For the past 25 years, John has represented municipalities, consumer-owned utilities and other consumer interests in proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), state utility regulatory commissions, federal and state trial and appellate courts, arbitration tribunals and, more recently, before hearing bodies established by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) compliance enforcement authorities.
Through his acute knowledge of electric operations and economics, he has developed a reputation for representing his clients efficiently, effectively and creatively, both in disputes and in transactional matters.
John has compiled a distinguished track record in various areas of electric utility law. He has represented developer, utility and regulatory interests in negotiations and disputes involving renewable resource power sales and interconnection agreements. John has represented municipal market participants in numerous disputes with Regional Transmission Organizations and their constituent transmission owners over market design and rules, cost incurrence and allocation, reliability must-run issues, transmission planning, tariff design and rate issues.
John has advised and assisted several political subdivisions in the establishment of new, fully operational electric utilities, including the acquisition of facilities and power supply. Additionally, John has represented a state consumer advocate in parallel federal bankruptcy and state regulatory restructuring of an insolvent investor-owned electric utility, ensuring that post-reorganization electric utility assets and operations were appropriately ring-fenced. He has represented municipalities and other consumer interests in numerous utility merger proceedings before federal and regulatory commissions, most recently enhancing mitigation requirements by exposing significant market concentration problems in the Duke-Progress merger before FERC, and successfully stopping the Babcock & Brown acquisition of NorthWestern Corporation before the Montana Public Service Commission.
Recent Representations
- The Idaho Public Utilities Commission, appearing as Special Deputy Attorney General for the State of Idaho, in PURPA Section 210(h) challenges before FERC to the PUC’s administration of PURPA
- New Bern and Rocky Mount, North Carolina in opposing the merger of Duke Energy Corp. and Progress Energy, Inc. before FERC, and leading to mitigation requirements for the construction of $110 million in new transmission facilities
- Municipal utilities in the negotiation of ISO New England’s Forward Capacity Market and in subsequent efforts to redesign the Forward Capacity Market
- Municipal utilities challenging RTO transmission owners’ return on common equity before FERC
- Arizona electrical district before FERC and the Arizona Corporation Commission, negotiating the formation of an electric utility and the acquisition of customer base from the former incumbent investor-owned utility
- Various Arizona political subdivisions, advising on unique, tariff-based project financing for a 500 kV transmission project under a power marketing administration transmission infrastructure program
- Vermont municipal utilities in litigating, and negotiating settlement of, transmission project cost allocation dispute among multiple beneficiaries, and obtaining revision of state law to facilitate implementation of settlement agreement
John speaks regularly at industry conferences. His recent speaking appearances include the American Antitrust Institute’s 12th Annual Energy Roundtable in April 2012 on FERC merger policy and practice.
