Helping you maximize your opportunities at every development stage

Our Energy Technology and Renewables practice meets the needs of companies, investors, and lenders in every stage of development.

For example, we provide our emerging-company clients with cost-effective services, such as general corporate, finance and securities, trademark and patent prosecution, governmental strategies and employment. If your company has moved into growth mode, we help you address issues involving energy regulatory and environmental compliance, project structuring and finance, public securities offerings, tax and real estate. We also work with investors and lenders to assess emerging and more established businesses.

Our goal is to help you succeed, whether your company creates, manufactures, or markets advanced or renewable energy technologies; or if you develop projects using these resources.

For governmental agencies and academic institutions addressing clean energy challenges or policies, we provide targeted counsel in all key strategic areas.

An evolving industry

As the clean energy sector continues to evolve, successful decision makers must rely on knowledgeable counsel to help them anticipate where this dynamic industry is heading, so they can respond quickly to take advantage of the right opportunities. Likewise, investors and lenders need advisors familiar with the industry’s potential risks and rewards, so they can make better investment decisions. At Foley Hoag, we have the knowledge, experience and resources to deliver solutions-oriented advice to you, whether you are directly involved in some aspect of this increasingly important industry or if you are an investor seeking more passive opportunities.

We can help in a wide variety of areas, including:

  • Finance, tax, project structuring, intellectual property, and employment strategies needed to move a company successfully through the start-up, public offering and public company stages
  • Environmental and regulatory issues that can arise in the course of permitting and operating clean energy projects
  • Potential issues surrounding main­taining a high standard of corporate social responsibility

In our work with government and quasi-public agencies, we provide advice about investing in clean energy projects, technologies and education initiatives. We are familiar with the public health and environmental concerns of nonprofit and government agencies; and we routinely assist in formulating responsive policies.


Starting Up and Moving to the Next Level

We assist our emerging energy technology companies in managing the business and legal issues that commonly arise in the early years. Our work with our startup clients is widely varied, including creating equity incentive plans, complying with relevant employment laws, protecting and acquiring intellectual property, and managing domestic and international distribution and licensing. When you need financing, we know how to secure and negotiate funding from a network of venture capital investors and government agencies. Our familiarity with the perspectives of both the investor and the company allows us to offer the highest quality services to each.


Finance and Securities

Whether your company is in the startup stage or is already an established public company, our corporate finance and securities lawyers will provide sophisticated and appropriate guidance. We regularly counsel clients on initial and secondary public offerings; private placements; business combinations involving equity, tender and exchange offers; and other transactions. We also provide advice about complying with securities laws and corporate governance matters.

Protecting Your Patents and Trademarks

We know that a primary concern for our clean energy clients is developing and protecting their ideas and designs. We have a sophisticated and experienced group of practitioners who are used to handling all aspects of the intellectual property marketplace. Our approach is truly multidisciplinary, with patent and international trademark lawyers working directly alongside our energy and technology professionals to help you realize your business goals.

Structuring Your Project
We work with our clients to structure special-purpose entities for developing clean energy projects. These entities are aimed at minimizing risk to investors and developers, capitalizing on the various tax and other governmental incentives available, and otherwise maximizing returns to investors. Our business and tax departments work hand-in-hand to provide strategic, creative and practical advice geared toward getting your projects built in the most cost-effective and profitable manner possible.

Environmental Permitting

We help our clients secure federal, state and local permits for various renewable energy projects, such as community wind, commercial wind, biomass power generation, combined heat and power and landfill gas generation. Work­ing with our Real Estate Practice group, we can help you effectively move through the project development process, which includes complex environmental due diligence, site acquisitions and zoning approvals. Our active participation in environmental agency policy committees gives us the ability to advise energy technology companies on coming environmental regulatory trends.

Energy Regulatory and Market Advice

We are also experienced in qualifying facilities to generate Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), selling RECs and drafting power sales agreements. Additionally, we provide our clients with advice on interconnecting wind, photovoltaic and combined heat and power facilities, analyzing Produc­tion Tax Credit issues, and negotiating property tax agreements for renewable energy facilities sited on private and municipal land. Our lawyers have also negotiated special contracts for standby and supplemental service. We demonstrate our commitment to furthering the industry by hosting public policy discussions with regional leaders.

Government Strategies

The relationship between government and clean energy companies often in­volves close cooperation. With offices in Boston and Washington, D.C., and with lawyers who have worked in government at both the federal and state level, we have an understand of the legislative and regulatory processes you face. We also know the high-level decision makers. This allows us to help you navigate the processes to obtain the approvals and incentives that will help your business move ahead.

Corporate Social Responsibility

We assist clients in managing the risks and identifying the opportunities related to global warming. We can help you avoid any potential damage to your reputation, customer loyalty and competitiveness. If your company is embarking on or seeking to improve a carbon reduction strategy, we can help you formulate corporate responses, and understand new policy developments and international emissions transactions. We also help you develop partnerships with non-govern­mental organizations, demonstrating your firm’s commitment to addressing climate change.

Areas of Clean Energy Experience

Foley Hoag lawyers have worked with clients in all of the following areas of clean energy:

  • Wind
  • Biomass and Biomass Gasification
  • Solar Thermal and Photovoltaics
  • Wave Energy
  • Landfill Gas
  • Hydrogen Generation
  • Fuel Cells
  • Cellulosic Ethanol
  • Biodiesel
  • Hydropower
  • Emission Reduction and Renewable Energy Credits
  • Energy Efficiency and Demand Response
  • Electric Grid Management Software
  • Power Plant Emission Optimization Software

Links

Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy
http://www.state.ma.us/dte

Independent System Operator - New England (ISO-NE)
http://www.iso-ne.org/

Restructuring Roundtable
http://www.raabassociates.org/main/roundtable.asp

Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources (DOER)
http://www.state.ma.us/doer

Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/

National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
http://www.naruc.org/

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
http://www.ferc.gov/

Federal Communications Commission
http://www.fcc.gov/

Northeast Energy and Commerce Association (NECA)
http://www.necanews.org/