Chad E. Mills

Chad Mills is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group in the firm's Houston office.

Areas of Practice

Chad's practice focuses on structured energy transactions and related energy trading agreements, project and infrastructure development and finance, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.

With a long history of serving clients in the energy sector and a superior understanding of the natural gas, electric power and oil businesses, Chad helps clients successfully execute energy transactions and benefits clients with his exceptional understanding of the commercial and legal issues at play.

He has extensive experience in advising various clients in the energy industry in the acquisition, divestiture and development of power facilities, including renewable energy, and natural gas and midstream assets. He has been involved in developing a number of energy import and export projects involving liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas and natural gas liquids.

His clients include prominent financial institutions, energy companies, developers and investors involved in developing and financing energy infrastructure, as well as supply, off-take and hedging transactions. Many of Chad’s transactions have included significant structured credit components.

Experience

Commodity Transactions

• Negotiated on behalf of a major independent power producer a long-term virtual and physical power purchase agreement for the sale of approximately 50 MW and related attributes from new solar photovoltaic generation facility in PJM territory.
• Negotiated on behalf of a major independent power producer two long-term virtual power purchase agreements for proxy generation from new wind and solar projects in ERCOT territory for a combined capacity of over 225 MW. Negotiated related firming swap to convert the purchased proxy generation profile into a round-the-clock baseload product.
• Represented a commodities trading firm as gas supplier in a number of tax-exempt bond financed prepaid natural gas transactions.
• Represented financial institutions in structured credit hedging and off-take arrangement supporting the development or acquisition of power plants and other energy assets.
• Represented several financial institutions in providing secured and mezzanine financing to retail electricity and gas providers.
• Negotiated power off-take and fuel purchase arrangements for several project-financed power plants.
• Represented a power purchaser in negotiating a long-term power purchase with a wind facility in ERCOT.
• Represented a hedge provider in negotiating a long-term hedge, tracking account and REC off take agreement for a wind facility in ERCOT.
• Represented a hedge provider in negotiating a long-term hedge and tracking account agreement for a wind facility in ERCOT.
• Represented a power purchaser in negotiating a long-term power purchase agreement for a wind facility in the western U.S.
• Negotiated and drafted more than 60 short-and long-term LNG sale and purchase agreements for major international and national oil and gas companies, financial institutions and utilities.

Corporate and M&A

• Represented a commodities trading firm in its acquisition of Nexen’s natural gas marketing and trading business.
• Represented an energy company in the sale of two natural gas liquids pipelines.
• Represented the purchaser in the acquisition of several liquefied natural gas regasification vessels.
• Represented the underwriters in the proposed public spinoff of a natural gas pipeline system.

Project Development and Finance

• Represented a developer in developing an LNG export terminal.
• Represented a developer in the development of several compressed natural gas export projects.
• Represented the developer in developing a floating liquefied natural gas regasification facility.
• Represented developers in the development of two crude-by-rail projects.

Honors

Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers, 2024-2025

Leading Lawyer, Derivatives, Chambers USA, 2023-2024

"Lawyer of the Year," Derivatives and Futures Law, Woodward/White, Inc., 2022

The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc., 2008-2022

Texas’ Best Lawyers, Woodward/White, Inc., 2015

Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2006 and 2008