Eldfell-Ashland Energy

Eldfell-Ashland Energy (EAE) is a human mining corporation with a significant presence in the galaxy.

History

In 2137, the Ashland Energy Corporation successfully extracted helium-3 from Saturn's atmosphere, beginning a new era of fusion research. On the wave of this success, they merged with Eldfell Construction to vertically integrate the two companies' strengths. Ashland would recover the raw materials for energy production, and Eldfell would build power plants, refineries, and pipelines on nearby worlds to distribute Ashland's products to the consumer. Eldfell-Ashland Energy was born.

As EAE's reach extended, they absorbed companies to create a "cradle-to-grave corporate experience" for their employees. Today, subsidiaries such as Second Star Living recruit colonists to staff EAE facilities, and the education group Excelsior provides job-related education opportunities to provide EAE stations with a qualified incoming workforce. Water, power, food, shipping--EAE provides them all. If EAE wants to put a colony on a garden world, they are able to do so and keep 90% of services performed completely in-house, creating consumers out of its own employees. Its primary revenue stream, however, continues to come from mining base elements like hydrogen, helium-3, and eezo and trading in their futures.

Eezo Industrial Accidents

In 2170, an Eldfell-Ashland element zero freighter exploded over the human colony of Yandoa, the culmination of a series of eezo-related industrial accidents that occurred over a four-month period. The cloud of dust-form eezo caused birth defects and biotic births among the survivors.

It is later revealed that Paul Grayson, under orders from Cerberus, caused the crash over Yandoa. The other accidents may have been deliberate too, but only this one is revealed as such.

Seizure of Zorya Facility

In 2185, the corporation hired Zaeed Massani to liberate their refinery on the planet Zorya from the Blue Suns mercenaries. Depending on the mission's outcome, either the refinery is heavily damaged (requiring millions of credits to repair) and the workers are liberated, or the facility is completely destroyed and all workers perish.

Seizure of Helyme Facility

In 2185, the freighter Ter Alan docked at the Eldfell-Ashland mining facility on Helyme, which was carrying sensitive cargo to an unknown planet in the Dranek system. Shortly after the Ter Alan left, the mining facility was raided by Eclipse mercenaries, who sought to discover the Ter Alan's location. Although Commander Shepard liberated the facility, most of the workers were killed.

Nubian Expanse Incident

In November of 2185, Eldfell-Ashland Energy became embroiled in a dispute with the quarian Migrant Fleet over rights to mine palladium-rich asteroids on the outskirts of the Nubian Expanse. After the quarians protested EAE's demands to vacate the area, EAE's local mining fleet, consisting of six mining freighters, three frigates, and the cruiser MSV Stanislaw, was reportedly destroyed in an "alien attack". EAE held the quarians responsible and planned to petition the Citadel Council to ban the Migrant Fleet from Citadel space.

The Reaper War

In 2186, Eldfell-Ashland Energy suffers massive material losses because of the Reaper onslaught across the galaxy. Numerous helium-3 facilities are being destroyed, causing great financial distress to the company.

Operations

• Caleston
• Gei Hinnom
• Helyme
• Jonus
• Naxell
• Zorya

Trivia

• In the E3 2006 demo, Eldfell-Ashland were mining rich eezo deposits on Caleston, making the planet a key source of starship drive core material. Miners working for Eldfell-Ashland were later trapped when the geth attacked.
• Jonah Ashland's granddaughter, Aishwarya "Aish" Ashland, is a well-known celebrity and red sand user. In the Mass Effect 3: Citadel DLC, Jonah introduces her instead as his daughter.