Marcia Hook and Ty’meka Reeves-Sobers, partners with the international law firm Clifford Chance, evaluate the changing expectations of energy producers and investors.
Global financing: How did the perception of the energy industry turn under the new American administration?
Maria Hook: Under the Biden Administration, we saw significant investments in the American energy field. The work was flourishing, and there was a lot of excitement from a group of investors, and this was dramatically strengthened through incentives under the Act of Inflation for the year 2022) and a number of other favorable economic factors.
Now we will happen with the Irish Republican Army unclear, and it is undoubtedly one of the main engines of the boom we have seen over the past two years. Many people are waiting for uncertainty to die; Because at the end of the day, the energy industry is the one that flourishes with certainty.
Investors make investment decisions on the time scale for decades, not years. These investments are sometimes in billions of dollars. Currently, we see many people – both investors in the United States and investors abroad – are being held and waiting for them to have more certainty about what will happen with the Irish Republican Army in particular.
Ty’meka Reeves-Sobers: With international customers, we see more requests and inquiries for interpretative guidance. They ask, “What does this mean?” We are trying to read tea leaves and find some certainty to add some balance there. It is really waiting and seeing, because something new happens every day, and I find that we are really trying to stay on his head.
GF: Looking at the demand for new data centers, is it possible that the Trump administration takes a few steps back and keeps some measures approved by the previous administration?
Khattab: This is a near and dear area on my heart because it interseces the energy and data centers. There is significant growth expected in energy demand, and much is due to data centers. It becomes a practical question: “How do you put this amount of strength on the system quickly?” Realistically, will the administration take harmful measures directly against renewable energy?
From a practical perspective, even if the administration will try to do so, renewable energy sources may be the most realistic way to meet this demand in the required time frame.
There is a lot of excitement about, for example, SMRS (small normative reactors) and other types of nuclear units that return online, are likely to be. But the timetable for allowing and the schedule of publication, so it is similar to the end of this contract at best. Realistically, renewable energy sources are still the best answer. Solar energy is the fastest publishing. People in renewable space are still very optimistic.
In order to be clear, there is likely to have a full approach. We will also need more gas facilities as well. I do not say that these projects are not part of the solution; But certainly, even if the administration comes out all the balances of renewable energy sources, I do not know that we will see all these projects evaporate. There is still need, and they are still the fastest solution.
Reeves-Spars: The solution toolbox will be. Its size will not be suitable for everyone. Meanwhile, I think the operators take it upon them to reach other creative solutions to this problem.
GF: Other countries do not move away from renewable energy sources and environmentally responsible projects. Is this likely to change?
Khattab: Outside the United States, we generally see a trend to continue to follow up on renewable energy resources. However, I think there are some practical restrictions worldwide to meet all new energy needs through renewable energy. Thus, as in the United States, I think there are some practical considerations that may push countries to think about gas and even coal, in some cases, as part of the strategy of all pregnancy to get enough strength in the required time frame. Although we have not seen any person who is away from renewable energy sources specifically, I think we can see an increase in unexplained sources, only because of the practical need to provide a lot of strength.
GF: Do we see an increase in interest in the nuclear industry?
Khattab: There is certainly an increasing interest in nuclear energy, both alongside management or in the private sector; We see facilities that discuss the recommendation or exit from retirement. The most famous is the Microsoft-theth Three Island deal, where the island of Three Mile Island (the power plant near MiddleTown, Pennsylvania, which was in 1979 was a theater for the worst commercial nuclear incident in the United States) on the Internet for the Microsoft download service.
There is a lot of excitement in the nuclear society now. People are very upward on that. There is a lot of attention to SMRS as well. It will take some time to spread nuclear; As we heard the reporting of the Microsoft-Ti deal, it is an expensive resource for contracting with him. But these facilities work continuously for very long periods of time without the need for any maintenance, so they are very attractive.
GF: There is a lot of chat on how law firms use large data analysis and Amnesty International to make some companies’ practices more efficient. What is your experience?
Reeves-Spars: At least from an environmental perspective, the more information, the better, because it wipes some unknown people who come with environmental responsibility. This is always better when you think about investing and whether you want to withdraw the operator in any specific project.
Khattab: More information is better; More data is better. I would like to refer to two separate effects. One is able to find possible material problems for evaluation purposes more easily. Then, two, only the efficiency of doing so.
There is now an Enerknol platform, we use it regularly to collect deposits and organizational issuance from each American public utilities committee, the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee, the Ministry of Energy, and every major government agency including the Environmental Protection Agency.
In the past, when I was a younger lawyer, if you want to perform a due care of an entity that has operations throughout the United States, he will have to go to every country web site and use search jobs that are sometimes performed-which is very difficult in those cases to find material issues. Now, we can go to one platform and search everything. Then moreover, this articles of artificial system experience artificial intelligence tools to try to make it better. I am very optimistic about the ways that artificial intelligence will improve and other technological developments our ability to advise our customers in the United States.
GF: How does the current climate affect the integration, purchase and monotheism, not only in the energy sector but in others? Do you see freezing?
Khattab: It is an interesting time because there is still a continuous integration and leg activity. Expecting that the integration and purchase activity will increase, because there will be market participants looking to get out of the various investments or projects they were developing. Feeling that I am talking to people in industry is expecting the buyer’s market, while it may have been three years ago more than the seller’s market.
We expect to see a rise in the integration and purchase activity. I am not completely sure of the time range, because we still see it. I don’t know that there has been a great height yet, but this is definitely expectation.
