Practice Areas & Industries: Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Husch Blackwell Sanders is a recognized leader in renewable energy and biofuels. Our attorneys have broad experience in all aspects of the development, financing, operation, and purchase and sale of renewable energy and biofuels assets, including experience in the ethanol, biodiesel, wind, landfill gas, biomass and other renewable energy sectors. With a wealth of experience, our Renewable Energy & Biofuels team delivers world-class, cost-effective legal services to the renewable energy and biofuels industries.

We represent developers, investors, owners, and lenders in connection with projects at all stages, from investment and tax structuring, through development, construction, financing, and operations. We also draw on our historical experience in the energy industry in representing our renewable energy and biofuels clients with respect to strategic transactions and litigation.

Our multi-disciplinary team of renewable energy and biofuels attorneys draws from multiple offices located across the renewable energy belt, with a dedicated energy regulatory team in Washington, D.C.. With integrated expertise, we provide tailored legal solutions to meet our clients’ strategic and operational needs.

Services Available

Our Practice

Our Renewable Energy & Biofuels team combines extensive knowledge of the renewable energy and biofuels industries with multi-disciplinary expertise to provide a full range of services to our renewable energy and biofuels clients.

• Project Structuring and Ownership Arrangements. Our depth of experience in the energy industry enables us to provide a unique level of expertise in helping clients assess and implement project ownership structures that are advantageous from a tax and operational standpoint and that take into account financing and disposition considerations. The tax members of our team help clients maximize production and energy tax credits as well as other federal and state tax incentives.

• Financing and Capital Markets. We have represented our clients in the successful financing of renewable energy and biofuels projects involving a variety of financing methods, including private equity and debt finance. We provide a full range of capital markets services to our public renewable energy and biofuels clients, and have been a leader in the emergence of public renewable energy investment funds.

• Development and Construction. We have significant experience in the development of renewable energy and biofuels projects, including facility siting and expansion, environmental and air permits, and zoning and land use considerations. We regularly negotiate equipment supply agreements and construction agreements, including engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts for renewable energy and biofuels projects.

• Project Contracts. We draw upon a long history in the energy and agribusiness industries in negotiating the full range of power, energy, feedstock and off-take agreements critical to the success of renewable energy and biofuels projects, as well as associated interconnection and marketing agreements, and swap and other derivative transactions.

• Regulatory. Our energy regulation attorneys regularly represent clients before state and federal energy regulatory agencies. The energy regulation and environmental members of our team are well versed in the legislative and regulatory developments affecting the renewable energy and biofuels industries, including renewable portfolio standards and regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Intellectual Property. We are closely involved with our clients in the evaluation and commercialization of emerging technologies in the renewable energy and biofuels industries, and provide a full range of patent, trademark, trade secret protection and licensing services.

Sectors

The broad experience of our Renewable Energy & Biofuels team includes particular depth in the following industry sectors:
 

• Biomass  We have broad experience in connection with landfill gas and biomass power generation projects, combining experience with the specific issues faced by these projects with a historic depth of experience with conventional natural gas and power generation assets. We provide a full range of services to clients in this sector, including negotiation of feedstock and off-take agreements and other project contracts, environmental permitting, and structuring and negotiation of joint ventures, acquisitions and investments. Our clients include independent developers, investors, and owners of biomass projects.

• Biofuels  Husch Blackwell Sanders has one of the leading biofuels practices in the country. Members of our Biofuels team combine a broad array of energy, agribusiness, environmental, construction, project finance, tax and capital markets experiences to meet the specific needs and challenges of our biofuels clients.

• Wind Energy  Members of our Wind Energy team draw on an extensive history representing electric utilities and independent power producers in all facets of their business, bringing targeted knowledge to the full range of matters affecting wind projects, including land acquisitions and regulation, local and state approvals, federal and state incentives, procurement and construction, and power purchase agreements and interconnection and transmission agreements. With a long-standing commitment to the energy industry, and offices across the emerging wind energy belt, we are where our clients need us to be.