P3 Energy
Complex public procurements and partnerships that hold up.
I advise universities and other public institutions — and the firms that sell to them — on energy, real estate and other high-stakes transactions, where procurement design, operating detail and risk allocation decide the result.
On the record
The selected partner, and a firm that competed against them.
CenTrio was selected for LSU’s utilities partnership. Bernhard competed for it, and later performed the construction scope under CenTrio. CenTrio’s retired president describes a process that was fair to both bidders; Bernhard’s chief executive describes the effect on the market.
“The competitive process Patrick and Chase designed allowed the university to truly compare apples to apples in evaluating two very different companies with very different project concepts, in a way that was fair to both competitors.”
— Doug Castleberry Retired President and COO, CenTrio — the selected partner
“It is not an exaggeration to say that Patrick’s leadership has shifted the market conditions for higher education P3 energy transactions.”
— Ed Tinsley Retired Chief Executive Officer, Bernhard — competed, then built it under CenTrio
Prior Work
Three transactions with measurable public results
LSU Utilities Modernization Initiative
Two central plants at the end of their life cycles, replaced by a partnership that brought $112 million of capital investment — and cost less to operate than the university had been paying to do it itself.
Read the case → $650M+ invested in a 100-year-old historic iconCharity Hospital Redevelopment
A million-square-foot building, abandoned since Katrina and bleeding a million dollars a year in maintenance, moved to a developer through a competitive process that stood up to public scrutiny — with $11.85 million in up-front rent to LSU.
Read the case → $149M development delivered ahead of schedule and under budgetNicholson Gateway Project
1,547 new student beds, 34,000 square feet of retail, and 700 construction jobs — with $130M+ of the development spend staying in Louisiana.
Read the case →Why me
Market differentiators
Higher-education energy P3 experience
The P3 energy market in higher education is shifting because of the work I did at LSU. Deals are focusing more on the details of long-term service delivery and less on the up-front payments. My work opposite two of the industry-leading firms created an improved deal structure that will benefit higher ed.
Reliable utility service is mission-critical
Deals should focus on the mission-critical delivery of energy services. That’s the university’s highest priority. Start with operating requirements and risk allocation, then test O&M and efficiency savings. Treat up-front payments as a secondary consideration; too often that number gets the most attention even though it matters the least over time.
Lean and decisive
Traditional consultants exhaustively analyze every possible option, then hand the client a large mass of information and ask them to pick. It is expensive, it is slow, and it makes the client decide without the benefit of the judgment they hired.
I make actual recommendations. The broad outline of what is possible is usually apparent with minimal up-front diligence. There is no sense paying for exhaustive analysis of ten options when experience says only two are viable.
Patrick Martin
Formerly Assistant Vice President for Real Estate, Public Partnerships, and Compliance at Louisiana State University, where I led the university’s energy and real estate public-private partnerships. Before that: attorney to the LSU Board of Supervisors, attorney to the Governor of Louisiana, General Counsel to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, and an assistant district attorney.
In the press & across the table
Profiled in American Builders Quarterly. Worked with and across from executives and counsel from CenTrio, Bernhard, Mayer Brown, Hunton Andrews Kurth and across the LSU System.