Wind Energy: The Art of Coping with Uncertainty

Please join the Guarini Center and a group of leading energy policy experts for a discussion on “Wind Energy: The Art of Coping with Uncertainty.”

Not only the wind is uncertain.  The recently enacted tax reform is again alter the economics of renewable energy.  How is an industry benefitting from tax credits coping with political uncertainty?  When will it reach tax independence?  Key players in a recent large private equity investment in wind energy and other industry experts will discuss these questions and assess the state and prospects of wind energy.

1.5 CLE credits offered in the Areas of Professional Practice category.

Speakers include:

Daniel Elkort, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Pattern Energy

Maggie Lemmerman, Director, Federal Legislative and Political Affairs, American Wind Energy Association

Alfredo Marti, Managing Director, Riverstone Holdings

Debra Duncan, Counsel, Vinson & Elkins

Robert Seber, Partner, Vinson & Elkins (Moderator)

This event is hosted in collaboration with Vinson & Elkins LLP

Speakers biographies:

Daniel Elkort

Prior to joining Pattern Energy, Mr. Elkort served as Director of Legal Services and Co-Head of Finance of PEG LP since June 2009. Prior to joining PEG LP, from 1996 to 2009, Mr. Elkort was responsible for managing the various project financings of Babcock & Brown’s North American renewable energy projects and served as the senior legal officer in Babcock & Brown’s North American Infrastructure Group. Before joining Babcock & Brown, from 1985 to 1996, Mr. Elkort was employed by the San Francisco based law firm of Jackson, Tufts, Cole & Black, where he was made a partner in 1991.

Maggie Lemmerman

Maggie Lemmerman is the Director of Federal Legislative and Political Affairs at the American Wind Energy Association. In this role she conducts much of AWEA’s Capitol Hill engagement on behalf of the association’s membership of over one thousand companies. Additionally, Maggie oversees the wind industry’s strategic political giving.  Prior to AWEA, she worked at the British Embassy in Washington as a Senior Policy Advisor for transatlantic energy issues, with a focus on offshore wind development.  Maggie spent five years on Capitol Hill, working first for her hometown Congressman, Curt Weldon (R-PA) and later for Senator John Boozman (R-AR) on a variety of legislative issues, including energy and international affairs.  Maggie hails from Media, Pennsylvania and graduated with her bachelors in Political Science from Columbia University.

Alfredo Marti

Prior to joining Riverstone in 2008, Mr. Marti served in various leadership positions at BP plc, one of the world’s largest energy firms, including leading the organization responsible for overseeing the financial and operational performance and capital allocation of BP’s exploration and production businesses worldwide. Other roles at BP included Head of Strategy for BP’s North America Gas business, General Manager of operations in Wyoming, USA, and several roles in Latin America. Mr. Marti currently serves on the boards of Pattern Energy Group, Sierra Oil and Gas, Avant Energy, and Cuadrilla Resources, as well as on the Technical Committee of Riverstone’s CKD fund in Mexico. He previously represented Riverstone on the board of a number of other portfolio companies and managed Investor Relations for Riverstone Energy Limited in London. Mr. Marti received his M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He also holds a summa cum laude degree in Economics from Venezuela’s Andres Bello University and a Corporate Finance diploma from London Business School.

Debra Duncan

Debbie’s practice focuses on advising U.S.-based businesses and investors on a wide range of federal income tax matters. Her business transactions practice focuses on the federal income tax consequences of structuring transactions, with particular emphasis on the acquisition, development, operation, and disposition of investments in alternative energy projects qualifying for federal tax credits; initial and follow-on public offerings and acquisitions of interests in publicly traded master limited partnerships (MLPs) and corporate issuers; and representing clients seeking advance private rulings from the Internal Revenue Service. She is a member of the firm’s Climate Change practice group.

Robert Seber

Robert’s principal areas of practice are private equity and privately negotiated mergers and acquisitions. He has represented numerous investment funds and corporate clients in different sectors of the energy industry and a wide spectrum of other industries, including technology and financial services. Robert’s extensive private equity experience covers the full transactional cycle of investment funds, ranging from fund formation to acquisitions, recapitalizations, minority investments, complex equity arrangements, and exits. A graduate of Yale Law School, he teaches classes on “Oil and Gas: Public and Private Governance” and “Energy Deals” at New York University.