« Back to All Experts page

Christopher Berendt

Of Counsel, Head of the Environmental Markets Practice
Drinker Biddle and Reath, LLP

Areas of Expertise:

Biofuels, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Demand Side Management, Energy Economics, Energy Efficiency, Energy Security, Energy Storage, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fuel Cells, Geothermal, GHGs, Infrastructure, Innovation, Natural Gas, Power Sector, Regulation, Renewables, Smart Grid, Solar, Tax Policy, Transmission, Water, Wind

Additional Areas of Expertise:

Environmental Commodities and Markets, Project Development and Finance, Energy Policy

Christopher B. Berendt is of counsel to the firm's Environmental & Energy Practice Group and heads the Environmental Markets Team. He concentrates his practice in the design and operations of the energy and environmental markets. He counsels clients on the creation and capture of asset value on matters ranging from legislative and regulatory development and market strategy through investments, transactions, project development and financing.

Chris counsels clients at all stages of energy and sustainability project development. He assists in screening, structuring, developing and financing projects for hosts, developers and investors. He also assists clients in integrating sustainability goals and requirements into their energy procurements, projects and enterprises navigating compliance and voluntary environmental instrument / commodity transactions, the energy markets as well as all types of green certifications. Chris has assisted with pioneering efforts in the pooled origination, financing and securitization of clean energy project portfolios and to employ smart grid and Microgrid technologies as dynamically managed load and onsite generation is becoming an asset in competitive power markets.

Christopher was recently named to the CleanTech 100 by LMG Clean Technology & Renewable Energy, the peer reviewed guide to the top 100 attorneys in the United States who practice in the clean technology and renewable energy space.

Environmental and Energy Markets. Chris has more than a decade of experience working in the energy and environmental markets. He served most recently as Vice President at Pace Global Energy Services, LLC, a Siemens Company, in Fairfax, Va., where he led environmental policy advisory, asset offtake and financing strategy for the firm’s largest clean energy project engagements, including wind, biomass, landfill gas, natural gas, IGCC/CCS and PV array generation. Chris is counsels clients on the electricity markets, including the latest developments regarding Renewable Portfolio Standards (state programs and federal RES/CES proposals), the Renewable Energy Certificate and Energy Efficiency Certificate markets, retail power supply options, onsite generation and metering, distributed generation offtake structures, demand response, ancillary service markets, standard offer service/feed­ in­tariffs, green-buildings as well as emissions market positioning for energy assets. Chris is also active in the Biofuels Market.

Climate Change. Chris counsels clients in the industrial, financial and energy sectors in the design and execution of carbon strategy, inventories, supply chain and product positioning, regulatory and legislative positioning, voluntary frameworks development, green investments and complex transactions as well as green business development and integration. With a particular interest in domestic offsets, he has been active in advising carbon offset project developers, investors and offtakers on pre­compliance, compliance and voluntary market participation for all US project categories, protocols and standards. Developing origination pipeline business models for clients, Chris has advised on the creation of some of the largest domestic landfill gas and forestry carbon project portfolios. He has advised on projects and for companies that have won numerous awards for energy and environmental market innovation.

Renewable Energy. In the renewable energy markets, Chris has counseled clients on RPS, RES and CES regulatory positioning and design since the state and federal policy arenas began consideration of these frameworks. He has advised clients on REC transactions in every major state RPS in country and for years has been a recognized industry leader in the development of best practices as well as standard agreements for the REC markets. Mr. Berendt is also experienced as project counsel for renewable energy and clean energy developments of all types.

Capitol Hill. Chris has worked on Capitol Hill helping to draft the first pieces of market­based climate change legislation introduced as well as multiple clean energy focused bills. He is experienced advising transacting clients on legislative and regulatory strategies, structuring them to anticipate the design and development of future federal, state/regional and international energy and environmental regimes.

In General. Chris earned his J.D., magna cum laude, at Vermont Law School, where he was the environmental editor and a member of the editorial board of the Law Review. He is a five time American Jurisprudence award winner. Chris is also a graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business Accelerated Executive Leadership Program. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College with a synoptic (triple­pronged) major and spent a year abroad at the University of Copenhagen. Chris has taught both graduate and undergraduate levels and has testified before Congress.