3rd Conference on Renewable Project Development

Overview

This conference will explore the legal and business trends and issues facing the growing renewables sector of the energy industry. The conference will focus on renewable project development and is designed primarily for attorneys and legal consultants representing the energy industry.

Conference Co-Chairs

Kevin A. Ewing
Bracewell LLP
Washington, D.C. 

Lauren Wygant Woodard
Senior Legal Counsel
Shell USA, Inc.
Houston, Texas

Registration Options

• $475 - Regular Registration Fee
• $375 - IEL Advisory Board Member
• $375 - IEL Supporting or Sustaining Member Employee
• $375 - IEL Young Energy Professional Member
• $375 - Government Employee
• $375 - In-House Counsel
• $75 - Law Student
• $75 - Full-time Professor

Schedule and Faculty

8:15 a.m. - Registration

8:50 – 9:00 a.m. Welcome, Overview and Introductions

9:00 – 9:45 a.m. - Keynote Conversation with Katie Ellet, Air Liquide’s Hydrogen Leader

Join a lively conversation with Katie Ellet, who leads Air Liquide’s Hydrogen Energy and Mobility business in North America. Air Liquide has already invested over $1 billion in the U.S. and $5 billion worldwide and has secured positions in six of seven DOE Hydrogen Hubs—proving how energy transition technologies are big business, with big prospects. Interviewed by Bracewell partner Dee Martin, Katie will share her unique perspective on hydrogen’s dramatic ascent and the challenges and opportunities of leadership in the expanding hydrogen economy.

Interviewer: Dee Martin, Bracewell LLP, Washington, D.C.

Interviewee: Katie Ellet, President, Hydrogen Energy and Mobility, North America, Air Liquide, Houston, Texas

9:45 – 10:30 a.m. - Setting the Table: Tomorrow’s Clean Energy Technologies

Lawyers need to know where energy transition technologies will be in the next five years, with emphasis on hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration, battery storage, and offshore wind. Join us as we look over the horizon to learn about the pace of change and key constraints like critical minerals.

• Katherine Zimmerman, Decarbonization Director, Americas, Wood PLC, Houston, Texas

10:30 – 11:00 a.m. - BREAK

11:00 – Noon p.m. - Lawyering at the Frontier of New Technology

What unique legal issues arise when advising on battery storage, hydrogen, carbon capture and sequestration, and floating offshore wind? This panel will review a wide range of challenges related to procuring contracts for equipment that is still in development; securing permits for novel activities and facilities under traditional statutes; staying commercially resilient during long project development timelines; managing project-on-project risks; and other legal issues at the frontier of the energy industry.

• Ryan A. Haddad, Reed Smith LLP, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Elina Teplinsky, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Washington, D.C. & London, United Kingdom
• Richard Yuen, Senior Counsel, Chevron, Houston, Texas

Noon – 1:00 p.m. - NETWORKING LUNCH

1:00 – 1:45 p.m. - Renewable Energy Economics

Representing energy clients in renewable energy developments requires an understanding of the economics of such developments. This session will focus on the current and future economics of renewable energy development, including renewable investment trends, drivers and limiting factors, and some hot topics.

• Sam Newell, PhD, The Brattle Group, Boston, Massachusetts

1:45 – 2:45 p.m. - Tax Policy 201 and Market Reactions

Now that the dust has settled, where do we stand with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022? This session will provide an update on the implementation of the IRA, including the market response and continuing opportunities for development.

Moderator: Henry E. Myers, Clifford Chance US LLP, New York, New York

Panelists:

• Elizabeth McGinley, Bracewell LLP, New York, New York
• Jeff A. Romero, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Houston, Texas
• Jon Sellars, Managing Counsel - Downstream & Renewables, Shell USA, Inc., Houston, Texas

2:45 – 3:30 p.m. - M&A and Financing Renewable Energy

As renewable energy projects continue to reach final investment decisions, transactions of all kinds continue to increase. Decisions regarding these transactions include consideration of consolidations, sell-downs, JV structuring, financings, and tax equity. This session will consider the various options for financing developments, primarily from a U.S. deal perspective, but also drawing comparisons to the deal markets abroad.

• Alysha Alibhai, Senior Legal Counsel, Mergers & Acquisitions, TotalEnergies (US), Houston, Texas
  
• Steven P. Otillar, White & Case LLP, Houston, Texas
  
• Tom M. Tomlinson, Bracewell LLP, Houston, Texas

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. - BREAK

3:45 – 4:30 p.m. - Federal Permitting for Renewable Energy Projects

Central to renewable energy development are the policies and requirements of federal leasing, permitting, and environmental impact reviews. This session will explore the unique challenges for renewable energy arising from novel technology and permitting processes, and vacillating policy perspectives of successive presidential administrations.

• Megan Davis, General Counsel, Vault 44.01, Dallas, Texas
• Alexandra Hamilton, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Washington, D.C.
  
• Kerry L. McGrath, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Washington, D.C.

4:30 – 5:15 p.m. - Renewables and Re-old-ables: The Long History of the Renewable Project

This session will look at older renewable projects that have existed for decades in an effort to learn from their successes and failures. By analyzing these older projects, we can apply their lessons to the significant expansion of new projects, including working with regulators, financing, and overcoming obstacles, including community opposition.

• Tod Everage, Kean Miller LLP, New Orleans, Louisiana
  
• Scott Goldberg, VP – Carbon Solutions, EnLink Midstream, Dallas, Texas
• Carter Williams, Chief Litigation Counsel, Equinor, Houston, Texas

5:15 – 6:15 p.m. Networking Reception

MCLE Credit

Texas Course Number 174234777. This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 5.75 credit hours, of which no credit hours will apply to ethics/professional responsibility credit.

IEL will directly apply (if requested) for course accreditation in the following additional states: California, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Attorneys may be eligible to receive CLE credit through reciprocity or attorney self-submission in other states, which may require you to pay an additional fee. Credit hours vary depending on the jurisdiction. IEL conferences are typically accredited by all mandatory CLE states. Please review your jurisdiction’s MCLE regulations for more information on the ability to obtain credit for this program.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Overnight Accommodations

IEL has not arranged a hotel block for this conference, but there are numerous hotel options near the Norris Conference Center. A partial list of potential hotels or motels is included by clicking on the button below. (Note that descriptions and services may have changed for the hotels). 

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