Energy Projects

Sutherland’s broad energy practice, staffed by more than 60 attorneys, serves the acquisition, divestiture and project development needs of a diverse group of energy clients. Our clients include financial institutions, large industrial companies, independent power producers, and electric generation and transmission cooperatives. Our experience covers a wide range of energy sources and technologies, such as natural gas-fired, coal-fired, nuclear, LNG, cogeneration, combined heat and power/district energy, and renewable energy projects.

In every sophisticated energy project, the devil is in the details, and how those details relate to each other. Our multi-disciplinary team has a deep understanding of the energy business. This foundation permits us to address effectively the full range of issues that arise when buying, selling or developing energy assets.

We regularly handle:

Asset purchase and sale agreements
Joint development agreements, LLC operating agreements and other structuring arrangements
Complex co-ownership arrangements
Asset management agreements
Power purchase agreements
Steam and other commodity off-take agreements
Agreements for the sale of environmental attributes
Fuel and water supply agreements
Pipeline transport agreements
Electric transmission and natural gas pipeline interconnection agreements
Terminal use agreements and LNG sales contracts
Engineering, procurement and construction (or design/build) contracts
Operation and maintenance agreements
Ground lease or other site control arrangements
Federal, state and local tax and development incentives
Financings

We provide counsel and assistance regarding:

Purchase and sale of power generation assets, including interests in natural gas, coal, nuclear and renewable energy facilities.
Energy project development initiatives, from site control to declaration of commercial operation, plus all the commercial arrangements and regulatory approvals in between.
Purchase and sale of oilfield services companies, lines of business and equipment on behalf of publicly held oilfield services companies and financial institutions.
Mergers and acquisitions of natural gas and electric utility companies on behalf of energy service companies, financial institutions and public utility holding companies.
Purchase, sale and investment in downstream energy assets, from refineries and other petrochemical facilities to terminals and storage facilities.
Purchase, sale and financing of midstream energy assets, including natural gas transportation pipelines, gathering systems and storage facilities as well as oil pipeline facilities.
Purchase, sale and joint development or joint purchase of interests in upstream energy assets, for both oil and gas producing and exploration assets, for domestic and international clients.
Purchase and sale of renewable energy assets, including interests in wind, biomass (including landfill gas), hydroelectric, geothermal and solar generating facilities.

We are privileged to have served some of the world’s leading energy industry participants, including:

British Nuclear Fuels
East Kentucky Power Coop.
Element Markets, LLC
Enbridge Inc.
J. Aron/Goldman Sachs
KGen Power Corp.
Oglethorpe Power Corp.
Statoil
Veolia Energy N.A.
Westinghouse
Wolverine Electric Coop.