Energy & Clean Tech Connections: Your Law Firm Link to Industry News
In the February edition of Energy & Clean Tech Connections, we’ve gathered recent information from a wide variety of sources in an effort to keep you abreast of what’s new in the world of clean energy. We draw your attention to the latest industry developments, news from local governments to Capitol Hill, grant opportunities, and upcoming events.
We would like to report that the financing transaction between our client, GreatPoint Energy, and Wanxiang Holdings was ranked by Greentech Media as the number one venture capital deal of 2012. GreatPoint Energy raised corporate equity investment and secured project funding totaling $1.25 billion from Wanxiang to finance and construct the first phase of a one trillion cubic feet per year coal-to-natural gas production facility in China. For more information regarding Greentech Media’s “Top Ten Greentech VC Deals of 2012,” please visit the following website.
On Capitol Hill, Congress is under pressure from the American Petroleum Institute to reform the renewable fuel standard. The institute favors repealing the standard entirely, based on the fact that the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the country’s gasoline supply under EPA regulations is likely to exceed the amount that can be legally blended into the fuel, unless Congress intervenes.
Several pieces of legislation have been introduced. Representative David McKinley (R-WV) introduced a resolution expressing opposition to the establishment of a carbon tax on fuels for electricity and transportation. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced legislation to improve hydropower licensing. Finally, Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS) introduced his Energy and Economic Prosperity Act that would end almost all corporate energy tax credits, but retain business deductions and the research and development credit. This would eliminate about $20 billion in energy tax credits.
This past month, the New England Clean Energy Council hosted a panel discussion to address several key issues of direct importance to the energy and clean technology industry with regard to the tax code changes from the fiscal cliff tax deal reached on January 1, 2013. Moderated by Peter Rothstein, NECEC President, the panel included Dustin Stamper, Director of the Washington National Tax Office at Grant Thornton; Craig Diamond, Executive Director at Connecticut Clean Energy Finance Center; Eric Graber-Lopez, Partner at BlueWave Capital; Javier Salinas, Senior Manager International Tax Services at Grant Thornton; and Jordan Collins, Director of Government Relations at Mintz Levin’s government relations affiliate, ML Strategies.
In upcoming events, we encourage you to attend the Ninth Annual Clean Tech Investor Summit, which will take place in Palm Springs, CA on February 6–7, 2013. Chaired by Technology Partners’ Ira Ehrenpreis and produced by International Business Forum, the event will bring together leading investors, Fortune 500 executives and entrepreneurs for two days of high-level presentations, conversations, and networking. The Mintz Levin team will be present and we look forward to seeing you there!
Please also mark your calendars for Greentech Media’s Solar Summit 2013, which will take place in Phoenix, AZ on April 22–24, 2013. Bringing together leading solar companies, influential regulators and policymakers, forward-thinking utilities and bullish investors, the sixth annual Solar Summit will be an event where the industry comes to do business and gain access to the freshest, most innovative research on the maturing PV market.
In 2013, Mintz Levin’s Energy & Clean Technology blog will bring you the latest information and events impacting the clean technology industry. The blog includes in-depth analysis from the associates and members that work within our Energy & Clean Technology Practice. Please visit the following link that will bring you directly to the blog: http://www.energycleantechmatters.com/
We hope that you enjoy this month’s edition of the newsletter. For the most up-to-date information on federal legislation and programs, read the most recent ML Strategies Energy & Environment Update.
Mintz Levin’s Monthly Innovator Profile
HEVT, the CleanTech Open’s 2012 Grand Prize Winner, has developed a game-changing alternative to induction and permanent magnet motors. HEVT’s switched reluctance motor technologies are poised to empower the next generation of electric motors, making performance leaps with unmatched reliability and reduced cost volatility due to the use of zero rare earth minerals. HEVT’s patented switched reluctance motors (SRMs) provide high-performance alternatives to induction and permanent magnet motor/generators with increased reliability and disruptive cost benefits. The minimum viable product is being rolled out to provide electrical assist to bicycles (eBikes) but our SRMs disrupt current motor technology from approximately 150 watts scalable to one megawatt and beyond — or from air conditioners to oil and gas pumps. HEVT is one of a very few companies globally with SRM expertise and the necessary and complimentary expertise in power electronics and control. For more information about HEVT and the CleanTech Open’s 2012 Grand Prize selection, please visit the following website.