Climate-Related Business & Technology

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Climate change – and the measures required to address it – raise fundamental business, legal and risk management issues. Working in this evolving arena requires a keen understanding of the complex interaction between energy and environmental regulation, tax, intellectual property, and government contracts, and a firm grasp of trends in the venture capital, private equity and commercial capital markets. Sullivan & Worcester LLP’s Climate-Related Business & Technology Group brings together practitioners with expertise in each of these fields, thus enabling the firm to provide solution-oriented representation and facilitate opportunities for clients to participate in climate-related programs, businesses and markets. The Group has helped clients in matters ranging from approval of the first carbon-offset credits under California’s new program to assistance with energy-technology projects, including the development of new clean-energy generation facilities, and accounting for future climate-change legislation in the negotiation of long-term power purchase agreements.

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Summary of Energy-Related Tax Provisions (PDF)

Representative Client Work

• Advised a California forest trust in negotiating one of the country’s first contracts for the sale of carbon credits from a forest trust
• Represented a new casino in the development of thermal and retail power supply agreements. Negotiated contract terms to address potential effect of future climate-change legislation and to require that contractors fulfill LEED green building standards
• Gained inclusion in LEED for Homes credits for a manufacturer of energy-efficient faucets and shower heads
• Gained inclusion in LEED for Existing Buildings credits in the operations and maintenance category for a manufacturer of battery-powered, non-greenhouse gas- or particulate-emitting outdoor power equipment
• Advised the City of New Orleans in establishing its energy efficiency program, “Energy Smart New Orleans” by helping to evaluate the feasibility of options including renewable credits, distributed generation from local solar and other renewable energy sources, green-building initiatives, consumer education and incentives, and the full range of available funding mechanisms, while working closely with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Advised regarding the structuring of a financing by Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA), a city-sponsored non-profit organization that is creating a program to significantly reduce energy and water use and CO₂ emissions in Cambridge, Massachusetts. CEA is seeking to raise more than $100 million to provide loans to city residents, businesses and institutions to finance the installation of energy efficient measures in their residences and buildings in order to reduce on a city-wide basis energy and water consumption by a significant percentage
• Advised a manufacturer of new energy-efficiency and conservation products regarding opportunities to enhance product marketing through existing incentive and consumer-education programs, and regarding legislative and regulatory opportunities to gain marketplace advantages