Douglas E. Lamb Partner

Doug is a co-leader of the firm's ongoing infrastructure and public-private partnership initiative and formerly served on the firm's opinion committee and as an initial head of each of the firm’s biomass and renewable energy teams. Developers, sponsors, buyers, sellers, issuers, borrowers, lenders, debt and equity investors and other commercial participants turn to Doug as they seek to structure and finance projects in the renewable energy, resource recovery, energy efficiency, economic development, transportation and social infrastructure sectors throughout the United States.

Throughout the course of his career, Doug has worked with his clients to execute their energy and environmental sustainability goals, often partnering together on innovative project financings including those that take advantage of government incentives. He has completed financings using production and investment tax credits, state and federal new-markets and historic rehabilitation tax credits, other federal and state incentives, including federal qualified opportunity zone benefits, rural business and jobs credits, personal and real property abatements and payment and fee-in-lieu of tax structures.

Doug also frequently works on unrated, nonrecourse project financings involving complex structures, such as public-private and tax-equity partnerships, and as part of these financings creates special purpose governmental, corporate and non-profit entities, acquires and disposes of assets, entities and businesses to complete the transactions, monetizes incentives, grants, tax and environmental benefits and attributes, secures the property rights, drafts special legislation and resolves legal disputes. As a result, he regularly teams with his partners in tax, environmental, real estate, regulatory and litigation as well as his colleagues in McGuireWoods Consulting to bring a true team approach on behalf of clients to solve their needs and accomplish their goals.

From 1993 to 2001, Doug served his country in the Virginia Army National Guard, reaching the highest rank of Captain.

Experience

Renewable Energy Projects

Represented sponsors, borrowers, investors, contractors and feedstock providers in the negotiation and drafting of joint venture agreements, public-private partnership arrangements, energy efficiency agreements, energy service performance contracts, power purchase agreements, gas transportation, marketing and fuel dispensing arrangements, site leases, hauling and transfer agreements, gas sale and purchase agreements and animal waste supply agreements for solar, wind, geothermal, landfill gas and poultry, swine and dairy gas projects, facilities and operations.

Served as bond, special tax, underwriter’s, developer’s, purchaser’s and investor’s counsel on tax-exempt and taxable municipal and commercial transactions, including non-recourse and limited recourse project finance transactions, involving the generation of electricity, direct use transportation fuel, industrial fuel and pipeline injection, sourced from landfill gas, waste water gas, food waste, source separated waste, animal waste, recycled products and other feedstocks, including in California, Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida.

Represented developers, borrowers and sponsors on transactions using investment and production tax credits for solar, wind and biomass projects in Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, Oregon and Texas.

Represented underwriters, lenders, developers, localities, and local and regional authorities on governmental transactions, including special assessment, tax increment financings and property assessed clean energy (PACE) financings.

Served as bond, lender's and borrower’s counsel on more than 100 separate issuances of clean and new clean renewable energy, qualified school construction, qualified energy conservation and qualified zone academy bonds in more than 20 states, including direct pay subsidy bonds and tax credit bonds. These transactions have involved financing landfill gas, hydroelectric, solar, wind, biomass, energy efficiency, renewable natural gas, fuel conservation and compressed natural gas engine conversion projects and facilities for public utilities, including energy governmental entities. Several of these transactions required the establishment of new enterprises and revenue streams to secure the financings.

Infrastructure Projects

Represented leverage lenders, lenders, governmental sponsors, borrowers, QALICBs and other participants on federal new markets tax credit transactions in Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Kentucky, Georgia and Texas and state new markets transactions, where applicable. These transactions have supported charitable, community, medical, manufacturing, retail, commercial, and charter school and secondary education facilities for governmental, non-profit and corporate entities as real estate, construction and working capital operating financings, using “portions of business” approaches, as needed, and many of these transactions have been combined with other sources of capital, including federally tax-exempt debt plus state and federal historic and energy tax credits, where such existing incentives or capital arrangements have been recapitalized or restructured to accommodate the introduction of new capital.

Represented various borrowers, sponsors, aviation companies, infrastructure funds and investors on the construction and long term financing of roads, tollroads, airport facilities, various utilities and social infrastructure, including arenas. 

Represented the sponsor in forming a qualified opportunity zone fund to support a medical office building in South Carolina.

Represented developers and borrowers in local and state tax incentive and economic development matters in Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Georgia, New York and South Carolina.

Represented various concerns on local, state and federal legislative activities to support various financing activities.

Served as bond, borrower's, lender’s, underwriter's and special tax counsel on a variety of private activity and exempt facility bond issuances, including manufacturing, water supply, disaster area, recovery zone facility, recovery zone enterprise and gulf opportunity zone bonds, from 2000 through 2016, exceeding $2.0 billion.

Served as bond and corporate counsel for a tax-exempt solid waste bond borrower on a national basis with one billion or more in outstanding fixed and variable rate debt in 35 states to finance and refinance landfill, transfer station and hauling facilities, assets and equipment.

Represented issuers and borrowers on bond validation proceedings and in taxable state and local tax incentive and economic development transactions.

  • University of Richmond, JD, 1998
  • Washington and Lee University, BA, 1993

Board Member, Virginia Clean Energy Advisory Board, 2022-2025

Vice Chairman, Finance and Development Advisory Board, The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition)

Board Member, Council of Development Finance Agencies, 2012-2020

Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Project Finance, Law360, 2018

Member, Virginia State Bar

Member, Virginia Bar Association

Member, West Virginia State Bar

Member, National Association of Bond Lawyers

Member, Local Government Attorneys of Virginia

  • Speaker, "Understanding RNG Transactions: Updated NAESB RNG Addendum," RNG Works, September 21, 2022
  • Speaker, "Environmental Attributes in NAESB," RNG Summit, May 18, 2022
  • Panelist, Energy Private Equity and Independent Sponsors Virtual Roundtable, October 6, 2021
  • Presenter, "RNG Projects – Key Contractual Considerations," RNG Works, September 29, 2021
  • Speaker, Carbon Capture and Storage Tax Credits: Opportunities for the RNG Industry, May 5, 2021
  • Speaker, "Project Finance 101 – Soup to Nuts," RNG Coalition, February 10, 2021
  • Speaker, Renewable Natural Gas Project Development Webinar, February 2, 2021
  • Speaker, Negotiating Incentives: How to Avoid a Bad Deal, Complimentary Webinar, December 8, 2020
  • Speaker, "Alternative Financings: New Markets Tax Credits and Opportunity Zones," Government of the District of Columbia, Office of the Attorney General, November 13, 2019
  • Speaker, Optimizing Opportunity Zone Investments, Complimentary Webinar, October 30, 2019
  • Speaker, "Taking Advantage of Opportunity Zones to Defer Recognition of Gains," New Developments in Wealth Planning, Richmond, VA, October 24, 2019
  • Speaker, "Taking Advantage of Opportunity Zones to Defer Recognition of Gains," 14th Annual Fiduciary Advisory Services Seminar, Wednesday, October 2, 2019
  • Speaker, "Taking Advantage of Opportunity Zones to Defer Recognition of Gains," New Developments in Tax and Wealth Planning, September 12, 2019
  • Coordinator, Building for the Future: Issues in Infrastructure, Public-Private Partnerships and a Potential $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Plan, Washington, DC, March 2018
  • Coordinator, Building for the Future: Today's Top Issues in Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships, Chicago, October 2017
  • Panelist, "Common Financing Challenges and Ownership Arrangements, A Legal Perspective," ASTSWMO- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, REPOWER Workshop, March 2017
  • Coordinator, Moderator and Panelist, 2017 Infrastructure Outlook: Trump, Tax Reform and Beyond, Webinar, March 2017
  • Panelist, "Attracting Capital Investments," PACENation Summit 2017, February 2017
  • Panelist, "Assessing Your Options: RNG Project Viability & Financing," RNG 2016: Fuel, Heat, Power & Policy Conference, The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, December 2016
  • Panelist, "PACE: A New Tool For Fully Financing Energy Improvements in Multifamily Housing," Virginia Housing Alliance, September 2016
  • Panelist, "PACE 101," PACENation Summit 2016, March 2016
  • Moderator, "Project Debt, Equity & Funding Opportunities: Feedstock, Technology, End-use," RNG 2015: Fuel, Heat, Power & Policy Conference, The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, December 2015
  • Speaker, "Obtaining Investment for the Development, Expansion or Conversion of LFGTE to Pipeline Injection, Direct Use and CNG," LMOP National Landfill Gas Energy Workshop, March 2015
  • Panelist, "Energy Efficiency (EE) & Renewable Energy (RE) Financing Best Practices," 2013 National Development Finance Summit, August 2013
  • Speaker, "Off the Grid: Alternative Energy Financing Structures," Association for Governmental Leasing & Finance 32nd Annual Fall Conference, November 2012
  • Speaker, "New Markets Tax Credits: Maximizing Capital Investment," Goodwill Industries International, Summer Learning Event, August 2012
  • Speaker, "Bond Financing Mechanisms for Public and Private Energy Projects," Intro Energy Finance Course, CDFA National Development Finance Summit, August 2012
  • Speaker, "Financial Engineering's the Key: How a Long-Term Energy Sale Agreement and Bond Offering Transformed the McCommas Bluff LFG Project – The Legal Perspective," 15th Annual Landfill Methane Outreach Program Conference and Project Expo, McGuireWoods Sponsored Dinner, January 2012
  • Speaker, "Understanding Energy Development – Market Perspective," Council for Development Finance Agencies, July 2011
  • Speaker, "Best Practices: Energy Finance in Action – Municipal Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy – Financing Considerations and Structures," Council for Development Finance Agencies Annual Summit, May 2011
  • Speaker, "Municipal Renewable Energy Generation: Financing Challenges and Solutions," The Bond Buyer’s Symposium on Public Financing of Renewable Sustainable Energy, May 2011
  • Speaker, "Examining Potential Project Scenarios - Addressing Critical Questions: What is a Qualified Conservation Purpose and Bond Financing Mechanisms for Public and Private Energy Projects," Realities of Renewable Energy Finance, CDFA –BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series, September 2010
  • Speaker, "Bringing a Sustainable Credit to Market," The Bond Buyer's Financing Sustainable Energy and Efficiency Conference, May 20, 2010
  • Speaker, "Clean Renewable Energy Bonds and Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds: Opportunities and Challenges," Clean Energy States Alliance, Webinar, March 26, 2010
  • Speaker, "Municipal Tax-Credit Bonds – The Evolution of a New Security," Advanced Seminar on Tax-Backed Bonds and Federal Intervention, February 12, 2010
  • Speaker, "Tax Credit Bonds," National Association of Bond Lawyers, Bond Attorneys Workshop, October 2009
  • Speaker, "Making a Market for Tax Credit Bonds, Municipal Finance in the Stimulus ERA," The Bond Buyer, September 30, 2009
  • Speaker, "Renewable Energy Bond Financing after the 2009 Stimulus Act: Targeting CREBs, New CREBs and QECBs," Council for Development Finance Agencies, Development Bond Finance Course, September 2009
  • Speaker, "The Stimulus Act of 2009: Structures, Strategies and Opportunities," Virginia Local Government Finance Officers Association, Spring Conference, June 2009
  • Speaker, "Renewable Energy Bond Financing after the 2009 Stimulus Act: Structures, Strategies and Opportunities," Council for Development Finance Agencies Annual Summit, May 2009
  • Speaker, "Economic Stabilization Act - Energy Tax Credit Bond Provisions," 12th Annual Landfill Methane Outreach Program Conference and Project Expo, January 2009
  • Speaker, "General Rules for Governmental and Private Activity Bonds," Council for Development Finance Agencies, The Industry Primer: Development Bond Finance Course, September 2008
  • Speaker, "Clean Renewable Energy Bonds," Council for Development Finance Agencies Annual Summit, April 2008
  • Speaker, "Comprehensive Agreement from the Developer's Prospective," Public Private Partnerships Seminar, February 2008
  • Speaker, "Clean Renewable Energy Bonds - The Next Steps," 11th Annual Landfill Methane Outreach Program Conference and Project Expo, January 2008
  • Speaker, "The Latest on Clean Renewable Energy Bonds," 10th Annual Landfill Methane Outreach Program Conference and Project Expo, January 2007
  • West Virginia
  • Virginia

Named "Lawyer of the Year," Richmond, Energy Law, Best Lawyers, 2023

Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, Banking and Finance Law, Project Finance Law, 2020-2023; Energy Law, 2021-2023, Woodward/White, Inc.

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