Ken Cestari, the former deputy chief counsel of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), has joined Holland & Knight’s Public Policy & Regulation Group as a partner. Mr. Cestari helped lead the legal department of the LPO from 2015 to 2022 and worked as an attorney in the department beginning in 2009.
Mr. Cestari has deep knowledge of the credit programs administered by the LPO and the underlying federal laws and policies that govern and apply to all federal credit programs. He has particular knowledge of the development and financing of photovoltaic solar, concentrating solar and nuclear power production facilities, natural gas cogeneration facilities, wind farms, landfill gas projects and waste coal recovery projects.
In addition, Mr. Cestari has experience with using structured tax transactions to obtain production tax credits, historic tax credits and nonconventional fuel tax credits.
His arrival follows another former DOE colleague, Elizabeth Noll, who joined the firm in 2022.
“Ken will greatly enhance the firm’s government-based energy and infrastructure practice, which has been booming since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Taite McDonald, partner and co-leader of Holland & Knight’s Clean Technology Practice. “His deep inside knowledge of the DOE loan process and federal credit programs is extremely valuable to clients as they consider all of the current funding opportunities.”
“I’ve worked closely with Holland & Knight regulatory lawyers and their clients for a while now,” said Mr. Cestari. “My transactional practice perfectly complements what Holland & Knight handles so well on the front end of client engagements, securing government-backed financing. With the addition of my loan structuring and negotiation experience, Holland & Knight will be able to support its clients’ projects in a way that far exceeds the capabilities of rival firms.”
Mr. Cestari earned a J.D. degree from the University of Richmond School of Law and a B.A. degree from Bucknell University. Additionally, he served in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1990.
