Dive Brief:

• BP, the parent company of renewable natural gas developer Archaea Energy, announced it acquired Sunshine Gas Producers in its Q2 earnings report. The entity was previously a joint venture between Archaea and a subsidiary of DTE Energy, a Michigan-based energy company and utility.
• A subsidiary of Republic Services sued Sunshine Gas Producers last year over alleged missed payments related to excess gas rights produced at the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Los Angeles County, California.
• That lawsuit was dismissed on April 15, per state court records. Both Republic and Archaea declined to comment on the specific arrangement they now have after DTE’s exit.

Dive Insight:

Republic Services and Archaea Energy launched a joint venture to build dozens of landfill-gas-to-RNG plants in 2022, before BP acquired Archaea. That partnership, called Lightning Renewables, continued after the acquisition and delivered its first facility in June.  

Following the transaction, DTE continues to own several bioenergy projects. They include nine landfill-gas-to-electricity projects, five landfill-gas-to-RNG projects and eight dairy farm-based renewable natural gas projects, according to a spokesperson.

Sunshine Gas Producers has operated a landfill-gas-to-energy facility at Sunshine Canyon since 2014. It generates 23.5 megawatts of electricity, which at one time Sunshine Gas Producers sold to Republic Services and local utility Pacific Gas and Electric, according to a facility profile still active on DTE Vantage's website. The lawsuit further notes the facility could process 9,600 standard cubic feet per minute of landfill gas into energy.

In the lawsuit, Republic's lawyers alleged that Sunshine Gas Producers also had the ability to claim additional landfill gas over and above what the electricity generating facility could handle. They said that Sunshine Gas told Republic's subsidiary on Oct. 12, 2020, that it planned to construct an RNG plant that could process the excess gas. Sunshine allegedly planned to continue operating its electricity plant until it could bring the RNG plant online. 

From that point, Sunshine Gas had two years until it had to start making payments for the excess gas it wasn't processing in its existing electricity plant or the to-be-built RNG plant. By September 2022, Sunshine was still designing and permitting the new facility. It began making quarterly payments, which Republic's lawyers claimed were in line with their agreement. However, it stopped after making two payments.

Republic claimed that it lost out on profits it could have made from selling the landfill gas over the two-plus years Sunshine Gas had claimed it. The company sought $8 million in damages, per a court docket. The case was dismissed on April 15 with prejudice, meaning it cannot be retried at a later date. 

The landfill is still involved in separate litigation. In April, residents sued Sunshine Canyon Landfill and Waste Connections’ Chiquita Canyon Landfill, also in southern California. The lawsuit contends that heavy rains in 2022 and 2023 combined with poor drainage caused a buildup of methane and hydrogen sulfide, which allegedly caused residents to experience health issues. The Los Angeles City Council approved a study to identify odor issues and possible solutions in May. 

It’s unclear what Republic’s plans are for the landfill gas at Sunshine Canyon moving forward. Executives at Republic and Archaea have previously mentioned the Lightning Renewables portfolio could expand beyond the 39 projects it encompassed at launch. Multiple landfill-gas-to-RNG facilities developed under the partnership are expected to come online this year.