Settingstone
Counterparty — The Negotiation Gym
By Stephen Brownell
Scenario 001 · Beta

The Credit Call.

A negotiation gym for energy lawyers. Read your briefing, pick your counterparty, and play three rounds. At the end you get a graded scorecard — and the Veteran's Note on what a 40-year GC would have done at your seat. Everything is fictional; nothing you type is stored.

Privileged & Confidential — Attorney Work Product (Simulation)
TO: You — General Counsel, Northwind Power  ·  FROM: Chief Financial Officer  ·  RE: Meridian collateral demand — need you at the table today

The Situation

We sell 150 MW around-the-clock, fixed price, to Meridian Energy Marketing under an EEI master with a Collateral Annex — three years left, and it's roughly 40% of our contracted margin. February's cold snap blew forward prices out well past our contract price, so Meridian is deep in the money against us. Then Moody's took the parent from Baa3 to Ba1 on Thursday — below the Downgrade Threshold in the Annex.

This morning their credit desk sent the demand: a $20,000,000 letter of credit within 3 Business Days, or they "reserve all rights and remedies" — suspension, and they're implying an Early Termination Date. You're negotiating this. Today.

Your Constraints (keep them close)

  • The revolver's LC sublimit has $6M of availability. Full stop.
  • The parent will issue a guaranty — the downgrade was leverage-driven; they're still cash-generative.
  • Termination is unacceptable. A liquidation payment at these prices would ruin us, and we need this offtake alive.
  • The forward curve is backwardated — our desk thinks their exposure roughly halves within two quarters.
  • The board will live with total credit support up to $15M if the structure keeps cash/LC at $6M or under.
Nobody hands you leverage in a credit call — you have to know where yours is. It's in this memo.

Terms in Play

Choose Your Counterparty

Counterparty is a training simulation with entirely fictional facts, parties, and numbers. It is not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed by playing. Your messages are sent to Settingstone's negotiation service to generate replies and your scorecard, are not stored, and should never include real client or confidential information.

At the table:
0 / 1200
Terms in play — reference
Counterparty · Scenario 001 — The Credit Call
0 / 100
Best Move

Worst Move

The Veteran's Note

— Stephen Brownell · 40 years at these tables

New scenarios drop weekly.

The ISDA margin call. The tax equity term sheet. The EPC change-order fight. One email when each lands — nothing else.

This scorecard is generated by a training simulation on fictional facts and is not legal advice or an evaluation of professional competence. No attorney-client relationship is formed. Built and maintained by Settingstone Legal — the operational tool chest for energy attorneys.