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Episode Notes
Chad Hughes welcomes Eric Barnett, Director of Development for Vistra Corp., to the show to discuss A&D activity in the renewable space as well as evaluating and mitigating risk. Eric has a long career in land and much to share with access professionals and developers alike.
Eric explains how his current role involves assessing how to repurpose real estate owned by the company. They are focused on renewables and Eric is excited by the challenges of looking into the environmental aspects of a retired coal plant and how it can be utilized for solar energy.
Chad and Eric talk about working relationships with developers, communication with landowners, some specifics on title policies in Texas, and assessing risk going into a project. Eric shares from his own career experiences, times when he was invested in a project and perhaps lost out on it. He focuses on doing things the right way with due diligence and maintaining relationships with all landowners. Eric speculates on the future of renewables for Chad and offers a lot of insight for listeners to apply to their own careers.
“So if you’re a developer and you’re a smaller private equity group looking to sell projects, I think building relationships with those end owner-operators and having your short list of buyers maybe that you either have some kind of agreement in place with or, hey, you’re going to get first shot at these projects. And maybe there’s some kind of financial compensation there where they kind of help you with some of the costs while you’re de-risking these projects before they would take over and take ownership. You know, I see that with some of the smaller developers.” – Eric Barnett
About Eric Barnett:
Eric Barnett is the Director of Development for Vistra Corp. He comes from a background in oil and gas and land acquisition. He moved into renewable energy in 2014. His work specialties include renewable energy project management, oil/gas/wind/solar lease acquisition; right of way, curative; due diligence; site development, and permitting.
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Chad Hughes | CEO, Entrepreneurial Leader, Author: website |linkedin
Eric Barnett | Director of Development, Vistra Corp.: website | linkedin
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