American Biogas Council elects five new officers to executive committee

The American Biogas Council (ABC) has elected five new officers to its executive committee for 2026.
The new appointments join Bernard Sheff, partner at Burns and McDonnell, who continues as board chair, and Patrick Serfass, who continues as executive director.
The Washington-based association said the new leadership reflects the breadth of expertise across an expanding US biogas industry engaged in converting waste into domestic energy and nutrient-rich fertiliser.
ABC currently counts 2,600 biogas systems operating nationwide, with significant untapped potential across the agriculture, wastewater, landfill and food waste sectors to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) and electricity. The association expects continued growth in response to rising demand for low-carbon, domestically produced energy.
Serfass said: "The US biogas industry is strongest when we have great leaders who step up to guide the ABC, so it can truly speak with the voice of the entire industry. This is the beginning of a great new chapter to expand domestic energy production via biogas systems and deliver scalable, ready-to-deploy solutions."
Skye Austin, RNG sales director at Stark Tech in Buffalo, New York, and Brad Pleima, president of EcoEngineers in Des Moines, Iowa, were elected vice chairs. Austin brings more than a decade of experience across natural gas and RNG markets, while Pleima has provided advisory services to more than 300 renewable energy production facilities and supported the development and construction of over $4 billion in anaerobic digestion and RNG projects nationwide.
Craig Frear, director of research and technology at Regneis in Lynden, Washington, was elected secretary. Frear brings expertise in digester performance optimisation, nutrient recovery and manure-to-energy systems. Thomas Murray, senior executive for energy transition at Vermont Gas Systems, was also elected to the executive committee. Murray helped launch the South Burlington, Vermont-based utility's voluntary RNG purchase programme in 2018.
Lizzy Reinholt, president of peaks and renewables at Summit Utilities Inc. in Centennial, Colorado, was elected as an additional executive committee member. She leads development, operations and strategy for Summit Utilities' renewable gas development company.