Power

The Blakes Power group has advised on diverse issues impacting power and energy-related projects, including thermal, gas-fired and combined heat and power (CHP), nuclear, district energy, and renewable energy (including wind, solar, hydro and biomass) projects. Owners and developers of electricity-generating projects, energy suppliers and consumers, and electricity traders regularly seek our guidance on a broad range of topics, including the impact of evolving markets, facilities operations, management, development, operation and financing of power projects, compliance with wholesale electricity market rules and environmental requirements, Indigenous matters, power supply, transmission and distribution challenges, and a host of other energy law issues.

Our team of lawyers are actively engaged in advising clients on the successful financing of capital-intensive projects. We have served as counsel in many of the largest and most complicated project finance transactions across Canada and internationally.

We offer a wealth of experience structuring private equity deals with developers involved in renewables projects. We provide strategic advice and legal counsel at each stage of the investment lifecycle: fund formation, fund management and governance, financing, Canadian and international investment-related acquisitions and dispositions, management of portfolio companies, and exit strategies.

Serving a diverse national and international client base, our Power group also has energy-specific market restructuring, regulatory and government relations expertise, and is often called upon to advise on market policy, rate setting and the rules and procedures of independent system operators (such as the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in Ontario and the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) in Alberta) governing the wholesale electricity market and the transmission grid. We frequently represent clients in regulatory proceedings to consider electricity tariff matters. In addition, our lawyers support proponents in contested permitting processes and advocate on their behalf in front of regulatory tribunals to obtain approvals for major electricity projects.

In advising power generators, marketers, distributors and transmitters on the structure and functioning of the electricity industry throughout Canada, we regularly negotiate a full range of energy-related transactions and ancillary contracts. These contracts may include power purchase agreements (PPAs); project financing arrangements; engineering, procurement and construction agreements (EPCs); connection and interconnection agreements; and operating agreements.

Working collaboratively with our preeminent finance, M&A, corporate, environmental and regulatory lawyers, and other specialized practitioners, we provide comprehensive advice on M&A deals, joint ventures, collaborative arrangements, project and equipment finance, procurement, environmental restrictions, permitting and reporting, regulatory approvals, and compliance matters.