A Coal-Fired Industrial Battle in Green Tech? Business Preferable but Lawsuits an Option

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ME2C Environmental MEEC reports that it would much rather do business with coal-fired power utility companies than litigate against them.

Corsicana, Texas-based ME2C Environmental reported reaching exciting growth in 2016 with its technologies to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power. However, its growth began a decline in 2017, with unauthorized use of patented technology as a possible significant factor. The technology, which involves both a process in reducing mercury capture, as well as patented sorbent products, became known throughout the industry and utilities reportedly began using the company’s patented process independently, disregarding the company’s patent rights. In July 2019, after more than 40% of the U.S. coal-fired utilities were using the company’s patented technologies, ME2C launched a lawsuit against more than 40 defendants. 

In 2021, a court trial date of September 2023 was announced. However, ME2C has stated that its end goal with the lawsuit is not litigation. With an existing customer base across much of North America, ME2C reports that it would prefer to grow its business working as a business partner with these utilities that are using its tech. ME2C’s strategic approach included presenting utilities with the option to take a patent license, which allows the utility to continue operating the patented technology, or to become a direct supply customer.

Between 2020 through 2021, all four of the utilities named as defendants reached agreements to hold multiyear licensing agreements with ME2C, the company dropped them from its lawsuit and signed an agreement permitting them to legally use the technology.  In the latter half of 2021, the company gained additional Vistra Corp. plants as a direct supply customer thus increasing the company’s existing customer base.

Through their efforts to focus on strong business relationships, ME2C expects to gain additional utility customers, either as license agreement holders or direct supply customers, in 2022. Currently, the refined coal operators and certain related entities remain defendants in the company’s patent infringement lawsuit.  ME2C is represented by Caldwell, Cassady, Curry, LLC, a Dallas-based patent infringement law firm that boasts recent significant wins against Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and others.

The remaining defendants are a result of what ME2C sees as inherently linked to the tax credits on offer to coal-fired utilities for reducing their mercury emissions. Coal-generated electricity is among the biggest emitters of mercury, a dangerous toxin that can be extremely harmful to human health and the environment.

In 2011, the U.S. government developed a program that allowed users of refined coal to receive tax credits. Coal that is refined is treated with a chemical prior to being used in the coal-fired boiler to limit harmful emissions, including mercury.  

According to ME2C, this treatment of refined coal borrows from the company’s patented technologies, which, in addition to other enhancements, involves a similar treatment of coal. More than $1 billion in IRS tax credits were issued annually during the decade-long program to utilities and to the operators and owners of the refined coal refineries. Without the company’s innovative sorbent technologies, utility companies would be unable to meet such stringent emissions limits, the company claims.

Day in Court?

ME2C said it is preparing for a trial date in September 2023 with the remaining defendants. However, it also said it is willing to negotiate with those defendants before that date to secure licensing and/or product supply agreements.

The willingness of utility companies to obtain licensed use of ME2C’s patented technologies may also strengthen in the coming months as the tax credits on refined coal expired at the end of 2021 and will not be extended.  What happens to the utilities currently using refined coal?  According to ME2C, the numerous coal plants using refined coal will need to restructure their mercury emissions program when their refined coal supply empties - or, they may transition to ME2C’s patented sorbent products. ME2C’s sorbents yield better mercury emissions capture rates than refined coal and would not involve the utility making costly changes to their infrastructure or switch to a completely different sorbent technology, none of which meet the efficiencies and environmentally friendly benefits provided by ME2C’s technologies, according to the company.

ME2C reports that its patented chemisorption technology — Sorbent Enhancement Additive (SEAⓇ) — is the most effective and cost-efficient technology designed to capture mercury emissions compared with other sorbent processes and more capital intensive methods.

By capturing the vast majority of mercury emitted from coal-fired power production, the technology is meant to allow for far less volume of the chemical in coal ash, a byproduct of the power generation process.

Coal ash can also find its way into utility-owned ponds, threatening the local environment. ME2C also states that it wants to use its expertise in chemisorption, or sorbent technologies, to help clean up those wastewater ponds as well as capture and process rare earth elements (REE) present in that environment.

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