Renewable Energy

We advise a number of clients, including developers, contractors, utilities, power marketers and lenders and other investors who are committed to the development and commercial operation of renewable energy projects. Our team of experienced attorneys has counseled on a wide variety of green power projects including wind, solar, hydroelectric, trash-to-energy, geothermal, fuel cell and landfill gas projects. Drawing on our decades of experience in the energy industry, our Renewable Energy practice group comprises lawyers whose particular focuses in the areas of energy, environmental law, finance, mergers and acquisitions, tax law and intellectual property, enable the team to address comprehensively the unique and complex problems that confront participants in renewable power projects.

Many of the domestic renewable energy projects our team has advised on have been qualified under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, and some have also taken advantage of specific state laws intended to enhance the development of green power. We have also been involved in renewable power projects in other parts of the world. Our lawyers help guide clients through the multitude of federal, state and local laws and regulations that may impact their business, representing them before regulatory commissions and other governmental bodies in permitting and certification proceedings. Our experienced transactional lawyers have closed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of acquisitions, divestitures and financings for a variety of renewable power projects, negotiating and preparing purchase and sale, loan, power purchase, real estate, construction and procurement contracts.  

We have been at the forefront of renewable portfolio standard developments in the United States.  We were actively involved in the drafting of energy restructuring legislation in several New England states that included these RPS requirements. Our firm has served as counsel to the group of energy industry participants that has been working with energy and environmental regulators to develop a first-of-its-kind system to track the fuel source, emissions and other attributes of all generation in New England to facilitate compliance with RPS laws, and we have counseled others developing similar systems in other parts of the country. We also assisted in developing the first public auction of Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) in the United States.

We have negotiated many contracts that have recognized the unique value of green power projects and have used that value to structure transactions that were favorable to our clients. We have substantial knowledge and experience in the use of renewable energy credits and certificates, emissions credits and tax credits to maximize the overall benefits and fully realize all of the advantages of the renewable nature of an energy project.