Currents

The renewable energy industry saw a tremendous amount of success in 2016, but the new year brings some uncertainty, both in the US and abroad. In this episode, we speak to Todd Alexander, partner in Chadbourne's New York office, to discuss why he thinks 2017 will be continue to bring success to the industry.

It is the start of a new year. The Trump presidency and the likelihood of corporate tax reform have added an element of unpredictability. On January 17, 2017 Chadbourne hosted a webinar among a group of project finance industry veterans about what to expect in the year ahead for tax equity, bank and term loan B debt and project bonds.

There is a tremendous amount of opportunity for energy and infrastructure development in Africa. In this episode, we speak to Chadbourne partner Ikenna Emehelu to discuss opportunities, challenges, the future of the Electrify Africa Act, and what a Trump administration means for the African energy and infrastructure market.

The bankruptcy of solar power developer SunEdison has been one of the most discussed topics of the US renewable energy market in 2016. Christy Rivera, partner in Chadbourne's bankruptcy group, joins us to discuss outcomes, surprises and lessons learned from SunEdison's bankruptcy filing.

President-Elect Trump has positioned US infrastructure investment as a top priority, and the topic was a rare source of bipartisan agreement throughout the 2016 election season. In this episode, we're joined by Chadbourne partner Doug Fried and Mike Parker, US Infrastructure Advisory Leader of Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors, LLC to discuss opportunities in the infrastructure sector and how the public-private-partnership ("P3") model is likely to play a role.

The markets are trying rapidly to assess the effects of a Trump presidency on the energy industry. On Thursday, November 10, 2016, Chadbourne hosted a webinar with five experts in Washington who are close to energy and tax policy for an assessment of what the election results mean for renewable energy. The participants were: Keith Martin, Partner, Chadbourne & Parke LLP (Moderator)Richard Glick, General Counsel (minority), Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and former senior policy advisor to the US Secretary of Energy Mark Menezes, Vice President, Federal Relations, Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company, and former Chief Counsel, House Energy and Commerce Committee Joseph Mikrut, Partner, Capitol Tax Partners and former Tax Legislative Counsel, US Department of the Treasury Kathleen Weiss, Vice President, Government Affairs, First Solar

Chadbourne associate Megan Strand joins us to discuss net metering, an important tool in the continued deployment of distributed solar in the United States. As utilities and developers battle over net metering policy, we explore the different methods states are using to promote - and manage - net metering.

In part two of our discussion on offshore wind development in the United States, Chadbourne counsel Kat Gamache delves into the complex regulations that developers of US offshore wind projects should consider. Topics discussed include the Jones Act, the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), and the recent Supreme Court ruling in Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing. Kat also covers some of the challenges that these projects face when securing long-term, fixed-price power purchase agreements (PPAs) and government permits.

Benjamin Koenigsberg and Christine Brozynski take us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the complex financing and construction of the Block Island Wind Farm, the first offshore wind farm in the US. What hurdles did the team clear to make it happen and what does this mean for future projects?

Chadbourne & Parke is excited to announce that we have launched a new podcast featuring in-depth interviews on the latest developments in project finance. Chadbourne Currents talks to key business leaders and policy makers to investigate important trends affecting global energy and infrastructure markets. The diverse topics that we will explore include the future of US offshore, net-metering trends, Islamic finance and much more.We hope you will enjoy listening to Chadbourne Currents. Please send us your questions on trends in the project finance space, and we will try to cover them in an upcoming show. You can reach us by email at Currents@Chadbourne.com, on our contact page, or send us a tweet at @CurrentsPodcast.