Incentives and Financing for Hydrogen Projects – Navigating Unanswered Questions

This presentation will explore the economic and financing aspects of hydrogen projects, highlighting the impact of incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act and the lag in regulatory updates for hydrogen generation, storage, and transport. It will also suggest regulatory reforms to enhance the feasibility of hydrogen production in the U.S.

Credit(s)

1

CO Approval ID

849637

Original Program Date

July 19, 2024

Duration

45 minutes

Hydrogen has the potential to replace fossil fuels while utilizing much of the infrastructure and processes that already exist in industrial processes, transportation, and power plants. The excitement around the hydrogen economy has resulted in significant developments, such as provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, aimed at encouraging projects through tax incentives and facilitating financing by allowing the freer transferability of tax credits. While incentives make building projects more lucrative, regulations surrounding the generation, storage, and transportation of hydrogen have not kept pace with the hydrogen economy. This presentation will focus on the economics and financing of hydrogen projects, including whether and how incentives have made financing easier, issues attorneys should consider when representing parties involved in financing these projects, and legal problems and market uncertainties that continues to impede financing. On the latter issue, the speaker will discuss how regulations might be revised to more fully realize the potential of hydrogen production in the U.S.

Video presentation from the 70th Annual Natural Resources and Energy Law Institute.

Speakers

Credits

Materials

1 CLE Credit – Approval ID: CO ID - 849637

This course has been accredited for CLE credit in Colorado. CLE credit hours shown are for Colorado only. A CLE course number for Colorado will be provided to attendees on their certificates of attendance once a course has been completed. New Mexico attorneys who complete a course must notify us (cle@rmmlf.org) because we are required to report credits for you. If this course has been approved for RPL/CPL credit with the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), the credits will be listed below in a separate section for AAPL. If applicable, Component Codes for AAPL recertification will also be provided. Please contact RMMLF if you need independent verification by the provider of your attendance or participation for CLE purposes. Except as provided above, RMMLF generally does not apply for accreditation from any other MCLE/CPD organizations for its online legal education program. Upon completion of a program a certificate of attendance will be issued to all attendees. Except as provided above, attendees must verify with their respective state bars and CPD organizations and their specific rules as to whether or not the certificate of attendance will be recognized by that body for MCLE/CPD purposes, and the number of CLE/CPD credits that may be available. The live presentation of the on-demand program has been accredited in most mandatory states as part of a larger course, but such accreditation does not assure recognition of the on-demand program.

J.D. KESLER is a Shareholder at Parsons Behle & Latimer in Salt Lake City. J.D. guides his clients through the acquisition, development, financing, and operation of energy infrastructure projects. Throughout his career, he has represented clients in deals involving oil and gas, interstate pipelines, solar, wind, hydrogen, geothermal, power plants, renewable natural gas, and many others. J.D. and the team at Parsons Behle represented the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as Operating Agent of the Intermountain Power Agency (“IPA”) in negotiating a first-of-its-kind hydrogen venture. Renewable energy will be converted into hydrogen, stored in underground salt caverns, and then delivered to IPA’s power plant, where it will be used to reduce the carbon emissions in the generation of electricity. The project is the first to combine utility and industrial scale renewable hydrogen production, storage, and transmission. Before joining Parsons Behle & Latimer, J.D. spent nearly six years as in-house counsel at a natural gas company, with divisions focused on oil and gas exploration, local natural gas distribution and interstate pipelines.