Our Public Utilities practice group is a full-service practice group able to meet the needs of established and new ventures in the public utilities industries. Clients appreciate the experience and judgment that our attorneys and legal professionals bring to the table as a consequence of their deep history in the industry — a history enhanced by team-members’ prior in-house counsel roles, outside general counsel roles, and board experience.
Clients benefit from our attorneys’ significant experience advising cooperative, investor-owned, and municipal utilities in all types of matters affecting the electric, natural gas, wireline and wireless telecommunications, water, and wastewater industries. Members of our team have vast experience working with and successfully pursuing matters with state Public Service Commissions. Beyond this, the firm also maintains strong political and lobbying ties with state and local leaders, which is vital to success in the public utility arena. And when needs arise, members of our team routinely appear in state and federal courts to protect our clients’ interests.
Our advice runs the gamut of the industry’s matters. From advice regarding regulatory compliance, enforcement, or complaint matters; to eminent domain matters; to labor and employment counseling; to corporate counseling; to all varieties of litigation (when otherwise unavoidable), our attorneys have the skill, as well as the experience, to help protect your ability to continue providing safe, reliable, and affordable service to your members and customers.
We have successfully handled – among other matters – rate cases, integrated resource planning (IRP) cases, certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) proceedings, territorial and market behavior disputes, acquisition and change-in-control proceedings, regulatory investigations, complaint proceedings, applications seeking declaratory rulings, reliability matters, eminent domain matters, facility disputes, tax matters, tariff filings, administrative cases, siting matters, and new regulation promulgations. In short, if it affects the public utility industry, we can help you.
Beyond the regulatory front, our public utility clients also rely on us to assist with important strategic matters involving the review, assessment, and implementation of cybersecurity and data privacy measures; the negotiation of utility-specific commercial transactions, often involving large industrial users and economic development rates; assisting regarding strategic mergers and acquisitions; and advising regarding the development and implementation of strategic legislative goals.
We also have experienced lobbyists and government relations resources available to advise and assist with legislative efforts affecting utility stakeholders, whether that be working to propose helpful new legislation, working to prevent harmful new legislation, or simply working to facilitate communications and relationship-building with state and local elected officials.