Energy & Utility Law

The attorneys in our energy and utility practice focus on regulation, deregulation and restructuring of public utilities; the acquisition, development, financing, and transfer of power generation assets and other utility projects; and the development of renewable energy projects. The firm has represented large and small electric utilities, renewable energy developers, public power supply entities and independent power producers in the establishment and development of generation projects, including land use and related regulation, contract negotiation, financing, and power sales.

Members of the firm have appeared before the Vermont Public Service Board, have consulted on matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, have provided counsel on renewable energy projects in Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and even Delaware, and have pursued appeals and litigation in state and federal courts, as necessary.

The firm and our attorneys have been involved in:

• The permitting of numerous solar generation projects, including prosecution of Certificates of Public Good through Vermont's Section 248 process; providing counsel with regard to related environmental permits; and providing counsel on EPC contracts;
• Development of landfill-gas-to-energy projects, including negotiations with counterparties and utilities, contract drafting, and environmental and land use permitting;
• Representing clients in the evaluation and approval of facility locations, including site assessments in coordination with environmental, land use and other specialists;
• Advising clients regarding power purchase and sale transactions and negotiating agreements to effect the desired result;
• Development of a groundbreaking anaerobic digester system in Massachusetts utilizing both agricultural waste and commercial feedstock;
• Business organizations;
• Recovering costs and expenditures through administrative and litigated proceedings;
• Representing owners of utility assets in connection with the taxation of utility assets, including prosecution of tax appeals;
• Representing investors in the acquisition of power generation stations, including a nuclear power plant;
• The location, relocation, and related permitting of transmission facilities representing developers of a large, wood-fired thermal electric power plant operating as an independent power producer;
• The structuring, certification, permitting, financing, and development of thermal and hydroelectric power production facilities;
• Counseling clients on compliance issues relating to deregulation and restructuring as well as transactions between regulated and unregulated activities.