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May 14, 2013
Texas Court Rejects Sanctions Bids In Solar Engine Suit
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday refused to grant sanctions in a dispute over solar turbine engines planned for an Arabian Gulf project and rejected arguments that two parallel court proceedings should be consolidated in a single suit.
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May 14, 2013
Hospital's $350M Bond Issuance Suit Falls In 5th Circ.
A Louisiana hospital operator on Tuesday lost its suit over bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee Corp.'s delay in deciding to approve its plan to issue $350 million in additional bonds, when the Fifth Circuit ruled their agreement allowed National Public to withhold approval.
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May 14, 2013
Smaller Sandy Buyout Sparks Fears Over Future Storm Costs
While buyouts for some New York homeowners smacked by Superstorm Sandy are still in the offing, the relocation program's scale has shrunk from the size initially envisioned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, leading some environmentalists to lament the potential for a costly repeat of the hurricane's damage.
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May 14, 2013
Mass. Governor Greenlights $500M Fenway Area Project
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday reportedly OK’d the construction of a $500 million mixed-use complex near Fenway Park in Boston, seven months after a state appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a related complaint from a neighboring property owner.
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May 14, 2013
EIB Pledges $181M For Polish Power Station
The European Investment Bank will loan about €140 million ($181 million) to a Polish contractor for the construction of a 450-megawatt, energy-efficient power station at the Stalowa Wola power plant in southeastern Poland, the bank said Monday.
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May 14, 2013
Deals Rumor Mill: OMERS, GE, Sony
A division of one of Canada's top pension funds is spearheading an $8.1 billion effort to swallow up a U.K. water company, while an activist hedge fund run by billionaire Daniel Loeb has set its sights on a major shakeup at Sony.
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May 14, 2013
Local Laws Can't Kill FERC-Approved Projects, DC Circ. Hears
A Dominion Resources Inc. subsidiary on Tuesday urged the D.C. Circuit to tell states they cannot shelve Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-approved proposals based on local laws, claiming Maryland refuses to approve its gas compression plant proposal due to a local zoning ordinance.
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May 14, 2013
DC Circ. Snuffs Challenge To 1.1-Gigawatt Nuke Expansion
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday rejected nine environmental groups' attempts to delay the expansion of a Georgia nuclear power plant, ruling that a federal regulator already had taken into account safety concerns stemming from 2011's Fukushima plant disaster.
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May 14, 2013
EIR For $4B LAX Overhaul Gets Prelim OK From City Council
The Los Angeles City Council affirmed, on a second reading Tuesday, the contentious environmental impact report for a proposed $4.1 billion overhaul of the Los Angeles International Airport.
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May 14, 2013
Jones Day Adds Herbert Smith Projects Partner In Sydney
Jones Day has nabbed a 22-year veteran from the Silver Circle firm Herbert Smith Freehills LLP to join its growing Sydney-based projects and infrastructure practice as partner, the firm announced Tuesday.
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May 13, 2013
Sunoco Partnership Preps Eaglebine Pipeline In Texas
Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, a publicly traded partnership that owns and operates oil pipelines and storage and transportation buildings, is seeking customers for its Eaglebine Express crude petroleum pipeline in Texas, Sunoco Logistics said Monday.
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May 13, 2013
Mormon Ranch Could Delay $1.5B Fla. Rail Line's Start Date
The manager of a massive Central Florida ranch owned by the Mormon Church wrote the state's transportation secretary last month urging him not to rush into an agreement on a right-of-way corridor for a privately funded $1.5 billion passenger rail line that would connect Miami and Orlando.
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May 13, 2013
NJ Borough Asks High Court To Alter Payouts In Land Seizures
An attorney for a New Jersey borough on Monday urged the New Jersey Supreme Court to reconsider how homeowners should be compensated when the government seizes a portion of their land for a public works project, as the construction of a protective dune system potentially hangs in the balance.
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May 13, 2013
Abengoa Snags Rights To $1.3B Brazilian Electrical Project
Spanish renewable energy company Abengoa SA has won a contract worth €1 billion ($1.3 billion) to build a new electricity transmission project in Brazil, securing the company's foothold in Latin America's electrical infrastructure market, according to a Monday statement.
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May 13, 2013
Mine Permit Review Was Legit, Army Corps Tells Judge
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday told a West Virginia federal judge that it wasn't obligated to consider human health impacts of mining activity when it issued a permit for a large mountaintop removal mine project, as several environmental groups suing to nix the permit claimed.
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May 13, 2013
GDF Nets $560M From Mitsui For Brazil Hydro Plant Stake
French power company GDF Suez SA has sold a 20 percent stake in a massive hydro power plant development in Brazil for roughly 1.14 billion Brazilian Real ($560 million) to Japan's Mitsui & Co. Ltd., GDF said Monday.
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May 13, 2013
Rio Tinto Must Pay Ore Royalties Over Decades-Old JV
An Australian high court ordered a Rio Tinto PLC unit on Friday to pay royalties to two billionaire-backed companies, finding that a 1970 joint venture agreement was still in place despite Rio Tinto losing rights to the land for several years.
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May 13, 2013
Deals Rumor Mill: Partnership Assurance, UBS, Euronext
A private equity-backed British life insurance group is plotting out an initial public offering that would value it around $1.5 billion, while higher-ups at UBS have agreed to meet with representatives from an activist investment firm urging the bank to split itself up and consider an alternative ownership structure.
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May 10, 2013
NJ Watchdog Blasts State's $446M Solar Projects Deal
New Jersey’s utility watchdog on Thursday issued sharp criticism of Public Service Electric & Gas Co. and the state’s Board of Public Utilities after the regulator approved up to $446 million in solar power projects, saying the settlement was improperly struck behind closed doors.
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May 10, 2013
Ince & Co. Taps DLA Piper Energy Pro In Singapore
International firm Ince & Co. has tapped an energy finance and projects expert from DLA Piper LLP to join its Singapore office, where he will head up its Asia Energy practice, the firm said Friday.
Expert Analysis
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7 Reasons To Do Pro Bono Work
Research shows that helping others and cultivating social relationships makes us happier and that generous people live longer, healthier lives. These are just a few of the countless reasons to create time in our busy schedules to do pro bono and charitable work this year, says Anne Brafford of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
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More Obstacles On Calif.'s Road To Fracking Regulation
Recently, California legislators introduced four hydraulic fracturing bills, which, if passed, would authorize several regulatory agencies to govern fracking activities. With these bills, there are also legal obstacles that may come into play, and the industry can expect to see more delays in the permitting of new oil and gas wells, greater litigation and a definite departure from business as usual, say attorneys with Stoel Rives LLP.
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Term Sheet Tips For Emerging Cos. Seeking Venture Money
The demand for venture credit among emerging companies expanded greatly during the Great Recession and shows no sign of easing. As venture capitalists continue to be selective in their additional capital deployments, we recommend that borrowers — and their counsel — address certain venture debt financing terms at the term sheet stage in order to avoid surprises later, say attorneys with Latham & Watkins LLP.
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NJ On Offshore Wind: Let's Build A Project Already
After New Jersey's first attempt to make tax credits available for offshore wind projects in 2010, the Garden State once again finds itself at the vestibule of change, possibly leading the way toward creating an offshore wind industry in America. Leading such a first-of-its-kind industry could have game-changing, long-term economic and social advantages on the state's economy, says Marshall McLean of McCarter & English LLP.
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We Need More Diversity In Mediation
In our increasingly interconnected global marketplace, U.S. corporations could well profit from engaging alternative dispute resolution practitioners who are familiar with these diverse cultures. But problems in the development and retention of minority neutrals exist, even as the U.S. population grows more and more diverse, says Ariel Belen, a panelist with JAMS and former associate justice of the New York Supreme Court.
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Ralls Case Shows Importance Of Proactively Engaging CFIUS
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently dismissed most claims of Chinese-owned Ralls Corporation’s civil action against an executive order that prohibits Ralls’ acquisition of four wind farm project companies in Oregon. The case exemplifies the importance of notifying and engaging the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States voluntarily before closing a transaction that may raise national security concerns, says Alexandra Lopez-Casero of Nixon Peabody LLP.
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New CEQA Bill — Cure Or Band-Aid?
In response to a business community campaign calling for broad California Environmental Quality Act reform, Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Calif., released his highly anticipated CEQA "modernization" bill. So far, the bill is more remarkable for what it lacks than for what it contains, but it still could reduce CEQA delay and uncertainty, says Barbara Schussman of Perkins Coie LLP.
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9th Circ. Clears The Air For Mine Owners
In the recent case, Center for Biological Diversity v. Salazar, the Ninth Circuit ruled that mining plans of operations do not expire after temporary closures. This decision marks notable, favorable precedent for the mining industry and project proponents and helps settle expectations for mining plans of operations, says Tyler Welti of Perkins Coie LLP.
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Calif.'s Road To Fracking Regulation Will Be Bumpy
For the foreseeable future in California, fracking regulation will continue to move forward on three parallel paths: through the courts, legislature and agencies. Unfortunately, however, none of these paths are likely to provide the industry with clear rules regarding fracking activities in the next year, say attorneys with Bingham McCutchen LLP.
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CEQA Reform: The Aggrieved Instigator
Today, the California Environmental Quality Act is often at the center of the long-standing tension between environmental and business interests, and this granddaddy of environmental impact assessment requirement is a roadblock to development and economic growth, say attorneys with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.