Currents: Recent Episodes
Norton Rose Fulbright
Currents is a podcast published by Norton Rose Fulbright that features in-depth discussions on the latest developments in project finance. The podcast is hosted by partner Todd Alexander, who interviews key business leaders and policy makers to investigate important trends affecting the energy and infrastructure space.
Raquel Bierzwinsky, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, discusses the latest reforms to Mexico’s power sector, highlighting how new regulations are creating opportunities for private investment and project development after years of stagnation.
Stefano Ratti, CEO of Chaberton Energy, shares how his team is evolving from solar-only development to integrating storage and navigating shifting market dynamics, tariffs and policy changes.
Four industry experts discuss about the latest trends, challenges and opportunities in data center financings. The four are Claus Hertel, managing director, Rabobank, Melih Ileri, chief investment officer, DC BLOX, Mike Johnson, director, Société Générale, and Tim McGuire, vice president, capital markets, Rowan Digital Infrastructure. The moderators are Christine Brozynski and Christy Rivera in New York.
Luke Edney in Austin, Christy Rivera in New York, and Shelley Eichenlaub in Houston discuss with industry expert Lyndi Stone, principal corporate counsel, Microsoft, how data center construction teams are addressing complex stakeholder requirements and adapting to rapid technological shifts to ensure the data centers on which they are working will be financeable.
Jake Jurewicz, CEO of Blue Energy, shares how modular, prefabricated nuclear power plants could dramatically reduce costs and timelines and unlock new opportunities for commercial financing and grid-scale deployment.
Pier LaFarge, CEO of Sparkfund, explains how distributed capacity procurement is helping utilities rapidly deploy batteries and other distributed energy resources to meet grid constraints and rising demand.
Ben Gerber, CEO of CleanCounts, explains how its nonprofit registry brings transparency and reliability to renewable energy and thermal certificate markets by helping asset owners and consumers to validate their clean energy claims.
Nicolas Sauvage, president of TDK Ventures, discusses how AI-driven energy demand, emerging battery technologies like sodium-ion and shifting geopolitical dynamics are shaping the future of energy storage and deep tech investing.
Dan Finn-Foley, director of energy storage market intelligence at Clean Energy Associates, discusses the impact of tariffs, shifting supply chains and emerging technologies on the US battery storage market.
Izzet Bensusan, CEO of Captona, shares how his team is investing in renewables, storage and clean fuels while using preferred equity structures and preparing for rising energy demand.
Adrien Pinsard, CEO of Telis Energy, shares how the firm is scaling a decentralized green energy platform across Europe’s largest power markets, combining organic development and strategic acquisitions to meet growing demand from renewables, batteries and data centers.
Chris McKissack, CEO of Fullmark Energy, shares insights on the evolving energy storage market, discussing cost trends, operational complexity, regulatory shifts and how Fullmark is positioning itself to meet rising demand across key US power markets.
Keith Martin, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to talk about how the new construction-start guidance issued by the US Treasury and the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" as a whole are affecting the renewables market.
Brock Mosovsky, head of commercial analytics at cQuant.io, breaks down how advanced modeling and probabilistic forecasting are reshaping how developers, investors and lenders assess value, risk and offtake strategies in renewable energy and storage projects.
Kristina Costa, who was involved with FEOC issues at the White House and Treasury during the Biden administration, Seth Hanlon, who led work on the Inflation Reduction Act guidance as deputy assistant secretary for tax policy in the Biden Treasury and is now with the NYU Tax Law Center, and Kyle Sweeney, who is also with the NYU Tax Law Center, join us to provide their assessment of the FEOC provisions in the budget reconciliation bill, known as the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act.’
Chris Panaro, Executive Director & Counsel at Nomura, shares legal insights from financing energy and infrastructure projects, highlighting the risks, regulatory shifts and deal structures shaping today’s project finance landscape.
JohnPaul Baric, founder of MiningStore, explains how Bitcoin mining is evolving into a powerful tool for grid stability and renewable energy integration.
Lukas Sheild, general manager at REC Solar Hawaii, shares how microgrids are transforming energy resilience across the Hawaiian islands.
Lee Taylor, CEO of REsurety, joins us to unpack the debate surrounding the proposed revisions to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 2 emissions guidance.
Keith Martin, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to break down the Big Beautiful Bill and how it will affect renewable energy tax credits.
Megan Pillsbury, CEO of Dunya Analytics, joins us to discuss how businesses can identify and manage environmental-related risks using scalable, science-based tools.
Keith Rosen, a Norton Rose Fulbright partner, explains the Department of Justice’s updated guidance on enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and discusses how it will affect US companies developing infrastructure projects overseas.
Jorge Vargas, CEO of Aspen Power, joins us to discuss the evolving landscape of community solar in the US. He shares how Aspen is expanding access to clean energy through innovative partnerships, strategic development, and a focus on emerging markets.
Jason Kaminsky, CEO of kWh Analytics, returns to discuss key findings from the 2025 Solar Risk Assessment report. The report highlights growing threats from extreme weather. We also discuss how AI is being used to improve data analysis and the rising importance of cybersecurity and battery safety in renewable energy.
The 2025 Solar Risk Assessment is available to download at kwhanalytics.com/solar-risk-assessment, and is also available as an audiobook here: https://kwhanalytics.com/2025-solar-risk-assessment-audiobook-edition/
Alfred Johnson, CEO of Crux, discusses how Crux is streamlining clean energy financing through a marketplace for transferable tax credits, insights on market growth, recent policy changes and more.
Keith Martin, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, breaks down the latest US legislative changes affecting renewable energy tax credits, including last-minute amendments and their implications for solar, wind, hydrogen and carbon capture projects.
Kristina Costa and Ted Lee, who were involved in FEOC guidance at the White House and Treasury during the Biden administration, and Kyle Sweeney with the NYU Tax Law Center, join us to discuss their concerns with the FEOC restrictions in the budget reconciliation bill that passed the US House this week.
Hilary Lefko, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to discuss the Republicans' proposed plans for the future of renewable tax credits to be folded into the budget reconciliation bill later this year.
Michael Stadler, CTO of Xendee, discusses how microgrids are designed and operated to minimize costs, enhance reliability and achieve emissions goals. He explains how microgrids can address the growing electricity demand driven by AI and the challenges of utility upgrades and discusses the benefits of technologies like combined heat and power systems and batteries.
Gary Dorris, CEO of Ascend Analytics, discusses how his company uses software and data to understand the economic dynamics of energy supply. He explains the complexities of predicting power prices due to the increasing influence of renewables and storage and the importance of advanced computing and machine learning in optimizing asset management.
Jason Prince, CEO of Giraffe Financial, discusses tax credit monetization and the challenges and opportunities in the evolving landscape of climate incentives, including dealing with transaction costs and regulatory compliance, as he explains Giraffe Financial’s approach to make tax credit monetization accessible and efficient.
Sabah Bayatli, president of OCI Energy, discusses the evolving policy and regulatory landscape shaping utility-scale solar and energy storage development in the US, including tariffs, the Inflation Reduction Act, interconnection challenges and contracting strategies and also explainsOCI Energy’s approach to geographic and technological diversification.
Four industry experts discuss what to expect from current financing structures for data centers. The four are Claus Hertel, managing director, Rabobank, Melih Ileri, SVP capital markets and strategy, DC BLOX, Mike Johnson, vice president, Nomura and Tim McGuire, senior director, project finance, Rowan Digital Infrastructure. The moderators are Christine Brozynski and Christy Rivera in New York.
Stefan Reisinger, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to discuss the newly imposed tariffs and how they may affect the infrastructure industry.
Ally DeGunther, vice president of strategy for Reflect Orbital, joins us to discuss the company’s development of technology that uses satellites to reflect sunlight after dark, and how this technology could be applied.
Rob Piconi, CEO of Energy Vault, joins host Todd Alexander to discuss the energy storage market and novel storage solutions that Energy Vault has been working on.
Vitaly Lee, EVP and Chief Development Officer of Qcells, joins us to discuss the outlook of greenfield solar development in 2025, the M&A market outlook, and more.
Kirk Edelman, CEO of SolMicroGrid, joins us to discuss microgrids, their benefits, how they can be deployed, and more.
Katie Ellet, CEO of ETCH, joins us to discuss ETCH’s process for decarbonizing natural gas to produce clean hydrogen and solid carbon.
Jim Boyle, CEO of Sustainability Roundtable Inc., joins us to discuss the reverse auction procurement process system Sustainability Roundtable has developed where companies and municipalities can incentivize the development of new renewable energy projects.
Jared Haines, CEO of Catalyze, joins us to discuss the community solar development process and success Catalyze has had in the New York community solar market.
Eugene Beh, CEO of Quino Energy, joins us to discuss how water-based batteries can meet the growing demand for long-term and middle-term energy storage.
Apoorv Sinha, CEO of Carbon Upcycling, joins us to discuss how his company is taking carbon emissions from industrial processes and upcycling them into new materials.
Britta von Oesen, partner and managing director at CRC-IB, joins us to discuss the US renewables market, with a particular focus on the M&A market.
Four industry experts discuss the final rules released earlier this month by The US Treasury to make it easier to claim tax credits for making hydrogen. The four are Rachel Crouch, chief counsel, hydrogen, The AES Corporation, Matt McMonagle, CEO & Founder, NovoHydrogen, Josh Stolaroff, CEO, Mote Hydrogen and Jacob Susman, CEO, Ambient Fuels, LLC. The moderator is James Berger in Los Angeles.
Gary Cate, director of energy market analytics at Fluence, joins the podcast to discuss electricity price forecasting and its role in the energy services sector.
Four project finance industry veterans talk about what to expect in the year ahead for tax equity, tax credit sales and debt. The four are Jack Cargas, managing director and head of tax equity origination, Bank of America, Ralph Cho, co-CEO, Apterra Infrastructure Capital, Rubiao Song, managing director and head of energy investments, JPMorgan, and Elizabeth Waters, managing director - project finance Americas, MUFG. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.
Amy Duffuor, co-founder and general partner of Azolla Ventures, joins us to discuss venture capital investments in the renewable energy sector.
Michelle Demers, CEO of Boundless Impact and Analytics, joins us to discuss the use of data to help investors understand climate-related risks.
Stefan Reisinger, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to discuss the new anti-dumping duties on imported solar panels using cells made in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
A new report by Wood Mackenzie predicts a number of consequences from rising US demand for electricity. Chris Seiple, vice chairman, energy transition and power & renewables of Wood Mackenzie, discusses the findings.
Five prominent stock analysts discuss how they expect policy changes in the wake of the Trump victory to affect renewable energy, storage, transmission, RNG and other parts of the energy transition sector. The five are George Gianarikas, managing director and senior analyst, Canaccord Genuity, Joe Osha, senior managing director for equity research, Guggenheim Partners, Phil Shen, managing director and senior research analyst, Roth Capital Partners, Whitney Stanco, managing director and senior policy analyst, Compass Point Research & Trading, and Paul Zimbardo, managing director and energy research analyst, Jefferies. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.
Five Washington insiders discuss the election results to assess what they mean for renewable energy, carbon capture, clean hydrogen, RNG and other parts of the energy transition. The five are Michael Catanzaro, CEO, CGCN Group, Richard Glick, principal, GQ New Energy Strategies, Hannah Hawkins, principal, KPMG, David Kautter, federal specialty tax leader, RSM, and Joe Mikrut, partner, Capitol Tax Partners. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.
Leslie Biddle, Deputy Under Secretary for Commercialization and Finance, and Art Scavone, Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Infrastructure, join us to discuss the DOE-lender relationship and the soon to be released Government-Creditor Agreement.
Links for more information on the Government-Creditor Agreement: Government-Creditor Agreement | Department of Energy, and to learn about the Under Secretary for Infrastructure: Meet the Office of the Under Secretary for Infrastructure | Department of Energy.
David Burton, partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, joins us to give an update on the tax credit transferability market.
Akshat Kasliwal, managing consultant at PA Consulting, joins us to give his thoughts on the thermal and renewables markets.
Juan Macias, CEO of AlphaStruxure, joins us to discuss what microgrids are and how they are at the core of his company’s energy service providing business.
Adam Stern, executive director of Offshore Wind California, joins us to discuss developments in the California offshore wind market.
Albert Bielinko, general partner at Titanium Ventures, joins us to give venture capital’s perspective on investing in climate tech.
Also, please stay until the end to hear our guest’s predictions on this year’s MLB World Series!
Andy Moon and Billy Lee, co-founders of Reunion, join us to give an overview of the tax credit market and what Reunion is doing to lower the transaction costs for market participants.
Quinn Pasloske, principal at Greenbacker, joins us to discuss Greenbacker’s approach to infrastructure and renewable energy investment and current market economics.
David Burton and Tim Byrne, partners in Norton Rose Fulbright, join us to discuss the likely outcome of the Federal Reserve's review of the application of Basel III to the risk weighting imposed on commercial banks when they make tax credit equity investments.
Michael Levy, head of global asset resilience at Baringa, a management consultancy, discusses how utilities and other energy companies are planning for extreme weather events.
John Bills, partner of PEI Global Partners, joins us to discuss the development loan sector and how PEI has been instrumental in structuring and arranging many energy and infrastructure deals.
Chris Rozzell, managing partner at Cresta Fund Management, joins us to discuss Cresta’s background, the sectors in which it has been investing and more.
Patrick Sullivan, CEO of EV Realty, joins us to discuss medium-to-heavy commercial fleet EV infrastructure.
Geoff Ferrell, senior vice president at sonnen, joins us to explain how energy storage systems can help utilities manage their grids.
Christ Frost and Steve Plake, partners at Riverside Advisors, join us to discuss financial hedging, an important tool in project financings.
Todd Snitchler, president and CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, joins us to discuss how recent policies are impacting the electricity markets and how they may shape the future electric grid.
John Powers, vice president of global renewables and clean tech at Schneider Electric, updates us on developments in the offtake agreement and tax credit transfer markets.
Jason Kaminsky, CEO of kWh Analytics, joins us to discuss this year’s solar risk assessment report published by kWh. He summarizes the findings in the report, including risks to the battery energy storage industry.
The 2024 Solar Risk Assessment, now in its 6th edition, is a comprehensive report of the most pressing risks and opportunities facing the solar and storage industries. Compiled by industry experts, this report offers a data-driven look at key challenges such as extreme weather, equipment failures, and battery safety. 2024 contributors include: kWh Analytics, Kiwa PVEL, Waaree, Alliant Power, Longroad Energy, Nextracker, Solarlytics, Univers, Clean Power Research, SolarGrade, Lloyd’s, Powin, and SEVO IFP.
Landon Mossburg, CEO of Peak Energy, joins us to discuss sodium-ion batteries and how they can complement lithium-ion batteries
FERC Commissioner Allison Clements, Grid Strategies President Rob Gramlich and Norton Rose Fulbright partner Kat Gamache talk about how much of a difference recent government actions to ease grid congestion will make to developers waiting to connect new projects to the grid.
Arvin Ganesan, CEO of Fourth Power, joins us to discuss thermal storage technologies and what role they can have in the energy storage market.
Hilary Lefko, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to discuss the US Treasury’s new guidance on calculating whether projects have enough domestic content to qualify for a bonus tax credit.
Stefan Reisinger, Norton Rose Fulbright partner, joins us to discuss the Biden administration's changes to section 301 tariffs on certain Chinese products and how they can affect the renewables community.
Jan Napiorkowski and Jamie Daggett, global director and energy storage lead at Ariel Green, join us to discuss how technology performance insurance can facilitate the use of new technologies and serve as a substitute for extended warranties.
Hilary Lefko, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Washington office, joins us to discuss the IRS’s new guidance on tax credit transfers.
Stefan Reisinger, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Washington office, joins us to discuss the anti-dumping and countervailing duty petition on solar modules that was filed by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee.
Yezin Taha, CEO of Nevados, joins us to discuss the increasing demand for developing non-flat land for utility-scale solar projects, the challenges and costs involved, and the technology Nevados uses when working on variable terrain.
Aaron Halimi, founder and president of Renewable Properties, joins us to discuss how a proposed decision by the California Public Utilities Commission could affect community solar projects.
Martin Hermann, CEO of BrightNight, joins us to discuss investing in renewable energy projects and technologies. He also discusses what inefficiencies he sees in the market, what is driving growth, what impact AI will have on clean energy, and more.
Nicolas De Coignac, President Americas of John Cockerill, joins us to talk about John Cockerill's electrolyzer technology, what the company is doing in the US hydrogen market, the outlook for green hydrogen, and more.
Beth Waters, managing director at MUFG bank, joins us to discuss the commercial bank loan market for renewables projects. She also explains what a private placement is and discusses the areas in which she is seeing the most growth, the types of deals in which MUFG is most interested, and more.
Two veteran Washington observers talk about the outlook for the Inflation Reduction Act if Trump is elected. The two are Joe Mikrut, Partner, Capitol Tax Partners and John Gimigliano, Principal-in Charge, Federal Tax Legislative and Regulatory Services, KPMG. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.
Mike Hall, CEO of Anza Renewables, joins us to discuss Anza’s solar procurement platform, the algorithms behind its platform, a general overview on solar modules and more.
Vinod Mukani of Nomura Securities is our guest for this episode. He begins with a background on his activities at Nomura and growing Nomura's infrastructure and project finance areas before switching to a discussion on the state of the commercial bank market and Nomura’s success with development loan facilities.
Stefan Reisinger, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Washington office, joins us to give an update on the tariff moratorium applied to solar modules imported from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia first implemented in June 2022. He also speaks about the recent lawsuit challenging the moratorium by Auxin Solar and Concept Clean Energy, the possible implications of the lawsuit, and the outlook for importers.
Please listen to the end to hear our Super Bowl picks!
Andrew Hsu, portfolio manager at DoubleLine Capital, joins us to discuss DoubleLine’s investment in the infrastructure space, the kind of deals on which it is focused, what differentiates DoubleLine from other means of financing, and more.
Four project finance industry veterans talk about what to expect in the year ahead for tax equity, tax credit sales and debt. The four are Jack Cargas, managing director and head of tax equity origination, Bank of America, Ralph Cho, Co-CEO, Apterra Infrastructure Capital, Rubiao Song, managing director and head of energy investments, JPMorgan, and Elizabeth Waters, managing director - project finance Americas, MUFG. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.
William Brent, chief marketing officer of Husk Power Systems, joins us to discuss Husk’s work in bringing electricity to developing areas in Africa and Asia with mini-grids. He discusses how Husk navigates regulations and works with local partnerships, what challenges it has faced, and more.
John Zahurancik, president of Fluence, joins us to discuss energy storage projects, how the Inflation Reduction Act has affected them, how easy it will be for storage projects to qualify for domestic content bonus credits, what new technological advances are around the corner, and more.
Brandon Keefe and Joshua Goldstein of Plus Power join us to discuss stand-alone battery storage. They talk about why stand-alone is the energy storage approach they pursued, the future of such energy storage projects, how investors have responded, and more.
Weather-related catastrophes have left the global insurance market with $50 billion in losses in the first half of this year, the second worst start to a year since 2011. Moderator Keith Martin discusses how climate change is affecting the availability and cost of insurance with Ernst Rauch, Chief Climate Scientist at Munich Re, Lesley Harding, Global Head of Strategic Relationships, Energy & Transition at Liberty Specialty Markets, and Dr. Maryam Golnaraghi, Director of Climate Change and Environment at The Geneva Association, in the second of two podcasts on the topic.
Rising insurance costs and shrinking coverage are starting to limit where renewable and other energy projects can be built. Moderator Keith Martin discusses conditions in the US market with Sam Jensen, partner and co-founder at STANCE Renewable Risk Partners, and Tucker Compton, client advisor at Sterling Seacrest Pritchard, in the first of two podcasts on the topic.
Dan Shreve of Clean Energy Associates joins us for a wide-ranging discussion about the current environment around existing and emerging technologies in the energy mix, challenges facing renewable energy, the regulatory climate in the US and Europe, and advice for individuals who are interested in entering the renewable energy industry.
Declan Flanagan, founder and CEO of Bluestar Energy Capital, joins us for a wide-ranging discussion, including what he sees as the most promising markets, supply-chain risk over the next few years, how have the ability to raise capital and pricing changed over the past few months, how viable he sees some technologies such as battery storage and offshore wind, and more.
Andrew Waranch, CEO of Spearmint Energy, joins us to discuss his company and why he chose to go into battery energy storage, how the growing availability of energy storage options has affected the larger renewable energy market, tax equity’s interest in energy storage, what incentives the Inflation Reduction Act has created for energy storage investments, and more.
Sheldon Kimber, CEO of Intersect Power, joins Todd Alexander for a discussion about the United States power grid system. He discusses what challenges the system poses to energy transition strategies, the dependency on natural gas, misconceptions that may exist around the power grid, and more.
Gary Blitz, global co-CEO of Aon's M&A and transaction solutions practice, joins us to talk about the insurance market for tax credit transfers. He explains what risks underwriters are willing to insure, how the Inflation Reduction Act and transferability are changing the use of tax credit insurance, whether the supply of insurance is keeping pace with growing demand, how pricing is being affected, and what claims have been paid on these policies.
Kyle Hermanson and Nate Hoeppner of Invenergy join us to discuss build-transfer transactions (BTAs), why they are attractive to utilities, how the Inflation Reduction Act has affected the BTA market, what risks they entail, and what the future holds for these transactions.
Norton Rose Fulbright will be providing an in-depth webinar on build-transfer transactions in the new year. Subscribe to our Project Finance mailing list on www.projectfinance.law to receive updates and webinar notifications.
Adam Hise, managing director of storage risk solution at Ascend Analytics, joins us to discuss the size and position of the energy storage market, the potential of that market, and Ascend’s new revenue risk product for energy storage.
In this bonus episode, friends of the pod give their predictions on who will win the 2024 World Series.
Contributors
Todd Alexander – Norton Rose Fulbright
Chris Miller – Guzman Energy
David Rosenblatt – Arava Power Company
Emma Raine – CIBC Capital Markets
Andrew Ehrlickman – Brookfield Asset Management
Jae Kwon – Credit Agricole
Raquel Bierzwinsky – Norton Rose Fulbright
Gary Blitz – Aon
Kristin Meikle – Bechtel Enterprises
Andrew Waranch – Spearmint Energy
Emily Rogers – Norton Rose Fulbright
Sheldon Kimber – Intersect Power
Benoit Allehaut, chief investment officer at XCarbon Technologies, joins Todd Alexander for a discussion about investment trends in the wind and solar sectors, other areas of potential interest to investors, how changes in interest rates, construction costs and availability of capital are affectin the market, what decarbonization technologies are coming to market, and more.
Bill Green, managing partner of Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, joins Todd Alexander in a wide-ranging discussion about how the renewable energy market may not be fully appreciating the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, issues developers are having with financing and with how IRA funds are getting allocated, how the IRA has affected the global market, capacity of the tax equity market and areas that may be opportunities for investment.
Michael Beckerman, CEO of CREtech, joins Todd Alexander to discuss how commercial real estate developers are taking a closer look at renewable energy sustainability. They go over what climate technologies developers are incorporating into their projects, what role the government is playing in encouraging adoption of such technologies, hurdles for adoption, predictions about the future, and more.
Christine Brozynski, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s projects practice, joins Todd Alexander to talk about recent trends in offtake strategies for energy storage projects. They go over how tolling agreements work, what risks that entail, what other offtake strategies developers are using and more.
Dr. Harald Överholm, CEO and founder of Alight, joins Todd Alexander to talk about the opportunities and challenges in the European solar market. They cover solar PPA demand in Scandinavia and other European regions, which markets are promising for expansion, Alight’s different approach to the market and how that has been received, the process of deploying capital in Europe, the equipment supply chain, Alight’s involvement in energy storage, and more.
Eric Daucher, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s bankruptcy practice, joins Todd Alexander to talk about debt workouts and liability management transactions, how they are executed and leveraged, their legality, how investors and lenders can avoid litigation, and more.
Nate Owen, founder and CEO of Ampion, joins Todd Alexander to talk about what Ampion does and the role it plays in managing distributed generation projects. They also discuss the growth of community solar, what challenges community solar still faces, what innovations to expect, and more.
Neil Ethier, vice president of business development for Eavor, joins Todd Alexander to talk about the new approach Eavor has developed to tap geothermal energy. They discuss why geothermal is still an underused energy source, what is being done to make it more accessible, how new technology can keep costs competitive, what opportunities the company see for use and licensing, what are the investment challenges, how the Inflation Reduction Act will help, and more.
Taylor Gant, business development manager at Alliant Consulting, joins Todd Alexander to explain the wage requirements portion of the Inflation Reduction Act. They go over what developers should understand about the requirements, how wages are determined, how developers can stay compliant, how the rules change based on market conditions and how the wage requirements in the IRA differ from the Davis-Bacon Act.
Andy Marsh, president and CEO of Plug Power, joins Todd Alexander for a lively discussion about green hydrogen, theopportunities created by the Inflation Reduction, the competitiveness of green hydrogen, Washington’s role in implementing rules around green hydrogen, what Plug Power is doing to facilitate the transition to hydrogen and what markets it is pursuing.
Aaron Halimi, President of Renewable Properties, speaks with Todd Alexander on a range of topics concerning community solar. Aaron gives an overview of how community solardiffers from other types of solar projects, the advantages and challenges it faces, how it will be affected by new California regulations and the Inflation Reduction Act, and more.
Nick Knapp, partner and senior managing director at CohnReznick Capital, joins Todd Alexander for an overview of current and future market trends. Among the topics discussed are what is the current state of the M&A market, reasons behind any perceived slowdown, how the current climate affects strategies of asset holders, updates on the tax equity market, how transferability has affected that market and what are the best potential opportunities for investors.
Episode 211: New Proposed IRS Guidance on Tax Credits Transferability
Hilary Lefko, partner in Norton Rose Fulbright, joins host Todd Alexander in an in-depth conversation on the proposed guidance on tax credits and transferability recently released by the IRS. They cover how the new guidance addresses registration, payment for credits, regulations involving partnerships, individual purchasers, bonus credits, brokers, what new products can be expected and how the tax insurance market has reacted so far.
Gregory Adams, Senior Vice President of FuelCell Energy, joins host Todd Alexander for a discussion about fuel cells, what they are, where they are used, what incentives the Inflation Reduction Act provides for fuel cell projects, where the risks are in such projects, and more.
Todd Alexander hosts Judd Messer, Vice President, and Jeffrey Clark, President and CEO, of the Advanced Power Alliance in Texas in a lively discussion on the new legislation passed in Texas that imposes restrictions on renewable energy development. The speakers discusswhat the new legislation does, what investors and developers need to know about it and what could be the fallout.
Ted Brandt, CEO of Marathon Capital, LLC, talks with Todd Alexander about various subjects, including how the Inflation Reduction Act has affected the landscape of deals in the renewables sector, what to expect with transferability of tax credits, how M&A deals have held up in the renewables sector, and where to look for the most potential opportunities.
Jeff Hendler, CEO of Logical Buildings, and our host Todd Alexander discuss the Climate Mobilization Act, what it is and how it affects the CRE and energy industries, how the statute is being implementedacross various building types and what opportunities it creates for investors and property owners.
CohnReznick Capital’s Michael Tatarsky, Managing Director, and Colin Smith, Senior Research Analyst, join Todd Alexander to discuss the Market Cost of Energy (MCOE) in the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act. They go over how the IRA will affect pricing, the impact on PPA’s and how the market has reacted.
The Inflation Reduction Act last August let companies sell nine types of federal tax credits to other companies for cash. The window opened on such sales on January 1. Five market veterans discuss how the market is developing. Moderator Keith Martin is joined by Ted Brandt, CEO of Marathon Capital, Jack Cargas, Managing Director and Head of Tax Equity Origination at Bank of America, Billy Lee, President of Reunion (an electronic trading platform), Rubiao Song, Managing Director and Head of Energy Investments at JPMorgan, and Jamie Stahle, Senior Managing Director of CCA Group.
Martin McCann, partner in London, joins Todd Alexander to discuss the global mining supply chain. We discuss how the global EV boom is affecting precious metal mining, the competition among countries to be top in mining and battery manufacturing, how the Inflation Reduction Act is affecting investment in mining, how car makers are taking advantage of IRA tax credits, and more.
Ep203: Transferability of Tax Credits
Hilary Lefko, partner in Washington, joins Todd Alexander to discuss the transferability of tax credits. We discuss how federal transferability compares to the existing market for sales of state tax credits, how developers are taking advantage of transferability, how lenders look at it, what the market looks like for brokers, what has surprised Hilary about the market’s adoption of transferability, the timeline for the issuance of guidance and more.
Tim Byrne, Eric Daucher and Tom Delaney join Todd Alexander to discuss the formation of the bridge banks for Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank and what to expect from them and government regulation going forward. We get into what will happen in terms of loans, outstanding credit arrangements and contractual obligations, the good news for depositors, how the bridge banks are backed, the effects on the Silicon Valley Bank parent company and the warrants the bank had, the outlook for tighter regulation of mid-size banks in the future, the next steps for a potential auction, and more.
Silicon Valley Bank was placed into receivership on March 14. Tim Byrne, Eric Daucher and Tom Delaney join Todd Alexander to discuss what has unfolded for Silicon Valley Bank over the weekend and what it means for the project finance community. We discuss why a bridge bank would have been set up, if there are bankruptcy concerns for investors with funds in collateral accounts, depositors’ access to funds in their accounts, what existing borrowers may experience with additional extensions of credit and what we think will happen over the next 72 hours.
Four veteran tax equity investors and lenders talk about what to expect in the year ahead. The five are Jack Cargas, managing director and head of tax equity origination, Bank of America, Ralph Cho, co-head of power & infrastructure finance - US, EU and UK, Investec Group, Rubiao Song, managing director and head of energy investments, JPMorgan, and Elizabeth Waters, managing director - project finance Americas, MUFG. The moderator is Keith Martin in Washington.
Stefan Reisinger, partner in Washington, joins us to discuss the Department of Commerce’s preliminary determination of circumvention issues. We go over the general reaction to the order, which solar panels and cells are covered by the preliminary determination, the significance for the four companies found to be circumventing, the impact the determination will have on panels that have entered before the determination was issued and more.
Katherine Blunt, who covers renewable energy and utilities for The Wall Street Journal, talks to Keith Martin in Washington about her new book, California Burning: The Fall of Pacific Gas and Electric—and What it Means for America's Power Grid, on the challenges facing utilities with aging power lines in drought-stricken parts of the United States.
Five veteran Washington observers talk with Keith Martin in our Washington office about what the midterm election results mean for clean energy, storage, carbon capture, hydrogen and the project finance market. The five are Michael Catanzaro, president, CGCN group, and a former senior advisor to House Speaker John Boehner, John Gimigliano, principal-in-charge, federal tax legislative and regulatory services, KPMG, and a former House Ways and Means Committee tax counsel, Colin Hayes, partner, Lot Sixteen, and a former staff director of the Senate Energy Committee, Joe Mikrut, partner, Capitol Tax Partners, former Treasury tax legislative counsel and senior legislation counsel to the Joint Committee on Taxation, and Rob Rains, senior vice president and energy analyst, Washington Analysis.