Who We Serve

IPPs include publicly traded generation and marketing companies, unregulated generation affiliates of regulated utilities, and other merchant generators. Unregulated IPPs that own coal generation face the same transitional challenges as those faced by regulated utilities, municipal utilities, and cooperatives.

Unlike regulated owners, IPPs do not have the ability to pass on the significant transitional costs to its customer base. Consequently, merchant IPP coal generators are more rapidly and adversely impacted by changing market conditions, especially in locations where capacity factors have substantially declined and natural gas prices have remained low and/or renewable generation has increased.

We help IPPs as an independent strategic advisor for plant and ash pond closures as the plants near retirement; validate asset retirement obligations under a variety of future scenarios; and develop strategies to exit, monetize, and/or repurpose existing plant sites and grid infrastructure. Of particular note is our knowledge on how to implement structures that solve the cost disparities between operating cash flows and closure liabilities. If necessary, we acquire coal generation assets to expedite the exits, provide immediate ESG benefits, while monetizing remaining operating cash flows.

The private equity, hedge fund, and other financial entities in this segment face rapidly increasing ESG pressures to exit coal investments. However, their ability to exit coal is greatly diminished by looming environmental liabilities and plant closure costs. In addition, financial owners are often not equipped to manage the uncertainty of ash pond closure and long-term monitoring activities.

We help financial owners achieve their ESG, strategic, and financial objectives through an expedited exit from coal. By quantifying the legacy liabilities under a range of scenarios and design customized exit structures we create options that are acceptable to all stakeholders. Our approach develops long-term closure plans with financial assurance to ensure that the closure is properly funded and managed. Most importantly, we provide financial owners with the turnkey solutions they need to exit coal in a timely and responsible manner.

There are opportunities for investors wishing to participate in markets undergoing decarbonization, particularly if there is interest in retaining access to the transmission grid, a critical value driver for future development opportunities. Existing, retired, or soon-to-be retired coal plants may have attributes that meet key investment criteria. Above all, investors are seeking target returns with a high degree of certainty.

We provide infrastructure investors with comprehensive transaction support that clarifies asset liabilities, risks and future value, supported by proprietary, probabilistic modeling and analysis that meet the needs of investment committees.

We provide due diligence, deal structuring and environmental liability management support to acquire all, or a portion of, a power plant or portfolio. When portfolios have mixed generation, we can acquire the carbon-heavy assets, leaving carbon-light assets with the investor. We can also help with the evaluation of potential development opportunities to achieve target financial returns.

Nearly all of the major utilities are in the process of closing or evaluating the potential closure of their coal-fired generation. Most have announced aspirational objectives to reduce carbon emissions. Many are in various stages of securing rate relief to accelerate plant closures and recover the accompanying transitional costs, including direct costs to close the plants and the recovery of stranded investment costs.

This process is time-consuming, complex and may not result in the recovery of all costs. In addition, delays in closing and/or exiting coal generation could have a measurable impact on the company’s market capitalization.

We assist investor-owned utilities (IOU) in a variety of ways, often as an independent strategic advisor. Among the areas most called for are plant and ash pond closures, validation of asset retirement obligations under future scenarios, and determining valuations of sites and grid infrastructure once the coal plants have been closed. We can also acquire all or a subset of coal plants to expedite the desired exit from coal, providing IOUs with immediate ESG benefits, while monetizing the current value of future operating cash flows.

Industrial clients who own fossil fuel generation face pressures to reduce their global carbon footprint. Most have announced long-term initiatives to achieve future carbon-free emission targets. When coupled with the acceleration of plant closures they face substantial closure costs, repowering challenges and customers that prefer products manufactured from “greener” sources.

We help industrial clients achieve their exit objectives by evaluating the value of their sites and grid infrastructure, monetizing all or a portion of their assets, and developing and implementing long-term repurposing strategies that take advantage of the unique attributes of their sites. If necessary, we can acquire the plants and provide turnkey exit solutions.