Charlie Janes Interviews Keith Phillis, Partner and Chair of Energy & Infrastructure Practice Group at DarrowEverett LLP

Keith E. Phillis is a Partner and the Chair of DarrowEverett LLP’s Energy and Infrastructure Practice Group, and Practice Leader in its Private Wealth Services and Tax Practice Groups. Keith represents a wide range of clients, from individuals to large public and private business entities.

Keith’s private wealth planning representation includes advising individuals and businesses on estate planning, wealth and asset preservation planning, tax mitigation and business succession planning strategies. Keith routinely prepares estate planning, estate settlement, gifting, and asset preservation documentation, such as wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts (i.e. DAPTs, ILITs, IDGTs, SNTs, QPRTs, GRATs, CRUTs, SLATs, and D4A), powers of attorney, health care proxies, and living wills.

Keith assists renewable energy project developers and owners at every stage of the project life cycle. He regularly negotiates leases, easement agreements, EPC Agreements, Power Purchase Agreements and Net Metering Agreements, Payment In Lieu of Tax Agreements, decommissioning bond security agreements, asset purchase agreements and membership interest purchase agreements, and debt and tax equity financing agreements.

Keith’s tax experience includes extensive involvement with the structuring and sale of investment assets in a wide range of industries. He works with managers, accountants, and in-house counsel of companies to resolve a variety of tax-related issues, from business formation, to compensation and benefit plans, to acquisition and financing. In addition to tax planning and structuring transactions, Keith’s tax practice includes representation before the IRS and state tax authorities, Federal and State tax courts, and local tax authorities.

Representative Matters

We negotiated and closed a substantial tax equity investment of on behalf of a New England-based renewable energy developer. We drafted corporate investment documents and amendments to loan documents, performed lien searches and assisted with title.

Settled cases before the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board by negotiating PILOT Agreements on behalf of three solar developers against the Town of Carver, MA.

Organized Spousal Limited Access Trusts and Nevada Wealth Preservation Trusts for various high net-worth clients.

Negotiated PILOT Agreements on behalf of two solar developers against the Towns of Freetown and Southbridge, MA, which cover 20 MW of projects.

Settled cases before the ATB on behalf of two other solar developers against the Towns of Wilbraham and Winchendon, MA.

Prior Experience

Before joining the DarrowEverett team, Keith served as Managing Partner of a New England-based law firm, focusing his practice on providing transactional and outside counsel support to developers and owners of renewable energy projects. Keith’s practice also included providing a variety of estate and business planning services for individuals and small businesses. In addition, Keith previously served as General Counsel for a Massachusetts-based renewable energy project developer.

Related Practices

Private Wealth Services
Energy & Infrastructure
Tax
Corporate & Business Transactions

Publications

Converting Office Space to Housing? There Are Incentives For That — via JD Supra, December, 2023
What IRS’s Low-Income Adder Guidance Means For Renewables Projects — via JD Supra, August, 2023
Potential Changes Threaten Estate Planning Strategies, Create Urgency to Act — via JD Supra, May, 2023
Location, Location, Location: Asset Protection for LLC Founders — via JD Supra, May, 2023

Involvement

Rhode Island Bar Association – Member
American Bar Association – Member
Rhode Island Society of CPAs, RI Young Accountant Network Committee – Member

Connect with Keith on LinkedIn

Interview Questions:

Q1: Tell us a little bit about DarrowEverett and a little bit about your practice.

Q2: How are the current interest rate markets affecting renewable energy project finance?

Q3: What complications do you see with obtaining the new Investment Tax Credit adders for renewable projects?

Q4: With the new Investment Tax Credit created by the Inflation Reduction Act, have there been any issues with regulatory implementation?

Q5: Given policy implications of the Inflation Reduction Act, what do you envision as the future for domestic manufacturing of Renewable Energy technologies?

Q6: How has transferability of Investment Tax Credits affected project development and finance?

Q7: What regulatory issues do you see with the increased development of standalone energy storage projects?

Q8: Other than compliance with utility and tax regulations, what other compliance issues do you typically see developers and asset owners struggling with?

DarrowEverett LLP is a full-service business law firm with offices in Boston, Mass., Providence, R.I., New York, N.Y., Nashville, Tenn., Charlotte, N.C., Charleston, S.C., and Miami, Fla. The firm offers a diversity of services, including corporate & business transactions, commercial real estate, business litigation & dispute resolution, banking & finance, energy & infrastructure, data privacy & cybersecurity, environmental, government investigations, healthcare & life sciences, intellectual property & technology, labor & employment, private equity, capital markets & securities, private wealth services, regulatory & compliance, restructuring, and tax. In addition, DarrowEverett serves a wide range of domestic & international publicly traded and privately held companies, and nonprofit organizations. To learn more, visit www.darroweverett.com.

Charlie helps business leaders visualize and achieve better outcomes.

As an executive, Charlie has grown sales and customer engagement organizations from the ground up to the $70 million-$100+ million revenue plateau three times. One of these businesses exited for $330 million. Charlie has also helped seven startups acquire investors, define a unique market niche, develop an initial product and acquire the first 10-50 customers.

Charlie and his wife are successful small owners. They own multiple fast-growing Right At Home franchises in South Florida, where they serve their community by caring for adults while creating good jobs and leadership opportunities for caregivers. In their first two years in business, they’ve scaled profitably from 0 to 130+ employees.

Charlie is a business and value advisor because he can apply his experience to help a broader range of individuals and businesses thrive. He works with clients to understand their dreams and then research and preparation to help them reach their goals in less time efficiently. He has invested in certifications from industry-leading organizations such as FocalPoint Coaching, Value Builders, and the Exit Planning Institute to help innovative owners and family offices implement best practices successfully used by over 10,000 fast-growing businesses.

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