Renewable Energy

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

Solar Finance

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.

Solar Industry Leadership

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.

Extensive Solar Experience

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.