Butler, Karen A.

Clay A. Butler is founding partner of The Butler Firm, PLLC. A legal and consulting firm located in Austin, Texas, providing comprehensive legal and consulting services to clients in the renewable energy and clean energy sector.

Clay is one of the leading attorneys in the US on renewable energy law and represents clients from all spectrums from utility-scale project development to distributed generation. He has served as lead project counsel on over 500 megawatts of utility-scale solar projects. On the distributed generation side, Clay developed a utility-sponsored solar lease model for a Client, the first of its kind in the Nation.

In addition to providing legal counsel on the development side, Clay is heavily involved on regulatory and policy matters for his clients as well as assisting in the arrangement of project financing and structuring. Clay additionally has expansive knowledge and experience in general energy law and the wholesale electricity markets.

Clay is very involved in renewable energy and clean tech outside the law firm at the locally and nationally. He serves as the President of the Board for Solar Austin and is the current Policy Chair for the Texas Renewable Energy Industry Association.  Clay was also selected to participate in the National Renewable Energy Laboratories “Energy Executives” program.

A native of Austin, Clay joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 17. During his four years as an infantryman, Clay earned the unique privilege of being stationed in Washington D.C. in the honor guard with duties at the Pentagon and White House. The underlying principles he learned in the Corps carry on in the foundation of The Butler Firm.

As managing partner of The Butler Firm, Clay manages the attorneys and energy consultants at the firm who provide a multitude of services ranging from project development to due diligence for investment and engineering firms. Clay and the rest of the team at The Butler Firm have provided legal and consulting services for developers, manufacturers, municipalities, integrators and corporations in various clean energy matters giving them unparalleled experience in their field.