Committee Information - Energy Bar Association

Prepare an annual report documenting administrative, judicial and legislative changes in the regulation of electric utilities for publication in the Energy Law Journal;
Stimulate open discussions of cutting edge topics through brown bag lunches;
Hold semi-annual committee meetings for the purpose of furthering and improving on the Committee's charter;
Serve as liaison to the Programs Committee for both substantive topic development and ordaining panels; and
Identify significant unsettled areas of law that are ripe for scholarly publication in the Energy Law Journal.

Environmental Protection & Regulation

William S. Lavarco (Chair) wlavarco@schiffhardin.com
Patricia Schaub (Vice Chair) patricia.schaub@ferc.gov

Charter

The Environmental Protection & Regulation Committee was formed in response to the growing awareness of the relationship between energy and environmental issues, including fuel use, emissions, facility siting, and other matters. The Committee provides a platform for discussion of environmental issues relevant to the energy industry, through brown bag lunches and other means. The Committee also serves as liaison to the Program Committee in developing the content of programs relating to energy and environmental issues. In addition, the Committee will prepare for the Association an annual report on key developments in the environmental and energy arena for publication in the Energy Law Journal.

FERC Practice and Administrative Law Judges

Jay Matson (Chair) jrmatson@DayPitney.com
Karen J. Kruse (Vice Chair) karen.kruse@troutmansanders.com

Charter

The FERC Practice & ALJs Committee seeks to provide an informative service and guidance to the Association, by advising its leadership, other committees and members of developments relating to: (i) the FERC's staffing, structure, budget and organization; (ii) general practice and procedures related to regulation at the FERC and at other levels of government which may affect the practice of law in the general energy regulatory or administrative context; and (iii) specific administrative practice and procedural rules and regulations, or changes thereto, that affect proceedings before the FERC.

The Committee's officers and members shall regularly review Commission press releases, generic proceedings, the public statements of Commissioners and senior staff, and ALJ issuances to advise the Association and its members of their contents. The Committee shall also serve as a liaison between the Association's membership and FERC's Commissioners, senior staff, and the FERC's Office of Administrative Law Judges.When possible, the Committee shall help the Association and its members resolve administrative difficulties by identifying appropriate resources within the Commission's staff.The Committee is further charged with addressing other topics relating to the FERC and its staff offices not within the charge of any other Association committee.

Finance and Transactions

Mark C. Williams (Chair) mark.williams@bingham.com
David I. Bloom (Vice Chair) dbloom@mayerbrownrowe.com

Charter

The Committee was established in 1999 in response to the dramatic increase in the volume and sophistication of corporate finance and transactional matters of interest to Association members. The Committee seeks to provide an informational service and point of contact for the Association�s members on legal and regulatory issues concerning mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; securities matters, in connection with energy investment, holding company and affiliation issues; industry tax issues; and corporate and public finance and restructuring issues. The Committee shall review and report on pertinent legislative and administrative developments in these areas, produce Committee reports and sponsor or co-sponsor pertinent educational programs.

Hydroelectric Regulation

Cherise M. Oram (Chair) cmoram@stoel.com
Holly E. Cafer (Vice Chair) hecafer@gkrse-law.com

Charter

The Hydroelectric Regulation Committee is a forum for members of the Energy Bar Association to discuss developments, exchange ideas, and promote improved regulation of hydroelectric energy development and licensing, including the application of environmental laws to licensing and license implementation/compliance. Hydroelectric energy for purposes of this Committee includes energy created by public and private dams, as well as wave and tidal energy projects. The Committee is responsible for following and informing its membership of FERC, appellate, and congressional actions that are relevant to the hydroelectric industry. The Committee will:

Stimulate open discussion of relevant cutting edge topics of developments in the law or policy through brown bag lunches or other events.
Serve as a resource for the Energy Bar Association Programs and Meetings Committee for both substantive topic development and design and coordination of speaker panels of interest to the membership.
Identify significant areas of law that are ripe for scholarly publication, and encourage and support appropriate submissions to the Energy Law Journal.
Prepare an annual report documenting administrative, judicial and legislative changes in regulation of hydroelectric projects for publication in the Energy Law Journal.
Hold Committee meetings at least annually for the purposes of furthering and reevaluating the Committee's charter, planning events and publication submissions, and preparing reports.
In implementing these charter commitments, the Committee will Coordinate as appropriate with other Energy Bar Association committees with related practice areas, such as the Renewable Energy Committee and the FERC Practice &ALJs Committee.

International Projects & Transactions

Mark S. Hegedus (Chair) mark.hegedus@spiegelmcd.com
AndreaChambers (Vice Chair) andrea.chambers@troutmansanders.com

Charter

The International Projects and Transactions Committee is developing a charter.

Judicial Review

S. Diane Neal (Chair) sdneal@hallestill.com
Michael E. Haddad (Vice Chair) mhaddad@hunton.com

Charter

The purpose of the Judicial Review committee is to inform the membership of significant judicial decisions concerning administrative law, antitrust law, energy tax law and federal and state regulatory law affecting the electric utility, electric generating, hydroelectric, natural gas and oil pipeline industries. The committee will work closely with the Assistant Secretary of the Association in providing semi-annual notification of those decisions. In coordination with other Association committees addressing specific areas of energy law, the committee will prepare a report for the Energy Law Journal, summarizing the significant judicial decisions for the preceding calendar year. The committee will work with the Program Committee in the development of programs or segments of programs focusing on important questions raised by recent or pending judicial decisions, and where appropriate, may sponsor or jointly sponsor such programs.

Legislation

Jeanette M. Pablo (Chair) jeanette.pablo@pnmresources.com
Montina M. Cole (Vice Chair) mcole@schiffhardin.com

Charter

The Legislation Committee seeks to keep the membership apprised, through reports and other papers, of important developments in the federal and state legislatures. The committee also serves as liaison to the Program Committee in identifying and developing programs on developing and pending legislation and legislative issues. The committee will also follow and advise the membership of changes in the process of regulation and experiences of regulatory agencies with procedural reforms. The committee membership will stay current on developments in legislation and regulatory reform through their monitoring of relevant publications. The officers of the committee are available to the membership as resources for information on pending legislative proposals. The committee will assist the Association officers in presenting the positions of the Association on legal principles involved in legislative or regulatory proposals.

Natural Gas Regulation

Richard G. Smead (Chair) rsmead@navigantconsulting.com
Glenn S. Benson (Vice Chair) gbenson@fulbright.com

Charter

The Natural Gas Regulation Committee is the Association's focal point for developments in federal natural gas regulation. It is responsible for informing the membership about FERC, appellate and congressional actions that are relevant to the industry. Recognizing that state restructuring affects the efforts of federal level industry participants, the committee also will reach out to provide information on state actions. The committee will work with the Program Committee to design programs of interest to the membership, will make annual or semi-annual reports to the membership and will, to the extent requested, provide the Association's leadership with input regarding policy questions relating to the regulation of the natural gas industry.

Nuclear Regulation

Gerald Garfield (Chair) ggarfield@daypitney.com
Daniel F. Stenger (Vice Chair) dfstenger@hhlaw.com

Charter

The Nuclear Regulation Committee is developing a charter.

Oil Pipeline Regulation

Andrew K. Soto (Chair) asoto@aga.org
Charles F. Caldwell (Vice Chair) ccaldwell@velaw.com

Charter

The Oil Pipeline Regulation Committee is the Energy Bar Association's focal point for developments in federal and state regulation of pipelines transporting crude oil and refined petroleum products.The Committee is responsible for following and informing the membership of FERC, appellate, and congressional actions that are relevant to the industry, as well as actions of other federal and state agencies, such as the Department of Transportation and Office of Pipeline Safety, to the extent they may impact the oil pipeline industry.

The Committee seeks to accomplish the following objectives:

Prepare annual or semi-annual reports documenting administrative, judicial and legislative changes in the regulation of oil pipelines for publication in the Energy Law Journal;
Stimulate open discussion of relevant cutting edge topics or developments in the law or policy relating to oil pipelines through brown bag lunches or other events;
Serve as a resource on oil pipeline issues for the EBA Programs Committee and EBA Regional Chapters for both substantive topic development and design and coordination of speaker panels of interest to the membership; and
Identify significant areas of law relevant to the regulation of oil pipelines that are ripe for scholarly publication, and encourage and support appropriate submissions to the Energy Law Journal.

Power Generation & Marketing

Hugh Hilliard (Chair) hhilliard@deweyballantine.com
Letitia W. McKoy (Vice Chair) lmckoy@fulbright.com

Charter

The Power Generation and Marketing Committee serves the Association by following developments in federal and state legislative bodies, administrative agencies and in the courts relevant to the industry and informing the Association�s membership about those developments. The Committee seeks to perform the following objectives: 1) preparing an annual report suitable for publication in the Energy Law Journal either summarizing important administrative, legislative and judicial developments affecting power generation and marketing or addressing a single topic of particular importance to the industry; 2) conducting periodic educational events on topics of special interest to members of the Association; 3) serving as a resource on power generation and marketing issues for the Association�s Program Committee and its Regional Chapters for program development; and 4) providing the Association�s leadership with input on policy issues relating to power generation and marketing.

Programs and Meetings

Jason F. Leif (Co-Chair) jfleif@jonesday.com
Joseph H Fagan (Co-Chair) joseph.fagan@hellerehrman.com
Andrea C. Wolfman(Co-Chair) awolfman@thelenreid.com

Charter

The Programs and Meetings Committee (also known as the Program Committee) plans and organizes educational programming for the Association. Two meetings a year are held in Washington, D.C.: The Annual Meeting in the Spring (April or May), which has been held annually for over 55 years, and the Mid-Year Meeting in the late fall (November or early December). Both meetings have a long tradition of superb speakers on topics of general and legal interest to energy attorneys and non-attorney energy professionals. The Committee also sponsors "primers" from time-to-time in Washington, D.C. that address a select topic in detail for the benefit (primarily) of newer energy attorneys and non-attorney energy professionals. In addition, the

Committee works with the regional chapters and members across the country to sponsor regional meetings; generally one meeting a year is held in the Western Region, the Midwest Region (historically, in Kansas City) and New York City and meetings are held from time-to-time in other locations based on member interest. With Board approval, the Committee may also develop special programs as circumstances warrant.

Renewable Energy

Monica A. Schwebs (Co-Chair) monica.schwebs@bingham.com
William W. Westerfield (Co-Chair) wwwesterfield@gmail.com
Gearold L. Knowles (Vice Chair) gknowles@schiffhardin.com

Charter

The Renewable Energy Committee is a forum for members of the Energy Bar Association to discuss developments, exchange ideas, and promote improved regulation in the broad areas of domestic and international (i) renewable energy and (ii) environmental law as it affects energy development. Renewable energy for purposes of this Committee includes hydroelectric, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, bioenergy, cogeneration, fuel cells, landfill gas, hydrogen, waste-to-energy, and other renewables. The Committee will:

Stimulate open discussion of relevant cutting edge topics or developments in the law or policy through brown bag lunches or other events.
Serve as a resource for the Energy Bar Association Programs and Meetings Committee for both substantive topic development and design and coordination of speaker panels of interest to the membership.
Identify significant areas of law that are ripe for scholarly publication, and encourage and support appropriate submissions to the Energy Law Journal.
Hold committee meetings at least annually for the purpose of furthering and reevaluating the Committee’s charter.
Periodically submit reports suitable for publication in the Energy Law Journal.

State Commission Practice & Regulation

Maureen O. Helmer (Chair) mhelmer@gslaw.com
Philip E. Stoffregen (Vice Chair) pes@brownwinick.com

Charter

The State Commission Practice and Regulation Committee seeks to provide a resource to lawyers who focus their practices on State energy regulatory cases. The Committee seeks to provide informational service and point of contact for the Association's members in connection with issues related to state processes, including traditional administrative litigation as well as mediation, arbitration and collaboration. The Committee will report on trends and innovations in state proceedings so that Association members may not only be aware of these trends, but may also be conduits for bringing innovations that serve client interests to a wider group of jurisdictions. The Committee will sponsor brown bag lunches or cocktail meetings, will encourage scholarly submissions to the Energy Law Journal and will provide appropriate reports to the Journal. It will also establish an award program that will recognize innovation and superior advocacy by members of the state utility regulatory bar. Recipients of the award would be invited to speak at an Association meeting in order to share their experiences and talents with fellow practitioners.

Young Lawyers

Monica Gonzalez (Co-Chair) monicagonzalez78@hotmail.com
Grace Wung (Co-Chair) gwung@mwe.com
Sejal Shah (Vice Chair) scshah@duanemorris.com

Charter

The charter of the Young Lawyers Committee (YLC) is twofold. First, the members of the YLC seek to educate themselves and others in the practice of energy law. Toward this end, the YLC will call upon the knowledge and experience of seasoned practitioners, FERC and other government officials, and young lawyers themselves. The YLC will also sponsor a variety of programs aimed at educating law students as to the opportunities and rewards of careers in energy law. Second, the YLC seeks to encourage cordial relationships among newer energy law practitioners such that YLC members may begin to develop the lasting relationships which promote the mutual trust and professionalism important to effective representation. In these ways, the YLC will help newer lawyers mature into the experienced practitioners who are the future of the bar and of the Association.