Lauren A. Collins
633 West Fifth Street
26th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Renewable projects and business models involve complex technologies, counter-parties, and tax structures. I provide tax counsel on both the tax equity and project developer side to help clients navigate these challenges. I particularly enjoy working closely with my clients to adapt traditional project development and finance methods to suit their unique business models and close on their financing transactions. Lauren A. Collins focuses on tax matters related to project finance, with an emphasis on renewable energy and infrastructure assets. Lauren has represented clients in the financing, disposition, acquisition, and development of renewable energy projects including solar, wind, energy storage, carbon sequestration, fuel cell, and biomass projects. She has considerable experience utilizing a variety of structures to finance these assets and has helped develop some of the most complex and cutting-edge renewable energy financing transactions in the U.S., including numerous first-of-its-kind deals.
In the course of her practice, Lauren represents Fortune 50 companies, investors, utilities, sponsors, and developers in the renewable energy space and has advised clients more broadly in connection with various federal and state tax matters. Her experience includes tax aspects of M&A, reorganizations and bankruptcy, structured finance, and New Markets Tax Credits.
Experience Highlights
Numerous tax equity investors in their initial investments in utility scale wind, solar, and storage projects including—with respect to solar and storage—commercial, industrial, and residential assets, utilizing partnership flip transactions, sale leaseback, and inverted lease structures
Tax equity investor in its investment in a portfolio of three utility scale solar photovoltaic projects in Texas, Colorado, and Vermont with nameplate capacities of 30 MW, 19.59 MW, and 50 MW, respectively
Goldman Sachs Renewable Power in the acquisition from Recurrent Energy and the development, debt, and term financing of a 300MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plus 140.25MW/561MWh storage project in California; the project will sell power pursuant to 5 separate power purchase agreements, 4 of which include energy storage
JPM Capital Corporation in its approximately $160 million equity commitment to develop the approximately 126 MW Timber Road IV Wind Farm Project in Paulding County, Ohio, and the approximately 50.4 MW Los Mirasoles II Wind Farm Project in Hidalgo and Starr Counties, Texas
Tax equity investor in the $185 million tax equity investment and lender in a $60 million loan to repower three wind generation facilities in Texas totaling 546MW, each being developed by one of the largest renewable energy project developers in the U.S.
Tax equity investor in its approximately $350 million tax equity commitment in a 485 MW solar project in Virginia, which is the largest solar facility east of the Rocky Mountains
Residential solar project developer in tax equity financings with multiple tax equity sources, major equipment procurement contracts, and related strategic advice regarding growth strategies
Terra-Gen in the approximately $250 million construction financing and $170 million tax equity financing for the 193.5MW Voyager Wind II Project in Kern County, California, and the 32.7MW Texas Big Spring Project in Big Spring, Texas
Private equity fund in a $150 million debut joint venture with a solar developer to acquire and develop community solar and other eligible renewable projects
Affiliate of Goldman Sachs Renewable Power in the $86.9 million acquisition of LLC membership interests in operating solar commercial and industrial projects subject to sale-leaseback financing arrangements
Sixth Street Partners in a joint venture with MMA Energy Capital to finance the construction and ongoing operations of solar power projects throughout North America
Credentials
- University of Southern California Gould School of Law, J.D., 2010 (Southern California Law Review, Senior Content Editor)
- New York University School of Law, LL.M., Taxation, 2011
- University of California – San Diego, B.A. Political Science with honors, 2007
- California
- InsightFebruary 12, 2021
- Press ReleaseFebruary 3, 2021
- “2018 in Retrospect: The Renewable Energy Industry in a Post-TCJA World,” Tax Notes, February 11, 2019 (co-author)
- “Is It Safe? – A Solar Safe Harbor,” Tax Notes, July 3,2017 (co-author)
- “Back to the Beginning: Energy Property Revisited,” Tax Notes, December 19, 2016 (co-author)
- “The Unwind: ‘I Don’t Want It’,” Tax Notes, September 12, 2016 (co-author)
- “Renewable Power Facilities: Placed-in-Service Issues,” Tax Notes, Vol. 151, No. 8, May 23, 2016 (co-author)
- “Renewable Structures: Choices and Challenges,” Pratt’s Energy Law Report, Vol. 15, No. 7, July 2015 (co-author)