Eli Katz is a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins. He serves as Global Vice Chair of the firm’s Energy & Infrastructure Industry Group and is a member of the firm’s Tax Department and Project Development & Finance Practice. Over the past two decades, Mr. Katz has advised clients on some of the most notable transactions closed in the power and renewable energy sector. His clients include leading independent power producers, large financial institutions, and private equity, infrastructure, pension, and sovereign wealth funds.

He primarily handles energy tax incentives, project development and financing, joint venture arrangements, capital raising and deployment structures, mergers and acquisitions, and leasing transactions both internationally and in the United States.

Mr. Katz is ranked by Chambers Global for Projects in Renewables & Alternative Energy – USA and Chambers USA for Nationwide Projects in Renewables & Alternative Energy. He has also repeatedly been recognized by The Legal 500 US for his work in Project Finance and Tax.

Prior to joining Latham, Mr. Katz was vice president and tax counsel at GE Energy Financial Services.

Speaking Engagements

  • Credit Agricole Winter Energy Conference – Financing Trends for Renewable Energy, Beaver Creek, 2019
  • Credit Agricole Winter Energy Conference – Financing Trends for Renewable Energy, Beaver Creek, 2018
  • Investing in US Renewables, Toronto, 2013
  • Wall Street Green Summit XII, New York, 2013
  • The Return of Tax Equity – Crucial Financing Piece, New York, 2013

Mr. Katz’s experience includes advising:

  • A consortium of lenders on the financing of Vineyard Wind, the first commercial-scale 800MW offshore wind farm in the United Sates
  • Terra-Gen Power in connection with the term loan, tax equity bridge loan, and tax equity financing of a solar and battery energy storage project in Kern County, CA, the largest solar plus storage project in the United States*
  • Orsted Onshore North America in connection with the financing of a 227MW photovoltaic electric generating facility located in Colbert County, Alabama
  • Antin Infrastructure Partners, one of the world’s leading infrastructure investment firms in connection with the acquisition of a majority stake in Origis Energy, a major vertically integrated renewable energy platform in the United States
  • Trilantic Capital Partners and Climate Adaptive Infrastructure in connection with their equity and debt investments in Intersect Power, a renewable energy development company with utility scale solar projects
  • Ares Management in connection with the purchase and debt and tax equity financing of a 121MW wind project located in Ford County, Illinois
  • Natixis in connection with the US$516 million senior credit facility for a 300MW photovoltaic solar electricity generating facility and a 140.25MW battery storage facility located in Kings County, California
  • Energy Capital Partners in its sale of an equity stake in Terra-Gen, a leading developer and operator of utility-scale wind, solar, energy storage and geothermal electrical generation facilities throughout the US and ECP’s raise of a continuation fund to acquire the remaining interests in Terra-Gen
  • Orsted Onshore North America in connection with the tax equity financings of a 460MW combined solar and battery storage facility capable of powering approximately 100,000 US households in the West Texas region
  • Ares EIF in connection with the project development, financing, and tax equity financing of the Aviator wind project, and the subsequent divestiture to CMS Energy and Kansai Electric Power
  • A consortium of private equity funds in connection with a preferred investment into a solar developer with a project pipeline in excess of 1.6-GW
  • Multiple insurance companies as purchasers in the project bond offering in connection with the acquisition of a 316-MW of operating solar resources located in California, Arizona, and Delaware
  • Innergex Renewable Energy on project debt and tax equity financing in connection with the construction and operation of a 225.6-MW wind turbine electric generating facility located in Knox and Baylor Counties, Texas
  • HSBC Bank as lender and arranger for GSRP’s project debt and tax equity financing in connection with a portfolio of battery storage system and electric generating photovoltaic system located in the United States
  • Ares Management in the sale of 90% of its equity interests in PhoenixWind, a portfolio of three operating utility-scale wind facilities in Texas, to Texas Wind Repower, a consortium led by Concord Infrastructure Investments
  • Tenaska Lotus Holdings as tax equity investor in connection with the project financing of a 51-MW solar project located in Madera County, California
  • Orsted in its sale to and joint venture with Public Services Enterprise Group for a 25% interest in the Ocean Wind project, a 1,100 MW offshore wind project under development off the coast of New Jersey
  • A group of bank and institutional lenders in connection with KKR’s US$900 million convertible equity investment in a portfolio of wind and solar projects
  • A consortium of financing parties in connection with the purchase by a leading infrastructure fund of an approximately 1,388-MW portfolio of wind and solar projects
  • Sempra Energy in its sale of Sempra Solar Holdings, its portfolio of US wind and solar assets, consisting of 981-MW of operating renewable electric production projects, including its share of 379-MW of jointly owned projects, to Consolidated Edison
  • Vivint in connection with various transactions, including:
    • Long term fixed-rate note and levered tax equity financing in connection with a portfolio of 31,169 residential rooftop solar systems with a total generating capacity of approximately 223-MW across 12 states
    • Project financing in connection with Solar Asset Backed Notes for residential photovoltaic solar panels located in the United States
    • Securitization of a portfolio of over 37,000 solar power purchase agreements with a total aggregated discounted value in excess of US$500 million
  • Ares EIF in connection with the project development, refinancing, and tax equity financing of three repowered wind projects located in Texas
  • ArcLight Capital Partners in its sale of Leeward Renewable Energy, an independent wind power platform, to OMERS Infrastructure Management
  • Siemens Financial Services in connection with the tax equity financing of Canadian Breaks Wind, a 200-MW wind project being developed in Oldham and Deaf Smith Counties, Texas
  • A leading Canadian independent power producer in connection with various transactions, including:
    • Project and tax equity financing of a 250-MW photovoltaic solar plant located in Winkler County, Texas
    • Tax equity investment and joint venture of the Flat Top Wind Project, a 200-MW nameplate capacity wind generation project located in Central Texas
  • Avangrid and Pattern Energy in connection with its joint venture and tax equity financing of the 298-MW El Cabo wind project located in New Mexico
  • A leading oil and gas company in connection with the deployment and tax equity financing of a carbon capture facility designed to qualify for carbon sequestration tax credits
  • A syndicate of lenders on a US$250 million back-leverage facility to support the continued expansion of one of the largest residential solar developers in the market*
  • NRG Energy, Inc. in connection with the tax equity financing of 12 operating wind farms located in eight states with a combined capacity of 947 MW, monetizing future tax attributes that will be generated primarily by wind projects acquired out of bankruptcy from Edison Mission Energy, and structured to preserve NRG’s ability to monetize the cash flows from these assets through transfers to NRG’s recently formed yield-co, NRG Yield Operating LLC — honored in the Financial Times Most Innovative Law Firms 2015 report*
  • Macquarie Bank on the purchase of the cash flows from a portfolio of 11 wind farms that were subject to tax equity financings — the largest transaction of its type ever closed*
  • The developer and lessee in the US$1.6 billion financing for Alta Phases II-V (which included a Rule 144A bond offering, a bank cash grant bridge facility, and a forward commitment for a sale-leaseback), making this the first large portfolio of wind projects utilizing a leveraged lease structure in the United States*
  • The developer group in the approximately US$2 billion financing for the world's largest wind farm totaling 845 MW of capacity at the Caithness Shepherds Flat project in eastern Oregon*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham

Bar Qualification

  • New York

Education

  • LL.M. in Taxation, New York University School of Law, 2004
  • JD, Fordham University School of Law, 1999
  • BS, Touro College, 1996