Renewable Energy Law Conference
San Diego, California, USA
The Westin San Diego
400 West Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
Online registration is closed. Please bring your completed registration form to the door.
Registrar: +1.972.244.3405
IEL: +1.972.244.3424
Fax: +1.972.244.3401
E-Mail: iel@cailaw.org
Overview
Download the Brochure (pdf)
For more details, download the online brochure.
Highlights
- Federal Tax Subsidies for Renewable Energy Projects
- Consumer Law Issues for Residential Solar
- Bank and Institutional Debt in Renewable Sector
- Acquisitions and Dispositions of Renewable Energy Projects
Conference Co-Chairs
Stephen F. Case
San Diego Gas & Electric Company
San Diego, California
Wayne W. Song
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Los Angeles, California
Tuition
- $435 / $495 - Regular registration fee
- $345 / $395 - IEL Advisory Board Member
- $345 / $395 - IEL Supporting or Sustaining Member Employee
- $345 / $395 - CAIL Member or Member Employee
- $345 / $395 - Government Employee
- $145 - Materials Only
Schedule and Faculty
8:00 am
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45 am
Welcome and Introduction to the Conference
Conference Co-Chairs
- Stephen F. Case, San Diego Gas & Electric Company, San Diego, California
- Wayne W. Song, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Los Angeles, California
9:00 am
State of Federal Tax Subsidies for Renewable Energy Projects
Federal tax benefits are worth at least 56¢ per dollar of capital cost for the typical renewable energy project. As such, tax equity remains a core part of financing such projects. What is the outlook for the tax subsidies, and what are current trends and issues in the tax equity market?
Keith Martin, Chadbourne & Parke LLP, Washington, D. C.
9:40 am
Power Purchase Agreements
The agreement to sell generated energy is a project’s primary source of revenue, and therefore is central to financial and legal structuring. The panel will discuss contractual and regulatory considerations for Power Purchase Agreements in both the utility and distributed generation contexts.
- Howard E. Susman, Stoel Rives LLP, San Diego, California
- Stephen F. Case, San Diego Gas & Electric, San Diego, California
- Kristin Kotch, Assistant General Counsel, Distributed Generation Legal Group, SunEdison, San Francisco, California
10:40 am
Break
10:55 am
Energy Imbalance Markets and Renewable Resources
Understanding the fundamentals of the California ISO energy imbalance market proposal and how it can help integrate renewable resources.
Sidney Davies, Assistant General Counsel, California Independent System Operator Corporation, Folsom, California
11:40 am
Consumer Law Issues for the Residential Solar Industry
Scrutiny for the advertising of alternative energy products is at its highest level. Learn what types of claims require substantiation, what type of substantiation is required and how to advertise renewable energy claims in all forms of media, while avoiding claims by the FTC, state attorneys general and class action attorneys.
Brian L. Heidelberger, Winston Strawn LLP, Chicago, Illinois
12:15 pm
Networking Luncheon
1:45 pm
Hot Topics in Solar PV Equipment Warranties and Performance Guarantees
- Common long-term solar PV equipment warranties and performance guarantees
- What trends are emerging? Are the warranties/guarantees different for utility scale and distributed generation projects?
- How long must the warranties last?
- How do these compare to warranties and guarantees compare to those in the wind industry?
- How are PV panels tested prior to installation?
- How are PV panels tested during and after installation?
- What role do EPC contractors play?
- What solutions are available to mitigate defects and credit risk? \
- Jeffrey R. Atkin, Foley Lardner LLP, Los Angeles, California
- Robert James, Solar Engineer, GL Garrad Hassan, San Diego, California
- Brian Grenko, Director of Operations, Yingli Solar, San Francisco, California
- Jimmy Chuang, VP of Structured Finance, SolarCity, San Francisco, California
2:30 pm
Bank and Institutional Debt in Renewable Sector - Recent Trends
Our speaker will review recent trends in debt finance including:
- factors affecting choice of bank versus institutional debt
- the range of bank and institutional debt products currently available
- typical intercreditor issues between bank debt and institutional debt providers
- debt/tax equity forbearance
- project-level issues (PPAs, creditworthiness of equipment suppliers, reserve requirements, etc.)
Allan Marks, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, Los Angeles, California
3:15 pm
Break
3:30 pm
Legal Issues Raised by Distributed Generation and Net Metering
More than 300,000 “net metered” solar systems are now interconnected with utilities across the country, adding gigawatts of distributed generation capacity. The explosive growth of solar and other forms of distributed generation is creating new issues and opportunities for utilities, project developers, and customers, with laws and regulations evolving quickly in many of the 43 states that permit net metering. What are the current regulatory trends, and how will these trends affect distributed generation and net metering in the future?
- Kenneth M. Kulak, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Eran Mahrer, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Research, Solar Electric Power Association, Washington, D.C.
4:15 pm
Market Trends in Energy Project Acquisition/Disposition Deal Terms
What are the key components a buyer needs to evaluate, and what are the pitfalls buyers typically find in projects or project portfolios presented to them? This session will examine how the key negotiated terms in energy project M&A deals are being resolved in the current market along with the primary factors involved in getting a deal closed. This session also will discuss the M&A strategies that need to be employed in executing the varying types of strategic alliances that have become prevalent in the current environment.
- Dirk R. Mueller, Farella Braun + Martel LLP, San Francisco, California
- Elliot Hinds, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Los Angeles, California
5:00 pm
Adjourn
5:00 pm
Networking Reception
CLE Credits
MCLE Credit
This program is approved by the State Bar of Texas for 6 hours, no ethics. Course ID Number: 901277515. This program is also approved by the State Bar of California for 6 hours, no ethics. California certificates of attendance will be available. Sign-in sheets and/or certificates of attendance will be available for ALL states.
Specialization Credit
This program is approved by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization for 6 hours in the following areas: Administrative Law, Oil, Gas and Mineral Law and Real Estate
Hotel Information
The cost of housing is not included in tuition. However, rooms (in limited number) have been reserved at The Westin San Diego, 400 West Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101. Registrants should call 1-888-627-9033 and advise them they are attending the "CAILAW Institute for Energy Law Meeting" to receive a reduced room rate of $189 + tax. The last day to obtain this special rate is January 6, 2014.
Other Information
Press Policy
All IEL conferences are held under the Chatham House Rule. Participants, including journalists, are free to use any information received, but comments may not be attributed to any speaker identified by name or affiliation.
Nondiscriminatory Policy
The Center for American and International Law does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status in educational activities, scholarship programs or admissions.
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