MIDLAND, Texas, April 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAI) ("New Era" or the "Company"), a developer and operator of next-generation digital infrastructure and integrated power assets in the Permian Basin, today announced the appointment of Andy Casazza as Chief Corporate Officer, effective April 28, 2026.
The appointment reflects New Era's continued expansion of its leadership team following the recent appointment of Ted Warner as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Casazza will help connect corporate strategy, capital planning, governance and execution as the Company advances Texas Critical Data Centers ("TCDC") and related growth initiatives.
Mr. Casazza brings more than 25 years of experience across finance, operations, business development and capital formation in the energy sector. He has served in senior leadership roles across public and private companies and has guided businesses through strategic transactions, operational scaling and enterprise planning. Most recently, he served as Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer and Board Member of Windy Cove Energy II and as Co-Founder, Chief Financial Officer and Board Member of Pure Earth Plasma Holdings.
In his role as Chief Corporate Officer, Mr. Casazza will serve as a strategic integrator across business development, finance, legal, compliance and operations. He will work closely with the executive team on joint venture activity, pipeline evaluation, strategic partnerships, governance frameworks, organizational planning and institutional readiness.
"Andy brings a rare combination of operating, transactional and leadership experience developed over decades in the energy sector," said E. Will Gray II, Chief Executive Officer of New Era. "He understands how to connect capital formation, project development, governance and execution with day-to-day decision-making. As we continue building a more institutional platform, Andy will help ensure partnership activity and operating priorities remain tightly aligned."
"New Era is building a differentiated platform at the intersection of power, infrastructure and digital demand," said Andy Casazza. "I'm excited to join the team at this stage and help the Company execute and support the next phase of growth."
In connection with Mr. Casazza's commencement of employment, the Company's compensation committee of the Board of Directors approved an equity compensation grant to Mr. Casazza as inducement material to his acceptance of employment in the form of time-vesting restricted stock units that relate to 400,000 shares of the Company's common stock (the "RSUs"). The RSUs vest ratably on a monthly basis over a four-year period conditioned on Mr. Casazza's continued employment with the Company as of each applicable vesting date and are intended to be inducement awards under Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules granted outside of the Company's 2024 Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan"). Although the RSUs were granted outside of the Plan, the RSUs are subject to the terms of the Plan. This equity compensation award is consistent with the Company's compensation philosophy of aligning executive compensation with stockholder interests through long-term equity compensation designed to incentivize long-term value creation.
About New Era Energy & Digital, Inc.
New Era is a developer and operator of next-generation digital infrastructure and integrated power assets. The Company is developing Texas Critical Data Centers LLC ("TCDC"), a 438 acre large-scale AI and high-performance computing data center campus located in Ector County, outside Odessa, Texas. TCDC is master-planned as a multi-phase development, with anticipated capacity scaling to 1+ gigawatt over time. With a growing portfolio of strategically located, vertically integrated resources including powered land and powered shells, the Company delivers turnkey solutions that enable hyperscale, enterprise, and edge operators to accelerate data center deployment, optimize total cost of ownership, and future-proof their infrastructure investments.
For more information, visit: www.newerainfra.ai and follow New Era Energy & Digital on LinkedIn and X.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements reflect the current view about future events. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "future," "intend," "plan" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements contained in this press release relating to our business strategy, our future operating results and liquidity and capital resources outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. They are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees of assurance of future performance. We caution you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation: our ability to construct, develop, lease and maintain our flagship project; our ability to access adequate project financing, commercial borrowings and debt and equity capital markets to fund our significant anticipated capital expenditures; the impact of supply chain disruptions, labor availability, raw materials and input commodity costs and availability, and manufacturing and transportation; general business and economic conditions; environmental history, remediation, and associated risks; our ability to obtain and renew leases with our tenants on terms favorable to us, and manage our growth, business, financial results and results of operations; our ability to respond to price fluctuations and rapidly changing technology; the impact of tariffs and global trade disruptions on us and our tenants; changes in political conditions, geopolitical turmoil, political instability, civil disturbances, and restrictive governmental actions; the degree and nature of our competition; our failure to generate sufficient cash flows to service indebtedness; our expectations regarding the anticipated timeline of our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, future financial performance and our ability to continue as a going concern; material negative changes in the creditworthiness and the ability of our tenants to meet their contractual obligations; increases and volatility in interest rates; increased power, labor, equipment procurement, shipping, refurbishment or construction costs; a failure of our information technology systems, systems conversions and integrations, cybersecurity attacks or a breach of our information security systems, networks or processes; our inability to obtain and/or maintain necessary government or other required consents or permits; changes in, or the failure or inability to comply with, local, state, federal and applicable international laws and regulations, including related to taxation, real estate and zoning laws, and increases in real property tax rates; the impact of any financial, accounting, legal or regulatory issues or litigation that may affect us; and other factors (including the risks contained in the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025). Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.
For investor inquiries, please contact:
OG Advisory Group
Lincoln Tan
nuai@orangegroupadvisors.com
