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.
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 ProjectsRepresented 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.
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
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.