Shell Buys Another Fossil-Fueled Cash Machine While Pretending to Care About Decarbonization

Posted by John Donovan: 29 Jan 25

Ah, yes, Shell—the benevolent, planet-loving, totally-not-greedy oil titan—has once again graced us with its unwavering commitment to not accelerating climate catastrophe. This time, the world’s favorite polluter has finalized its acquisition of a 609-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Rhode Island, because nothing screams energy transition like doubling down on fossil gas.

Shell Energy North America (SENA), a subsidiary of the oil-soaked giant, scooped up RISEC Holdings, LLC, thereby securing the plant’s two-unit gas-burning operations, which have been happily belching emissions since 2002. The plant, which serves the ISO New England market, will now conveniently feed into Shell’s existing empire of profits while the company continues its well-documented tradition of sprinkling a little greenwashing on top.

The PR Spin—An Absolute Masterpiece

Shell, in its usual deadpan corporate lingo, declared that the purchase “maintains SENA’s position in the deregulated Independent System Operator New England (ISO New England) power market, securing long-term supply and capacity offtake for Shell.” Translation: We just locked in another fossil-fuel-powered ATM while pretending it’s part of our sustainability strategy.

But wait—it gets even better. The oil behemoth has the audacity to claim that growing decarbonization efforts in home heating and transportation are actually justifying this acquisition. That’s right. Shell wants you to believe that buying more fossil gas infrastructure is actually a step toward a greener future.

Of course, this little shopping spree was covered within Shell’s unchanged capital expenditure guidance, because why disrupt a good thing? The company is keeping the financial details under wraps, but don’t worry—the investment is “projected to generate an internal rate of return well above the hurdle rate set for Shell’s Power business.” Translation: This will make us boatloads of cash, and we couldn’t care less about the climate consequences.

Meet the Enablers: Carlyle and EGCO

Before Shell swooped in with its bottomless wallet, private equity powerhouse Carlyle owned a controlling 51% stake in RISEC. Because if there’s one thing Carlyle knows how to do, it’s extracting maximum value from fossil fuel assets before offloading them onto the next corporate behemoth. The remaining 49% was held by Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Company Limited (EGCO)—a company that, despite its name, isn’t exactly leading the global renewable revolution.

Now that Shell owns the whole thing, we can all rest easy knowing that one of the world’s most notorious climate villains is in charge.

Oh, and Don’t Forget China

As if buying more fossil gas infrastructure wasn’t enough, Shell is also busy expanding its petrochemical footprint in China. In partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC)—another bastion of environmental stewardship—the company is constructing a third ethylene cracker in Huizhou, set to pump out 1.6 million metric tons of plastic feedstocks per year. Because what’s a little more plastic pollution between billionaires?

The Bottom Line

This acquisition is just another day at the office for Shell and its deep-pocketed backers, like BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, which continue to bankroll the company’s reckless fossil fuel expansion while pretending to care about ESG (environmental, social, and governance) principles.

So, while Shell slaps a fresh coat of greenwashing on its climate-wrecking business model, we’re left with the same reality: they will extract, burn, and pollute until the last drop of oil and gas is gone—unless we stop them first.

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