Industry

Energy and Infrastructure

Empowering Progress Through Innovative Project Solutions

Sheppard assists sponsors, developers, investors, offtakers and operators as they navigate energy transition, infrastructure development and project finance.

Our lawyers are destination practitioners, sought after for their expert, disciplined and practical guidance on high-value energy and infrastructure projects. 

Powering Projects

Sheppard supports stakeholders at every project stage by combining sector experience, technical fluency and commercial judgment.

Our team handles project development, real estate, permitting, environmental, project agreements, construction, tax equity and debt financing, regulatory matters and M&A. This integrated approach helps clients anticipate issues, manage risks and keep projects on track in fast and ever-changing markets. 

Our lawyers advise clients in renewable energy (including wind, solar and geothermal), battery storage, data centers, conventional power, Oil & Gas, nuclear, water and transportation infrastructure. We represent project sponsors, investors, lenders and developers on individual projects as well as broad development and operating portfolios, guiding them through evolving policy, market dynamics and emerging financing structures. 

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Areas of Focus

Power & Utilities
Our work includes structuring, financing and operating a wide range of power assets, including conventional generation, large-scale renewables, hybrid and grid modernization projects, supported by deep experience in regulated and competitive markets. We are actively involved across all major U.S. power markets and support utilities and independent power producers navigating policy changes, grid evolution and customer demand. The depth of our experience across the full project lifecycle—from early project development, through financing, operation and ultimately repowering or disposition—informs our advice at every stage and is nearly unparalleled.
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Oil & Gas
Sheppard’s Energy practice is a trusted source on high-stakes Oil & Gas industry projects. We advise on asset development, financing, M&A and regulatory strategy and compliance. Our multidisciplinary team delivers practical guidance from project inception through decommissioning, addressing both day-to-day operations and long-term commercial goals. Our extensive experience includes representing interstate natural gas pipeline, storage and LNG companies on all aspects of federal regulation. We have served as primary counsel on rate cases, tariff revisions, federal enforcement inquiries and investigations, deal diligence and regulatory proceedings before FERC that affect our clients’ core businesses. In addition, we regularly advise intrastate and gathering projects on transactions and compliance. 
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Digital Infrastructure
Sheppard is at the forefront of the digital infrastructure and data center industry. We provide strategic counsel from site selection and acquisition through permitting, project development, project agreements, financing and operations. We understand the nexus between digital infrastructure and the energy sector, guiding clients through the growing convergence of data centers and power generation to ensure grid reliability and support future-ready infrastructure. Our lawyers are well-versed in the sophisticated legal and technical issues involving power, cooling, bandwidth, environmental regulations, security and redundancy. 
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Corporate, M&A and Strategic Alliances
We advise on acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic alliances across project lifecycles and energy and infrastructure-centric businesses. Our focus is on governance, economics and risk allocation that align with business priorities, whether investing for growth, restructuring or repositioning assets in changing markets. 
CFIUS, Trade, Technology and Antitrust
We have deep expertise in the laws and issues related to antitrust, communications, cybersecurity, economic sanctions, exports, government contracts, technology transfers and other areas that trigger national security concerns. We regularly counsel clients with respect to all aspects of cross-border trade affecting energy and infrastructure, including import tariffs and duties, forced labor and other supply chain integrity considerations and anti-circumvention and antidumping rules. 
Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Operations

We represent owners, developers and contractors in negotiating and drafting agreements for construction, equipment supply, project labor and project operations. Our focus is on contracts that ensure bankability, schedule certainty, performance standards and fair risk allocation. We support clients from the earliest stages of design and siting through commissioning and provide guidance during project execution, including change orders, delay claims and warranty disputes. In resolving construction disputes, we have a strong track record of negotiation, arbitration and litigation.

Environmental, Real Estate, Entitlements and Land Use
Our team represents clients on the full range of agreements and issues involved in obtaining site control, whether through options, purchase agreements, lease structures or other arrangements. We also guide clients through the environmental review, permitting and land use approvals required for major energy and infrastructure developments. We advise on siting strategy, CEQA and NEPA compliance, zoning, water and air quality issues and negotiations with agencies and stakeholders. By integrating real estate, environmental, permitting and regulatory insight early, we help projects advance while limiting risk and managing public scrutiny. 
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Energy Regulation, Interconnection and Transmission

We provide guidance on federal and state energy regulation, including FERC and DOE matters, market participation, enforcement and compliance programs. Our team helps clients anticipate regulatory risk and align strategy with both commercial and operational objectives. By working seamlessly across sectors—renewables, conventional power, oil and gas and infrastructure—we provide a unified approach to regulatory compliance, risk management and stakeholder engagement that supports project success regardless of technology or market.

We counsel developers and owners on interconnection strategy and queue management. We advise on the negotiation of preliminary engineering and procurement contracts, as well as interconnection and transmission agreements. Our team regularly works across all ISOs and RTOs, in ERCOT and in bilateral markets as well as markets outside of organized RTOs. We have effectively resolved disputes with transmission providers to protect projects’ queue positions, schedules and financing. We represent interstate natural gas pipeline, storage and LNG companies on all aspects of federal regulation, from project inception to decommissioning.

Project Revenue and Energy Markets

We advise sponsors, project companies, lenders and financial institutions on all forms of revenue contracts tied to energy projects. Our experience spans physical and financial hedges, busbar power purchase agreements, virtual power arrangements, REC transactions, prepaid and municipal bond transactions and refined product agreements. We negotiate bespoke arrangements and advise on all common industry-accepted forms, including ISDA, EEI and NAESB. We also negotiate feedstock agreements for processing and generation plants. We have extensive experience financing projects with all manner of revenue contracts and can advise on financeability of their terms. 

We have extensive experience regarding cost responsibility for “stranded” assets and experience at the intersection of the Bankruptcy Code and federal energy regulatory laws.

Debt Finance
We represent borrowers and lenders in the structuring and negotiation of debt financing at all levels of the project and enterprise capital stacks. We have a long history of representing sponsors, developers, banks and non-bank lenders, including private credit and direct lenders, in connection with development, construction, mini-perm debt, fixed rate debt, leveraged lending and alternative finance transactions for projects, portfolios and operating companies. We work with a variety of collateral packages and underwriting structures, ranging from non-recourse project-secured debt, to backleverage, mezzanine, working capital, letter of credit facilities, cash flow, ABL, project development and more. Because we have significant experience in documenting all types of loans and with distressed asset workouts, restructurings and acquisitions, we understand the issues that arise in connection with initial loan documentation, as well as the issues presented by modifications, additional advances and workouts/restructurings. We are also highly experienced with project-related intercreditor/interparty agreements among financing providers and other secured creditors. 
Equity Finance and Sell-Downs
We regularly represent project owners in the sale of minority and majority interests in projects and portfolios under development, being constructed and in operation. We have experience negotiating not only the sale transaction, but also the equally important and challenging terms of the ongoing relationship between the parties, particularly in the context of joint ventures involving strategic and financial participants. In these transactions, we are accustomed to working through the challenges presented by complex capital stack structures, which often include tax equity and debt financings. 
Tax Planning and Tax Credit Monetization
Our tax lawyers are recognized leaders in tax strategy and structuring for energy and infrastructure projects. With decades of experience navigating evolving incentive regimes, we help clients optimize capital structures and coordinate tax planning and tax credit monetization transactions with their broader project development, ownership and exit strategies. We are at the forefront of market-leading tax equity and hybrid tax equity/tax credit transfer transactions. In fact, our lawyers designed seminal transactions for the tax credit transfer market and continue to be a leader in the industry.
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