Jeffrey Chester is a partner in the firm’s Project Finance and Development Group, resident in the Los Angeles office heading up the firm’s renewable energy efforts. Mr. Chester has a broad-based practice representing developers, sponsors, lenders, and investors. Mr. Chester has a particular focus on renewable energy, having been centrally involved in the development of the equity, debt, and capital markets for renewable energy projects and closing more than 70 wind and solar power projects throughout the United States.
Mr. Chester’s work on renewable energy finance transactions includes representing a broad range of participants in construction and term debt, backleverage, tax equity (partnership flips and sale leasebacks), private equity capital financings, mergers and acquisitions (including purchases and sales of projects, pipelines and companies), and international and strategic joint ventures. Additionally, Mr. Chester has worked on initial public offerings, commercial paper, medium-term notes, eurobond offerings, structured finance and credit enhancements, leveraged buyouts and other complex financial transactions.
On the renewable energy development side, Mr. Chester leads teams regularly involved in negotiating power purchase agreements, hedges and other off-take arrangements, turbine and solar panel supply agreements, EPC agreements, and addressing the full panoply of development issues including transmission and interconnect, real estate procurement and environmental issues.
Mr. Chester has been recognized in Chambers USA (2008-2013) as “a celebrated expert in renewables M&A” and “regarded as one of the top deal makers in California” who is “a great problem solver” and “very entrepreneurial and commercially oriented, with a firm grasp of both the law and what it takes to actually get a deal done.” He was also recognized by Legal Media Group Clean Technology & Renewable Energy 2013 on “The CleanTech 100,” a list of the top 100 practitioners of clean technology law across the finance and transactional, regulatory, intellectual property practice areas, and who colleagues refer to as “one of the best and most complete transactional attorneys out there.”
Since 2005, Mr. Chester has served as Chairman of Infocast’s Wind Power Finance & Investment Summit. The summit focuses on developments in wind power finance and the investment markets while providing industry leaders the opportunity to share their perspectives and network with project developers, lenders, investors, financial innovators and other industry players. Mr. Chester presents the “Chairman’s Wind Power Market Overview” and moderates the “Debt Market Outlook” panel at the summit each year. In addition to his participation in the summit, Mr. Chester is also a frequent speaker before trade associations, industry conferences, and professional seminars.
Mr. Chester is admitted to practice in California.
Representative Matters
- An independent developer, owner and operator of wind farms in the Midwest in construction and term loan financings for a 136 MW wind portfolio and tax equity financing for a 50 MW wind power project.
- An international developer of renewable energy projects on a construction and term loan financing for a 30 MW wind project located in southwestern Minnesota, and subsequently in its sale of the wind farm to one of the world’s largest private equity funds and simultaneous tax equity financing.
- A national developer of utility-scale wind energy facilities both onshore and offshore, in the sale of 99 percent of its stake in a 298 MW wind power project to a NYSE-listed power generation and infrastructure company.
- A Canadian pension fund in its $500 million investment in a 1,500 MW wind farm portfolio owned by North America’s largest independent wind power generation company.
- One of the leading U.S. banks as a tax equity investor in approximately 700 MWs of wind power projects.
- The U.S. subsidiary of a leading European utility in the acquisition of a 4,000 MW development pipeline and management team.
- A major international Korean company in the development and financing of Solar PV Projects in the U.S. totaling 130 MWs.
- A developer in the negotiation of a 1,550 MW PPA with a California utility — the largest wind PPA ever signed.
- A leading German developer in the development, construction, financing and sale of multiple projects.
- An Australian infrastructure fund in the $325 million sale of a 3,100 MW project in development to a private equity fund.
- A developer in the negotiation and structuring of a large equity commitment from a top-tier Wall Street investment banking house.
- A private equity fund in the acquisition, tax structuring and financing of a project in California.
- An Australian infrastructure fund in the acquisition, development, tax structuring and financing of multiple projects.
- A developer in the sale of a portfolio of development projects to a Spanish company.
- A major utility in the acquisition of a wind project in development.
- A wind development company with an announced pipeline of over 800 MW in its sale to one of the leading wind energy developers in the United States.
- The lenders for construction financing of a 120 MW project in Texas.
- The developers as lead counsel in the Altamont Avian cases.