Meeting of minds between leading lawyer and Regen SW

A renewable energy lawyer with South West legal firm Stephens Scown LLP has been elected to the board of directors of Regen SW, a leading not-for-profit centre of sustainable energy expertise based in Exeter. Sonya Bedford, Partner and head of renewable energy law at Stephens Scown, was elected as a non-executive director at the Regen SW AGM this week. Sonya said: “I am delighted with my appointment to the team and look forward to working with Regen SW and promoting further the renewable energy industry in the South West and nationally. I have long supported the work Regen SW undertakes within an industry which has brought not only 1GW of renewable energy to the south west but also jobs and income.” Michael Huntingford, Chair of Regen SW, commented: “Regen’s board has carried out an open process to bring new skills and experience and we are pleased that the membership has elected Sonya who brings excellent understanding of the renewable energy development sector." With much knowledge and experience across the entire renewable energy sector, Sonya is supporting Regen SW’s work on a project to aid collaboration on grid reinforcement, aiming to reduce costs for developers and to develop grid capacity in areas where costs are proving prohibitive for individual projects. Under Sonya’s leadership, Stephens Scown’s renewable energy team has gone from strength to strength over the last three years: from seeing its first 1.5 MW solar farm in the ground in 2010 to now being responsible for over 350MW of renewable energy projects. Sonya also assists with many community energy projects and is currently on the steering group for the Exeter Community Energy project and the working party for the Fossil Fuel Free Farming project with Bicton College. Stephens Scown has over 40 partners and 230 staff across its offices in Exeter, Truro and St Austell. For more information visit www.stephens-scown.co.uk