Jorge Medina
Two California Plaza
350 South Grand Avenue
Suite 2100
Los Angeles, California 90071
Clients appreciate that I provide a broader prospective when delivering advice, having spent over 20 years in renewable energy doing everything from working in an in-house capacity, to serving in a senior business role, to leading renewable energy and infrastructure practice groups at major law firms. Jorge Medina focuses on federal tax policy and controversy issues involving renewable energy and energy transition assets, and he has extensive experience structuring tax-driven transactions. Jorge manages the execution of tax equity, M&A and debt transactions and represents both sponsors and investors in the energy sector in connection with energy storage, wind, solar, hydrogen, renewable natural gas, carbon capture, geothermal, biofuels and electric vehicle infrastructure projects. He is deeply familiar with all forms of tax equity structures, having closed dozens of partnership flip, lease pass-through and sale-leaseback transactions.
Prior to joining Vinson & Elkins, he led the renewables and infrastructure practices at two other firms. He also previously served as Associate General Counsel-Tax at automotive and energy company Tesla Inc., where he was primarily responsible for all tax issues across Tesla related to the energy and storage business and served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at SolarCity, which Tesla purchased in 2016.
Experience Highlights
APG Asset Management NV, a Dutch pension manager, in its purchase from Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners of a 49% stake in the $1.2 billion Gemini project, which is expected to be the largest solar project in America
Complete Solar Holding Corporation, a leading U.S. solar technology, services, and financing company, in its $888 million merger with The Solaria Corporation, forming Complete Solaria, Inc.
TeraWatt Infrastructure, an electric vehicle fleet charging specialist, in a transaction that will provide approximately $1 billion of institutional capital to support the buildout of its fleet-focused charging centers and operations
CMS Energy in the acquisition and tax equity financing of the Aviator transaction, the largest wind project transaction in 2020 (short listed for multiple Deal of the Year awards)
TC Energy, a North American energy infrastructure company with operations in the natural gas, oil, and power industries, in a joint venture with Nikola Corporation, a global leader in zero-emissions transportation and energy infrastructure solutions, to explore co-developing large-scale clean hydrogen hubs in the U.S. and Canada
Archaea Energy LLC, an emerging leader in the development and advancement of renewable natural gas (RNG), in a business combination agreement with Aria Energy LLC, led by Rice Acquisition Corporation (RAC), a special purpose acquisition company focused on the energy transition sector
NextEra Energy Partners, LP in its $733 million acquisition of a 391 MW portfolio of four operating wind assets located in California and New Hampshire
Chanel in the $80 million development and tax equity financing of Sunrun solar and solar plus battery storage projects on low-income, multifamily housing, which was Chanel’s first investment in a renewable energy transaction and winner of the 2020 RE100 Leadership Award For Best Community Changemaker deal of the year
Tesla in a first-of-its-kind tax credit monetization transaction structure for electric vehicle tax credits, financing over $795 million in vehicles
SolarCity in the largest solar distributed generation tax equity transaction in history, funding over $1 billion in solar and battery storage projects
SolarCity as tax counsel in the first four solar securitization transactions ever completed
S&B USA (previously Shikun and Binui America) in the acquisition and debt and tax equity financing of the 260 MW Brazoria West Solar Project
CMS Energy in the tax equity financing of the 100MW NW Ohio Wind Farm by Wells Fargo
Tesla, SolarCity, Palmetto, Sunrun and others in over 60 residential solar tax equity transactions
NextEra in its $650 million electric vehicle charging joint venture with Blackrock and Daimler
Lyft in electric vehicle financing transactions with Hyundai Capital America and Bank of the West
Tesla in the expansion of its electric vehicle charging network
NextEra in its electric school bus joint venture with First Student
SK Group in a joint venture with World Energy GH2 for the development of Project Nujio’qonik, a $4.5 billion green hydrogen facility in Canada
Chevron New Energy in its investment in the $600 million Drysdale fund by Climate Asset Management
Heirloom Carbon, a direct air capture company, in a long term contract with Microsoft for up to 315,000 metric tons of CO2 removal– one of the largest carbon dioxide removal deals to-date
Chevron New Energy in its geothermal energy joint venture with Baseload Capital
Represented Tesla in nine IRS audits of SolarCity/Tesla’s solar funds, involving more than $500 million at issue, with no adjustments
Various tax equity funds in the placement of over 50 tax insurance policies that cover billions in tax exposure
Credentials
- University of California, Berkeley School of Law, J.D., 2003
- San Francisco State University, B.S. magna cum laude, Honors Convocation, 1999
- Tesla, Associate General Counsel-Tax, 2017–2019
- SolarCity, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel-Tax, 2012–2017
- California
- Spanish (fluent speaker)
- InsightApril 26, 2024
V&E Renewable Energy Update
- InsightMarch 25, 2024
V&E Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Update
- InsightMarch 6, 2024
V&E Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Update
- Event RecapJanuary 31, 2024
- “Tax Issues for Solar Energy Projects: Investment Tax Credit, Ownership Structuring, Federal and State Tax Challenges,” Strafford Webinar, August 16, 2023 (speaker)
- “New Technology-Neutral Tax Credits for ITC and PTC Regimes: Application to Facilities, Rules and Requirements, Tax Equity,” Strafford Webinar, December 13, 2022 (speaker)
- “Using Partnership Flips to Finance Renewable Energy Projects: Evaluating Tax Risks, Navigating IRS Safe Harbors,” July 28, 2022 (co-speaker)
- “Biden Administration Announces Electric Vehicle Charging Action Plan to “Fast-Track” New Infrastructure Law Investments,” Pratt’s Energy Report, Jorge Medina, Aimee P. Ghosh and Zachary C. Rozen, Volume 22, No. 3, March 2022
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures,” Strafford Webinar, November 30, 2021 (co-speaker)
- “Renewable Energy and the New Infrastructure Bill: Opportunities, Requirements and Potential Liabilities,” Strafford Webinar, November 16, 2021 (co-speaker)
- “Insiders View: Direct Investors and Tax Equity,” Novogradac 2021 Fall Renewable Energy and Environmental Tax Credits Conference, November 4–5, 2021 (co-speaker)
- “Tax Issues for Solar Energy Projects: Investment Tax Credit, Ownership Structuring, Federal and State Tax Challenges,” Strafford Webinar, August 11, 2021 (co-speaker)
- “IRS Extends Safe Harbor for Offshore Wind and Federal Land Projects,” Pratt’s Energy Report, Jorge Medina and Mona E. Dajani, Volume 21, No. 3, March 2021
- “Tax Credit Insurance,” Aon Transaction Solutions Symposium, February 2–4, 2021 (co-speaker)
- “Developing and Financing California’s Energy Transition,” CLE presentation, January 13, 2021 (co-speaker)
- “Tax Extenders Included in the Stimulus Bill Poised to Provide a Boost to Renewables,” Texas Lawyer, Jorge Medina and Mona Dajani, January 12, 2021
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures,” Strafford Webinar, June 4, 2020 (co-speaker)
- “Using Inverted Leases to Finance Renewable Energy Projects: Evaluating Tax Risks, Navigating Structural Variations, Leveraging Pass-Through Election,” Strafford Webinar, February 12, 2020 (co-speaker)
- “Tax Issues for Solar Energy Projects: Investment Tax Credit, Ownership Structuring, Federal and State Tax Challenges,” Strafford Webinar, July 23, 2019 (co-speaker)
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures: Sale-Leasebacks, Inverted Leases and Partnership Flips,” Strafford Webinar, November 29, 2018 (co-speaker)
- “Understanding the Details of Beginning of Construction Standard and Recent Tax Controversy Trends,” 2018 Deloitte Alternative Energy Seminar, August 15–17, 2018 (co-speaker)
- “Using Partnership Flips to Finance Renewable Energy Projects: Evaluating Tax Risks, Navigating IRS Safe Harbors,” Strafford Webinar, July 26, 2018 (co-speaker)
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures: Sale-Leasebacks, Inverted Leases and Partnership Flips,” Strafford Webinar, August 15, 2017 (co-speaker)
- “Using Inverted Leases to Finance Renewable Energy Projects,” Strafford Webinar, March 28, 2017 (co-speaker)
- “Tax Insurance,” Aon Transaction Solutions Symposium, Las Vegas, NV, February 1–3, 2017 (co-speaker)
- Partnership Flips Panel Discussion,” Strafford Webinar, January 26, 2017 (speaker)
- “Compare and Contrast Tax Equity Structures,” SEIA Finance and Tax Seminar, Washington, DC, December 7–8, 2016 (speaker)
- “Tax Controversy Trends and Changes to IRS Audits of Partnerships,” 2016 Deloitte Alternative Energy Seminar, Scottsdale, AZ, November 14–15, 2016 (co-speaker)
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures: Sale-Leasebacks, Inverted Leases and Partnership Flips,” Strafford Webinar, November 9, 2016 (co-speaker)
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures: Sale-Leasebacks, Inverted Leases and Partnership Flips,” Strafford Webinar, August 8, 2016 (co-speaker)
- “Innovations in Energy Financing: Supporting the Transformation,” MIT Energy Conference, Cambridge, MA, March 4–5, 2016 (co-speaker)
- “Deep Dive on Inverted Leases,” SEIA Finance and Tax Seminar, New York, NY, February 18–19, 2016 (co-speaker)
- “ITC Step Down—what will be the impact on developers seeking financing in 2016 and beyond,” Distributed Solar Summit, San Diego, CA, November 17, 2015 (co-speaker)
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures: Sale-Leasebacks, Inverted Leases and Partnership Flips,” Strafford Webinar, October 29, 2015 (co-speaker)
- “Solar Financing Tax Equity Structures: Sale-Leasebacks, Inverted Leases and Partnership Flips,” Strafford Webinar, August 13, 2015 (co-speaker)
- “Securitizing Tax Structured Assets,” Distributed Solar Summit, San Diego, CA, November 18, 2014 (co-speaker)
- “Understanding Inverted Leases,” SEIA Finance and Tax Seminar, San Francisco, CA, April 4, 2014 (speaker)
- “Understanding Inverted Leases,” SEIA Finance and Tax Seminar, New York, NY, June 26, 2013 (speaker)
- “Solar Financing Explained,” Greentech Media, David Lowman and Jorge Medina, January 23, 2013
- “Tax Deductions for Film and Television Productions under Section 181,” California Tax Lawyer, Winter 2007 – Volume 16, Number 1, Jorge Medina and Patrick S. Klein