Energy Storage Market Opportunities, Contracting & Finance

Les Sherman Partner

San Francisco

Les leads Orrick’s US Renewable Energy Practice and has represented developers, investors and others on renewable and traditional energy project transactions for over 30 years.

Chambers publications identify Les as a Leading Lawyer and report that clients say Les is an “icon in California in the renewables space”, has "notable expertise spanning solar and wind generation projects as well as battery storage development" and has “established a reputation as the go-to guy in California”.  Chambers also reports that Clients say Les "has his finger on the pulse of the market", is “creative and responsive”, “the ultimate diplomat”, “deal oriented” and "has a very good eye for detail when thinking through practical agreements and understanding how it is all going to work in practice". Les also is recognized by Euromoney, The Legal 500 and The Expert Guides as a Leading Lawyer in energy project development, M&A and finance.

Les represents many of the industry’s leading companies on project development, financing and M&A transactions for solar, wind, energy storage, biomass, gas and similar projects. Les has led the Orrick team’s thought leadership in the growing battery and hydrogen energy storage market, has published numerous articles on the topic, and has served as lead counsel on many of the largest storage and renewables+storage transactions completed to date.

Harry Clark Partner

Washington, D.C.

Harry Clark is leader of Orrick’s International Trade & Investment team. He advises major companies and industry associations on a variety of international trade and investment rules.

Harry is experienced in areas such as CFIUS/Exon-Florio examinations of foreign investment, military and “dual use” export control regulations (ITAR/EAR), economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC), customs regulations, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, anti-money laundering rules, anti-boycott requirements and defense industrial security requirements. He executes internal corporate investigations regarding trade and investment rules and advises on such rules in the context of corporate transactions.

Additionally, Harry has extensive experience with government contracting matters. His government contracting work has included, for example, design and implementation of U.S. Defense Department renewable energy projects. He also represents broad industry coalitions on major trade litigations and international negotiations. His experience in these areas includes a leading role in what is often considered the largest-ever international trade dispute: the controversy regarding unfair softwood lumber imports from Canada. It has involved myriad administrative proceedings before federal agencies, NAFTA panel appeals, WTO dispute proceedings, judicial proceedings and international settlement agreements.

Harry has represented a coalition of major U.S. oil companies in antidumping and countervailing duty litigation. As a related matter, he pursues policy issues with congressional and executive branch officials and advises on international trade rules (e.g., GATT, WTO agreements and NAFTA).

Chambers 2022 recognizes Harry as a leader in the field of export controls and economic sanctions (Chambers Global and Chambers USA), as well as CFIUS (Chambers USA). Previous editions have also recognized Harry’s achievements regarding his work related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Clients note that Harry provides “accurate, straightforward guidance incredibly efficiently” and “he has an ability to translate complex legal requirements and rules into business-friendly jargon.”

Louise Gibbons Partner

San Francisco

Louise helps finance projects in the renewables and energy transition sectors by representing sponsors, investors and lenders on debt, tax equity and cash equity financings as well as joint ventures.  She is the deputy leader of Orrick’s Energy and Infrastructure Group globally.

Louise has significant experience in the electric power sector, including wind, solar, storage, natural gas, and other forms of renewable energy. She also has experience working in the fuel sector on green hydrogen and renewable natural gas projects.  She regularly represents project developers, sponsors, borrowers, lenders, investment banks, private equity funds and other capital providers and investors in the energy industry.

Louise was named by Legal 500 as a Next Generation Partner in Energy Transactions: Electric Power in 2023 and a 2020 Euromoney Rising Star as part of Euromoney's Americas Rising Star Awards.

Giji John Partner

Houston; Singapore

Giji’s practice focuses on the development and finance of domestic and international energy projects.

He has extensive experience representing project sponsors through development (including through the negotiation and drafting of power purchase agreements and other long-term offtake agreements, physical and financial swaps, engineering, procurement and construction contracts, operation and maintenance agreements, management services agreements and site services agreements), acquisitions and dispositions, joint ventures and financings. His representation has included transactions involving LNG facilities, methanol facilities, petrochemical refineries, carbon capture and sequestration facilities, natural gas processing and storage facilities, natural gas and CO2 pipelines, wind energy, solar energy, natural gas-fired peaking and combined-cycle power plants, thermal and battery energy storage, transportation, aviation and ports.

His prior experiences include a two year secondment to International Finance Corporation’s Office of General Counsel where he worked on multi-currency corporate financings, project financings and equity investments in infrastructure projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Turkey.

Giji is currently ranked as a Projects Leading Lawyer in Chambers Global and Chambers USA, and has been recognized for excellence by numerous leading industry and legal publications, including being named one of 34 "Groundbreaking lawyers" by Public Utilities Fortnightly.

A. Cory Lankford Partner

Washington, D.C.

Cory advises clients on wholesale energy market rules, regulations, and matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relating to the development, ownership, and use of energy projects throughout the U.S.

Cory is recognized as a notable practitioner by Chambers USA, where clients describe him as "thoughtful, responsive and careful in his advice," "a subject matter expert on the regulatory side," and as an attorney who "provides swift and precise advice."

Cory's clients include developers of renewable energy and battery storage projects, electric utilities, financial institutions, and corporations with renewable energy targets.  He advises clients on their rights and responsibilities under the Federal Power Act, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, and the Public Utility Holding Company Act.  In addition, he frequently represents clients in proceedings before FERC to obtain and maintain authorization to sell energy, capacity and ancillary services at negotiated or market-based rates and to purchase and sell direct or indirect ownership interests in energy projects.  Drawing from his broad energy regulatory experience, Cory assists clients in developing and implementing programs to comply with evolving rules, regulations and standards administered and enforced by FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

Before joining Orrick, Cory served as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at FERC, where he led numerous multidisciplinary teams in the development and drafting of many Commission orders addressing Regional Transmission Organizations, compliance with open access requirements, transmission, generator interconnection and qualifying facility certification.  Among his accomplishments at FERC, Cory provided legal counsel on rulemaking proceedings to revise FERC's pro forma Open Access Transmission Tariff and to evaluate national and regional mandatory reliability standards proposed by NERC and its regional entities.  In addition, Cory coordinated with staff at the U.S. Department of Energy to draft the National Action Plan on Demand Response and the corresponding Implementation Proposal to Congress. 

Wolfram Pohl Partner

San Francisco

Wolfram Pohl, a tax partner in the San Francisco office, focuses on the tax aspects of project finance and corporate transactions, with an emphasis on renewable energy and infrastructure projects.

Wolf represents many of the country’s most prominent developers and financing parties in structuring transactions to take advantage of tax credits, Treasury cash grants, depreciation benefits, and other available tax benefits. He has represented developers and tax equity investors in financings of both wind and solar projects, as well as on tax planning for energy storage, carbon capture, and carbon sequestration projects. 

Rohit Sachdev Partner

San Francisco

Rohit represents several of the world’s leading developers of renewable and conventional energy generation projects on project development, M&A and financing arrangements.

He has extensive experience in the solar, wind, energy storage, gas and biofuel sectors, with a particular focus on California and other U.S. jurisdictions. Rohit's past deal experience spans energy and infrastructure projects in the Americas, Asia, India, Europe and the Middle East, and includes award-winning transactions.

In recent years, Rohit's practice has focused particularly on project development and project M&A transactions. He has successfully negotiated thousands of MWs of "physical" and "virtual" PPAs and tolling agreements, as well as a variety of construction, supply and other development arrangements. Rohit has also represented clients on the purchase and sale of renewables projects in various U.S. jurisdictions, as well as joint venture and other project asset arrangements. He has particularly focused on the development, financing and sale of domestic and international energy storage projects, including stand-alone, hybrid, front-of-meter and behind-the-meter projects.

Rohit started his legal career at an international law firm in New York where he focused on project development and project finance transactions across the globe. Prior to law and business schools, Rohit was an investment banking analyst at Credit Suisse in San Francisco where he provided M&A and financial advisory services to technology companies in Silicon Valley.

Eric Stephens Partner

San Francisco

Eric is a leading energy lawyer with a particular focus on development and financing of solar and other renewable energy projects.

Eric helps clients design and build successful renewable energy businesses by advising on how projects and portfolios large and small can maximize their value through well-informed negotiation, efficient diligence and acquisition techniques, and responsive and creative problem solving.

Eric has particularly deep knowledge in helping developers strategically procure the equipment and services necessary to develop, construct, commission, operate and sell renewable energy projects of all sizes, and in helping investors evaluate the development work of potential investments. Development and procurement managers excel at sourcing and pricing a project’s needs, and Eric can build on this by bringing these contracts to completion with deep market knowledge, in a way best suited to the client’s commercial objectives and so that they withstand the scrutiny of project investors, lenders and buyers. Eric balances work for utility-scale projects with the growing distributed energy generation and storage sector, both of which recently include negotiation of contracts to “safe harbor” equipment or construction activities to preserve higher levels of ITC or PTC. He has represented energy project developers, equipment suppliers and installers, publicly-owned utilities, private equity investors and other parties in developing energy projects from very early stages of securing technology and land/resource rights to buying and selling operating assets, and everything in between.

A. Paul Zarnowiecki Partner

Washington, D.C.

Paul represents sponsors, investors, utilities and other strategic participants in corporate and project finance transactions, primarily in the energy and infrastructure sectors. He also serves as the Office Leader for Orrick's Washington, DC office.

Transactions on which Paul has advised include the development, financing, acquisition and divestiture of renewable and conventional power projects and other infrastructure assets in a broad range of commercial and corporate transactions. He has served as lead counsel on some of the most innovative and complex U.S. renewable energy transactions in recent years in both the wind and solar energy sectors.