CLDP’s Energy and Minerals Team provides legal technical support to foreign governments to develop their energy and mineral resources through high-value commercial investments by competitive and innovative U.S. and allied companies that promote economic growth, strengthen partnerships, and ensure global security and prosperity.  

Around the world, foreign policymakers, regulators, and State-Owned Entities (SOEs) are keen to attract investment from the United States and allies into energy, power, and minerals projects.  CLDP works with these foreign government policymakers, regulators, and SOEs to understand how the country can update their terms of investment – the “rules of the game” – to successfully attract U.S. and allied investments into these sectors. As a result of CLDP’s technical assistance, countries have in place the policies, laws, regulations, standards, and model contracts that attract the development of market-based projects that are efficient, safe, reliable, profitable, and innovative.  These projects promote domestic growth, improve U.S. and allied supply chains, and reduce dependence on unreliable and malign actors. 

Energy

CLDP works with governments to meet long-term energy goals.  This includes modernizing the rules governing investment into their domestic oil and gas industry through clear regulatory reforms, implementation of disclosures for investors, the prioritization of more efficient operations, and the participation of National Oil Companies (NOCs) in promoting global energy security and prosperity.

Oil and gas continue to be an important part of the energy mix, even as energy sources diversify. CLDP helps governments prepare for a future that integrates diverse energy sources in the grid mix.  This will require planning and adopting policies and legal reforms to ensure the grid mix is economically viable.  

Mining and Mineral Security

The future global economy is dependent on the reliable supply of metals and minerals. Although many countries are endowed with significant deposits, governments are challenged to manage their development — how to incentivize investment and ensure appropriate oversight. In 2021, the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Energy Resources launched its Energy and Minerals Governance Program (EMGP) to promote resilient and secure energy resource mineral supply chains for the United States and its partners. Under the aegis of EMGP, CLDP provides assistance to governments to develop national and provincial investment frameworks for competitive mining investments in key minerals. CLDP advises on best principles in mineral extraction governance and best practices for regulators and assists in the development of regulations that promote transparent, competitive, and reliable mining, creating a level playing field for U.S. and allied companies to thrive, discouraging malign and predatory actors, and strengthening critical and strategic supply chains. 

Power

CLDP works with governments to successfully manage the transition to open market structures, working at both the regulatory and commercial level. In the regulatory space, CLDP helps governments reconcile their overlapping roles as power market regulators, project partners, and power customers.

In recent decades, the traditional model of power infrastructure built around large-scale generation projects and expanding central transmission grids has given way to a more diverse market with smaller scale generators and more decentralized grids. CLDP assists governments to: consider alternative financing structures for much-needed transmission grade upgrades and/or construction to facilitate the introduction and integration of new technologies to central transmission grids; incentivize the development of isolated, grid-connected, and grid-adjacent mini- and microgrids; and develop incentive structures to catalyze much-needed private investment into new technologies. 

As part of this assistance, CLDP has developed the "Understanding" series on power sector development, in partnership with stakeholders such as the African Legal Support Facility and under the aegis of USAID - Power Africa.  Following a collaborative method, the handbooks synthesize the insights and experiences of African governments, private sector experts, and multilateral institutions:

Understanding Power Purchase Agreements (2nd edition, 2019) in English and French

Understanding Power Project Financing (2016)

Understanding Power Project Procurement (2018)

Understanding Transmission Financing (2021)

Understanding Energy Storage (2022)

Understanding Power Project Financing (2nd edition, 2024)