Scott W. Cockerham

When it comes to renewable energy, the importance of creative and practical tax counsel cannot be overstated. Scott helps renewables and energy transition-focused sponsors and investors navigate this constantly changing landscape.

• Engagements

  • Chevron New Energies on its collaboration with Raven SR and Hyzon Motors to develop, construct and own a green waste-to-hydrogen production facility in Richmond, California, that will supply hydrogen fuel to transportation markets in Northern California.
  • MyPower Corp. on the full acquisition of Solstice Power Technologies, a service provider specializing in customer management for community solar development.
  • Equinor on the 100% acquisition of U.S.-based privately owned battery storage developer East Point Energy, whose assets include a 4.1 GW current pipeline of early to mid-stage battery storage projects focused on the U.S. East Coast.
  • Intersect Power, a clean energy company, on a US$750 million growth equity investment from TPG Rise Climate, Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, LLC. and Trilantic Energy Partners North America.
  • ORIX Corporation USA on an equity investment by its Special Opportunities group in three anaerobic digestion projects in Iowa and South Dakota that will produce usable RNG while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Recurrent Energy on the sale of the 105 MW solar plus 80 MWh storage Gaskell West 2 and 3 project in Kern County, California to Matrix Renewables.
  • Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. in its strategic co-investment and co-development partnership with Solariant Capital to develop over 1.0 GWac of solar and 2.5 GWh of BESS projects in the Southeast and Southwest U.S.
  • Excelsior Energy Capital in their purchase of the 204.7 MW White Creek Wind Project in Washington state.
  • Generate Capital on its equity investment in Amp Americas, a leader in the US renewable transportation fuel industry, to expand its dairy RNG portfolio.
  • CleanCapital on acquiring a 65.3 MW portfolio of solar assets spanning 12 states from BR Group Holdings, LLC.
  • Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure in its investment in three early stage solar + storage projects with a total capacity of 280 MW + 145 MW / 580 MWh of energy storage capacity in New Mexico.
  • MEAG, acting in its capacity as Munich Re’s global asset manager, on the acquisition of a 50% stake in the Maverick 6 Solar + Storage Project, a 131 MW solar + a 50 MW battery storage system, and the 179 MW Maverick 7 Solar Project ;in Riverside County, California from EDF Renewables.
  • A utility-scale renewable energy developer in the sale of its pipeline of high-quality utility-scale solar and storage projects totaling 20,000 MW across 12 states.
  • The Wunder Company and ClearGen LLC in the creation of a cash equity joint venture for the development of commercial-scale solar projects across the United States.
  • CleanCapital in the acquisition of a portfolio of 43 project entities, consisting of approximately 65 MW of operating PV solar projects from Kenyon Energy.
  • Recurrent Energy in a joint venture with Axium Infrastructure for the combined 350 MW Crimson battery storage project in Riverside County, California.
  • Apex Clean Energy in a complex refinancing of a portfolio for two wind energy projects and a solar project in Texas that was being restructured in the aftermath of the February 2021 severe Winter Storm Uri and the resulting Texas energy market disruptions.
  • TotalEnergies in its joint venture formation with Simply Blue Energy for the development of floating offshore wind projects in the United States.
  • KKR as cash equity investor in an approximately $1.1 billion investment in a 1,625 MW portfolio of 12 solar and wind projects developed by NextEra Energy Resources and NextEra Energy Partners, LP.
  • Cypress Creek Renewables as sponsor in an inverted lease tax equity and back leverage debt financing for a 98 MW utility-scale solar project.
  • True Green Capital Management as sponsor in a partnership flip tax-equity financing of a portfolio of distributed generation solar assets.
  • Major technology company as tax-equity investor in a partnership flip financing of a fuel cell project in New York City that will monetize benefits from NYSERDA’s Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) program.
  • True Green Capital Management as sponsor in a sale leaseback financing for a portfolio of solar projects.
  • GSO Capital Partners LP, an affiliate of Blackstone (NYSE: BX), in its preferred and common equity investment in Altus Power America, Inc. and in securing an investment-grade term loan facility and a construction-to-term loan facility for Altus Power America, a market-leading solar developer that provides clean electricity to commercial, industrial and municipal clients across the United States. The transaction resulted in $850 million of funded and committed capital to Altus Power to refinance its existing capital structure and fund future development.
  • Apollo Global Management in the sale of its equity interest in the 130 MW Arlington Valley Solar Energy II (AVSE II) project in Maricopa County, Arizona.
  • Cypress Creek Renewables on a mezzanine debt financing backed by a 1.6 GW portfolio of operating solar projects, and a senior financing of a portfolio of 14 operating solar projects, and the structuring of related tax equity buyouts funded with debt proceeds.
  • Sammons Renewable Energy, as developer, in the acquisition and tax-equity financing of a 162.9 MW wind project in Texas with two large bank investors.
  • Sammons Renewable Energy in the acquisition of a 194 MW portfolio of operating solar projects from Heelstone Energy. The 36-project portfolio produces enough electricity to power approximately 26,400 homes.
  • Global Infrastructure Partners in connection with its $1.375 billion acquisition of a controlling interest in NRG Yield, Inc.
  • RBC Capital Markets and SunTrust Bank in an aggregate $101 million tax-equity investment in a portfolio of residential rooftop solar projects developed by Vivint Solar.
  • Recurrent Energy in the sale of a 535 MW portfolio of California utility-scale solar assets to Shenzhen Energy and Korea Electric Power.
  • Advantage Capital Partners in the formation of a large tax-equity fund and the deployment of fund capital in five separate tax-equity transactions with different sponsors.
  • RBC Capital Markets in two tax-equity funds of commercial and small utility-scale solar assets developed by Onyx Renewable Partners.
  • 8minutenergy Renewables, LLC in the sale of its 328 MW Mount Signal 3 solar project to Capital Dynamics. The project is the third phase of the 800 MW Mount Signal Solar Farm, which is among the largest solar projects in the world.
  • Amp Solar Group in connection with two tax-equity funds with community solar assets in Massachusetts and Minnesota.
  • RBC Capital Markets in the tax-equity and debt financing of an approximately 100.5 MW wind project developed by NRG Renew LLC.
  • Scout Clean Energy and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners as developers in the tax-equity financing of a 200 MW wind farm in Oklahoma in which EFS Renewables was the tax-equity investor.
  • Falck Renewables in the acquisition of Recurrent Energy’s sponsor interest in an existing tax-equity partnership that owned a 71 MW utility-scale solar project in North Carolina. This was Falck Renewables’ first investment in a United States solar asset.
  • SunPower Corporation in connection with the sale of a sponsor-equity interest in a portfolio of residential rooftop solar projects and the acquisition of an approximately $53 million back-leverage credit facility from Investec.
  • Sunnova in two tax-equity transactions involving large portfolios of residential solar projects.
  • SunPower Corporation as developer in the tax-equity financing of two portfolios of residential rooftop solar systems with two large bank investors.
  • AES Distributed Energy as developer in the tax-equity financing of an approximately 90 MW portfolio of distributed generation solar assets across multiple states.

  Scott’s experience includes that prior to joining Orrick.