Energy

With years of legal experience in traditional energy industries, including coal and natural gas, our law firm has also moved swiftly to counsel companies in the solar power and other renewable energy sectors. From natural gas to biomass, our lawyers offer an in-depth understanding of the natural resource energy business and the financing, contracting, siting, permitting, construction, operation and regulation of traditional, solar, wind and other renewable energy facilities. We played an important role in developing the contracts and market practice for solar energy in North Carolina, drafting contract forms for power company purchases of solar and other green energy and for renewable energy credits, and adapting project finance models to help bring independent power and renewable energy projects to the marketplace.

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Having served for many years as one of the primary outside law firms representing a Fortune 250 public utility and their affiliates, our attorneys also remain active in traditional energy sectors, including natural gas and coal, and we continue to help develop energy projects in North Carolina as well as across the United States. We help utilities acquire property, buy and sell assets, navigate regulatory requirements, build transmission lines and structure and consummate business deals. We are available to represent clients in projects involving solar, wind, ethanol, biomass, landfill gas methane, waste-to-energy, hydroelectric, biofuels and other power sources, as well as improved energy efficiency and smart grid. We regularly work with utilities, municipalities, developers, technology companies, entrepreneurs, lenders and investors.

As a full-service business law firm headquartered in Raleigh, we also offer expertise in such related areas as Debt Finance, Securities, Tax, Construction, Environmental, Health and Safety, Intellectual Property, Real Estate Development, Land Use and Zoning, Government Relations, and Corporate Relocation and Expansion. Committed to superior client service and enduring relationships, we get to know your business culture and objectives well, looking beyond today’s project to your long-term success. 

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Services

• Acquisition/disposition of assets, including generating assets, resources and lines of business
• Regulatory advice and representation
• Hedging and derivatives transactions
• Construction contracts and disputes
• Condemnation and easements
• Project structuring, financing and permitting
• Entity formation, counseling start-ups, and venture capital and other early-stage financing
• Tax and strategic planning
• Renewable energy tax incentives, Department of Energy loans and governmental support
• Contract drafting and negotiation (e.g., power purchase, renewable energy credit, construction and service contracts)
• Compliance with North Carolina's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard (NC REPS) and similar renewable standards outside North Carolina
• Construction, grid interconnection, land use and zoning, environmental and real estate
• Green building and LEED Certification
• Intellectual property/technology protection and licensing
• Government procurement and bidding
• Asset acquisition and disposition, including generation, resource and business units
• Litigation and dispute resolution
• Smart grid and related issues

• Counsel to utilities and their affiliates and developers in the acquisition, development and disposition of utility scale PURPA solar facilities.
• Counsel to utilities and their affiliates in the acquisition, development and disposition of distributed generation.
• Counsel to investor-owned utilities in the design and administration  of their renewable power purchase agreements.
• Counsel for major investor-owned public utility company, providing regulatory counseling and legal assistance with NC REPS implementation and compliance.
• Assisted electric utility and natural gas distribution companies with acquisitions, dispositions, condemnations and regulatory compliance.
• Local counsel for Fortune 1000 company that owns and operates large scale waste-to-energy facilities.
  
• Counsel to clients regarding availability of tax and other incentives arising from renewable energy project development under federal and state law.
• Counsel to clients on direct spending and tax incentive provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 related to renewable energy and energy efficiency, including work on federal grant application and execution under Smart Grid Investment Grant program.
• Representation of sponsors for proposed landfill methane project on county property, advising on investment, tax and strategic planning issues.
• Representation of industrial consumers in negotiation of various steam, natural gas and electric power purchase agreements, preserving rights to renewable energy credits when possible.
• Registration of various projects as qualified “new renewable energy facilities” with the North Carolina Utilities Commission.
• Representation of large pharmaceutical industry client in its construction and development of LEED-Silver Certified world headquarters office building in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.
• Government Relations consultant in our energy practice was former energy policy advisor to U.S. Senator Richard Burr, working on legislative and policy initiatives to grow North Carolina’s renewable energy industry.