Samantha’s practice focuses on the development and financing of renewable energy projects.

Samantha Leavitt is an associate in the Energy and Infrastructure practice. As a member of the firm’s interdisciplinary Renewable Energy practice, Samantha’s primary focus is on the development and financing of renewable energy projects with an emphasis on solar energy developments, many involving sale-leaseback and tax equity investment structures. Her experience includes drafting and reviewing all financing and security documents for such projects as well as power purchase agreements, lease agreements, purchase and sale agreements and legal opinions.

Relevant Experience

• Represented sponsors, lenders and investors with respect to the development and financing (including tax equity) of solar facilities and windpower projects on both a single project and portfolio basis.
• Represented parties acquiring and divesting various energy assets on both a single project and portfolio basis.
• Represented project developers/sponsors, lenders and tax equity investors with respect to a number of distributed generation financings. Transactions include portfolios across the US developed by Duke (REC Solar), ENGIE (Socore), Longroad and NRG Renewables.
• Represented tax equity investors and developers with respect to a number of residential solar portfolio transactions.
• Represented project developers, lenders, strategic and tax equity investors with respect to the development and financing of utility scale solar projects utilizing a variety of structures, including partnership flip, sale-leasebacks and back-leverage financings. Specific transactions include:
  • Representation of a developer/utility with respect to the tax equity financing of a wind portfolio consisting of approximately 600 MW under construction in Kay County, Oklahoma and Nolan County, Texas.
  • Representation of an investment bank in connection with its tax equity investment in an approximately 200 MW utility scale solar generating facility located in Kern County, California.
  • Representation of a technology company making a tax equity investment (and procuring RECs) from a ~$500M solar project – which was structured to take advantage of a solar hedge and a passive investment from a foreign pension fund (and upper-level debt related to the same).

Bar Admissions

Education
JD, University of Virginia School of Law, 2014BS, University of Miami, 2011