What is a renewable energy lawyer?
If you are considering developing a renewable energy project, it is essential to hire an attorney with knowledge of energy, land use, administrative, business, and regulatory law. Equally important is to hire an attorney who understands the political environment of the state and locality where you are planning to develop your project and who has a background in energy policy.
A renewable energy lawyer combines all of these areas of expertise, and will help you navigate legal and governmental issues as they arise.
Renewable Energy Projects May Include:
Wind projects,
Solar projects,
Energy storage projects,
Hydropower projects,
Biomass projects, and
Geothermal projects.
Beginning Steps of a Renewable Energy Project
A renewable energy attorney will help your project from the beginning stages of planning.
Deciding the Project’s Location
The most important consideration of a renewable energy project is determining the best location. A renewable energy attorney who understands the implications of your project’s location is absolutely essential.
Projects on tribal land, state land, or private land will go through a much different process than a project developed on federal land. Hiring an attorney who can explain and navigate those different processes is key for the project proponent, because the location will impact the feasibility, costs, and timeline of your project.
Drafting and Negotiating Contracts
Renewable energy projects require many important agreements between a variety of interested parties. Finding a renewable energy attorney with expertise in renewable energy projects is critical to help with drafting and negotiations.
Interested parties in renewable energy projects may include:
Developers,
Landowners,
Utilities,
Grid operators,
Federal and state government agencies,
Tribal governments,
Localities,
Politicians, and/or
Financing parties/investors.
Acquiring and Accessing Project Land or a Commercial Space
The project will likely require either leasing of land and/or commercial space, which can take the form of a ground lease (long term or short term) or commercial lease, or the renewable project may require the negotiation of the purchase of land.
In addition to negotiating for land access rights, the landowner—in many cases—will require some sort of royalty payment or percentage of revenue, if the project actually gets developed and starts producing energy. Having a renewable energy attorney with an expertise in land use law and the ability to learn the going rate of compensation will be extremely useful to a project proponent, especially one from out of state, whois not familiar with the going rate in a particular area.
Even more complicated than negotiating with one landowner is the potential need for an easement across several landowners' properties. A renewable energy attorney will draft an easement agreement that provides access rights and how best to approach landowners to obtain consent.
These negotiations can be some of the hardest because the landowners will not receive the benefit of a revenue percentage from the energy produced, and will view the deal as only having a negative impact on their land.
Power Purchase Agreements
One of the key contracts for a renewable energy project is a power purchase agreement. The power purchase agreement ensures, early on, that the project has a purchaser of the power that will be produced. Negotiating and executing a power purchase agreement will be essential to giving your project legitimacy and helping with financing.
If you are the financing party, an experienced attorney will be able to differentiate between projects that are viable and those that are not, one factor being whether a power purchase agreement has been executed by the developer.
Structuring Your Project
How to structure your project will also be a key consideration. Whether you choose a corporation or a limited liability company, and whether you have different entities for multiple projects or the entire project under one entity are important decisions.
To ensure you are setting up the right structure, you will require an attorney that understands the ins and outs of business law. Additionally, a business attorney will help with selecting an entity that would be most advantageous if you are seeking financing and investors.
Navigating the Regulatory Regime
While simultaneously working to secure land and a power purchase agreement, a project proponent needs to consider regulatory regime and permitting requirements. This includes navigating the federal, state, and local laws and regulatory regime, and will require working with the Tribal government and Bureau of Indian Affairs on projects that take place on tribal lands.
Depending on the renewable energy project specifics, there will be different regulatory hurdles for project proponents to overcome in order to receive the required permits. Permitting approval may be required at every level of government and the complexities in applying for a permit may be different depending on whether the state or local government has robust regulations for renewable projects.
A project proponent will also want to consider any environmental impacts. Environmental assessments and environmental regulatory compliance can be a lengthy and expensive endeavor. A renewable energy lawyer will help with risk management, spotting potential issues and hurdles, and help you navigate the sometimes infuriating and usually very expensive administrative process that is required from certain government agencies.
While implementing a renewable energy project may sometimes be less burdensome than oil and gas and mineral extraction projects, there is still a fair share of regulatory hurdles to overcome. Many times it will vary significantly depending on the state the project is taking place in, and the ownership of the land.
Stakeholder Engagement
One of the biggest mistakes in any energy project is not considering stakeholder engagement from the very beginning. Any experienced renewable energy lawyer knows that sometimes, more important than any of the contract negotiations, is the buy-in from the politicians and citizens impacted by the project.
An attorney who has a background in energy policy, government relations, relationships with key decision-makers or who understands who the key decision-makers are, will be helpful in getting a project over the finish line.
Hire a Renewable Energy Lawyer for Your Next Project
Given the complexity of renewable energy projects, it is essential to hire a renewable energy attorney with experience in working on renewable projects and an understanding of the many different facets of them. Whether you are a landowner, developer, or an investor, hiring a lawyer that understands not only the law but the process is extremely important in making sure you are being represented as best as possible.
Kelley Lewis has years of experience working on all different types of renewable and other energy projects. Kelley has deep relationships across the US not only on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., but also the state governments throughout the West and various localities and tribal governments.
