Renewable Energy Attorneys

Years of Focused Experience: The Gibbons Renewable Energy Practice has been successfully completing complex client energy projects for many years, particularly distributed generation projects, including solar. Over a decade ago, Gibbons recognized that New Jersey was at the forefront of solar development, driven by the state’s aggressive Renewable Portfolio Standard and, in particular, its “solar carve-out,” setting the bar nationally for the successful Solar Renewal Energy Certificates (SRECs) program that led to an explosion of solar project development in the state that continues today. Gibbons is also playing a key role in advising many energy-related clients, including major energy generation organizations and industrial and commercial users, as reliability and security of the electrical power grid, clean energy technologies, and environmental sustainability have been increasingly prioritized by governmental entities, private industry, and the public as a whole. Gibbons is providing guidance to clients in such areas as distributed generation and alternative energy sources, including solar, battery storage, hydroelectric power generation, and wind power generation, as well as the increased use of technology in the renewable energy sector.

Full-Service Offering: Our renewable energy services span the full spectrum, covering all relevant legal requirements for these types of projects. Successfully funding, constructing, and operating energy projects, whether solar or other renewable energy or distributed generation projects, is an increasingly dynamic and complex process involving many different stakeholders. Gibbons has developed its leading practice by leveraging our many years of experience across multiple practice groups and disciplines and our deep relationships in the energy, business, banking, and government communities to help our clients structure, finance, and close these complicated transactions.

Diverse Client Base: Gibbons provides the full array of renewable energy legal services to clients of all types and sizes – those directly involved in the energy industry, as well as all other clients in any given industry, requiring energy-related services with respect to their particular businesses. Such representation often addresses the many various parties to energy projects, including equity and tax-equity investors; national, regional, and local developers; site hosts; off-takers; utilities; independent power producers; financial institutions; state and local governments; and some of the nation’s leading energy participants.

Projects of All Types and Sizes: We advise clients on all components of their complex, often groundbreaking distributed generation and other energy projects, including project finance; project and infrastructure development and permitting; loan and grant qualifications; federal and local tax and incentives advice; solar and transitional renewable energy credits; project structures; federal and state regulatory compliance matters; special purpose vehicles and other risk mitigation measures; power purchase agreements (PPAs) and other long-term contracts; site acquisition; easements, leases, and other occupancy rights; construction and development matters, including loans, bridge loans, and long-term finance; and mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, joint bidding arrangements, and revenue securitizations.

Nationally Recognized: With our nationally recognized transactional and finance practices, Gibbons has a long history of advising clients in project finance. A team of Gibbons attorneys from several of our offices concentrates on finance and transactional matters. We have advised on numerous cutting-edge transactions and are well positioned to meet client energy finance needs across the entire New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania regions.

Leader in New Jersey: Clients greatly benefit from our advice and assistance when they are seeking to build renewable energy projects within the state of New Jersey, where Gibbons is the leading government relations law firm and a leader in corporate and business transactional law, real estate finance, land use, and environmental law. Utilizing our experience in the legislative process, strong relationships, and intimate knowledge of government programs and incentives in this area, we help structure transactions to take advantage of project and permanent financing and/or incentives from many private and non-private sources.

Legal Services: We work with businesses covering the full spectrum of today’s dynamic renewable energy industry on projects of all shapes and sizes. We provide cross-disciplinary legal counsel in the following areas, among others:

Structuring of transactions to optimize tax credits and benefits from other federal and state incentive programs
Financing of projects, including debt financing, sale-leaseback arrangements, and equity and/or tax-equity investments
All real estate considerations and issues, including purchases and sales, leases and licenses, permitting, zoning, environmental matters, and regulatory compliance
Due diligence and structuring of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures; partnership, LLC operating, and shareholders’ agreements; and accounting and financial reporting requirements
Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts and supply and vendor contracts
Interconnection, off-taker, and power purchase contracts
Disputes and litigation relating to all aspects of energy projects, including lien and construction related disputes

Areas of Focus

The process of successfully funding, constructing, and operating solar projects is increasingly complex, involving many different stakeholders. Solar power stands out as an industry that has moved well beyond the infancy stage and into its current position as a practical, profitable option for many businesses. Technological advancements and public policy have helped drive this success; however, as incentives have grown increasingly complex, with some multiplying and others contracting, businesses may fail to take full advantage of opportunities to maximize the return on their solar energy investments.

Gibbons has led two hugely successful solar industry events, with more than 500 attendees at each (standing room only): the “Solar Energy for New Jersey Businesses: Developing Your Own On-site Solar Facility” Conference in Woodbridge, New Jersey, and the NJBIZ “Solar Energy Symposium” in Somerset, New Jersey.

Gibbons has represented site hosts, developers, installers, lenders, and others on solar projects of every shape, size, and type. The extensive range and variety of the firm’s experience in the solar industry have driven our prominence in this arena in New Jersey. By way of example, some notable transaction descriptions can be found by clicking on the “Experience” tab above.

Illustrative examples of solar and other renewable energy projects experience:

Represented a global manufacturer of solar panels as lead counsel in the sale of substantially all of its interests in a solar project development business and completed project portfolio consisting of 16 operating solar facilities comprising a total of 353 MW of operating solar photovoltaic capacity across diverse power markets in the United States and Canada, including Arizona, California, Florida, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as Ontario, Canada.
Represented a leading global solar technology manufacturer, developer, and provider of solar energy services and its affiliate, a global owner and operator of renewable energy power plants, with their first distributive generation acquisition of an operating portfolio comprising solar assets for schools, school districts, and commercial and industrial customers, representing 101 projects. Gibbons handled all aspects of the transaction, including legal due diligence of the projects and negotiations and document drafting, including third-party consents from tax equity investors and lenders.
In one of New Jersey’s largest public bond financed solar energy generating projects, represented a nationally recognized solar developer in its negotiations with a New Jersey county improvement authority to establish more than 7.6 MW of energy-producing solar power systems at 31 local and county government locations throughout New Jersey, including public schools, community colleges, public works buildings, courthouses, libraries, and senior and community centers.
Represented a solar developer with respect to a New Jersey school district’s 5 MW solar system for 12 schools, including advice on all aspects of the project from inception and development through transaction flip, including the power purchase agreement, EPC contract, arrangement with the OEM contractor, debt and equity structure, corporate and tax advice, other project related documents, the subsequent operation and management of the projects as Qualified Facilities, and advice relating to the subsequent sale of SRECs.
Represented the fund sponsor in the creation of a $50 million equity fund for the purpose of designing, acquiring, and financing residential and commercial solar projects from 100 kW to 2 MW, primarily in New Jersey.
Represented a major public utility in connection with its innovative solar program, which consists of a $247 million investment over five years to construct 42 MW of grid supply solar photovoltaic facilities on former brownfields, landfills, and historic fills in New Jersey.
Representing a New Jersey megachurch with entering into a Community Solar Site Use Agreement with a New Jersey based solar developer. The agreement allows the church to realize significant revenue from its car parking areas while not losing any parking spaces and retaining control over the parking lots. The arrangement requires the solar developer to design, construct, finance, and own a 2,260 kW(dc) solar carpark canopy facility and sell the power wholesale to the electric grid through participation in New Jersey’s recently adopted Community Solar Energy Pilot Program.
Representing a nationally recognized solar design-build firm, which specializes in commercial, industrial, and utility-scale projects, on a number of its projects, including, for example, two New Jersey based solar projects totaling over 5 MW for a commercial for-profit owner/user, and the development and installation of a 5.2 MW photovoltaic system for a New Jersey college, consisting of roof systems for five buildings and carports for three parking lots.
Representing a publicly held energy services holding company for a New Jersey natural gas utility in relation to its acquisition of a 7.2 MW photovoltaic facility to be constructed on a properly closed landfill, pursuant to Subsection T of New Jersey’s Solar Act of 2012.
Represented a major electric utility company in its efforts to become the operator of the entire power transmission and distribution system for a U.S. territory, which generates and distributes electricity for 1.5 million customers and employs approximately 6,000 people.
Serving as special counsel to a major state transit agency in connection with a distributed generation solutions project incorporating distributed energy solutions, renewable energy, and other technologies to provide resilient power to key transit stations, maintenance facilities, bus garages, and other buildings. The project is the result of a partnership between the transit agency, state board of public utilities, U.S. Department of Energy, and Federal Transit Administration.
Advising a major state public power organization on multiple technology development projects, including a recently designed and built research and development laboratory mirroring the state’s entire power grid and the client’s collaboration to innovate, test, and analyze technological changes and additions to its power grid in a laboratory environment prior to implementing into the actual grid. This innovative project was the first of its kind in the nation, and Gibbons played a key role by creating innovative multiparty, multimember data licenses to build the laboratory and allow for the exchange of confidential data among 15 different organizations.
Representing a European-based leader in power electronics systems engaged in the development and production of solutions, including grid solutions, that ensure operation of electronic systems, including electromagnetic compatibility, power magnetics, and automotive. Gibbons has represented this company in multiple U.S. investments and acquisitions in its power magnetics division, which develops and manufactures customized high-performance equipment in the strategic grid-related market sectors of energy-efficient drive systems, rail technology, and renewable energies.

Battery Storage
Gibbons is experienced in advising on energy storage matters, including battery technology, and has represented various clients operating or investing in battery storage and fuel cells. By way of example:

We are representing a client that is designing and manufacturing key components of battery storage equipment under a global supply contract.
We led the contract development for a major electric vehicle charging stations project for a leading U.S. energy producer, which included leading the work on agreements for the installation, operation, and maintenance of the charging stations and agreements with landowners for use of the property.
We are advising a new batteries group for a major global manufacturer.
We represent a client in the formation of, and investments into, a major power investment fund investing in various projects, including energy storage and wind and solar power.
Our attorneys have worked to solve intellectual property issues with respect to fuel cell and battery technology being developed for the transportation industry.