Industry Updates from the UT Renewable Energy Law Conference

Feb 5, 2021

Reading Time : 2 min

Conference Highlights:

  • Akin Gump Counsel Hayden Harms served as Presiding Officer for the Tuesday afternoon presentations.
  • High conference attendance confirms a continued and growing interest in renewable technology. With “green initiatives” being supported by the majority of Congress and the White House, everyone from Fortune 100 corporations to city-dwelling homeowners are looking for opportunities to make and/or save money using renewable technologies.
  • COVID-19 continues to disrupt all segments of the renewable energy industry, but participants have been largely successful in finding ways to allocate risk sufficiently to avoid unnecessary or unexpected costs or delays.

What message resonated most from the Renewable Energy Law Conference? Did you notice any changes from the conference last year?

  • With a new administration in the White House, many issues regarding renewable energy policy are up for debate, including tax credit extensions, import tariffs, carbon pricing, transmission, offshore wind, standalone storage and alternative fuels. How the new administration’s policies are expected to impact these topics over the next four years were questions clearly at the top of many presenters’ and attendees’ minds.

    A key trend we noted last year was the growing attendance of historically hydrocarbon-related companies at the conference—learning how their businesses can incorporate and profit from these new technologies; this year, while we expect many of the same players were in attendance, a key takeaway was how focused participants and presenters were on how the federal government is going to impact existing opportunities, and what new opportunities are anticipated.

What were the key drafting tips related to addressing COVID-19 in commercial contracts?

  • COVID-19 is causing disruptions in just about all business models in the renewable energy sector. Key takeaways for properly addressing COVID-19 are: (i) identify and carve-out all impacts of COVID-19 prior to the effective date of the contract, (ii) determine if COVID-19 will have a large enough impact to require its own section in the agreement, or if it can be addressed in the “force majeure” definition, and (iii) identify acceptable measures of relief (i.e., cost relief vs. schedule relief).
  • If addressed in the force majeure definition, do not forget to (i) anticipate relief for “governmental orders” and (ii) determine if your state follows ejusdem generis (allowing broad applicability of common force majeure events) or if COVID-19 will need to be specifically identified.

Share This Insight

Previous Entries

Speaking Energy

March 10, 2025

On March 5, 2025, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) approved Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC’s (GPLNG) request to extend a deadline to begin exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its terminal facility currently under construction in Sabine Pass, Texas for 18 months, from September 30, 2025, to March 31, 2027 (the Order). The Order amends GPLNG’s two existing long-term orders authorizing the export of domestically produced LNG to countries with which the United States does and does not have free trade agreements (FTA).1  The Order does not amend the authorizations’ end date, which remains December 31, 2050. Under section 3 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA), the DOE may authorize exports to non-FTA countries following completion of a “public interest” review, whereas exports to FTA countries are deemed to be in the public interest and the DOE is directed to issue authorizations without modification or delay.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

March 4, 2025

Join projects & energy transition partner Shariff Barakat at Infocast’s Solar & Wind, where he will moderate the “Tax Equity Market Dynamics” panel.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

February 13, 2025

Oil & gas companies continue to identify and capitalize on opportunities related to the deployment of new energy technologies, with their approaches broadly maturing and coalescing around maximizing synergies, leveraging available subsidies and responding to regulatory drivers.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

February 11, 2025

On January 30, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) approved a Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (OE) and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. (Stronghold) resolving an investigation into whether Stronghold had violated the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) tariff and Commission regulations by limiting the quantity of energy made available to the market to serve a co-located Bitcoin mining operation.1 This order appears to be the first instance of a public enforcement action involving co-located load and generation and comes at a time when both FERC and market operators2 are scrutinizing the treatment of co-located load due to the rapid increase in demand associated with data center development.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

February 5, 2025

2024 was about post-consolidation deal flow and a steady uptick in activity across the oil & gas market. This year, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity looks set to take on a different tone as major consolidation plays bed down.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

January 30, 2025

The oil & gas industry is experiencing a capital resurgence, driven by stabilizing interest rates and renewed attention from institutional investors. Private equity is leading the charge with private credit filling the void in traditional energy finance and hybrid capital instruments gaining in popularity. Family offices are also playing a crucial role, providing long-term, flexible investments.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

January 23, 2025

Under a second Trump presidency, the U.S. is expected to consider reversal of many of the Biden administration’s climate and environmental policies, in addition to a markedly different approach to trade policy and oil & gas regulation. This includes expanding oil & gas development on public lands and offshore, lifting the pause on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries and repealing the methane fee.

...

Read More

Speaking Energy

January 15, 2025

We are pleased to share a recording of Akin’s recently presented webinar, “Drilling Down: What Oil & Gas Companies Can Expect from Federal Agencies During Trump’s Second Administration.”

...

Read More

© 2025 Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. All rights reserved. Attorney advertising. This document is distributed for informational use only; it does not constitute legal advice and should not be used as such. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Akin is the practicing name of Akin Gump LLP, a New York limited liability partnership authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under number 267321. A list of the partners is available for inspection at Eighth Floor, Ten Bishops Square, London E1 6EG. For more information about Akin Gump LLP, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and other associated entities under which the Akin Gump network operates worldwide, please see our Legal Notices page.