Renewable Energy

For the last 20 years, Best Best & Krieger LLP (BBK) attorneys have been at the forefront of assisting developers, landowners and public agencies throughout California to finance, permit and build solar, wind, geothermal, biogas and cogeneration facilities for the production of renewable energy.

These facilities range from utility-scale projects covering hundreds of acres to local self-generation, battery storage and energy efficiency programs.

Projects that were once unique and required creative regulatory and financing strategies have become ubiquitous and the challenges have shifted as the discussion is not whether to adopt renewable energy technologies, but how quickly it can happen with an electrical infrastructure that is struggling to keep up and a fragmented and sometimes contradictory regulatory landscape.

This has led us to work with clients on public private partnerships for local energy infrastructure and microgrids, the electrification of vehicle fleets, school buses and mass transit and the infrastructure to support such efforts. Making these projects a reality requires strategic thinking to ensure that issues with permitting and CEQA compliance do not strangle projects before they can get off the ground.

With a boost in new federal funding and an expansion of federal tax credits in 2022, the financing available for these projects is growing and as renewable resources become competitive with fossil fuels in the cost of production, there is accelerating interest and acceptance of these projects from traditional sources of capital. Enterprises are also looking to directly contract for renewable projects to meet green energy and decarbonization goals.

For our clients who require assistance with energy procurement, such as municipal utilities, community choice aggregators and large industrial users, we assist with project due diligence and the negotiation of long term power purchase agreements for a variety of energy products.

With nearly 200 attorneys across nine California offices, we possess extensive local contacts and the practical experience to navigate clients efficiently and cost-effectively through the legal and regulatory challenges of reaching a clean energy future.

BBK attorneys counsel clients on all aspects of renewable energy projects, including:

Site control, land acquisition, permitting, land use, development and construction, leasing and design-build projects
Environmental laws, such as the federal and state endangered species acts, NEPA and CEQA compliance, among others
Availability of water resources
Negotiation of project contracts, including energy services contracts, power-purchase agreements and interconnection agreements
RFP/RFQ, Government Code 4217 and the design build process for public agencies
Project finance, investment and tax structuring, rebates, tax credits and incentives
Dispute resolution before regulatory bodies and in courts at all levels