Alternative/Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

As global and national energy policy undergoes a revolutionary transformation, opportunities for energy generation from renewable sources—including wind, solar, geothermal, and landfill methane—continue to expand. Renewable energy companies have turned to MGKF to provide sophisticated environmental counsel with respect to their projects.

Renewable energy portfolio standards, such as Pennsylvania's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard and New Jersey's Renewable Portfolio Standards and renewable fuel standards have led to a push for alternative energy production facilities to come on-line. While these projects are generally perceived as "green," they are industrial operations, and thus confront many of the same environmental regulatory concerns facing more traditional energy industries. For example, siting is often the critical issue for alternative energy projects—including "low impact" projects such as solar photovoltaic arrays or wind turbines—as local communities have begun to challenge the siting of these types of facilities. Federal, state, and local permits may be required for the construction and operation of renewable energy facilities. Projects such as ethanol refining, waste coal combustion, or coal-to-liquids production implicate environmental regulatory issues across all media. MGKF assists clients with a variety of alternative energy projects, such as construction of new energy generation facilities, renewable fuel use options and projects that implement energy efficiency upgrades.

Many alternative energy and energy efficiency projects are eligible for significant federal and state financial assistance in the form of grants, loans, tax incentives or other types of financing. MGKF has worked with clients seeking to secure funding from these programs.

The following are some of the representative matters MGKF has handled in the alternative/renewable energy field:

• MGKF has assisted clients in addressing siting, permitting, and regulatory issues associated with various sources of alternative energy generation, including wind power, solid fuel gasification, landfill gas-to-energy, and waste coal fuel.
• The firm has assisted refiners with regulatory and permitting requirements associated with renewable/clean fuels, including securing permits for an ethanol production plant and providing regulatory counseling regarding compliance with the Renewable Identification Number ("RIN") program.
• The firm assisted several clients in assessing, permitting, and developing waste-to-energy projects, including waste-to-steam plants.
• The firm represented a commercial developer in the development of a wind farm at a shopping center project.
• We have provided counseling to an industrial development corporation on the development of a large-scale photovoltaic field.
• We have advised lending institutions with respect to available grants and tax incentives for solar projects.
• MGKF has advised commercial and industrial clients on the availability of grants and tax incentives for energy efficiency and alternative energy projects such as solar, wind, landfill gas, and combined heat and power.
• We have counseled clients on the preparation of grant applications for energy efficiency projects.
• MGKF has assisted a large fuel supplier with respect to regulatory issues associated with renewable fuels.