IN THIS ISSUE

US Partnerships Get a Makeover

Partnership agreements will have to be revised in the wake of new partnership audit rules that the United States enacted in early November...

California's March to 50% Renewable Energy

California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill — SB 350 — in early October committing the state to generate 50% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030...

Community Solar Gains Ground in New York

New community solar rules that took effect in New York in late October should help jump start community solar development in that state...

Future of the Solar Residential Rooftop Business Model

Representatives of four companies who are active in the US solar residential rooftop market had a wide-ranging discussion at a conference hosted by Solar Media in New York in late October about th...

Mexico Tees Up PPA Auctions

Mexico will issue the first request for proposals and bidding guidelines on November 11 to bid on 15-year contracts to sell capacity and electricity from clean energy sources and on 20-year contra...

Wind Tax Equity Update

Two chief financial officers of major US wind companies and three leading tax equity investors talked in mid-October about how much tax equity can be raised on wind farms, current yields, the effe...

FERC Incentives for New Transmission Lines May Help Secure Early Financing

The recent selection of independent transmission developers to construct new transmission lines as part of plans by grid operators to upgrade has opened opportunities for “non-incumbents” to finan...

Energy Hedges: What To Look For

Chadbourne runs internal training sessions for its project finance lawyers...

Europe Moves to Bring More Private Capital Into Infrastructure

The European Investment Bank estimates that the European Union will need to invest €2 trillion in infrastructure in the 28 member countries through 2020...

Concession Agreements and CFIUS

A little known committee within the US Treasury Department could have a big impact on deals involving concession agreements over US infrastructure with foreign contractors or investors...

Environmental update

Recent moves by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman suggest there may be greater peril to companies in what they disclose, or fail to disclose, to investors about the potential effects...

IN OTHER NEWS

State Income Tax Refund Claims

State income tax refund claims are proliferating as states move to drop out or nullify parts of a multistate tax compact that companies are using to make refund claims...

North Carolina

North Carolina clarified in late September how to prove solar projects are far enough along by year end to qualify for a 35% state tax credit...

Investment tax credit

nvestment tax credit regulations that solar, geothermal, and other renewable energy companies use to determine whether, and how much of, their projects qualify for the tax credit are being rewritten.

Standalone Energy Storage

Standalone energy storage facilities can be depreciated on an accelerated basis over five years, the IRS said...

Master limited partnerships

Master limited partnership issues are expected to be resolved “relatively soon.”

Mexico

Mexico adopted its own version of master limited partnerships...

Residual Value Insurance

Residual value insurance was at issue in a case before the US Tax Court in late September...

Attorney-Client Privilege

A tax planning memo was privileged and did not have to be disclosed to the IRS, even though the company shared the memo with its lenders...

Hawaii

Hawaii voted to modify its net metering program...

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues dog two projects in South Africa...

Fossil Fuel Power Plants

Fossil fuel power plants are running at lower capacities, making them more expensive to operate, according to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance in October...

Economic Substance

A key court found economic substance lacking in two transactions in September. The IRS is free to deny tax benefits claimed in transactions that lack economic substance...

CFIUS

CFIUS agreed to let Ralls Corporation sell the development rights to four wind farms in Oregon to investor Dr. Xieuxin Tang, the company said in a statement in early November...

Minor memos

Utility-scale assets were selling for an average of roughly $2.8 million a megawatt for solar and $2 million for wind at the end of 2014, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance...