RNG plant start up on track. Construction of the renewable natural gas (RNG) in NW Iowa is complete and the plant is operating. Annual distributions in the $9-$16 million range should start in late 2022/early 2023 depending on the timing of approvals under the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Low Carbon Fuels Standards (LCFS). RNG will be sold to BP who will market it into the California market through an alternative fuels distributor. In addition, the seasoning of the RNG plant should allow the special purpose bonds that funded the construction of the RNG plant to be move off the balance sheet next year.Authorized Share Expansion approved. At the January 27th special meeting, shareholders preliminarily approved an increase in authorized shares from 250 million shares to 500 million shares. Final results should be announced later this week. We estimate that ~202 million shares are outstanding and 14 million are reserved under stock/option plans so ~284 million shares should be available for issuance shortly. The approval was necessary to finalize the preliminary FSA and co-invest agreements with Chevron (CVX) since 15 million warrants will be issued to CVX. Approval also should help facilitate discussions with strategic partners on numerous fronts, including decarbonizing existing ethanol plants and moving forward on additional Net-Zero plants.Funding is visible into 2H2022, but development goal of 1 BGPY by 2030 will likely require added capital. Given 3Q2021 cash of $522 million, we don't believe that added capital is required right now. Based on the current development pipeline, current cash creates a funding fairway into 2H2022. As additional FSAs are signed and construction cost estimates firm up, additional capital raises, including equity, might be required, but we don't expect any issuance from the existing $500 million ATM program until the stock moves higher, or at least above the minimum strike price of $8.50/share on the CVX warrants.4Q2021 operating results out on February 24th after the market closes. Another operating loss are expected, but we are looking update on the FEED work to narrow the estimated costs of the first Net-Zero plant, the timing of the EPC contractor and progress on finalizing the CVX FSA and co-invest agreements. Read More >>