Energy

Dechert provides comprehensive legal services to companies doing business in newly competitive markets for co-generation and independent power production, energy marketing and brokerage, fuel supply and transport, and commercial and industrial utility use. We also serve as counsel to public and private corporations and institutions that provide capital, equipment, and services to the energy sector, including financial institutions, technology companies, engineering and construction companies, and venture capital firms.

Deregulation Initiatives
With the advent of restructured, competitive markets for electric power, we now advise independent power generators, energy traders, fuel suppliers, and industrial consumers pursuing opportunities in these markets. Our attorneys have experience in siting and permitting industrial facilities, including resource recovery and co-generation plants, and in managing related regulatory, contractual, and public issues. That experience enables us to represent project developers in all aspects of power development, including:

- real estate structuring and agreements for the option and purchase of land;

- environmental due diligence investigations, including assessments of property conditions and environmental permit needs;

- environmental permitting, including assistance in obtaining air, water, and land use permits and negotiations with regulatory agencies over permit conditions;

- negotiation of natural gas supply agreements;

- water procurement agreements with private water companies and public authorities;

- agreements with the Independent System Operator (ISO), including feasibility, impact study, and interconnection agreements;

- zoning and land use regulation, including advice on the applicability of zoning ordinances and appearances before local hearing boards; and

- lobbying and public affairs counseling at the state and local level.

Energy Trading and Marketing
The deregulated power markets have created opportunities for companies to develop new products as they expand their energy trading and marketing activities. We represent clients in these initiatives in a variety of ways, including:

- compliance counseling and regulatory advice on futures, options, swaps, and other derivatives;

- structuring, negotiating, and documenting swaps and derivative transactions; and

- acquisition and sale of emission reduction credits (ERCs) involving pollutant and inter-pollutant trading, negotiations with brokers and sellers of ERCs, and multi-state regulatory certifications and approvals.

Energy Management and Generation Projects
Dechert assists clients in drafting and negotiating alternative power arrangements, including energy commodity and demand agreements, energy performance and management agreements, and power supply agreements.

Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
Our attorneys represent clients before legislative, regulatory, and executive bodies, in both formal proceedings and informal discussions on energy-related matters. We also represent clients in negotiations and administrative hearings at the federal, state, and local level, provide lobbying services, develop legislative strategies, and prepare legislative testimony. In addition, the group provides a legislative tracking service, keeping clients advised on important legislation from introduction to enactment. Our recent experience includes:

- lobbying for electric and natural gas deregulation and restructuring;
- developing model siting legislation;
- creating strategies for local government approvals;
- participating in ISO stakeholder meetings; and
- advising in interstate and intrastate transportation of nuclear waste.

Corporate and Financial Counseling
We have experience in corporate and financial matters, including both conventional and structured finance and leasing transactions. This experience enables us to help clients develop and execute the financial arrangements necessary to meet their specific business and energy-related objectives.

We handle a broad range of corporate and financial matters, including:

- asset purchases and divestitures;
- business and joint venture formation;
- corporate governance and control;
- credit enhancements;
- federal tax structuring;
- mergers and acquisitions;
- public offerings/private placements;
- project, lease, and corporate debt financing in domestic and cross-border markets;
- restructuring and bankruptcy;
- taxable/tax-exempt/leveraged leasing; and
- venture capital.

We counsel clients on a wide array of corporate and financial agreements, including:

- build-own-transfer/build-own-operate agreements;
- commercial loan/credit agreements;
- confidentiality/non-competition agreements;
- construction contracts;
- equipment purchase/leasing agreements;
- letters of intent/memoranda of understanding;
- management agreements;
- operation and maintenance contracts;
- outsourcing agreements;
- teaming agreements;
- technology licensing agreements;
- transmission contracts; and
- vendor warranty/maintenance agreements.

Administrative and Litigation Representation
Our attorneys have experience in the hearings and administrative challenges that often arise in energy projects. We represent clients in a broad range of matters, including:

- review and defense of agency-issued permits;
- challenges to siting decisions;
- responses to citizen suits and governmental enforcement actions; and
- defense of suits relating to operating agreements and allocation of entity financial responsibility.