ENERGY: DESCRIPTION

The Energy practice group at McKenna Long & Aldridge has broad experience in virtually all aspects of the energy industry, from corporate structuring through acquisition and divestiture of major energy assets and lines of business and including all business, contractual, financing and regulatory aspects of this complex and specialized industry. Our clients include entities in various sectors of the industry: electric and gas utility services, independent power production, alternative energy providers, power and energy services, natural gas and electricity marketing, and major industrial and commercial consumers.

Transactional, Regulatory, Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Our areas of experience include:

• Purchase, transportation, and sale of electricity and natural gas;
• Regulatory intervention before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state public utility commissions;
• International and domestic energy project development;
• Federal and state regulatory agencies;
• Energy-related litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution;
• Legislative advocacy at all levels of government;
• Energy-related environmental matters;
•  Energy Agreements, including purchase, transportation, derivative, and construction;
• Project finance;
• Real estate; and
• State and federal government relations.

Counsel to Commercial and Industrial Energy Consumers

Our nationally recognized lawyers provide counsel on a issues of particular concern to commercial and industrial energy consumers including:

• Purchasing Strategies;
• Contract Negotiations;
• Rate Case Intervention;
• Tariffs, Rules, and Rates;
• Dispute Resolution and Litigation; and
• Climate Change and Alternative Energy Projects. 

Regulatory Proceedings

Our lawyers have appeared as counsel in scores of proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state public utility commissions, and other federal and state agencies.

 We have decades of experience in interpreting and applying principal federal statutes including the National Energy Act Statutes, Federal Power Act, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, and Energy Policy Act as well as numerous other federal and state statutes and regulations governing energy.

We have significant experience in litigating complex rate cases, complaint proceedings, unbundling cases and ratemakings.

Strategic Counseling and Public Affairs

In addition to MLA's experience in adjudicatory and rule-making proceedings and statutory interpretation, our lawyers have extensive experience at policy-making levels. We have significantly shaped state and federal legislation and regulations, beginning with the National Energy Act of 1977, the 1992 National Energy Policy Act through the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  We work directly with federal and state regulatory commissioners and their senior staff and have extensive experience before the U.S. Congress.

Electric Energy

We have represented an array of interests in the electric utility industry over the years. Our clients include investor-owned utilities, cooperatively-owned utilities, electricity marketers, electricity consumers including industrial and commercial end-users, coops, muncicipalies, and irrigation and water districts.

Our representation of these clients focus on all forms of agreements, counseling, and regulatory intervention, representation before various regulatory agencies, courts, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution and includes our clients' financial, business and regulatory interests, as well as representation before various regulatory agencies, courts and alternative dispute resolution forums.

As federal and state policy makers, legislators and regulators propel the industry into a more competitive environment, our representations have shifted to assisting clients face increasing and rapidly changing challenges in their day-to-day commercial transactions and operations and their long-term business and strategic planning. 

We also have national reputation in guidance and counsel to major industrial and commercial electricity consumers.  We provide assistance in natural gas purchasing, purchase agreements, tariff and rate reviews, purchasing strategies, portfolio plans and hedging strategies as well as all forms of litigation and dispute resolution.

Natural Gas

We have a strong grasp of the vital issues in the natural gas industry. 

We have particular expertise representing both the interests of local distribution companies (LDCs) that are the final link in the natural gas delivery chain, has led to significant success advocating those interests in litigation before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state public utility commissions. As counsel to LDCs in such matters, we also provide advice outside the context of formal litigation, including representation in the negotiation of service contracts with upstream suppliers and downstream customers. This role has expanded in recent years as a result of regulatory changes at both the federal and state level that have led to difficult competitive challenges for LDCs. We work with clients in developing effective responses to those challenges, while staying within regulatory bounds.

In addition to our work with LDCs, we have experience with issues affecting U.S. interstate pipelines. We are familiar with the operations, rates and service structures of ANR, Consolidated Natural Gas Transmission, East Tennessee Natural Gas Company, South Georgia Natural Gas Company, Southern Natural Gas Company, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corporation. Our lawyers have represented a variety of non-LDC natural gas industry clients, including interstate pipelines, end users and gas producers, in various matters and thus are able to call upon their knowledge of these segments of the industry, as well as our experience representing electric utilities. W provided assistance to an electric distribution cooperative in obtaining FERC approval in a case of first impression under the Natural Gas Act.

We have national reputation in providing advice and counsel to major natural gas industrial and commercial energy consumers and to natural gas marketers.  We provide assistance in natural gas purchasing, purchase agreements, tariff reviews, purchasing strategies, portfolio plans and hedging strategies.  We also represent such entities with respect to energy related litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution.

Alternative Energy

Governments are mandating the increased production and usage of renewable and alternative fuels.  Our energy lawyers, in concert with our environmental and corporate teams, are in the forefront of the assisting clients in project finance, development, environmental and governmental strategies and climate change, as well as the regulatory compliance and essential transactional agreements. 

We are currently assisting clients in solar and wind, biomass, biofuels, fuel cells, and clean coal as well as international projects involving compliance with the Kyoto Protocol and Clean Development Mechanisms.   

International Energy Development

We have considerable expertise in international energy transactions.  Our experience includes representation of the Government of Indonesia on electricity restructuring, independent power projects, World Bank projects in developing nations, project finance, alternative energy and greenhouse gas emission reductions projects, carbon trading, and  international arbitration.  We draft power purchase agreements and energy sales agreements and advise clients on risk management.

Merchant Power

Legal and economic changes and population growth have created new opportunities and need for the development of electric power projects throughout the country. MLA's Merchant Power team brings years of experience in the energy industry and an understanding of government and community interests to clients who seek to build electric power plants. Our team efficiently addresses environmental, real estate, tax, regulatory, finance and governmental affairs issues to enable new plants to be brought on line on time and to maximize the long-term economic contribution of such plants to their owners.

Every power project poses an array of state and local issues. We provide an experienced response to those issues, as well as providing a broad scope of legal service required in the siting, permitting, development and financing of projects.