Energy

Deacons is one of Australasia’s leading power, energy and infrastructure firms. Our lawyers have extensive experience in advising on the acquisition, development and financing of power projects and can assist participants in the power sector to understand, adapt to and make the most of opportunities in what is an increasingly competitive regulatory environment.

Our energy experts work closely with a wide range of clients to provide solutions that are cost-effective and add real value. The Deacons difference includes intimate insights into government reform and industry regulation, and indepth resources that go beyond law and include experience with Government and investment banking.

Renewable energy issues

We also use our depth of expertise in renewable energy law to assist our clients to take advantage of the particular challenges and opportunities in this sector. Deacons’ experience and track record, together with our involvement in the drafting of key legislation at a federal and state level, allows us to navigate issues arising from government initiatives on greenhouse gas emissions. We are able to call on our renewable energy experts nationally to assist in the development of specialised legal instruments and complex advice on the impacts of legislative change in this area.

The full spectrum

Deacons has a proven track record with many types of different projects and transactions across the energy spectrum. Our clients range from power generators, developers, pipeline and gas supply companies to power distributors and retailers as well as financiers and government authorities.

Our energy experience includes regulatory roles, project development, contract negotiation, acquisition, sale and financing, power purchase, gas sales and purchase, gas and electricity transmission, distribution and connection arrangements, plantation forestry and other sequestration projects and green credit purchase and sales arrangements. We have also been involved in a number of international energy projects and, of course, provide advice generally on such matters as the regulatory framework applying to electricity, gas, energy, renewables and infrastructure in Australia and internationally.

Deacons’ regulatory roles have included advising commonwealth and state governments and regulators on drafting legislation and advising on energy issues.

We have also assisted in the drafting of key legislation in a number of jurisdictions. Our development and construction experience has included advising on a number of power generating facilities including coal, gas fired and cogeneration, hydro-electric, wind farms and waste sawdust.

Our energy services

• drafting and advising on energy agreements generally
• advice on construction and development of energy facilities
• acquisition and sale including joint ventures
• project finance including project structuring, tax depreciation and amortisation arrangements
• preparing, negotiating and advising on contracts for power plant construction, operation and maintenance
• water supply arrangements
• development of renewable energy strategies
• regulatory and statutory interpretation
• advice on current and likely future federal, state and territory regulatory developments
• preparation of submissions to government in relation to policy and regulatory developments

• Newsletter: Energy Law Update - June 2008

  Welcome to the June edition of Energy Law Update. Clearly, the report of Professor Ross Garnaut's Climate Change Review, due in September, will be one of the most influential public policy documents released this year. In this issue, the Deacons team looks at Professor Garnaut's Interim Report and also his Discussion Paper on the design of Australia's Emissions Trading Scheme.

  24 Jun 08 Nick McHugh, Samantha Solomon , Belinda Harvey, Heather Hutchinson and Rachael Webb

• Legal update: “World’s First” Carbon Capture and Storage Legislation

  As part of the Commonwealth Government’s efforts to meet the challenge of climate change, it introduced and released the draft Offshore Petroleum Amendments (Greenhouse Gas Storage) Bill 2008.

  23 Jun 08 Jehann Mendis

• Legal update: New .au Domain Name Transfer Policy from 1 June 2008

  In last month’s Legal Update on Upcoming Changes to .au Domain Name Transfer Policy we noted that the Australian domain name administrator (auDA) had approved an implementation plan for a new policy on the transfer on .au domain name licences. auDA has now confirmed that the new policy will take effect on 1 June 2008.

  18 Apr 08 Michael Park

• Legal update: New Guidance Note issued by the Takeovers Panel on equity derivatives

  On 11 April 2008, the Takeovers Panel (Panel) released Guidance Note 20 - Equity Derivatives (Guidance Note) outlining when, and in what circumstances, the use of equity derivatives may constitute unacceptable circumstances and require disclosure to the market.

  17 Apr 08 Robert Sultan, Shane Bilardi , Natalie Trezise

• Legal update: Upcoming changes to .au domain name transfer policy

  The Australian domain name administrator (auDA) recently announced that it has approved an implementation plan for a new policy on the transfer of .au domain names licences. (It is the exclusive licence to use the domain name that is transferred, rather than ownership of the domain name itself.) This announcement follows auDA’s earlier acceptance of the recommendation from the 2007 Names Policy Panel that the current policy be relaxed to allow a registrant to transfer its domain names for any reason.

  27 Mar 08 Michael Park , Ka-Chi Cheung

• Newsletter: Energy Law Update - March 2008

  Welcome to the first edition of Energy Law Update for 2008. In this edition, we examine whether compliance with Australian Standards is enough in the management and assessment of risks.

  19 Mar 08 Lindsay Houghton, Ross Ramsay, Rebecca Hoare, Elisa de Wit , Bradley Melman, Asha Stewart and Rachael Webb

• Legal update: Market volatility - ASX and ASIC respond

  Sensing a growing controversy, the ASX and ASIC have issued a number of media releases in response to market concerns, reminding market participants of laws designed to protect the integrity of markets. This update discusses the ASX and ASIC statements in light of the current apparent market volatility.

  17 Mar 08 Tim Woodforde

• Legal update: ACCC releases new draft merger guidelines

  The ACCC recently published its 2008 Draft Merger Guidelines for consultation. These guidelines are intended to provide an explanation of the framework the ACCC will apply when considering whether a merger or a proposed merger could substantially lessen competition in a market. Guidelines such as these issued by the ACCC from time to time, provide a useful overview of polices and procedures applied by the ACCC when reviewing proposed mergers.

  4 Mar 08 Jyoti Singh and Chris Mitchell

• Newsletter: Environment Matters - November 2007

  Welcome to the inaugural issue of Environment Matters, a quarterly environment and climate change newsletter that aims to keep readers up to date with the latest developments in legislation, case law, government policies and other matters that relate to one of the biggest issues facing us this century.

  23 Nov 07 Jacinta Studdert, Rebecca Hoare, Elisa de Wit, Felicity Rourke , Olga Hancock, Jennifer Trewhella and Jonathan Wilkinson

• Newsletter: Energy Law Update - September 2007

  Welcome to the September 2007 edition of Energy Law Update. In this edition, we examine the NSW governments recently introduced Bill relating to the creation of a NSW Renewable Energy Target (NRET); we look at the recent announcement by Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government’s investment arm, to revive the sale of its interests in Singapore’s three largest power generating companies (GenCos) and we discuss the recent ACCC access dispute between Services Sydney Pty Ltd (Services Sydney) and Sydney Water Corporation Ltd (Sydney Water). We hope you enjoy this issue.

  13 Sep 07 Michael Joyce, Nick McHugh, Jason Noakes, Calum Henderson, Elisa de Wit, Dan Marjanovic , Alison Shilkin, Adam Kent, Bradley Melman, Jonathon Wilkinson, Zdravko Jelic & Gabrielle Werksman