Utility-Scale Energy Developer Binds Operational Solar Program Built to Grow with Shepherd
The client and the project
The insured is an experienced, diversified energy developer that owns and operates solar and storage assets already in service, working closely with a well-established contractor who built the asset and now operates it. The first project on the program is a utility-scale solar asset, and a second project, solar paired with battery storage, was coming online right on its heels and needed to be folded into the same program within weeks.
How the broker brought it together
The placement came through Lockton Los Angeles, and the groundwork was laid well before the submission ever arrived: the broker and Shepherd had already had a proactive appetite conversation that set the frame for what could be written.
Because of that early conversation, the broker walked in already knowing what Shepherd could do for them operational solar. The insured's vegetation management program and wildfire response plan slotted into that frame cleanly. The favorable venue certainly helped, but what really made the underwriting straightforward was the documented program and operating posture behind it. The broker also flagged the second asset, solar paired with battery storage, upfront, which gave Shepherd's customer team room to plan ahead and position themselves to fold it in as a policy change endorsement once the first asset bound.
What Shepherd did on this placement
Shepherd wrote the $10M x $10M layer. The customer team was positioned during the first placement to absorb the second asset on the same program as soon as it was ready. The underwriting voice on the program stayed consistent from the appetite conversation through the bind, so the broker and the insured knew exactly who would support them at every step.
The outcome
The insured now has a portfolio program built to grow: the first asset is bound, and the second is set to fold in by endorsement rather than through a fresh placement. For the broker, they now have a market they can confidently pitch to other renewable energy and power clients — a trustworthy market willing to sit over a lead carrier on operational work.
