are several other companies operating in the renewable energy and
waste-to-energy
space, ranging from other project developers to service or equipment providers.
Our primary competition is from other companies or solutions for access to biogas from waste. Evolving consumer preferences, regulatory conditions, ongoing waste industry trends, and project economics have a strong effect on the competitive landscape and our relative ability to continue to generate revenues and cash flows. We believe that our status as one of the largest operators of
LFG-to-RNG
projects, our
30-year
track record of operating and developing projects, and our deep relationships with some of the largest landfill owners and dairy farms in the country position us very well to continue to operate and grow our portfolio, and respond to competitive pressures. We have demonstrated a track record of strategic flexibility across our
30-year
history which has allowed us to pivot towards projects and markets that we believe deliver optimal returns and stockholder value in response to changes in market, regulatory and competitive pressures.
The biogas market is highly fragmented. We believe our size relative to many other LFG companies and our capital structure puts us in a strong position to compete for new project development opportunities or acquisitions of existing projects. However, competition for such opportunities, including the prices being offered for fuel supply, will impact the expected profitability of projects to us, and may make projects unsuitable to pursue. Likewise, prices being offered by our competitors for fuel supply may increase the royalty rates that we pay under our fuel supply agreements when such agreements expire and need to be renewed or when expansion opportunities present themselves at the landfills where our projects currently operate. It is also possible that more landfill owners may seek to install their own LFG projects on their sites, which would reduce the number of opportunities for us to develop new projects. Our overall size, reputation, access to capital, experience and decades of proven execution on LFG project development and operation leave us well-positioned to compete with other companies in our industry.
We are aware of several competitors in the United States that have a similar business model to our own, including Archaea Energy and Morrow Renewables, as well as companies with
biogas-to-energy
facilities as a segment or subsidiary of their operations, including DTE and Ameresco. In addition, certain landfill operators, such as Waste Management, have also chosen to selectively pursue biogas conversion projects at their sites.
Government Regulation
Our projects are subject to a range of federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, depending on the nature and configuration of the project, as well as where the project is located. We have established processes and procedures to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our operations, and have partnered with external experts, as needed, to meet applicable compliance requirements. As a renewable energy company, we are committed to being good stewards of the environment and to positively impacting the communities in which we operate.
We are subject to the Clean Air Act which regulates the emissions of pollutants to protect the environmental and public health. The combustion of biogas results in emissions of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. Federal, state and local laws may require us to obtain permits or impose other burdens, including monitoring, testing recordkeeping and reporting by us in order for us to conduct operations. In addition, our operations and the operations of landfills may be subject to additional air emissions laws and regulations, such as those designed to address the emission of methane, a potent GHG.
Among other laws, we are subject to Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and other federal, state and local laws, which impose conditions on the handling of non-hazardous waste, including the emission of methane in landfills. Likewise, we are subject to the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 and other federal, state and local laws, which govern the investigation
 
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and cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances. We have not been identified as a potentially responsible party with respect to environmental remedial costs at any site to date. We also may be required to obtain permits to discharge wastewater and stormwater pursuant to the Clean Water Act’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and other federal, state and local laws governing such discharges.
Our RNG projects are subject to federal RFS program regulations, including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act. The EPA administers the RFS program with volume requirements for several categories of renewable fuels. The EPA’s RFS regulations establish rules for fuel supplied and administer the RIN system for compliance, trading credits and rules for waivers. The EPA calculates a blending standard for each year based on estimates of gasoline usage from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency. Separate quotas and blending requirements are determined for cellulosic biofuels, BBD, advanced biofuels and total renewable fuel. Further, we are required to register each RNG project with the EPA and relevant state regulatory agencies.
We qualify our RINs through a voluntary Quality Assurance Plan, which typically takes from three to five months from first injection of RNG into the commercial pipeline system. Further, we typically make a large investment in the project prior to receiving the regulatory approval and RIN qualification. In addition to registering each RNG project, we are subject to quarterly audits under the Quality Assurance Plan of our projects to validate our qualification.
Our RNG projects are also subject to state renewable fuel standard regulations. The CA LCFS program requires producers of petroleum-based fuels to reduce the CI of their products, beginning with a quarter of a percent in 2011 a 10% total reduction in 2020, and a 20% total reduction in 2030. Petroleum importers, refiners and wholesalers can either develop their own low-carbon fuel products, or buy CA LCFS credits from other companies that develop and sell low-carbon alternative fuels, such as biofuels, electricity, natural gas or hydrogen. We are subject to a qualification process similar to that for RINs, including verification of CI levels and other requirements, currently exists for CA LCFS credits.
Our RNG projects are also impacted by state and federal gas quality standards. State regulators determine whether RNG may be purchased by the state’s local gas utilities, and whether a site operator may directly sell gas to a retail, or direct end-use, customer. FERC regulates the natural gas pipelines that transport gas in interstate commerce, and specifies or approves a gas pipeline’s tariff that sets the rates, terms and conditions, gas quality, and other requirements applicable to transportation of natural gas on the pipelines, including shipping RNG. Our sites are not permitted, and may not be physically able, to deliver RNG to a FERC regulated pipeline unless the pipeline’s receipt of the gas is consistent with the standards adopted in the pipeline’s FERC tariff. RNG-related gas quality standards may vary by pipeline and may be revised at any time, subject to all required regulatory approvals. We routinely test the RNG produced at our facilities in order to ensure compliance with applicable pipeline gas quality standards.
We monitor regulatory trends and developments in the U.S. regarding the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. We are aware the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed the regulation of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas, from oil and gas facilities in November 2021. We do not anticipate this proposed regulation will apply to our operations and could, combined with another public policy and private sector initiatives, increase interest in developing more renewable energy projects in the U.S. We will continue to monitor greenhouse gas regulatory initiatives in the U.S. and assess their potential relevance to our business and operations.
We routinely conduct compliance audits on our projects to proactively identify and correct potential compliance deficiencies or risks. Additionally, we closely monitor emerging regulatory developments that may impact our operations or business strategy. Montauk also participates in industry trade groups, such as the RNG Coalition, to advocate policies and regulatory frameworks that support continued expansion of renewable energy in the United States.
 
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The operation of our business may expose us to certain liabilities and compliance costs related to environmental matters. These liabilities or compliance costs did not have a material effect on our capital expenditures or competitive position for fiscal 2021, nor do we expect them to have a material effect in the future. We believe we are in material compliance with all environmental regulations applicable to our operations.
Employees and Human Capital Resources
Employee Profile
We employed 132 people on December 31, 2021, located in California, Idaho, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Texas. Our employee population is comprised of a mix of field operations personnel and office-based professionals. As of December 31, 2021, none of our employees were represented by a collective bargaining unit or labor union. We consider our employee relations to be good across our organization.
Health and Safety
Safety, including the health of our employees, is one of our core values and a priority across our operations. We are committed to developing a strong health and safety culture that reduces injuries and illness whenever possible. Our health and safety strategy is designed to proactively identify, mitigate and eliminate conditions that could result in serious injury or fatality. We also routinely train our employees on health and safety practices applicable to their job function and provide them all necessary personal protective equipment to perform their job in a safe manner.
Our recordable cases and total recordable incident rate (“TRIR”), excluding
COVID-19
related incidents, was 1.68 in 2021, lower than the 2020 national average of 2.9 TRIR for all industries. We continue to focus on practices and measures to lower our TRIR.
We continued our focus in 2021 on keeping our employees and their families safe from COVID-19 through a variety of workplace health and safety measures, including:
 
  •  
Staggered employee shifts to increase social distancing;
 
  •  
Enhanced disinfecting and cleaning regimes;
 
  •  
Deployed hands-free temperature screening devices;
 
  •  
Required facial coverings consistent with applicable public health requirements;
 
  •  
Quarantined and contact traced employees;
 
  •  
Implemented work-from-home flexibility for applicable employees; and
 
  •  
Strongly encouraged all our employees to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Employee Development and Training
The success and growth of our business is significantly correlated with our ability to recruit, train, promote and retain talented individuals at all levels of our organization. To succeed in a competitive labor market, we have developed and implemented various recruitment and retention strategies. These include competitive salary structures, bonus programs and competitive benefits, as well as paid time off, sick leave, disability coverage, group term life insurance, and a retirement savings program. We also offer our employees tuition reimbursement for job-related education and training opportunities.
Intellectual Property
We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, employee and third-party nondisclosure/confidentiality agreements and license agreements to protect our intellectual property. We acquired
 
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certain technology associated with the Asset Acquisition for which we received a patent during 2021 with a term of 20 years. While we hold patents related to our business, we do not view our patents to be material to our total business.
Segments and Geographic Information
We have two operating segments: Renewable Natural Gas and Renewable Electricity Generation. While our corporate entity is not an operating segment, we discretely disclose corporate entity revenues for purposes of reconciliation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements. For information regarding revenues and other information regarding our results of operations for each of our last two financial years, please refer to our financial statements included in this report and within “Item 7A.—Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this report.
Corporate Information
Montauk Renewables, Inc. is incorporated in the State of Delaware. Our principal executive offices are located at 680 Andersen Drive, 5th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15220. Our telephone number is (412)
747-8700.
We are required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.
We also make financial information, news releases and other information available on our corporate investor relations website at www.ir.montaukrenewables.com. Our annual reports on Form
10-K,
quarterly reports on Form
10-Q,
current reports on Form
8-K,
and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “
Exchange Act
”), are available free of charge on this website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file these reports and amendments with, or furnish them to, the SEC. The information contained on or connected to our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form
10-K
and should not be considered part of this or any other report filed with the SEC.
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012. As an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of certain reduced reporting requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. We currently intend to take advantage of several of these reduced reporting requirements, including the extended transition periods for complying with new or revised accounting standards. See “Risk Factors—Emerging Growth Company Risks” for certain risks related to our status as an emerging growth company.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“
Nasdaq
”) corporate governance standards. Certain stockholders, which are affiliates of two of our directors, Mr. John A. Copelyn and Theventheran G. Govender, own approximately 52.3% of our common stock and have entered into a Consortium Agreement (the “
Consortium Agreement
”) whereby the parties thereto will agree to act in concert with respect to voting our common stock, including in the election of directors, among other matters. As a controlled company, we may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance standards. See “Risk Factors—Common Stock Risks” for certain risks related to our status as a controlled company.
This report includes estimates, projections, and other information concerning our industry and market data, including data regarding the estimated size of the market, projected growth rates, and perceptions and preferences of consumers. We obtained this data from industry sources, third-party studies, including market analyses and reports, and internal company surveys. Industry sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Although we are responsible for all of the disclosure contained in this report, and we believe the industry and market data to be reliable as of the date of this report, this information could prove to be inaccurate.
 
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Information About Our Executive Officers
Below is a list of the names, ages, and positions of our executive officers, and a brief summary of the business experience of our executive officers (ages as of March 16, 2022).
 
Name
   
Age
     
Position
Sean F. McClain
      47      President and Chief Executive Officer, Director
Kevin A. Van Asdalan
      44      Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
James A. Shaw
      50      Vice President of Operations
Scott Hill
      55      Vice President of Business Development
John Ciroli
      51      Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Sharon Frank
      65      Vice President of Environmental, Health and Safety
Sean F. McClain
. Mr. McClain has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our Board of Directors (the “
Board
”) since
January 4, 2021. He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of MNK from August 2014 until January 2021 and as its President and Chief Executive Officer since September 2019 and Chief Financial Officer of Montauk Energy Holdings (“MEH” from April 2011 until August 2014. Prior to such roles, Mr. McClain served as MNK’s Chief Financial Officer from August 2014 until September 2019. Prior to joining MNK and its affiliates, he held various management positions with BPL Global Limited, Bayer A.G. and Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. and was in public accounting at Arthur Andersen LLP. He has over 25 years of business and financial management experience. He is a Certified Public Accountant.
Kevin A. Van Asdalan
.
Mr. Van Asdalan has served as our Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since January 4, 2021. He previously served as a member of the
Board of Directors of MNK from September 2019 to January 2021, and as Chief Financial Officer of MEH. Prior to that time he was Controller of MEH from March 2018 to September 2019. Prior to joining MEH, Mr. Van Asdalan served as Controller, Construction Products, Controller, Tubular Products, and Manager of External Financial Reporting at the L.B. Foster Company, a manufacturer and distributor of products and provider of service for transportation and energy infrastructure (“
L.B. Foster
”), from July 2011 to March 2018. Prior to L.B. Foster, Mr. Van Asdalan held senior associate positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Sisterson & Co LLP, both accounting firms. He has 20 years of business and financial management experience including accounting, financial reporting, corporate compliance and acquisitions. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Chartered Global Management Accountant.
James A. Shaw
.
Mr. Shaw has served as our Vice President of Operations since January 4, 2021. He has also served as the Vice President of Operations
of MNK since September 2019. He previously served as North Region Manager of MEH from May 2016 to September 2019. He also held the position of Site Manager for five MEH operating sites in Pennsylvania from April 2015 to April 2016 and two MEH operating sites in Pennsylvania from June 2010 to March 2015. Prior to joining MEH, he was a facility manager for SONY Electronics Inc. at the world’s first vertically integrated television manufacturing facilities. Mr. Shaw has more than 25 years of experience in facilities operations and management.
Scott Hill
.
Mr. Hill has served as our Vice President of Business Development since January 4, 2021. He has also served as Vice President of Business
Development of MNK since December 2020. Mr. Hill served as MEH’s Vice President of Engineering from April 2018 to December 2020, Vice President of Engineering and Operations from September 2015 to April 2018, and Vice President of Operations from May 2010 to September 2015. Mr. Hill has over 30 years of experience in landfill and
landfill-to-gas
operations and engineering, including contract negotiation, permitting, construction, design, and management. Prior to joining MEH, he held positions with Energy Systems Group, Energy Developments Inc., Ecogas Corporation, HDR Engineering, Inc. and the City of Los Angeles. Mr. Hill is a registered Professional Engineer.
John Ciroli
.
Mr. Ciroli has served as our Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since January 4, 2021. He has also served as MNK’s Vice
President General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since July 2020. From July 2016 to July 2020, Mr. Ciroli was the North American Counsel and HR Manager for the North American
 
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subsidiaries of FAAC Group, a company that designs, builds and markets reliable solutions for pedestrian and vehicle needs, representing all the entities in their American and Canadian portfolio. From 2014 to July 2016, Mr. Ciroli was a Senior Litigation Counsel with the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh. Mr. Ciroli has over 23 years of experience representing and advising domestic and international corporations and government entities in the areas of contracts, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, employment and governmental procurement and regulatory affairs. He was also a professor for Concord Law School, now Purdue Global, in the areas of Contracts, Constitutional Law, Torts and Evidence and is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar and the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sharon Frank
. Ms. Frank has worked at the Company since 2007 and has served as our Vice President of Environmental, Health and Safety since October 2021. Ms. Frank previously served as Director of Environmental, Health and Safety from April 2020 until October 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Frank, served as Manager of Environmental Compliance from June 2007 until April 2020. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Frank was Manager, Environmental Affairs for Duquesne Light Company’s unregulated business group from 2000 to 2007. Ms. Frank has over 30 years of regulatory and environmental compliance experience.
 
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ITEM 1A.
RISK FACTORS.
This Annual Report on Form
10-K
contains forward-looking information based on our current expectations. Because our business is subject to many risks and our actual results may differ materially from any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of us, this section includes a discussion of important factors that could affect our business, operating results, financial condition and the trading price of Montauk common stock. You should carefully consider these risk factors, together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report on Form
10-K
as well as our other publicly available filings with the SEC. Although the risks are organized by headings, and each risk is discussed separately, many are interrelated.
COVID-19 Risks
Public health threats or outbreaks of communicable diseases could have a material effect on our operations and financial results.
In December 2019, there was an outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (“
COVID-19
”) in China that has since spread to nearly all regions of the world. The outbreak was subsequently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. To date, the COVID-19 pandemic and preventative measures taken to contain or mitigate the pandemic have caused, and are continuing to cause, business slowdowns or shutdowns in affected areas and significant disruptions in the financial markets both globally and in the United States.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related mitigation measures, we began implementing changes in our business in March 2020 to protect our employees and customers, and to support appropriate health and safety protocols. For example, we arranged shifts at facilities to stagger employees to assist with following social distancing protocols, utilized overnight and weekend remote facility monitoring during normal operating shifts, implemented extensive cleaning and sanitation processes for both facilities and office spaces, incorporated temperature checks and facial covering requirements, instituted employee and visitor fitness questionnaires, restricted corporate travel and visitor access to sites and implemented work-from-home initiatives for certain employees. Further, we established the Infectious Disease and Response Committee (the “
IDRC
”) to lead the development and implementation of Montauk’s Infectious Disease and Response Plan and to oversee the company’s response to any infectious disease event. These measures resulted in additional costs, which we expect to continue as we continue to work to address employee safety.
While we have not experienced any material disruptions in our ability to continue business operations or experienced a material negative impact to our financial results due to COVID-19 for the year ended December 31, 2021, certain aspects of our business, financial condition and results of operations were negatively impacted during the year ended December 31, 2020. These disruptions included the delay of commissioning of development sites for up to five months resulting in delays to registrations and qualifications necessary for EPA pathways and delays in revenue streams from these facilities, contract cancellations, and a decrease in operational efficiency in maintenance and operations.
Additionally, certain third parties with whom we engage, including our project partners, third-party manufacturers and suppliers, and regulators with whom we conduct business have adjusted their operations and are assessing future operational and project needs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. If these third parties experience shutdowns or continued business disruptions, our ability to conduct our business in the manner and on the timelines presently planned could be materially and adversely affected.
We may experience additional operating costs due to increased challenges with our workforce (including as a result of labor shortages, illness, absenteeism or government orders), access to supplies, capital and fundamental support services (such as shipping and transportation). Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may experience materially adverse impacts to our business due to any resulting supply chain disruptions, economic recession or depression. Furthermore, the impacts of potential worsening of global economic conditions, inflation, and continued disruptions to and volatility in the financial markets remain unknown.
 
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The COVID-19 pandemic could continue to adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in the future, particularly considering the emergence of new variant strains of COVID-19, the potential resumption of high levels of infection and hospitalization, reduced efficacy of vaccines over time and the public uptake of vaccinations and follow-on booster shots. Such future effects may be material, and include, but are not limited to:
 
  •  
reductions in state-based Environmental Attribute premiums associated with reduced volumes in the transportation sector;
 
  •  
new “shelter-in-place” orders, quarantines or similar orders, which may reduce our operating effectiveness or the availability of personnel necessary to conduct our business activities;
 
  •  
disruptions in our supply chain due to transportation delays, travel restrictions, raw material cost increases and shortages, closures of businesses or facilities, and the associated costs and inflation related thereto;
 
  •  
delays in construction and other capital expenditure projects, regulatory approvals and collections of our receivables for the services we perform;
 
  •  
attempts by customers to cancel or delay projects or for customers or subcontractors to invoke force majeure clauses in certain contracts resulting in a decreased or delayed demand for our products and services;
 
  •  
the inability of a significant portion of our workforce, including our management team, to work as a result of illness or government restrictions; and
 
  •  
reduced ability to access capital and limited availability of credit or financing upon acceptable terms or at all.
 
  •  
affect the availability of qualified personnel;
 
  •  
reduce our ability to access capital and limited availability of credit or financing upon acceptable terms or at all;
 
  •  
affect our ability to accurately forecast demand for our products; and
 
  •  
cause other unpredictable events.
The situation surrounding COVID-19 remains uncertain. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may affect our business, operating results, financial condition, or liquidity in the future will depend on future developments, including the duration of the outbreak, the emergence of more contagious or virulent strains of the virus, travel restrictions, business and workforce disruptions, the availability, uptake and efficacy of vaccines, and the effectiveness of actions taken to contain and treat the disease. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may experience materially adverse impacts to our business due to any resulting supply chain disruptions or economic downturn. Furthermore, the impacts of potential worsening of global economic conditions, inflation, and continued disruptions to and volatility in the financial markets remain unknown.
Operational Risks
Our
renewable
energy
projects
may
not
generate
expected
levels
of
output.
Landfills contain organic material whose decomposition causes the generation of gas consisting primarily of methane, which our RNG projects use to generate power or renewable natural gas, and carbon dioxide. The estimation of landfill gas production volume is an inexact process and dependent on many site-specific conditions, including the estimated annual waste volume, composition of waste, regional climate and the capacity and construction of the landfill. Production levels are subject to a number of additional risks, including a failure or wearing out of our or our landfill operators’, customers’ or utilities’ equipment; an inability to find suitable replacement equipment or parts; less than expected supply or quality of the project’s source of biogas and faster
 
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than expected diminishment of such biogas supply; or volume disruption in our fuel supply collection system. Any extended interruption and or volume disruption in the project’s operation, or failure of the project for any reason to generate the expected amount of output, could adversely affect our business and operating results. In addition, we have in the past, and may in the future, incur material asset impairment charges if any of our renewable energy projects incurs operational issues that indicate our expected future cash flows from the project are less than the project’s carrying value. Any such impairment charge could adversely affect our operating results in the period in which the charge is recorded.
In addition, in order to maximize collection of LFG, we will need to take various measures, such as drilling additional gas wells in the landfill to increase LFG collection, balancing the pressure on the gas field based on the data collected by the landfill operator from the gas wells to ensure optimum landfill gas utilization and ensuring that we match availability of engines and related equipment to availability of LFG. There can be no guarantee that we will be able to take all necessary measures to maximize collection. In addition, the LFG available to our projects is dependent in part on the actions of other persons, such as landfill operators. We may not be able to ensure the responsible management of the landfill site by owners and operators, which may result in less than optimal gas generation or increase the likelihood of “hot spots” occurring. Hot spots can temporarily reduce the volume of gas which may be collected from a landfill site, resulting in a lower gas yield. Other events that can result in a reduction in LFG output include: extreme hot or cold temperatures or excessive rainfall; liquid levels within a landfill increasing; oxidation within a landfill, which can kill the anaerobic microbes that produce landfill gas; and the buildup of sludge. The occurrence of these or any other changes within any of the landfills where our projects operate could lead to a reduction in the amount of LFG available to operate our projects, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The concentration in revenues from five of our projects and geographic concentration of our projects expose us to greater risks of production interruptions from severe weather or other interruptions of production or transmission.
A substantial portion of our revenues are generated from five project sites. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, excluding the effect of derivative instruments, approximately 76.3% and 78.7%, respectively, of operating revenues were derived from these locations. During 2021, RNG production at our McCarty, Rumpke, Atascocita and Apex facilities accounted for approximately 16.2%, 28.3%, 21.6%, and 8.8% of our RNG revenues, respectively, and 15.3%, 27.1%, 20.9%, and 10.4% of the RNG we produced during 2021, respectively. During 2021, Renewable Electricity production at our Bowerman Power LFG, LLC (“Bowerman”) facility accounted for approximately 85.7% of our Renewable Electricity Generation revenues and 83.0% of the Renewable Electricity we produced during 2021. A lengthy interruption of production or transmission of renewable energy from one or more of these projects, as a result of a severe weather event, failure or degradation of our or a landfill operator’s equipment or interconnection transmission problems could have a disproportionate effect on our revenues and cash flow as further described below.
Our Atascocita, McCarty, Galveston and Coastal Plains projects are located within 20 miles of each other near Houston, Texas and seven of our other RNG projects are located in relatively close proximity to each other in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Regional events, such as gas transmission interruptions, regional availability of replacement parts and service in the event of equipment failures and severe weather events in either of those geographic regions could adversely affect our RNG production and transmission more than if our projects were more geographically diversified. Historically cold weather impacted our Houston, Texas facilities during the winter of 2020-2021. Production at these facilities was temporarily idled from February 14, 2021 through February 20, 2021 while the facilities were without power. The index based pricing for the cost of utilities were adversely impacted during the month of February. Force majeure events were declared for the period February 12 through February 22, 2021 related to these weather events Operations at these facilities have subsequently resumed, but as a result of our utility provisions when we are not using utilities, providers are able to contribute the capacity back into the market and we receive credit against our future bills.
 
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Additionally, recent California wildfires, which occurred in October of 2020, forced our Bowerman facility to temporarily shut down and caused limited damage to our facility and equipment. Production was reduced by approximately 38% at the Bowerman facility during the fourth quarter of 2020 as compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. While production resumed in November 2020, our first quarter of 2021 revenues related to the Bowerman facility were approximately 18.9% lower than the prior year period, related in part to these wildfires.
Our projects are not able to insure against all potential risks and may become subject to higher insurance premiums.
Our projects are exposed to the risks inherent in the construction and operation of renewable energy projects, such as breakdowns, manufacturing defects, natural disasters, terrorist attacks and sabotage. We are also exposed to environmental risks.
We have insurance policies covering certain risks associated with our business. Our insurance policies do not, however, cover all losses, including those as a result of force majeure. We did not receive any insurance recovery from the shutdowns in Houston in February 2021 or from the Bowerman shutdown in October 2020. Insurance liabilities are difficult to assess and quantify due to unknown factors, including the severity of an injury, the determination of our liability in proportion to other parties, the number of incidents not reported and the effectiveness of our safety program. In addition, while our insurance policies for some of our projects cover losses as a result of certain types of natural disasters, terrorist attacks or sabotage, among other things, such coverage is subject to important limitations and is not always available in the insurance market on commercially reasonable terms (if at all) and is often capped at predetermined limits. In addition, our insurance policies are subject to annual review by our insurers and may not be renewed on similar or favorable terms or at all. A serious uninsured loss or a loss significantly exceeding the limits of our insurance policies could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Competition Risks
We may face intense competition and may not be able to successfully compete.
There are a number of other companies operating in the renewable energy and waste-to-energy markets. These include other renewable energy companies and service or equipment providers, consultants, managers and strategic investors.
We may not have the resources to compete with our existing competitors or with any new competitors, including in a competitive bidding process. Some of our competitors have significantly larger personnel, financial and managerial resources than we have, and we may fail to maintain or expand our business. Our competitors may also offer energy solutions at prices below cost, devote significant sales forces to competing with us or attempt to recruit our key personnel by increasing compensation, any of which could improve their competitive positions. Moreover, if the demand for renewable energy increases, new companies may enter the market, and the influx of added competition will pose an increased risk to us.
Further, certain of our strategic partners and other landfill or agricultural operators could decide to manage, recover and convert biogas from waste to renewable energy on their own which would further increase our competition, limit the number of commercially viable landfill sites available for our projects or require us to reduce our profit margins to maintain or acquire projects.
Technological innovation to stay ahead of market competitors.
Our success will depend on our ability to create and maintain a competitive position in the renewable energy industry. Other than the patented technology acquired through the Asset Acquisition, we do not have any exclusive rights to any of the technologies that we utilize, and our competitors may currently use and may be
 
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planning to use identical, similar or superior technologies. While significant to the development associated with our emerging North Carolina Montauk Ag Renewables business, we do not currently consider the patented technology material to the total business. In addition, the technologies that we use may be rendered obsolete or uneconomical by technological advances, more efficient and cost-effective processes or entirely different approaches developed by one or more of our competitors or others.
We may also face competition based on technological developments that reduce demand for electricity, increase power supplies through existing infrastructure or that otherwise compete with our projects. We also encounter competition in the form of potential customers electing to develop solutions or perform services internally rather than engaging an outside provider such as us.
Our use and enjoyment of real property rights for our projects may be adversely affected by the rights of lienholders and leaseholders that are superior to those of the grantors of those real property rights to our projects.
Our projects generally are, and any of our future projects are likely to be, located on land occupied pursuant to long-term easements, leases and rights of way. The ownership interests in the land subject to these easements, leases and
rights-of-way
may be subject to mortgages securing loans or other liens (such as tax liens) and other easement, lease rights and
rights-of-way
of third parties (such as leases of oil or mineral rights) that were created prior to our projects’ easements, leases and
rights-of-way.
As a result, certain of our projects’ rights under these easements, leases or
rights-of-way
may be subject, and subordinate, to the rights of those third parties. We may not be able to protect our operating projects against all risks of loss of our rights to use the land on which our projects are located, and any such loss or curtailment of our rights to use the land on which our projects are located and any increase in rent due on such lands could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be able to obtain long-term contracts for the sale of power produced by our projects on favorable terms and we may not meet certain milestones and other performance criteria under existing PPAs.
Obtaining long-term contracts for the sale of power produced by our projects at prices and on other terms favorable to us is essential for the long term success of our business. We must compete for PPAs against other developers of renewable energy projects. This intense competition for PPAs has resulted in downward pressure on PPA pricing for newly contracted projects. The inability to compete successfully against other power producers or otherwise enter into PPAs favorable to us would negatively affect our ability to develop and finance our projects and negatively affect our revenues. In addition, the availability of PPAs depends on utility and corporate energy procurement practices that could evolve and shift allocation of market risks over time. Further, PPA availability and terms are a function of a number of economic, regulatory, tax, and public policy factors, which are also subject to change.
Our PPAs typically require us to meet certain milestones and other performance criteria. Our failure to meet these milestones and other criteria, including minimum quantities, may result in price concessions, in which case we would lose any future cash flow from the relevant project and may be required to pay fees and penalties to our counterparty. We cannot assure you that we will be able to perform our obligations under such agreements or that we will have sufficient funds to pay any fees or penalties thereunder.
Business Strategy Risks
Our commercial success depends on our ability to identify, acquire, develop and operate individual renewable energy projects, as well as our ability to maintain and expand production at our current projects.
We aim to maintain and grow our position as a leading producer of RNG in the United States. We support this objective by employing a multi-pronged strategy of promoting the reduction of methane emissions and expanding the use of renewable fuels to displace fossil-based fuels, expanding our existing project portfolio and
 
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developing new project opportunities, expanding our industry position as a full-service partner for development opportunities, including through strategic transactions and expanding our capabilities to new feedstock sources and technologies. Our specific focus on the renewable energy sector exposes us to risks related to the supply of and demand for energy commodities and Environmental Attributes, the cost of capital expenditures, government regulation, world and regional events and economic conditions, and the acceptance of alternative power sources. As a renewable energy producer, we may also be negatively affected by lower energy output resulting from variable inputs, mechanical breakdowns, faulty technology, competitive electricity markets or changes to the laws and regulations that mandate the use of renewable energy sources by refiners and importers of gasoline and diesel fuel and electric utilities.
In addition, several other factors related to the development and operation of individual renewable energy projects could adversely affect our business, including:
 
  •  
regulatory changes that affect the demand for or supply of Environmental Attributes and the prices thereof, which could have a significant effect on the financial performance of our projects and the number of potential projects with attractive economics;
 
  •  
changes in energy commodity prices, such as natural gas and wholesale electricity prices, which could have a significant effect on our revenues;
 
  •  
changes in pipeline gas quality standards or other regulatory changes that may limit our ability to transport RNG on pipelines for delivery to third parties or increase the costs of processing RNG to allow for such deliveries;
 
  •  
changes in the broader waste collection industry, including changes affecting the waste collection and biogas potential of the landfill industry, which could impede the LFG resource that we currently target for our projects;
 
  •  
substantial construction risks, including the risk of delay, that may arise due to forces outside of our control, including those related to engineering and environmental problems, as a result of inclement weather or labor disruptions;
 
  •  
operating risks and the effect of disruptions on our business, including the effects of global health crises such as the
COVID-19
pandemic, weather conditions, catastrophic events such as fires, explosions, earthquakes, droughts and acts of terrorism, and other force majeure events on us, our customers, suppliers, distributors and subcontractors;
 
  •  
the ability to obtain financing for a project on acceptable terms or at all and the need for substantially more capital than initially budgeted to complete projects and exposure to liabilities as a result of unforeseen environmental, construction, technological or other complications;
 
  •  
entering into markets where we have less experience, such as our projects for biogas recovery at livestock farms;
 
  •  
the need for substantially more capital to complete projects than initially budgeted and exposure to liabilities as a result of unforeseen environmental, construction, technological or other complications;
 
  •  
failures or delays in obtaining desired or necessary land rights, including ownership, leases, easements, zoning rights and building permits;
 
  •  
a decrease in the availability, pricing and timeliness of delivery of raw materials and components, necessary for the projects to function;
 
  •  
obtaining and keeping in good standing permits, authorizations and consents from local city, county, state and U.S. federal governments as well as local and U.S. federal governmental organizations;
 
  •  
penalties, including potential termination, under short-term and long-term contracts for failing to deliver RNG in accordance with our contractual obligations;
 
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  •  
unknown regulatory changes RNG which may increase the transportation cost for delivering under contracts in place;
 
  •  
the consent and authorization of local utilities or other energy development
off-takers
to ensure successful interconnection to energy grids to enable power sales; and
 
  •  
difficulties in identifying, obtaining and permitting suitable sites for new projects.
Any of these factors could prevent us from completing or operating our projects, or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If there is not sufficient demand for renewable energy, or if renewable energy projects do not develop or take longer to develop than we anticipate, we may be unable to achieve our investment objectives.
If demand for renewable energy fails to grow sufficiently, we may be unable to achieve our business objectives. In addition, demand for renewable energy projects in the markets and geographic regions that we target may not develop or may develop more slowly than we anticipate. Many factors will influence the widespread adoption of renewable energy and demand for renewable energy projects, including:
 
  •  
cost-effectiveness of renewable energy technologies as compared with conventional and competitive technologies;
 
  •  
performance and reliability of renewable energy products as compared with conventional and non-renewable products;
 
  •  
fluctuations in economic and market conditions that impact the viability of conventional and competitive alternative energy sources;
 
  •  
increases or decreases in the prices of oil, coal and natural gas;
 
  •  
continued deregulation of the electric power industry and broader energy industry; and
 
  •  
availability or effectiveness of government subsidies and incentives.
Acquisition, financing, construction and development of new projects and project expansions and conversions may not commence on anticipated timelines or at all.
Our strategy is to continue to expand in the future, including through the acquisition of additional projects. From time to time, we enter into nonbinding letters of intent for projects. However, until the negotiations are finalized and the parties have executed definitive documentation, we cannot assure you that we will be able to enter into any development or acquisition transactions, or any other similar arrangements, on the terms in the applicable letter of intent or at all.
The acquisition, financing, construction and development of new projects involves numerous risks, including:
 
  •  
difficulties in identifying, obtaining and permitting suitable sites for new projects;
 
  •  
failure to obtain all necessary rights to land access and use;
 
  •  
assumptions with respect to the cost and schedule for completing construction;
 
  •  
assumptions with respect to the biogas potential, including quality, volume, and asset life, for new projects;
 
  •  
the ability to obtain financing for a project on acceptable terms or at all;
 
  •  
delays in deliveries or increases in the prices of equipment;
 
  •  
permitting and other regulatory issues, license revocation and changes in legal requirements;
 
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  •  
increases in the cost of labor, labor disputes and work stoppages;
 
  •  
failure to receive quality and timely performance of third-party services;
 
  •  
unforeseen engineering and environmental problems;
 
  •  
cost overruns;
 
  •  
accidents involving personal injury or the loss of life; and
 
  •  
weather conditions, global health crises such as the
COVID-19
pandemic, catastrophic events, including fires, explosions, earthquakes, droughts and acts of terrorism, and other force majeure events.
In addition, new projects have no operating history and may employ recently developed technology and equipment. A new project may be unable to fund principal and interest payments under its debt service obligations or may operate at a loss, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We may also experience delays and cost overruns in converting existing facilities from Renewable Electricity to RNG production. During the conversation projects, there is a gap in production and relating revenue while the electricity project is offline until it commences operation as an RNG facility, which adversely affects our financial condition and results of operations.
Our fuel supply agreements with site hosts have defined contractual periods, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully extend these agreements.
Fuel supply rights are issued by the landfill owner to operators for a contractual period. As operators, we have already invested resources in the development of existing sites and the ability to extend these contracts on expiration would enable us to achieve operational efficiency in continuing to generate revenues from a site without significant additional capital investments. We cannot assure you that we will be able to extend existing fuel supply agreements when they expire.
Our PPAs, fuel-supply agreements, RNG
off-take
agreements and other agreements contain complex price adjustments, calculations and other terms based on gas price indices and other metrics, the interpretation of which could result in disputes with counterparties that could affect our results of operations and customer relationships.
Certain of our PPAs, fuel supply agreements, RNG
off-take
agreements and other agreements require us to make payments or adjust prices to counterparties based on past or current changes in gas price indices, project productivity or other metrics and involve complex calculations. Moreover, the underlying indices governing payments under these agreements are subject to change, may be discontinued or replaced. The interpretation of these price adjustments and calculations and the potential discontinuation or replacement of relevant indices or metrics could result in disputes with the counterparties with respect to these agreements. Any such disputes could adversely affect project revenues, expense margins, customer or supplier relationships, or lead to costly litigation, the outcome of which we would be unable to predict.
In order to secure contracts for new projects, we typically face a long and variable development cycle that requires significant resource commitments and a long lead time before we realize revenues.
The development, design and construction process for our renewable energy projects generally lasts from 12 to 24 months, on average. We frequently receive requests for proposals from potential site hosts as part of their consideration of alternatives for their proposed projects. Prior to responding to an RFP, we typically conduct a preliminary audit of the site host’s needs and assess whether the site is commercially viable based on our expected return on investment, investment payback period, and other operating metrics, as well as the necessary
 
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permits to develop a project on that site. If we are awarded a project, we then perform a more detailed review of the site’s facilities, which serves as the basis for the final specifications of the project. Finally, we negotiate and execute a contract with the site host. This extended development process requires the dedication of significant time and resources from our sales and management personnel, with no certainty of success or recovery of our expenses. A potential site host may go through the entire sales process and not accept our proposal. Further, upon commencement of operations, it typically takes 12 months or longer for the project to ramp up to our expected production level. All of these factors, and in particular, increased spending that is not offset by increased revenues, can contribute to fluctuations in our quarterly financial performance and increase the likelihood that our operating results in a particular period will fall below investor expectations.
We plan to expand our business in part through developing RNG recovery projects at landfills and livestock farms, but we may not be able to identify suitable locations or complete development of new projects.
Historically, development of new RNG projects at landfills and livestock farms has been a significant part of our growth strategy. We plan to continue to develop new RNG projects at landfills and livestock farms to expand our project skillsets and capabilities, expand and complement our existing geographic markets, add experienced management and increase our product offerings. However, we may be unable to implement this growth strategy if we cannot identify suitable landfills and livestock farms on which to develop projects, reach agreements with landfill or livestock farm owners to develop RNG projects on acceptable terms or arrange required financing for new projects on acceptable terms. While the EPA has identified an additional 482 landfills as candidates for biogas projects, based on our industry experience and technical knowledge and analysis, after evaluating their currently available LFG collection systems and potential production capacities, we believe that approximately 38 of these sites produce sufficient quantities of LFG to support commercial-scale projects, with 27 of the approximately 38 sites being operated by Waste Management or Republic Waste, with whom we would need to negotiate with to secure sufficient LFG rights to support an RNG project. . In the future, additional candidate landfills may become economically viable as their growth increases LFG production and requires installation of LFG collection systems. However, the time and effort involved in attempting to identify suitable sites and development of new projects may divert members of our management from our operations.
Our dairy farm project has, and any future digester project will have, different economic models and risk profiles than our landfill facilities, and we may not be able to achieve the operating results we expect from these projects.
Our dairy farm project produces significantly less RNG than our landfill facilities. As a result, we will be even more dependent on the LCFS credits and RINs produced at our dairy farm project than on the RINs produced at our landfill facilities for the project’s commercial viability. Since the number of LCFS credits for RNG generated on dairy farms is significantly greater than the number of LCFS credits for RNG generated at landfills, we are substantially more dependent upon the revenue from LCFS credits for the commercial viability of the dairy farm project. In the event that CARB worsens the CI score that it applies to waste conversion projects, such as dairy digesters, the number of LCFS credits for RNG generated at our dairy farm project will decline. Additionally, revenue from LCFS credits also depends on the price per LCFS credit, which is driven by various market forces, including the supply of and demand for LCFS credits, which in turn depends on the demand for traditional transportation fuel and the supply of renewable fuel from other renewable energy sources, and mandated CI targets, which determine the number of LCFS credits required to offset LCFS deficits, and which increase over time. Fluctuations in the price of LCFS credits or the number of LCFS credits assigned will have a significantly greater impact on the success of our dairy farm project than the value that RINs have on our landfill facilities. A significant decline in the value of LCFS credits could require us to incur an impairment charge on our dairy farm project and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
 
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While we currently focus on converting methane into renewable energy, in the future we may decide to expand our strategy to include other types of projects. Any future energy projects may present unforeseen challenges and result in a competitive disadvantage relative to our more established competitors.
Our business is currently focused on converting methane into renewable energy. In the future, we may expand our strategy to include other types of projects. We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify attractive opportunities outside of our current area of focus or acquire or develop such projects at a price and on terms that are attractive or that, once acquired or developed, such projects will operate profitably. In addition, these projects could expose us to increased operating costs, unforeseen liabilities or risks, and regulatory and environmental concerns associated with entering into new sectors of the energy industry, including requiring a disproportionate amount of our management’s attention and resources, which could adversely affect our business, as well as place us at a competitive disadvantage relative to more established market participants. A failure to successfully integrate such new projects into our existing project portfolio as a result of unforeseen operational difficulties or otherwise, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any future acquisitions, investments or other strategic relationships that we make could disrupt our business, cause dilution to our stockholders or harm our business, financial condition or operating results.
We expect future acquisitions of companies, purchases of assets and other strategic relationships to be an important part of our growth strategy. We plan to use acquisitions to expand our capabilities, expand our geographic markets, add experienced management and add to our project portfolio. However, we may not be able to identify suitable acquisition or investment candidates, reach agreements with acquisition targets on acceptable terms or arrange for any required financing for an acquisition on acceptable terms, any of which would materially impact our present strategy. While we perform due diligence on prospective acquisitions, we may not be able to discover all potential operational deficiencies in such projects. Further, if we are successful in consummating acquisitions, those acquisitions could subject us to a number of risks, including:
 
  •  
the purchase prices we pay could significantly deplete our cash reserves or result in dilution to our existing stockholders;
 
  •  
we may find that the acquired companies or assets do not improve our customer offerings or market position as planned;
 
  •  
we may have difficulty integrating the operations and personnel of the acquired companies;
 
  •  
key personnel and customers of the acquired companies may terminate their relationships with the acquired companies as a result of or following the acquisition;
 
  •  
we may experience additional financial and accounting challenges and complexities in areas such as tax planning and financial reporting;
 
  •  
we may experience delays in construction and development or regulatory approvals impacting of our Pico or Montauk Ag development cycle;
 
  •  
we may incur additional costs and expenses related to inflation, complying with additional laws, rules or regulations in new jurisdictions;
 
  •  
we may assume or be held liable for risks and liabilities (including for environmental-related costs) as a result of our acquisitions, some of which we may not discover during our due diligence or adequately adjust for in our acquisition arrangements;
 
  •  
our ongoing business and management’s attention may be disrupted or diverted by transition or integration issues and the complexity of managing geographically diverse enterprises;
 
  •  
we may incur
one-time
write-offs or restructuring charges in connection with an acquisition;
 
  •  
we may acquire goodwill and other intangible assets that are subject to amortization or impairment tests, which could result in future charges to earnings; and
 
  •  
we may not be able to realize the cost savings or other modeled financial benefits we anticipated.
 
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Any of these factors could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our renewable fuel projects may be exposed to the volatility of the price of RINs.
The price of RINs is driven by various market forces, including gasoline prices and the availability of renewable fuel from other renewable energy sources and conventional energy sources. Refiners are permitted to carry-over up to 20% RINs generated for one calendar year after the RINs are generated to satisfy their RVOs. As a result, we are only able to sell RINs on a forward basis for the year in which the RINs are generated and the following year. We may be unable to manage the risk of volatility in RIN pricing for all or a portion of our revenues from RINs, which would expose us to the volatility of commodity prices with respect to all or the portion of RINs that we are unable to sell through forward contracts, including risks resulting from changes in regulations, general economic conditions and changes in the level of renewable energy generation. We expect to have quarterly variations in the revenues from the projects in which we generate revenue from the sale of RINs that we are unable to sell through forward contracts.
Our revenues may be subject to the risk of fluctuations in commodity prices.
The operations and financial performance of projects in the renewable energy sectors may be affected by the prices of energy commodities, such as natural gas, wholesale electricity and other energy-related products. For example, the price of renewable energy resources changes in relation to the market prices of natural gas and electricity. The market price for natural gas is sensitive to cyclical demand and capacity supply, changes in weather patterns, natural gas storage levels, natural gas production levels, general economic and geopolitical conditions (including the current conflict in Ukraine) and the volume of natural gas imports and exports. The market price of electricity is sensitive to cyclical changes in demand and capacity supply, and in the economy and geopolitical conditions (including the current conflict in Ukraine), as well as to regulatory trends and developments impacting electricity market rules and pricing, transmission development and investment to power markets within the United States and in other jurisdictions through interconnects and other external factors outside of the control of renewable energy power-producing projects. Volatility of commodity prices also creates volatility in the prices of Environmental Attributes, since the value of D3 RINs is linked to the price of CWCs, which are inversely affected by the wholesale price of unleaded gasoline. In addition, volatility of commodity prices, such as the market price of gas and electricity, may also make it more difficult for us to raise any additional capital for our renewable energy projects that may be necessary to operate, to the extent that market participants perceive that a project’s performance may be tied directly or indirectly to commodity prices. Accordingly, the potential revenues and cash flows of these projects may be volatile and adversely affect the value of our investments.
Our
off-take
agreements for the sale of RNG are typically shorter in duration than our fuel supply agreements. Accordingly, if we are unable to renew or replace an
off-take
agreement for a project for which we continue to produce RNG, we would be subject to the risks associated with selling the RNG produced at that project at then-current market prices. We may be required to make such sales at a time when the market price for natural gas as a whole or in the region where that project is located, is depressed. If this were to occur, we would be subject to the volatility of gas prices and be unable to predict our revenues from such project, and the sales prices for such RNG may be lower than what we could sell the RNG for under an
off-take
agreement.
We are subject to volatility in prices of RINs and other Environmental Attributes.
Volatility of commodity prices creates volatility in the price of Environmental Attributes. The value of RINs is inversely proportionate to the wholesale price of unleaded gasoline. Further, the production of RINs significantly in excess of the RVOs set by the EPA for a calendar year could adversely affect the market price of RINs, particularly towards the end of the year, if refiners and other Obligated Parties have satisfied their RVOs for the year. A significant decline in the price of RINs and price of LCFS credits for a prolonged period could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and could require us to take an impairment charge relating to one or more of our projects.
 
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We are exposed to the risk of failing to meet our contractual commitments to sell RINs from our production.
We have in the past, and may from time to time in the future, sell forward a portion of our RINs under contracts to fix the revenues from those attributes for financing purposes or to manage our risk against future declines in prices of such Environmental Attributes. If our RNG projects do not generate the amount of RINs sold under such forward contracts, or if for any reason the RNG we generate does not produce RINs, we may be required to make up the shortfall of RINs under such forward contracts through purchases on the open market or by making payments of liquidated damages. Forward selling of a portion of our RINs could result in realized prices monetized in a year which do not correspond directly to index prices.
The failure of our hedge counterparties or significant customers to meet their obligations to us may adversely affect our financial results.
To the extent we are able to hedge our RNG revenues, our hedging transactions expose us to the risk that a counterparty fails to perform under a derivative contract. Volatility in the market index to which we hedge our RNG revenues could expose us to variability in our commodity based revenues. Disruptions in the financial markets could lead to sudden decreases in a counterparty’s liquidity, which could make them unable to perform under the terms of the derivative contract and we may not be able to realize the benefit of the derivative contract. Any default by the counterparty to these derivative contracts when they become due would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also face credit risk through the sale of our RNG production. We are also subject to credit risk due to concentration of our RNG receivables with a limited number of significant customers. We do not require our customers to post collateral. The inability or failure of our significant customers to meet their obligations to us or their insolvency or liquidation may adversely affect our financial results.
Regulatory Risks
The reduction or elimination of governmental economic incentives for renewable energy projects or other related policies could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.
We depend, in part, on Environmental Attributes, which are federal, state and local government incentives in the United States, provided in the form of RINs, RECs, LCFS credits, rebates, tax credits and other incentives to end users, distributors, system integrators and manufacturers of renewable energy projects, that promote the use of renewable energy. RINs are created through the RFS program administered by the EPA, which requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuel and permits refineries and importers of transportation fuel to satisfy their RVOs by purchasing either (i) D5 RINs and cellulosic waiver credits (“
CWCs
”) or (ii) D3 RINs. RECs are created through state law requirements for utilities to purchase a portion of their energy from renewable energy sources. 62% and 60% of our revenues for 2021 and 2020, respectively, were generated from the sale of Environmental Attributes. These government economic incentives could be reduced or eliminated altogether, or the categories of renewable energy qualifying for such government economic incentives could be changed. These renewable energy program incentives are subject to regulatory oversight and could be administratively or legislatively changed in a manner that could adversely affect our operations. Further, the generation of LCFS credits on our dairy farm project is expected to increase the percentage of our revenues generated from Environmental Attributes. Reductions in, changes to, or eliminations or expirations of governmental incentives could result in decreased demand for, and lower revenues from, our projects. Changes in the level or structure of the RPS of a state for electricity could also result in a decline in our revenues or decreased demand for, and lower revenues from, our electricity projects.
We may be unable to obtain, modify or maintain the regulatory permits, approvals and consents required to construct and operate our projects.
Our operations are subject to various federal, state and local EHS laws and regulations, including those relating to the release, emission or discharge of materials into the air, water and ground, the generation, storage,
 
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handling, use, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes, the health and safety of our employees and other persons, and the generation of RINs and LCFS credits.
These laws and regulations impose numerous obligations applicable to our operations, including the acquisition of permits before construction and operation of our projects; the restriction of types, quantities and concentration of materials that can be released into the environment; the limitation or prohibition of our activities on certain lands lying within wilderness, wetlands and other protected areas; the application of specific health and safety criteria addressing worker protection; and the imposition of substantial liabilities for pollution resulting from the ownership or operation of our properties. These laws, regulations and permits can require expensive pollution control equipment or operational changes to limit actual or potential impacts to the environment.
Numerous governmental entities have the power to enforce difficult and costly compliance measures or corrective actions pursuant to these laws and regulations and the permits issued under them. We may be required to make significant capital and operating expenditures on an ongoing basis, or to perform remedial or other corrective actions at our properties, to comply with the requirements of these environmental laws and regulations or the terms or conditions of our permits. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in the assessment of sanctions, including administrative, civil or criminal penalties, the imposition of investigatory or remedial obligations, and the issuance of orders limiting or prohibiting some or all of our operations. In addition, we may experience delays in obtaining or be unable to obtain required environmental regulatory permits or approvals, which may delay or interrupt our operations and limit our growth and revenue.
Our operations inherently risk incurring significant environmental costs and liabilities due to the need to manage waste from our processing facilities. Spills or other releases of regulated substances, including spills and releases that occur in the future, could expose us to material losses, expenditures and liabilities under applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations. Under certain of such laws and regulations, we could be held strictly liable for the removal or remediation of previously released materials or property contamination, regardless of whether we were responsible for the release or contamination and even if our operations met previous standards in the industry at the time they were conducted. In connection with certain acquisitions, we could acquire, or be required to provide indemnification against, environmental liabilities that could expose us to material losses. In addition, claims for damages to persons or property, including natural resources, may result from the EHS impacts of our operations. Our insurance may not cover all environmental risks and costs or may not provide sufficient coverage if an environmental claim is made against us.
New laws, changes to existing laws, new interpretations of existing laws, increased governmental enforcement of environmental laws or other developments could require us to make significant additional expenditures. Continued government and public emphasis on environmental issues can be expected to result in increased future investments for environmental controls at our plants. Present and future environmental laws and regulations, and interpretations of those laws and regulations, applicable to our operations, more vigorous enforcement policies and discovery of currently unknown conditions may require substantial expenditures that could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In January 2021, President Biden issued an executive order directing all federal agencies to review and take action to address any federal regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any similar agency actions promulgated during the prior administration that may be inconsistent with the current administration’s policies and to address climate change. The federal agencies review of previous agency actions remain ongoing. In January 2021, President Biden also issued an executive order solely targeting climate change. Pursuant to these executive orders, on February 19, 2021 the United States formally rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement, an international treaty that provides for the cutting of carbon emissions every five years, beginning in 2023. At this time, we cannot predict the outcome of any of these executive actions on our operations.
Our ability to generate revenue from sales of RINs and LCFS credits depends on our strict compliance with these federal and state programs, which are complex and can involve a significant degree of judgment. If the agencies that administer and enforce these programs disagree with our judgments, otherwise determine that we
 
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are not in compliance, conduct reviews of our activities or make changes to the programs, then our ability to generate or sell these credits could be temporarily restricted pending completion of reviews or as a penalty, permanently limited or lost entirely, and we could also be subject to fines or other sanctions. Moreover, the inability to sell RINs and LCFS credits could adversely affect our business.
In order to construct, modify and operate our projects, we will need to obtain or may need to modify numerous environmental and other regulatory permits, approvals and consents from federal, state and local governmental entities, including air permits, wastewater discharge permits, stormwater permits, permits or consents related to the management of municipal solid waste landfills and permits or consents related to the management and disposal of waste. A number of these permits, approvals and consents must be obtained prior to the start of development of a project. Other permits, approvals and consents are required to be obtained at, or prior to, the time of first commercial operation or within prescribed time frames following commencement of commercial operations. Any failure to successfully obtain or modify the necessary environmental and other regulatory permits, approvals and consents on a timely basis could delay the construction, modification or commencement of commercial operation of our projects. In addition, once a permit, approval or consent has been issued or acquired for a project, we must take steps to comply with the conditions of each permit, approval or consent conditions, including conditions requiring timely development and commencement of the project. Failure to comply with certain conditions within a permit, approval or consent could result in the revocation or suspension of such permit, approval or consent; the imposition of penalties; or other enforcement action by governmental entities. We also may need to modify permits, consents or approvals we have already obtained to reflect changes in project design or requirements, which could trigger a legal or regulatory review under a standard more stringent than the standard under which the permits, approvals or consents were originally issued.
Obtaining and modifying necessary permits, approvals and consents is a time-consuming and expensive process, and we may not be able to obtain or modify them on a timely or cost effective basis or at all. In the event that we fail to obtain or modify all necessary permits, approvals or consents, we may be forced to delay construction or operation of a project or abandon the project altogether, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we may be required to make capital expenditures on an ongoing basis to comply with increasingly stringent federal, state, provincial and local EHS laws, regulations and permits.
Negative attitudes toward renewable energy projects from the U.S. government, other lawmakers and regulators, and activists could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Parties with an interest in other energy sources, including lawmakers, regulators, policymakers, environmental and advocacy organizations or other activists may invest significant time and money in efforts to delay, repeal or otherwise negatively influence regulations and programs that promote renewable energy. Many of these parties have substantially greater resources and influence than we have. Further, changes in U.S. federal, state or local political, social or economic conditions, including a lack of legislative focus on these programs and regulations, could result in their modification, delayed adoption or repeal. Any failure to adopt, delay in implementing, expiration, repeal or modification of these programs and regulations, or the adoption of any programs or regulations that encourage the use of other energy sources over renewable energy, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, in June 2019, the EPA issued the final Affordable Clean Energy (“
ACE
”) rule and repealed the Clean Power Plan (the “
CPP
”), which had previously established standards to limit carbon dioxide emissions from existing fossil-fueled power generation facilities. Under the ACE rule, emissions from electric utility generation facilities would be regulated only through the use of various “inside the fence” or onsite efficiency improvements and emission control technologies. In contrast, the CPP allowed facility owners to reduce emissions with “outside the fence” measures, including those associated with renewable energy projects. On January 19, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the ACE rule and remanded the rule back to EPA for reconsideration of the “best system of emission reduction.” On February 22, 2021, the
 
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D.C. Circuit subsequently issued an order allowing EPA to promulgate new standards in lieu of reviving the CPP. On October 29, 2021 the United State Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of the D.C. Circuit’s decision vacating the ACE Rule. The impact of the disposition of this litigation on our operations is unclear. Moreover, it is anticipated that EPA will draft a new rule regulating GHG emissions, the impact of which on our operations is also unclear. However, in the event such new rules are promulgated and go into effect, if “outside the fence-line” measures such as renewable energy projects are allowed as offsets for certain greenhouse gas emissions, we believe such rules benefit the Company.
Revenue from any projects we complete may be adversely affected if there is a decline in public acceptance or support of renewable energy, or regulatory agencies, local communities, or other third parties delay, prevent, or increase the cost of constructing and operating our projects.
Certain persons, associations and groups could oppose renewable energy projects in general or our projects specifically, citing, for example, misuse of water resources, landscape degradation, land use, food scarcity or price increase and harm to the environment. Moreover, regulation may restrict the development of renewable energy plants in certain areas. In order to develop a renewable energy project, we are typically required to obtain, among other things, environmental impact permits or other authorizations and building permits, which in turn require environmental impact studies to be undertaken and public hearings and comment periods to be held during which any person, association or group may oppose a project. Any such opposition may be taken into account by government officials responsible for granting the relevant permits, which could result in the permits being delayed or not being granted or being granted solely on the condition that we carry out certain corrective measures to the proposed project. Opposition to our projects’ requests for permits or successful challenges or appeals to permits issued for our projects could adversely affect our operating plans.
As a result, we cannot guarantee that the renewable energy plants we currently plan to develop or, to the extent applicable, are developing, will ultimately be authorized or accepted by the local authorities or the local population. For example, the local population could oppose the construction of a renewable energy plant or infrastructure at the local government level, which could in turn lead to the imposition of more restrictive requirements. This type of negative response may lead to legal, public relations or other challenges that could impede our ability to meet our construction targets, achieve commercial operations for a project on schedule, address the changing needs of our projects over time or generate revenues.
In certain jurisdictions, if a significant portion of the local population were to mobilize against a renewable energy plant, it may become difficult, or impossible, for us to obtain or retain the required building permits and authorizations. Moreover, such challenges could result in the cancellation of existing building permits or even, in extreme cases, the dismantling of, or the retroactive imposition of changes in the design of, existing renewable energy plants.
Authorization for the use, construction, and operation of systems and associated transmission facilities on federal, state, and local lands will also require the assessment and evaluation of mineral rights, private
rights-of-way,
and other easements; environmental, agricultural, cultural, recreational, and aesthetic impacts; and the likely mitigation of adverse effects to these and other resources and uses. The inability to obtain the required permits and other federal, state and local approvals, and any excessive delays in obtaining such permits and approvals due, for example, to litigation or third-party appeals, could potentially prevent us from successfully constructing and operating such projects in a timely manner and could result in the potential forfeiture of any deposit we have made with respect to a given project. Moreover, project approvals subject to project modifications and conditions, including mitigation requirements and costs, could affect the financial success of a given project. Changing regulatory requirements and the discovery of unknown site conditions could also adversely affect the financial success of a given project.
A decrease in acceptance of renewable energy plants by local populations, an increase in the number of legal challenges, or an unfavorable outcome of such legal challenges could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may also be subject to labor unavailability due to multiple
 
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simultaneous projects in a geographic region. If we are unable to grow and manage the capacity that we expect from our projects in our anticipated timeframes, it could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Existing regulations and policies, and future changes to these regulations and policies, may present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to the generation, purchase and use of renewable energy, and may adversely affect the market for credits associated with the production of renewable energy.
The market for renewable energy is influenced by U.S. federal, state and local government regulations and policies concerning renewable energy. These regulations and policies are continuously being modified, which could result in a significant future reduction in the potential demand for renewable energy, including RINs, RECs and LCFS credits, renewable energy project development and investments. Any new government regulations applicable to our renewable energy projects or markets for renewable energy may result in significant additional expenses or related development costs and, as a result, could cause a significant reduction in demand for our renewable energy.
The EPA annually sets proposed RVOs for D3 RINs in accordance with the mandates established by EISA. The EPA’s issuance of timely and sufficient annual RVOs to accommodate the RNG industry’s growing production levels is necessary to stabilize the RIN market. On December 21, 2021, the EPA issued a proposed rule setting a 620 million D3 RIN volume for 2021, which is a 21% increase over proposed revised 2020 levels. There is no assurance that the EPA will finalize this proposed rule or timely set annual RVOs or that the RVOs will continue to increase or satisfy the growing receivable natural gas market. The manner in which the EPA will establish RVOs beginning in 2023, when the statutory RVO mandates are set to expire, is expected to create additional uncertainty as to RIN pricing. In addition, the EPA has exempted a number of small refineries from their RVOs through the issuance of waivers under U.S. federal law. However, in December 2021, the EPA proposed to deny more than sixty pending small refinery exemption petitions for one or more compliance years between 2016 and 2021, indicating the EPA may scrutinize future petitions more closely. Uncertainty as to how the RFS program will continue to be administered and supported by the EPA under the current presidential administration has created price volatility in the RIN market. We cannot assure you that we will be able to monetize the RINs we generate at the same price levels as we have in the past, that production shortfalls will not impact our ability to monetize RINs at favorable current pricing, and that the rising price environment will continue.
In order to benefit from RINs and LCFS credits, our RNG projects are required to be registered and are subject to regulatory audit.
We are required to register an RNG project with the EPA and relevant state regulatory agencies. Further, we qualify our RINs through a voluntary Quality Assurance Plan, which typically takes from three to five months from first injection of RNG into the commercial pipeline system. Although no similar qualification process currently exists for LCFS credits, we expect such a process to be implemented and would expect to seek qualification on a state by state basis under such future programs. Delays in obtaining registration, RIN qualification, and any future LCFS credit qualification, or CI rescoring through CARB annual audits, of a new project could delay future revenues from the project and could adversely affect our cash flow. Further, we typically make a large investment in the project prior to receiving the regulatory approval and RIN qualification. By registering each RNG project with the EPA’s voluntary Quality Assurance Plan, we are subject to quarterly third-party audits and semi-annual
on-site
visits of our projects to validate generated RINs and overall compliance with the RFS program. We are also subject to a separate third party’s annual attestation review. The Quality Assurance Plan provides a process for RIN owners to follow, for an affirmative defense to civil liability, if used or transferred Quality Assurance Plan verified RINs were invalidly generated. A project’s failure to comply could result in remedial action by the EPA, including penalties, fines, retirement of RINs, or termination of the project’s registration, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
 
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Our business is subject to the risk of climate change and extreme or changing weather patterns
Extreme weather patterns related to climate change could cause changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensities, water shortages and changing temperatures, which could result in significant volatility in the supply and prices of energy. In addition, legislation and increased regulation regarding climate change could impose significant costs on us and our suppliers, including costs related to capital equipment, environmental monitoring and reporting and other costs to comply with such regulations.
Furthermore, extreme weather events, such as lightning strikes, ice storms, tornados, extreme wind, hurricanes and other severe storms, wildfires and other unfavorable weather conditions or natural disasters, such as floods, fires, earthquakes, and rising sea-levels, could adversely affect the input and output commodities associated with the renewable energy sector. Such weather events or natural disasters could also require us to temporarily or permanently shut down the equipment associated with our renewable energy projects, such as our access to power and our power to biogas collection, separation and transmission systems, which would impede the ability of our projects to operate and decrease production levels and our revenue. Operational problems, such as degradation of our project’s equipment due to wear or weather or capacity limitations or outages on the electrical transmission network, could also affect the amount of energy that our projects are able to deliver. Any of these events, to the extent not fully covered by insurance, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations
These events could result in significant volatility in the supply and prices of energy. This volatility may create fluctuations in commodity or energy prices and earnings of companies in the renewable energy sectors. See “—Operational Risks—“The concentration in revenues from five of our projects and geographic concentration of our projects expose us to greater risks of production interruptions from severe weather or other interruptions of production or transmission” for additional information.
Cybersecurity and Information Technology Risks
A failure of our IT and data security infrastructure could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
We rely upon the capacity, reliability and security of our IT and data security infrastructure and our ability to expand and continually update this infrastructure in response to the changing needs of our business. Our existing IT systems and any new IT systems may not perform as expected. We also face the challenge of supporting our older systems and implementing necessary upgrades. If we experience a problem with the functioning of an important IT system or a security breach of our IT systems, including during system upgrades or new system implementations, the resulting disruptions could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We and some of our third-party vendors receive and store personal information in connection with our human resources operations and other aspects of our business. Despite our implementation of reasonable security measures, our IT systems, like those of other companies, are vulnerable to damages from computer viruses, natural disasters, fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, personnel misconduct, human error, unauthorized access, physical or electronic security breaches, cyber-attacks (including malicious and destructive code, phishing attacks, ransomware, and denial of service attacks), and other similar disruptions. Such attacks or security breaches may be perpetrated by bad actors internally or externally (including computer hackers, persons involved with organized crime, or foreign state or foreign state-supported actors). Cybersecurity threat actors employ a wide variety of methods and techniques that are constantly evolving, increasingly sophisticated, and difficult to detect and successfully defend against. Cybersecurity incidents could expose us to claims, litigation, regulatory or other governmental investigations, administrative fines and potential liability. Any system failure, accident or security breach could result in disruptions to our operations. A material network breach in the security of our IT systems could include the theft of our trade secrets, customer information, human resources information or other confidential data, including but not limited to personally identifiable information, that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. To the extent that any material disruptions or security breaches result in a loss or damage to our data, or an inappropriate disclosure of
 
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confidential, proprietary or customer information, it could materially cause damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers and strategic partners, lead to claims against us from governments and private plaintiffs, and ultimately have a material adverse effect on our business. While we have been the previous target of cyberattacks and security breaches, none of these attacks or breaches to date have had a material adverse effect on the Company. We cannot guarantee that future cyberattacks, if successful, will not have a material effect on our business or financial results.
Many governments have enacted laws requiring companies to provide notice of cyber incidents involving certain types of data, including personal data. Any compromise of our security could result in a violation of applicable domestic and foreign security, privacy or data protection, consumer and other laws, regulatory or other governmental investigations, enforcement actions, and legal and financial exposure, including potential contractual liability that could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, we may be required to incur significant costs to protect against and remediate damage caused by these disruptions or security breaches in the future that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We rely on the technology, infrastructure, and software applications of certain third parties in order to host or operate some of our business. Additionally, we rely on computer hardware purchased in order to operate our business. We do not have control over the operations of the facilities of the third parties that we use. If any of these third-party services experience errors, disruptions, security issues, or other performance deficiencies, if these services, software, or hardware fail or become unavailable due to extended outages, interruptions, defects, or otherwise, or if they are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms or prices (or at all), these issues could result in material errors or defects in our platforms (including causing our platforms to fail), our revenue and margins could materially decline, or our reputation and brand to be materially damaged. Additionally, we could be exposed to material legal or contractual liability, our expenses could materially increase, our ability to manage our operations could be materially interrupted, and our processes for servicing our customers could be materially impaired until equivalent services or technology, if available, are identified, procured, and implemented, all of which may take significant time and resources, increase our costs, and could materially and adversely affect our business. Many of these third-party providers that attempt to impose limitations on their liability for such errors, disruptions, defects, performance deficiencies, or failures, and if enforceable, we may have additional liability to our customers or third-party providers that could have a material adverse effect on our business. A failure to maintain our relationships with our third-party providers (or obtain adequate replacements), and to receive services from such providers that do not contain any material errors or defects, could adversely affect our ability to deliver effective products and solutions to our customers and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our business could be negatively affected by security threats, including cybersecurity threats and other disruptions.
As a renewable energy producer, we face various security threats, including among others, computer viruses, malware, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the internet, attachments to emails, persons with access to systems inside our organization, cybersecurity threats to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or to expose, exfiltrate, alter, delete or render our data or systems unusable, threats to the security of our projects and infrastructure or third-party facilities and infrastructure, such as processing projects and pipelines, natural disasters, threats from terrorist acts and war.
We take various steps to identify and mitigate potential cybersecurity threats. As cyber incidents become more frequent and the sophistication of threat actors increases, our associated cybersecurity costs are expected to increase. Specifically, we expect to implement several incremental cybersecurity improvements over the next 12 to 24 months to enhance our defensive capabilities and resilience. Despite our ongoing and anticipated cybersecurity efforts, a successful cybersecurity incident could lead to additional material costs, including those related to the loss of sensitive information, repairs to infrastructure or capabilities essential to our operations, responding to litigation or regulatory investigations, and those related to a material and adverse impact on our reputation, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
 
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Our implementation of various procedures and controls to monitor and mitigate these security threats, and to increase security for our information projects and infrastructure, may result in materially increased capital and operating costs. Moreover, there can be no assurance that such procedures and controls will be sufficient to prevent security breaches from occurring. Cybersecurity attacks, in particular, are becoming more sophisticated and include, but are not limited to, malicious software, attempts to gain unauthorized access to data and systems and other electronic security breaches that could lead to disruptions in critical systems, unauthorized release of confidential or otherwise protected information, and corruption of data. These events could lead to financial losses from remedial actions, loss of business or potential liability which can have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Third-Party Partner Risks
Failure of third parties to manufacture quality products or provide reliable services in a timely manner could cause delays in developing and operating our projects, which could damage our reputation, adversely affect our partner relationships or adversely affect our growth.
Our success depends on our ability to develop and operate projects in a timely manner, which depends in part on the ability of third parties to provide us with timely and reliable products and services. In developing and operating our projects, we rely on products meeting our design specifications and components manufactured and supplied by third parties, and on services performed by subcontractors. We also rely on subcontractors to perform substantially all of the construction and installation work related to our projects, and we often need to engage subcontractors with whom we have no experience.
If any of our subcontractors are unable to provide services that meet or exceed our customers’ expectations or satisfy our contractual commitments, our reputation, business and operating results could be harmed. In addition, if we are unable to avail ourselves of warranties and other contractual protections with providers of products and services, we may incur liability to our customers or additional costs related to the affected products and services, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Moreover, any delays, malfunctions, inefficiencies or interruptions in these products or services could adversely affect the quality and performance of our projects and require considerable expense to maintain and repair our projects. This could cause us to experience interruption in our production and distribution of renewable energy and generation of related Environmental Attributes, difficulty retaining current relationships and attracting new relationships, or harm our brand, reputation or growth.
Our projects rely on interconnections to distribution and transmission facilities that are owned and operated by third parties, and as a result, are exposed to interconnection and transmission facility development and curtailment risks.
Our projects are interconnected with electric distribution and transmission facilities owned and operated by regulated utilities necessary to deliver the Renewable Electricity that we produce. Our RNG projects are similarly interconnected with gas distribution and interstate pipeline systems that are also required to deliver RNG A failure or delay in the operation or development of these distribution or transmission facilities could result in a loss of revenues or breach of a contract because such a failure or delay could limit the amount of RNG and Renewable Electricity that our operating projects deliver or delay the completion of our construction projects. In addition, certain of our operating projects’ generation may be curtailed without compensation due to distribution and transmission limitations, reducing our revenues and impairing our ability to capitalize fully on a particular project’s potential. Such a failure or curtailment at levels above our expectations could impact our ability to satisfy our supply agreements and adversely affect our business. Additionally, we experience work interruptions from time to time due to federally required maintenance shutdowns.
We may acquire projects with their own interconnections to available transmission and distribution networks. In some cases, these projects may cover significant distances. A failure in our operation of these projects that causes the projects to be temporarily out of service, or subject to reduced service, could result in lost revenues because it could limit the amount of Renewable Electricity and RNG our operating projects are able to deliver.
 
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We are dependent upon our relationships with Waste Management and Republic Services for the operation and maintenance of landfills on which several of our RNG and Renewable Electricity projects operate.
We currently operate eight renewable energy projects (seven RNG projects and one Renewable Electricity project) on landfills operated by Waste Management and two RNG projects on landfills operated by Republic Services. Our projects located on Waste Management and Republic Services operated landfills represented a significant proportion of our revenue in 2021. We are dependent upon Waste Management and Republic Services to operate and maintain their landfill facilities and provide a continuous supply of waste for conversion to RNG and Renewable Electricity. Further, we consider our relationship with these landfill operators an important factor in our growth strategy for additional projects. In the event that we fall out of favor with either of these landfill operators due to a dispute, problems with our operations at one of their facilities or otherwise, the landfill operator may seek to terminate the related project and be less inclined to work with us on future projects.
Additionally, Waste Management and Republic Services could seek to develop their own waste-to-renewable energy conversion projects at other existing landfill locations in lieu of contracting with us for these projects. Failure to maintain these favorable relationships could adversely affect our business, growth strategy, financial condition and results of operations.
We have significant customer concentration, with a limited number of customers accounting for a substantial portion of our revenues.
For 2021, sales to Victory Renewables, LLC, Valero, and City of Anaheim represented approximately 13.1%, 12.4%, and 9.6%, respectively of our operating revenues. For 2020, sales to ExxonMobil, City of Anaheim, Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Victory Renewables, LLC represented approximately 15.1%, 14.4%, 14.1% and 11.3%, respectively of our operating revenues. In addition, including two of the previous customers, five customers made up approximately 44%, 81% and 67% of our accounts receivable as of December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Revenues from our largest customers may fluctuate from time to time based on our customers’ business needs, market conditions or other factors outside of our control. If any of our largest customers terminates its relationship with us, such termination could adversely affect our revenues and results of operations.
Our fuel supply agreements with site hosts have defined contractual periods, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully extend these agreements.
Fuel supply rights are issued by the landfill owner to operators for a contractual period. As operators, we have already invested resources in the development of existing sites and the ability to extend these contracts on expiration would enable us to achieve operational efficiency in continuing to generate revenues from a site without significant additional capital investments. We cannot assure you that we will be able to extend existing fuel supply agreements when they expire.
Capital and Credit Risks
Our senior credit facility contains financial and operating restrictions that may limit our business activities and our access to credit.
Provisions in our Amended Credit Agreement, as described in “Liquidity and Capital Resources” impose customary restrictions on our and certain of our subsidiaries’ business activities and uses of cash and other collateral. These agreements also contain other customary covenants, including covenants that require us to meet specified financial ratios and financial tests.
 
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The Amended Credit Agreement consists of an $80.0 million principal amount term loan and a $120.0 million revolving credit line that matures in December 2026. The Amended Credit Agreement may not be sufficient to meet our needs as our business grows, and we may be unable to extend or replace it on acceptable terms, or at all. Under the Amended Credit Agreement, we are required to maintain:
 
  •  
as of the end of each fiscal quarter, a fixed charge coverage ratio (meaning as of any date of determination, the ratio of (a) Consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) for the applicable measuring period ending on such date of determination, minus taxes paid in cash during such period, minus Tax Distributions (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) made on a consolidated basis (other than the excluded entities) during such period, minus consolidated maintenance capital expenditures (other than the excluded entities) during such period, to (b) Fixed Charges (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) for such period) of at least 1.20 to 1.00; and
 
  •  
as of the end of each fiscal quarter, a total leverage ratio (meaning as of any date of determination, the ratio of (a) Funded Debt (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) on a consolidated basis (other than the excluded entities) on such date to (b) Consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) for the four preceding fiscal quarters then ending, all as determined on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP of not more than 3.50 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter from December 31, 2021 through June 29, 2023, 3.25 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter from June 30, 2023 through June 29, 2024, and 3.00 to 1.00 as of the end of any fiscal quarter from June 30, 2024 and thereafter.
Consolidated EBITDA, as used in the Amended Credit Agreement, may be calculated differently than EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA, as used in this report. Consolidated EBITDA is defined under the Amended Credit Agreement as net income plus (a) income tax expense, (b) interest expense, (c) depreciation, depletion, and amortization expense,
(d) non-cash
unrealized derivative expense, (e) any extraordinary, unusual, or
non-recurring
adjustments to certain components of operating income, as agreed upon by Comerica in certain circumstances, and (f) any
non-cash
unrealized derivative income during such period, and various extraordinary, unusual,
non-recurring
or
non-cash
income or expenses and/or gains or losses included in determining our operating profit or loss or net income, as defined in the agreement, subject to approval of the agent. Additional information on Consolidated EBITDA as used in the Amended Credit Agreement can be found in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations under “Liquidity and Capital Resources.”
The Amended Credit Agreement also requires, for any fiscal quarter, that (a) the average monthly D3 RIN price (as determined in accordance with the Amended Credit Agreement) be not less than $0.80 per RIN, (b) the consolidated EBITDA for such quarter be not less than $6,000,000, and (c) the Total Liabilities to Tangible Net Worth Ratio (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement), on a consolidated basis, shall not exceed 2.0 to 1.0
Our failure to comply with these covenants could result in the declaration of an event of default and cause us to be unable to borrow under the Amended Credit Agreement. In addition to preventing additional borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement, an event of default, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of the maturity of indebtedness outstanding under the facility, which would require us to immediately repay all amounts outstanding. If an event of default occurs, we may not be able to cure it within any applicable cure period, or at all. As of December 31, 2021, we were in compliance with all covenants.
The substitution of BSBY for LIBOR under our Amended Credit Agreement may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a result of the expectation that the publication of all tenors of the U.S. Dollar London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) will cease being published on a representative basis on June 30, 2023, our Amended Credit Agreement was amended, effective as of December 21, 2021, to substitute the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index Rate (“BSBY”) for LIBOR as the loan interest rate.
 
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BSBY will, similar to LIBOR, fluctuate with changing market conditions and, as BSBY increases, our interest expense will mechanically increase. The market transition away from LIBOR to alternative reference rates, including the conversion of our Amended Credit Agreement to BSBY, is complex and could have a range of adverse effects on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In particular, increased interest rate expense could adversely affect our cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and fund our operations.
The methodology for calculating BSBY differs from the methodology for calculating LIBOR, and BSBY is not expected to be the economic equivalent of LIBOR. Although Bloomberg and ICE Benchmark Administration have publicly stated that BSBY and LIBOR each attempt to approximate unsecured wholesale funding costs for major global banking institutions, the methodologies for calculating such rates differ. As a result of such differences in methodology, among other factors, it is possible that BSBY will perform differently from LIBOR in future periods and could be more volatile than LIBOR. BSBY is one of a new series of reference rates, and the future performance of BSBY cannot be predicted based on its limited historical performance and other available information. Additionally, there can be no assurance that BSBY or any other available alternative reference rates will attain market acceptance as replacements for LIBOR. Certain regulatory authorities have also indicated that BSBY may suffer from the same or similar deficiencies that caused the expected demise of LIBOR.
Our Amended Credit Agreement includes language that, upon the occurrence of certain triggers (including, among other things, regulatory restrictions on the use of BSBY and a protracted lack of requisite data), would replace BSBY with an interest rate determined by reference to the secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”). SOFR is calculated every business day by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and represents a broad measure of the cost on the previous business day of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by Treasury securities. This “nearly risk-free rate” is not the economic equivalent of BSBY and, consequently, there can be no assurance that SOFR will perform in the same way as BSBY. The use of SOFR or another alternative reference rate could cause the interest rates on our borrowings under our Amended Credit Agreement to be materially different than expected, which could in turn have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and liquidity and cause us to attempt to renegotiate such credit facilities.
To the extent we hedge our BSBY interest rate risk (typically with swaps), any successor to BSBY under such swaps may not match the successor under our Amended Credit Agreement, and the triggers and/or timing of the transition may also differ. Additionally, the effectiveness of a hedge is conditioned on the continued viability of the counterparty and any exercise of remedies upon a counterparty default may result in credit losses or require that a termination payment be made to the defaulting counterparty in an amount equal to the value of the swap.
We may be required to
write-off
or impair capitalized costs or intangible assets in the future or we may incur restructuring costs or other charges, each of which would harm our earnings.
In accordance with GAAP, we capitalize certain expenditures and advances relating to our acquisitions, pending acquisitions, project development costs, interest costs related to project financing and certain energy assets. In addition, we have considerable unamortized assets. In 2021, we recorded impairment charges of $0.8 million related to the ongoing Renewable Electricity facility decommissioning and $0.4 million related to certain assets at one RNG facility. In 2020, we recorded impairment charges of $0.3 million related to our digester joint venture. In 2019, we recorded impairment charges of $0.9 million, $0.8 million and $0.8 million related to one digester joint venture, one RNG facility, and one Renewable Electricity facility, respectively. In addition, from time to time in future periods, we may be required to incur a charge against earnings in an amount equal to any unamortized capitalized expenditures and advances, net of any portion thereof that we estimate will be recoverable, through sale or otherwise, relating to: (i) any operation or other asset that is being sold, permanently shut down, impaired or has not generated or is not expected to generate sufficient cash flow; (ii) any pending acquisition that is not consummated; (iii) any project that is not expected to be successfully completed; and (iv) any goodwill or other intangible assets that are determined to be impaired. A material
write-off
or impairment change could adversely affect our ability to comply with the financial covenants under the Amended Credit Agreement, and otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
 
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Our ability to use our U.S. net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
As of December 31, 2021, we had U.S. federal net operating loss (“
NOL
”) carryforwards of approximately $73.6 million, of which $32.9 million were incurred prior to the enactment of the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “
Tax Act
”) and, therefore, can be carried forward for 20 years to fully offset taxable income in a future year, and of which $40.7 million were incurred in 2018 or later taxable years and, therefore, can generally be carried forward indefinitely to offset 80% of taxable income in a future year. The CARES Act temporarily lifts the 80% limitation, allowing us to use our NOLs to offset 100% of our taxable income for our 2018, 2019, and 2020 taxable years. Our NOL carryforwards incurred in 2017 or earlier taxable years expire between 2027 and 2037, while our NOL carryforwards incurred in 2018 or later taxable years survive indefinitely. Our ability to utilize our U.S. NOL carryforwards is dependent upon our ability to generate taxable income in future periods.
On January 1, 2020, the minority investor of MEC, Johnstown LFG Holdings, Inc. (via assignment of shares from MEC on December 9, 2019), was bought out by MEH, converting MEC from a partnership to a disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which is currently wholly owned by MEH. This transaction allowed Monmouth Energy Inc., a subsidiary of MEC, to file as part of our consolidated federal tax group. Monmouth Energy, Inc. has NOLs of approximately $13.0 million that are limited for use under the separate return limitation year rules due to the fact that they were generated prior to Monmouth Energy Inc. joining our consolidated group.
In addition, our U.S. NOL carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited if we have experienced or experience an “ownership change” under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “
Code
”), which generally occurs if one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders who own at least 5% of our shares increase their ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling period that begins on the later of three years prior to the testing date and the date of the last ownership change. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. Previous issuances and sales of MNK’s ordinary shares or of our common stock, and future issuances and sales of our common stock (including certain transactions involving our common stock that are outside of our control) could have caused or could cause an “ownership change.” If an “ownership change” either had occurred or were to occur, Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code) would impose an annual limit on the amount of
pre-ownership
change NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes we could use to reduce our taxable income, potentially increasing and accelerating our liability for income taxes, and also potentially causing certain tax attributes to expire unused. It is possible that such an ownership change could materially reduce our ability to use our U.S. NOL carryforwards or other tax attributes to offset taxable income, which could adversely affect our profitability.
Emerging Growth Company Risks
For as long as we are an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with certain requirements that apply to other public companies.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we are an emerging growth company, which may be up to five full fiscal years following the completion of the IPO, we, unlike other public companies, will not be required to, among other things: (i) provide an auditor’s attestation report on management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our system of internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; (ii) comply with any new requirements adopted by the PCAOB requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report in which the auditor would be required to provide additional information about the audit and the financial statements of the issuer; (iii) provide certain disclosures regarding executive compensation required of larger public companies; or (iv) hold nonbinding advisory votes on executive compensation and any golden-parachute payments not previously approved. In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “
Securities Act
”), for adopting new or revised financial accounting standards. We intend to take advantage of the
 
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longer
phase-in
periods for the adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards permitted under the JOBS Act until we are no longer an emerging growth company. If we were to subsequently elect instead to comply with these public company effective dates, such election would be irrevocable pursuant to the JOBS Act.
We will remain an emerging growth company for up to five years after the IPO, although we will lose that status sooner if we have more than $1.07 billion of revenues in a fiscal year, have more than $700.0 million in market value of our common stock held by
non-affiliates,
or issue more than $1.0 billion of
non-convertible
debt over a three-year period.
For so long as we rely on any of the exemptions available to emerging growth companies, you will receive less information about our executive compensation and internal control over financial reporting than issuers that are not emerging growth companies. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock to be less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
We previously identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting which has since been remediated. If we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may be unable to accurately or timely report our financial condition or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business.
During the preparation of our interim financial statements in connection with the IPO, as well as the preparation of our year-end financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, we and our independent public accounting firm identified a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting. The material weakness related to inadequate procedures and controls with respect to complete and accurate recording of inputs to the consolidated income tax provision and related accruals.
The identified control deficiencies could have resulted in a misstatement of our accounts or disclosures that could have resulted in a material misstatement of our annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not have been prevented or detected, and accordingly, we determined that these control deficiencies constituted a material weakness. We have since completed the necessary testing and have determined that the material weakness has been remediated as of December 31, 2021.
We are required to comply with the SEC’s rules implementing Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which require management to certify financial and other information in our quarterly and annual reports and provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of controls over financial reporting. As an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the date we are no longer an emerging growth company. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event that it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating.
To comply with the requirements of being a public company, we have undertaken various actions, including implementing additional internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff, increasing the use of external specialists and may need to take additional actions in the future. Testing and maintaining internal controls can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. If we identify material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting or are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 or assert that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected. In addition, we could become subject to investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.
 
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Common Stock Risks
Our stock price may be volatile, and the value of our common stock may decline.
The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate or decline substantially as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:
 
  •  
actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results due to factors related to our businesses;
 
  •  
success or failure of our business strategies;
 
  •  
our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industries;
 
  •  
our ability to obtain financing as needed;
 
  •  
announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions or dispositions;
 
  •  
changes in accounting standards, policies, guidance, interpretations or principles;
 
  •  
the failure of securities analysts to cover our common stock;
 
  •  
changes in earnings estimates by securities analysts or our ability to meet those estimates;
 
  •  
the operating and stock price performance of other comparable companies;
 
  •  
investor perception of our company or our industry;
 
  •  
overall market fluctuations;
 
  •  
results from any material litigation or government investigation;
 
  •  
changes in senior management or key personnel;
 
  •  
changes in laws and regulations (including energy, environmental and tax laws and regulations) affecting our business;
 
  •  
natural disasters, health-related crises, and weather conditions disrupting our business operations;
 
  •  
the trading volume of our common stock;
 
  •  
changes in capital gains taxes and taxes on dividends affecting stockholders;
 
  •  
identification of material weaknesses or otherwise failing to maintain effective internal controls; and
 
  •  
changes in the anticipated future growth rate of our business.
Broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may also adversely affect the market price of our common stock, particularly in light of uncertainties surrounding the ongoing
COVID-19
pandemic and the related impacts.
Our shares of common stock may trade on more than one market and this may result in price variations.
The Company’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol of “MNTK” and on the JSE under the ticker symbol of “MKR.” Trading in our common stock takes place in USD on the Nasdaq Capital Market and ZAR on the JSE, and at different times, resulting from different time zones, trading days and public holidays in the United States and South Africa. The trading prices of our common stock on these two markets may differ due to these and other factors. Any decrease in the price of our common stock on either exchange could cause a corresponding decrease in the trading price of the common stock on the other exchange.
Future sales of our common stock in the public market could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise
 
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capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Many of our existing equity holders have substantial unrecognized gains on the value of the equity they hold based upon the price of the IPO, and therefore they may take steps to sell their shares or otherwise secure the unrecognized gains on those shares. Additionally, pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Promissory Note, MNK is required to use the proceeds from any sale of the 800,000 shares of our common stock previously pledged as security for MNK’s loan obligations to repay the amounts due under the Amended and Restated Promissory Note. These sales may have a downward impact on the prevailing market price of our common stock. MNK is currently evaluating a number of options to complete the sale of these shares including but not limited to register sale or underwritten offering in the US, direct sale to a South African investor, or extending the term of the loan. We also have default provisions in the underlying note whereby MNK can satisfy the note by delivering the shares back to us as permitted by applicable law. We are unable to predict the timing of or the effect that such sales, by MNK or by other shareholders, may have on the prevailing market price of our common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research focused on us. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the price and trading volume of our common stock likely would be adversely affected. If securities or industry analysts initiate coverage and one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our company, our common stock share price would likely decline. If analysts publish target prices for our common stock that are below historical sales prices or the then-current public price of our common stock, it could cause our stock price to decline significantly. Further, if one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which might cause our common stock price and trading volume to decline.
We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq rules and, as a result, qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions and relief from certain governance requirements.
Certain stockholders, which are Messrs. Copelyn’s and Govender’s respective affiliates, have entered into a Consortium Agreement whereby the parties thereto agreed to act in concert with respect to voting our common stock in the election of directors, among other matters. The parties to the Consortium Agreement beneficially owned, in the aggregate, approximately 52.3% of our common stock as of February 28, 2022. These stockholders agreed to act in concert with respect to voting our common stock, including in the election of directors, among other matters. As a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Under these corporate governance standards, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power in the election of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements. For example, controlled companies are not required to have:
 
  •  
a board that is composed of a majority of “independent directors,” as defined under the Nasdaq rules;
 
  •  
a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors; and
 
  •  
director nominations that are made, or recommended to the full board of directors, by its independent directors, or by a nominations/governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors.
The concentration of our capital stock ownership may limit our stockholders’ ability to influence corporate matters and may involve other risks.
As a result of the Consortium Agreement, certain of our stockholders control matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of our directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This
 
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concentration of ownership may also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of us that may be otherwise viewed as beneficial by stockholders other than management. Accordingly, other stockholders may not have any influence over significant corporate transactions and other corporate matters. There is also a risk that certain controlling stockholders may have interests which are different from other stockholders and that they will pursue an agenda which is beneficial to themselves at the expense of other stockholders.
Provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Amended and Restated Bylaws, and Delaware law may prevent or delay an acquisition of us, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.
Certain provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws, together with applicable Delaware law, may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that our stockholders consider favorable. These provisions may discourage, delay or prevent certain types of transactions involving an actual or a threatened acquisition or change in control of us, including unsolicited takeover attempts, even though the transaction may offer our stockholders the opportunity to sell their common stock at a price above the prevailing market price.
Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that, unless we determine otherwise, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the U.S. federal district courts are the sole and exclusive forums for certain litigation matters, which could discourage stockholder lawsuits or limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in any judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our officers and directors.
Pursuant to our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) is the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“
DGCL
”), our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, or our Amended and Restated Bylaws, or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. We refer to this provision in our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation as the Delaware Forum Provision. The Delaware Forum Provision does not apply to any claim arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Furthermore, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the U.S. federal district courts are, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for any action asserting a claim arising under the Securities Act. We refer to this provision in our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation as the Federal Forum Provision. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring an interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision, provided, however, that such security holders cannot and will not be deemed to have waived compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
The Delaware Forum Provision and the Federal Forum Provision may impose additional litigation costs on security holders in pursuing any such claims to the extent the provisions require the security holders to litigate in a particular or different forum. Additionally, these forum selection clauses may limit our stockholders’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees, which may discourage the filing of lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and employees, even though an action, if successful, might benefit our stockholders or us. The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts, as applicable, may reach a different judgment or result than would other courts, including courts where a stockholder considering an action may be located or would otherwise choose to bring the action, and such judgments may be more or less favorable to our stockholders. In addition, while the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in March 2020 that federal forum selection provisions purporting to require claims under the Securities Act be brought in federal court are “facially valid” under Delaware law, there is
 
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uncertainty as to whether other courts will enforce our Federal Forum Provision. The Federal Forum Provision may impose additional litigation costs on stockholders who assert that the provision is not enforceable or invalid. If the Federal Forum Provision is found to be unenforceable, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters.
Certain of our directors reside outside of the United States and it may be difficult to enforce judgments against them in the United States.
Two of our directors, all of our executive officers and all of our operating assets reside in the United States. Certain of our directors, including John A. Copelyn, Theventheran (Kevin) G. Govender, Mohamed H. Ahmed and Yunis Shaik are residents of South Africa. Another director, Michael A. Jacobson, is a resident of Australia. As a result, it may not be possible for you to effect service of legal process, within the United States or elsewhere, upon certain of our directors, including matters arising under U.S. federal securities laws. This may make it difficult or impossible to bring an action against these individuals in the United States in the event that a person believes that their rights have been violated under applicable law or otherwise. Even if an action of this type is successfully brought, the laws of the United States and of South Africa or Australia may render a judgment unenforceable.
General Risk Factors
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity incentive plans or otherwise will dilute stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors and consultants under our equity incentive plans. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in companies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our common stock to decline.
We are highly dependent on our senior management team and other highly skilled personnel, and if we are not successful in attracting or retaining highly qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.
Our success depends, in significant part, on the continued services of our senior management team and on our ability to attract, motivate, develop and retain a sufficient number of other highly skilled personnel, including engineering, design, finance, marketing, sales and support personnel. Our senior management team has extensive experience in the renewable energy industry, and we believe that their depth of experience is instrumental to our continued success. The loss of any one or more members of our senior management team, for any reason, including resignation or retirement, could impair our ability to execute our business strategy and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Competition for qualified highly skilled personnel can be strong, and we cannot assure you that we will be successful in attracting or retaining such personnel now or in the future. Any inability to recruit, develop and retain qualified employees may result in high employee turnover and may force us to pay significantly higher wages, which may harm our profitability. Additionally, we do not carry key personnel insurance for any of our management executives, and the loss of any key employee or our inability to recruit, develop and retain these individuals as needed, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to pay regular dividends on our common stock is subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors.
Our common stock will have no contractual or other legal right to dividends. The payment of future dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on, among
 
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other things, our earnings, financial condition, capital requirements, level of indebtedness, statutory and contractual restrictions applying to the payment of dividends and other considerations that our Board of Directors deems relevant. Accordingly, we may not make, or may have to reduce or eliminate, the payment of dividends on our common stock, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
 
ITEM 1B.
UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.
 
ITEM 2.
PROPERTIES.
Our principal executive office is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We lease a 10,874 square foot office space at this site for approximately $21,500 per month pursuant to a lease which expires on December 31, 2022. The Company has signed a lease for approximately 24,000 square feet of office space which takes into consideration the future growth plans of the Company. The term of the lease is for approximately ten years, includes annual rent increases, and has a monthly payment of approximately $43,000 per month during the first full year beginning in 2023.
We also lease an 8,400 square foot regional office and warehouse to service our sites in Houston, Texas, pursuant to a lease which expires on December 31, 2022, for approximately $4,100 per month. We have not commenced negotiations for renewal of our lease at our Houston, Texas regional office. We also have a lease for nominal office space expiring during 2022 for Montauk Ag in Greensboro, North Carolina which we currently do not expect to renew. We currently own and operate 15 projects, 12 of which are RNG projects and three of which are Renewable Electricity projects. See “Item 1. Business—Our Current Operating Portfolio” for further descriptions of our projects, which information is incorporated into this item by reference.
 
ITEM 3.
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
From time to time we and our subsidiaries may be parties to legal proceedings arising in the normal course of our business. We and our subsidiaries are currently not a party, nor is our property subject, to any material pending legal proceedings. None of our directors, officers, affiliates, or any owner of record or beneficially of more than 5% of our common stock, is involved in a material proceeding adverse to us or our subsidiaries or has a material interest adverse to us or our subsidiaries.
 
ITEM 4.
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not Applicable.
 
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PART II
 
ITEM 5.
MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
Market Information
The Company’s common stock has traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol of “MNTK” and on the JSE under the ticker symbol of “MKR” since January 22, 2021. Prior to that time, there was no established public trading market for the Company’s common stock.
Holders of Montauk Common Stock
As of March 5, 2022, there were 11 holders of record of 141,034,067 shares of Montauk common stock outstanding as of such date. The number of holders of record of Montauk common stock does not reflect the number of beneficial holders whose shares are held by depositaries, brokers or other nominees.
Performance Graph
The following stock performance graph compares our total stock return with the total return for (a) NASDAQ Composite Index and (b) an industry peer group. Our 2021 peer group, which is comprised of companies that we believe have comparable characteristics and are in the same industry or
line-of-business,
consists of Aemetis Inc., Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Gevo Inc., Archaea Energy, Inc., and Renewable Energy Group Inc. The graph assumes that on January 22, 2021, the date our common stock began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market, $100 was invested in our common stock and in each index based on the closing market price on that day and that all dividends were reinvested. The returns shown are based on historical events and are not intended to suggest future performance.
The following performance graph and related information is being furnished and shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or “filed” with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that section, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it into reference into such filing.
 
 
 
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1/22/21
    
1/21
    
2/21
    
3/21
    
4/21
    
5/21
    
6/21
    
7/21
    
8/21
    
9/21
    
10/21
    
11/21
    
12/21
  
Montauk Renewables, Inc.
     100.00       96.72       123.43       116.49       88.62       93.54       73.87       66.92       79.65       108.29       107.52       91.71       98.84  
NASDAQ Composite
     100.00       101.44       102.47       102.95       108.55       106.98       112.92       114.26       118.92       112.66       120.88       121.28       122.18  
Peer Group
     100.00       93.65       94.33       94.26       76.36       72.87       77.55       67.46       62.92       68.28       77.19       64.34       55.44  
Dividend Policy
The Company did not pay any dividends in the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and currently intends to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the operations, growth and development of its business. Any future determination as to the declaration and payment of dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors, subject to compliance with contractual restrictions and covenants in the agreements governing our current and future indebtedness and the DGCL. Any such determination will also depend upon our business prospects, results of operations, financial condition, cash requirements and availability, and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The information required by Item 5 of Form
10-K
regarding equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report.
Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities
None.
Use of Proceeds from Sale of Registered Securities
On January 21, 2021, our Registration Statement on Form
S-1,
as amended (File
No. 333-251312)
(the “
Registration Statement
”), was declared effective by the SEC in connection with the IPO. The underwriter for the IPO was Roth Capital Partners. A total of 3,399,515 shares of our common stock were sold pursuant to the Registration Statement, which was comprised of (1) 2,702,500 shares of new common stock issued by the Company and (2) 697,015 shares of the Company’s common stock held by MNK. The 3,399,515 shares were sold at an offering price of $8.50 per share and resulting in net proceeds to the Company of approximately $15.0 million, after deducting the underwriting discount of approximately $1.6 million and offering expenses payable by the Company of approximately $6.2 million.
The IPO closed on January 26, 2021. No payments for such expenses were made directly or indirectly to (i) any of our officers or directors or their associates, (ii) any persons owning 10% or more of any class of our equity securities or (iii) any of our affiliates.
From the closing of the IPO through December 31, 2021, approximately $11.2 million of the net proceeds from the IPO have been used by Montauk in connection with due diligence and the consummation of the Montauk Ag Asset Acquisition in May 2021, the purchase of the real-estate and property in October 2021 related to Montauk Ag, and subsequent development activities related to Montauk Ag Renewables. An immaterial amount has been used relating to other possible acquisitions and projects. The remaining net proceeds of approximately $3.8 million is held as cash.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
 
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ITEM 6.
RESERVED
 
ITEM 7.
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes to those statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form
10-K.
The historical consolidated financial data discussed below reflects the historical results of operations and financial position of Montauk USA, prior to the Equity Exchange on January 4, 2021. The consolidated financial statements of Montauk USA became our historical financial statements for the periods prior to the Equity Exchange.
In addition to historical financial information, the following discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those discussed under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Item 1A.–Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report.
Overview
Montauk is a renewable energy company specializing in the recovery and processing of biogas from landfills and other
non-fossil
fuel sources for beneficial use as a replacement to fossil fuels. We develop, own, and operate RNG projects, using proven technologies that supply RNG into the transportation industry and use RNG to produce Renewable Electricity. We are one of the largest U.S. producers of RNG, having participated in the industry for over 30 years. We established our operating portfolio of 12 RNG and three Renewable Electricity projects through self-development, partnerships, and acquisitions that span six states.
Biogas is produced by microbes as they break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen (during a process called anaerobic digestion). Our two current sources of commercial scale biogas are LFG and ADG, which is produced inside an airtight tank used to breakdown organic matter, such as livestock waste. We typically secure our biogas feedstock through long-term fuel supply agreements and property lease agreements with biogas site hosts. Once we secure long-term fuel supply rights, we design, build, own, and operate facilities that convert the biogas into RNG or use the processed biogas to produce Renewable Electricity. We sell the RNG and Renewable Electricity through a variety of short-, medium-, and long-term agreements. Because we are capturing waste methane and making use of a renewable source of energy, our RNG and Renewable Electricity generate valuable Environmental Attributes, which we are able to monetize under federal and state initiatives.
Recent Developments
Montauk Ag Asset Acquisition
On May 10, 2021, the Company, through a newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary Montauk Ag, completed a series of transactions with Joseph P. Carroll, Jr. (“Carroll”), Martin A. Redeker (“Redeker”) and certain of their affiliates to purchase identified assets related to developing technology to recover residual natural resources from waste streams of modern agriculture and to refine and recycle such waste products through proprietary and other processes in order to produce high quality renewable natural gas,
bio-oil
and biochar (the “Montauk Ag Renewables Acquisition”). The assets acquired include real property, intellectual property, mobile equipment, and other equipment related to operating the business. The real property includes the purchase of an approximate 9.35 acre parcel in Duplin County, North Carolina.
The purchase price, excluding acquisition costs, for the Montauk Ag Renewables Acquisition consisted of (i) $3,801 paid in cash on May 10, 2021 (minus certain costs and indebtedness) and (ii) two restricted stock awards, in equal amounts, granted under the MRI EICP, with an aggregate value not to exceed $12,500, awarded
 
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to each of Messrs. Carroll and Redeker in connection with their respective employment with the Company following the closing of the Montauk Ag Renewables Acquisition (the “RS Awards”). For more information about the RS Awards, see Note 15 to our audited consolidated financial statements.
During the third quarter of 2021, we continued to execute on our plans for the Montauk Ag Renewables Acquisition. In August 2021, we were granted a patent over 24 specific aspects of continuous-feed, closed-loop reactor technology acquired in the acquisition. We believe that the reactor enables
near-zero-emissions
conversion of agricultural waste into multiple
non-fossil,
renewable-fuel alternatives, is capable of producing multiple units of renewable energy for each unit of conventional energy consumed and is capable of sequestering multiple tons of greenhouse gas equivalent emissions (CO2e) for every ton emitted. We expect the reactor, with certain enhancements, to better address some of the environmental challenges of industrial agriculture, including lagoon capacity constraints, watershed contamination, odor issues, nutrient abundances and containment and
disposal of animal waste, regardless of location or size. The reactor is operational and while we continue to make improvements to the reactor to optimize its functionality, we do not currently expect this facility to be commissioned with these improvements during 2022.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, we also closed on a $5,447 transaction to acquire approximately 146 acres and an existing approximately 500,000 square foot structure which we plan to use as we expand the production processes purchased in the Montauk Ag Renewables Acquisition. We have also executed master services agreements that provides access to waste feedstock biogas production. The feedstock will be sourced from swine waste located at our farming partner locations. We do not currently expect the revenues from these agreements to be material.
We are at the beginning stages of developing the opportunities associated with Montauk Ag and can give no assurances that our plans related to this acquisition will meet our expectations. We continue to design and plan for the development of the facility to be used for Montauk Ag production. We do not currently expect significant production to commence during 2022 related to the current development timeline. As we commission and increase our production capabilities, we intend to add farms to this agreement as feedstock sources, which has the potential to secure more feedstock for our facility.
Amendment to Pico Feedstock Agreement
During the second quarter of 2021, we completed an amendment to our Pico feedstock agreement (“Pico Feedstock Amendment”). The amendment will increase the amount of feedstock supplied to the facility for processing over a one to three-year period. We paid $1,000 in cash at the time of closing the amendment.
During the third quarter of 2021, and as part of our overall capacity expansion at the Pico facility, we undertook significant efforts to improve the performance of the existing digestion process at our Pico facility. We have temporarily idled RNG production at this facility in order to clean out settled solids in the digester, replace the cover of the digester, and make various other efficiency improvements. We incurred nonrecurring expenses of approximately $1,100 related to this project in addition to the $288 in asset disposal recognized during the third quarter of 2021 and approximately $325 in expected capital costs related to this project.
After the improvements were completed, production volumes have more than doubled in first quarter of 2022. As of December 31, 2021, we recorded an increase to the Pico
earn-out
liability of approximately $801 within royalties, transportation, gathering and production fuel based on our current estimate of expectations under this obligation. The improvement project has impacted the timeline for modeling Pico’s initial CI Score pathway model and subsequent auditing approval by CARB. We did not receive a temporary CI pathway in 2021 and were not able to generate LCFS credit revenue on 2021 production. We will be storing 2022 production while CARB completes its CI Score Pathway. We expect to receive the results of this approval during the second half of 2022. However, we do not currently expect to receive LCFS credit revenue on 2022 production until 2023.
 
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Key Trends
Market Trends Affecting the Renewable Fuel Market
We believe rising demand for RNG is attributable to a variety of factors, including growing public support for renewable energy, U.S. governmental actions to increase energy independence, environmental concerns increasing demand for natural gas-powered vehicles, job creation, and increasing investment in the renewable energy sector.
Key drivers for the long-term growth of RNG include the following factors:
 
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Regulatory or policy initiatives, including the federal RFS program and state-level low-carbon fuel programs in states such as California and Oregon, that drive demand for RNG and its derivative Environmental Attributes (as further described below).
 
  •  
Efficiency, mobility and capital cost flexibility in RNG operations enable it to compete successfully in multiple markets. Our operating model is nimble, as we commonly use modular equipment; our RNG processing equipment is more efficient than its fossil-fuel correlates.
 
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Demand for compressed natural gas (“CNG”) from natural gas-fueled vehicles. The RNG we create is pipeline-quality and can be used for transportation fuel when converted to CNG. CNG is commonly used by medium-duty fleets that are close to fueling stations, such as city fleets, local delivery trucks and waste haulers.
 
  •  
Regulatory requirements, market pressure and public relations challenges increase the time, cost and difficulty of permitting new fossil fuel-fired facilities.
Factors Affecting Our Future Operating Results:
Conversion of Electricity Projects to RNG Projects:
We periodically evaluate opportunities to convert existing facilities from Renewable Electricity to RNG production. These opportunities tend to be most attractive for any merchant electricity facilities given the favorable economics for the sale of RNG plus RINs relative to the sale of market rate electricity plus RECs. This strategy has been an increasingly attractive avenue for growth since 2014 when RNG from landfills became eligible for D3 RINs. However, during the conversion of a project, there is a gap in production while the electricity project is offline until it commences operation as an RNG facility, which can adversely affect us. This timing effect may adversely affect our operating results as a result of our potential conversion of Renewable Electricity projects. Upon completion of a conversion, we expect that the increase in revenue upon commencement of RNG production will more than offset the loss of revenue from Renewable Electricity production. Historically, we have taken advantage of these opportunities on a gradual basis at our merchant electricity facilities, such as Atascocita and Coastal Plains.
Acquisition and Development Pipeline
The timing and extent of our development pipeline affects our operating results due to:
 
  •  
Impact of Higher Selling, General and Administrative Expenses Prior to the Commencement of a Project’s Operation: We incur significant expenses in the development of new RNG projects. Further, the receipt of RINs is delayed, and typically does not commence for a period of four to six months after the commencement of injecting RNG into a pipeline, pending final registration approval of the project by the EPA and then the subsequent completion of a third-party quality assurance plan certification. During such time, the RNG is either physically or theoretically stored and later withdrawn from storage to allow for the generation of RINs.
 
  •  
Shifts in Revenue Composition for Projects from New Fuel Sources: As we expand into livestock farm projects, our revenue composition from Environmental Attributes will change. We believe that livestock farms offer us a lucrative opportunity, as the value of LCFS credits for dairy farm projects, for example, are
 
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a multiple of those realized from landfill projects due to the significantly more attractive CI score of livestock farms.
 
  •  
Incurrence of Expenses Associated with Pursuing Prospective Projects That Do Not Come to Fruition: We incur expenses to pursue prospective projects with the goal of a site host accepting our proposal or being awarded a project in a competitive bidding process. Historically, we have evaluated opportunities which we decided not to pursue further due to the prospective project not meeting our internal investment thresholds or a lack of success in a competitive bidding process. To the extent we seek to pursue a greater number of projects or bidding for projects becomes more competitive, our expenses may increase.
Regulatory, Environmental and Social Trends
Regulatory, environmental and social factors are key drivers that incentivize the development of RNG and Renewable Electricity projects and influence the economics of these projects. We are subject to the possibility of legislative and regulatory changes to certain incentives, such as RINs, RECs and GHG initiatives. On December 7, 2021, the EPA issued a proposed rule modifying the RVOs for 2020 and setting the RVOs for 2021 and 2022. In addition, the proposed rule included the addition of a supplemental volume of renewable fuel in 2022 to address the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s 2017 remand of the 2013-2016 standards and laid out a proposed regulatory framework to allow biointermediates to be included in the program. The manner in which the EPA will establish RVOs beginning in 2023, when the statutory RVO mandates are set to expire, is expected to create additional uncertainty as to RIN pricing. Further changes to the CI score assigned to a project upon its renewal or a change in the way CARB develops the CI score for a new project could significantly affect the profitability of a project, particularly in the case of a livestock farm project.
Factors Affecting Revenue
Our total operating revenues include renewable energy and related sales of Environmental Attributes. Renewable energy sales primarily consist of the sale of biogas, including LFG and ADG, which is either sold or converted to Renewable Electricity. Environmental Attributes are generated and monetized from the renewable energy.
We report revenues from two operating segments: Renewable Natural Gas and Renewable Electricity Generation. Corporate relates to additional discrete financial information for the corporate function; primarily used as a shared service center for maintaining functions such as executive, accounting, treasury, legal, human
resources, tax, environmental, engineering, and other operations functions not otherwise allocated to a segment. As such, the corporate entity is not determined to be an operating segment but is discretely disclosed for purposes of reconciliation to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
 
  •  
Renewable Natural Gas Revenues:
We record revenues from the production and sale of RNG and the generation and sale of the Environmental
Attributes derived from RNG, such as RINs and LCFS credits. Our RNG revenues from Environmental Attributes are recorded net of a portion of Environmental Attributes shared with
off-take
counterparties as consideration for such counterparties using the RNG as a transportation fuel. We monetize a portion of our RNG production under fixed-price and counterparty sharing agreements, which provide floor prices in excess of commodity indices and sharing percentages of the monetization of Environmental Attributes. Under these sharing arrangements, we receive a portion of the profits derived from counterparty monetization of the Environmental Attributes in excess of the floor prices. These arrangements are currently set to expire during 2022 and we are in negotiations to replace these arrangements.
 
  •  
Renewable Electricity Generation Revenues:
We record revenues from the production and sale of Renewable Electricity and the generation and
sale of the Environmental Attributes, such as RECs, derived from Renewable Electricity. All of our Renewable Electricity production is monetized under fixed-price PPAs from our existing operating projects.
 
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  •  
Corporate Revenues:
Corporate reports realized and unrealized gains or losses under our gas hedge programs. Corporate also relates to additional
discrete financial information for the corporate function; primarily used as a shared service center for maintaining functions such as executive, accounting, treasury, legal, human resources, tax, environmental, engineering and other operations functions not otherwise allocated to a segment.
Our revenues are priced based on published index prices which can be influenced by factors outside our control, such as market impacts on commodity pricing and regulatory developments. With our royalty payments structured as a percentage of revenue, royalty payments fluctuate with changes in revenues. Due to these factors, we place a primary focus on managing production volumes and operating and maintenance expenses as these factors are more controllable by us.
RNG Production
Our RNG production levels are subject to fluctuations based on numerous factors, including:
Disruptions to Production:
Disruptions to waste placement operations at our active landfill sites, severe weather events, failure or degradation of
our or a landfill operator’s equipment or interconnection or transmission problems could result in a reduction of our RNG production. We strive to proactively address any issues that may arise through preventative maintenance, process improvement and flexible redeployment of equipment to maximize production and useful life. In November 2019, our McCarty facility lost production capacity of one of its engines due to its failure. Production was not restored until March 2020 when a replacement was commissioned. We recorded $3.9 million as a gain on insurance proceeds related to the replacement of property and business interruption. In October 2020, California wildfires forced our Bowerman facility to temporarily shut down. While production resumed in November 2020, our fourth quarter 2020 Bowerman revenues were approximately 20.0% lower than the prior year period.
 
  •  
A 2021 cold weather event impacted our Atascocita, Galveston, McCarty, and Coastal Plains facilities located in Texas. Production at these facilities was temporarily idled due to the loss of power from February 14 through February 20, 2021 and force majeure events were declared by certain of our counter-parties or by us for the period February 12 through February 22, 2021 related to these weather events. Operations at these facilities have subsequently resumed.
 
  •  
The landfill host at our McCarty facility recently changed its wellfield collection system which has contributed to elevated nitrogen in the feedstock received by our facility. Additionally, the landfill host modified the wellfield bifurcation approach which has impacted the quantity of feedstock received at the facility. We are working with the landfill host but have currently experienced lower volumes of feedstock available to be processed at the McCarty facility. We expect lower than historical volumes through 2022.
 
  •  
Our Pico facility has resumed operations and we expect all ramp up activities to be completed by the second quarter of 2022. Our improvement project has impacted the timeline related to modeling the CI Score pathway model. 2022 production will be stored until CARB completes its CI Score Pathway. We do not currently expect to receive LCFS credit revenue on 2022 production until 2023.
 
  •  
Quality of Biogas:
We are reliant upon the quality and availability of biogas from our site partners. The quality of the waste at our landfill project
sites is subject to change based on the volume and type of waste accepted. Variations in the quality of the biogas could affect our RNG production levels. At three of our projects, we operate the wellfield collection system, which allows greater control over the quality and consistency of the collected biogas. At two of our projects, we have operating and management agreements by which we earn revenue for managing the wellfield collection systems. Additionally, our dairy farm project benefits from the consistency of feedstock and controlled environment of collection of waste to improve biogas quality.
 
  •  
RNG Production from Our Growth Projects:
We anticipate increased production at certain of our existing projects as open landfills continue to
take in additional waste and the amount of gas available for collection increases. Delays in commencement of production or extended commissioning issues at a new project or a conversion project would delay any realization of production from that project.
 
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Pricing
Our Renewable Natural Gas and Renewable Electricity Generation segments’ revenues are primarily driven by the prices under our
off-take
agreements and PPAs and the amount of RNG and Renewable Electricity that we produce. We sell the RNG produced from our projects under a variety of short-term and medium-term agreements to counterparties, with contract terms varying from three years to five years. Our contracts with counterparties are typically structured to be based on varying natural gas price indices for the RNG produced. All of the Renewable Electricity produced at our
biogas-to-electricity
projects is sold under long-term contracts to creditworthy counterparties, typically under a fixed price arrangement with escalators.
The pricing of Environmental Attributes, which accounts for a substantial portion of our revenues, is subject to volatility based on a variety of factors, including regulatory and administrative actions and commodity pricing.
Our dairy farm project is expected to be awarded a more attractive CI by CARB, thereby generating LCFS credits at a multiple of those generated by our landfill projects.
The sale of RINs, which is subject to market price fluctuations, accounts for a substantial portion of our revenues. We manage against the risk of these fluctuations through forward sales of RINs, although currently we only sell RINs in the calendar year they are generated in the following calendar year. We did not forward sell a significant portion of expected 2022 RIN generation and our current 2022 RIN commitments are at an average D3 RIN price of approximately $3.40 with commitments through June 2022. Realized prices for Environmental Attributes monetized in a year may not correspond directly to index prices due to the forward selling of commitments.
Factors Affecting Operating Expenses
Our operating expenses include royalties, transportation, gathering and production fuel expenses, project operating and maintenance expenses, general and administrative expenses, depreciation and amortization, net loss (gain) on sale of assets, impairment loss and transaction costs.
 
  •  
Project Operating and Maintenance Expenses:
Operating and maintenance expenses primarily consist of expenses related to the collection and
processing of biogas, including biogas collection system operating and maintenance expenses, biogas processing, operating and maintenance expenses, and related labor and overhead expenses. At the project level, this includes all labor and benefit costs, ongoing corrective and proactive maintenance, project level utility charges, rent, health and safety, employee communication, and other general project level expenses.
 
  •  
Royalties, Transportation, Gathering and Production Fuel Expenses:
Royalties represent payments made to our facility hosts, typically structured
as a percentage of revenue. Transportation and gathering expenses include capacity and metering expenses representing the costs of delivering our RNG and Renewable Electricity production to our customers. These expenses include payments to pipeline operators and other agencies that allow for the transmission of our gas and electricity commodities to end users. Production fuel expenses generally represent alternative royalty payments based on quantity usage of biogas feedstock.
 
  •  
General and Administrative Expenses:
General and administrative expenses primarily consist of corporate expenses and unallocated support
functions for our operating facilities, including personnel costs for executive, finance, accounting, investor relations, legal, human resources, operations, engineering, environmental registration and reporting, health and safety, IT and other administrative personnel and professional fees and general corporate expenses. We expect increased general and administrative expenses associated with our ongoing development of Montauk Ag Renewables in 2022. The Company accounts for stock-based compensation related to grants made through its equity and incentive compensation plan under FASB ASC 718. For more information, see Note 15 to our audited consolidated financial statements.
 
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Depreciation and Amortization:
Expenses related to the recognition of the useful lives of our intangible and fixed assets. We spend significant
capital to build and own our facilities. In addition to development capital, we annually reinvest to maintain these facilities.
 
  •  
Impairment Loss:
Expenses related to reductions in the carrying value(s) of fixed and/or intangible assets based on periodic evaluations whenever
events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable.
 
  •  
Transaction Costs:
Transaction costs primarily consist of expenses incurred for due diligence and other activities related to potential acquisitions
and other strategic transactions.
Key Operating Metrics
Total operating revenues reflect both sales of renewable energy and sales of related Environmental Attributes. As a result, our revenues are primarily affected by unit production of RNG and Renewable Electricity, production of Environmental Attributes, and the prices at which we monetize such production. Set forth below is an overview of these key metrics:
 
  •  
Production Volumes:
We review performance by site based on unit of production calculations for RNG and Renewable Electricity, measured in
terms of MMBtu and MWh, respectively. While unit of production measurements can be influenced by schedule facility maintenance schedules, the metric is used to measure the efficiency of operations and the impact of optimization improvement initiatives. We monetize a majority of our RNG commodity production under variable-price agreements, based on indices. A portion of our Renewable Natural Gas segment commodity production is monetized under fixed-priced contracts. Our Renewable Electricity Generation segment commodity production is primarily monetized under fixed-priced PPAs.
 
  •  
Production of Environmental Attributes:
We monetize Environmental Attributes derived from our production of RNG and Renewable Electricity.
We carry-over a portion of the RINs generated from RNG production to the following year and monetize the carried over RINs in such following calendar year. A majority of our Renewable Natural Gas segment Environmental Attributes are self-monetized, though a portion are generated and monetized by third parties under counterparty sharing agreements. A majority of our Renewable Electricity Generation segment Environmental Attributes are monetized as a component of our fixed-price PPAs.
 
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Average realized price per unit of production:
Our profitability is highly dependent on the commodity prices for natural gas and electricity, and the
Environmental Attribute prices for RINs, LCFS credits, and RECs. Realized prices for Environmental Attributes monetized in a year may not correspond directly with that year’s production as attributes may be carried over and subsequently monetized. Realized prices for Environmental Attributes monetized in a year may not correspond directly to index prices due to the forward selling of commitments.
 
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The following table summarizes the key operating metrics described above, which metrics we use to measure performance.
 
(in thousands, unless otherwise indicated)
  
For the year
ended December 31,
              
   
    2021    
    
    2020    
    
Change
    
Change%
  
Revenues
        
Renewable Natural Gas Total Revenues
   $ 131,803     $ 83,236     $ 48,567       58.3 % 
Renewable Electricity Generation Total Revenues
   $ 15,449     $ 16,665     $ (1,216 )      (7.3 )% 
RNG Metrics
        
CY RNG production volumes (MMBtu)
     5,688       5,746       (58 )      (1.0 )% 
Less: Current period RNG volumes under fixed/floor-price contracts
     (1,596 )      (2,009 )      413       (20.5 )% 
Plus: Prior period RNG volumes dispensed in current period
     353       266       87       32.7 % 
Less: Current period RNG production volumes not dispensed
     (372 )      (353 )      (19 )      5.4 % 
Total RNG volumes available for RIN generation(1)
     4,073       3,650       423       11.6 % 
RIN Metrics
        
Current RIN generation ( x 11.727)(2)
     47,758       42,809       4,949       11.8 % 
Less: Counterparty share (RINs)
     (5,124 )      (4,701 )      (423 )      9.0 % 
Plus: Prior period RINs carried into CY
     110       1,330       (1,220 )      (91.7 )% 
Less: CY RINs carried into next CY
     (140 )      (99 )      (41 )      41.4 % 
Total RINs available for sale(3)
     42,604       39,339       3,265       8.3 % 
Less: RINs sold
     (42,604 )      (39,335 )      (3,269 )      8.3 % 
RIN Inventory
     0       3       (3 )      (100.0 )% 
RNG Inventory (volumes not dispensed for RINs)(4)
     372       352       20       5.7 % 
Average Realized RIN price
   $ 1.91     $ 1.31     $ 0.60       45.8 % 
Operating Expenses