New Financing Strategies
A wave of new strategies has started to appear in the US to drive down the cost of capital...
Powering Africa
It is a good time to sponsor an energy project in sub-Saharan Africa.
Going Merchant
The last time merchant power plants could be financed and developers were able to raise 100% of the project cost in the debt markets was shortly before Enron collapsed...
Disruptive Business Models
Fuel cells, rooftop solar, small CHP projects, microgrids and other forms of distributed generation threaten to undermine the traditional US utility model...
Portfolio Sales and Consolidation
Edison Mission Energy and BP Wind are just the latest companies to put portfolios of operating projects up for sale...
California Dreaming
What will the California power markets look like in the next 10 years? Will there be incentives for new gas plants? What is the future for a separate capacity market? How much need will there be f...
Renewable Energy Installations Accelerate In Hawaii
Recent legislation, regulatory support and utility-backed initiatives are accelerating Hawaii’s deployment of renewable energy...
Federal Loan Guarantees for Projects in Rural Areas
Some US renewable energy projects — including generation, transmission, distribution and energy efficiency projects — may have greater access soon to attractively-priced debt through a loan guaran...
CFIUS and In-Bound US Investments
Many foreign investors making investments in US companies or projects are unaware that the federal government has sometimes set aside such investments on national security grounds, including a rec...
How to Avoid Creating a Tax Presence in Other Countries
When a company engages in cross-border business in another country, it should be careful, when possible, not to create a taxable presence in the other country.
DOE Loan Guarantees for Advanced Fossil Fuels: They’re Back!
Four years after theDepartment of Energy issued its last solicitation for loan guarantee applications and approaching two years since its last financial closing, the DOE is back into the loan guar...
Energy Storage Update
The nascent electricity storage industry is starting to make progress both in California and at the federal level...
Environmental update
The confirmation of Gina McCarthy as head of the US Environmental Protection Agency in July is a sign the Obama administration will put greater emphasis on climate change issues...
More Construction Start Issues
More construction start issues are likely to be addressed by the Internal Revenue Service this fall...
The Section 1603 Program
The Section 1603 Program is attracting more litigation. Three new lawsuits have been filed in the last two months. Eight suits are now pending...
Wind Farms
Wind farms accounted for 43% of new generating capacity built in the United States in 2012, but 2013 is expected to be a slow year while developers gear back up, according to a new report by Ryan ...
Arizona
Arizona is the latest battleground for rooftop solar companies and utilities.
Fixed-Price Purchase Options
Fixed-price purchase options may receive more attention after a decision by the US Tax Court in a case involving LILOs and SILOs...
Another Leveraged Partnership
Another leveraged partnership has come under attack. Such transactions are sometimes used by sellers of assets to defer a tax on gain...
Solar rooftop systems
Solar rooftop systems owned by solar companies and leased to homeowners are not “immovable” property...
Argentina
Argentina is replacing a list of countries considered tax havens with a new list of “cooperative jurisdictions” that share tax information with the Argentine tax authorities.
Curtailments
Curtailments may not prevent a power plant from being considered in service for tax purposes...
Puerto Rican solar
A Puerto Rican solar project will qualify for an investment tax credit and accelerated depreciation in the United States, the IRS said...
Purchase Price Allocations
Purchase price allocations usually cannot be changed later...
Targeted partnership allocations
Targeted partnership allocations are starting to get attention.
Rescissions
Rescissions will not be addressed any time soon, the IRS said...
Tax-Exempt Bonds
Tax-exempt bonds lost their tax exemption...
Minor memos
Lease accounting in the United States is still on track to change...