Dive Brief:
- A growing list of contractors are suing Fulcrum BioEnergy and its subsidiary Sierra Biofuels over allegedly missing payments going back more than a year. The plaintiffs are attempting to collect on more than $2.1 million for services and supplies like chemical cleanings, liquid drums and other items.
- Fulcrum shuttered its Nevada plant that aimed to convert waste into a sustainable aviation fuel feedstock in May. The plant's collapse came after the company struggled to produce synthetic crude oil at scale.
- Lawsuits have been filed in at least three venues in California and Nevada since August of last year. One of the most recent was filed on Aug. 13 of this year by United Rentals. Fulcrum did not respond to a request for comment.
Dive Insight:
California-based Fulcrum long touted its plans to open a commercial waste-to-SAF plant. The idea gained traction with fuel producers eager to find an alternative to petroleum-based jet fuel, which is still in the early stages of commercial development. Along the way, it received the funding support of major backers like BP, Marathon and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Fulcrum launched in 2007 and spent more than a decade garnering the necessary support to get its planned processing facility and biorefinery outside of Reno, Nevada, built. Public and private partners assisted in financing the facility, including the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, which issued Fulcrum $289 million in bonds. Fulcrum struck deals with WM and Waste Connections to receive waste from their local operations.
But Fulcrum’s Sierra Biofuels facility struggled to produce its first batch of synthetic crude oil, the feedstock material it needed to create to make SAF. The company said it successfully produced a batch in December 2022, but reportedly encountered maintenance issues that prevented another shipment.
In November 2023, Fulcrum began missing payments on the bonds issued to the company by the Nevada agency. In a notice last week, bond trustee UMB Bank said it would distribute remaining funds on deposit for Fulcrum’s bonds back to bondholders “on or about August 21.” The bank did not comment further on the process.
Fulcrum has also gone quiet in recent months on plans for another facility in Indiana that has faced opposition from members of the surrounding community. Another facility planned for the United Kingdom is also reportedly in doubt.
By May, Fulcrum had shut down its Nevada plant. The lawsuits filed by its contractors predate the shutdown, and they allege Fulcrum avoided paying for products and services while its plant was still active. Six of the cases, filed in California Superior Court in Alameda County, were made public by Alameda County Court Watch, a free service run by an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley.
The earliest suit identified by Waste Dive, filed by Delta Tech Services, alleged that Fulcrum still owes $79,041 from an invoice it initially agreed to pay within 30 days of Aug. 11, 2022. After providing Delta Tech with an initial $10,000 payment, Fulcrum allegedly neglected to pay the rest of the bill.
Air Product and Services also sued Fulcrum for not paying for goods and services that it provided in 2022. The contractor did not specify what it provided Fulcrum, but is seeking the most damages of any plaintiff identified by Waste Dive — $829,138.
Other contractors allege nonpayment for services in 2023 and 2024. The other Alameda plaintiffs are Aggreko, Code Red Safety & Rental and Nalco Water, a division of Ecolab. In total, they are seeking $2,142,510 plus interest and legal fees. Lawyers for each of the contractors did not respond to requests for comment.
Elsewhere, Baker Rescue Services filed a case against Fulcrum in Orange County, California, and Energy Process Control filed a case in the second district court of Nevada.
