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2024 Western Chapter Annual Meeting
March 7 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
The Energy Bar Association’s Western Chapter invites you to attend their upcoming Annual Meeting in San Francisco on March 7! The event will begin with a reception on the evening of Wednesday, March 6, followed by a full day of CLE programming on western energy issues.
Registration is now closed for this event, but we will accept on-site registration.
March 6th, 5:00 – 7:00 PM: Opening Reception at Parc55
March 7th, 9:00 AM: Keynote Remarks:
General Counsel,
Office of the General Counsel
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
9:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Administrative Law Judges Panel
Appearing before administrative law judges is often nerve-wracking, not to mention costly, as administrative law judges must address complex legal questions often on expedited schedules. Learn from top administrative law judges from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the California Public Utility Commission (PUC), the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), and the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) on how to best navigate the unique aspects of this special type of litigation. Panelists will not only provide their best tips to advocate within the energy administrative law field but also where they see the legal discipline heading amid an ever changing landscape.
The panel includes:
- Moderated by: Meghan H. Grabel, Head – Energy, Water, and Utility Law Practice, Osborn Maledon, P.A.
- Judge Renee Terry, FERC Administrative Law Judge
- Judge Sophia Park, California PUC Senior Administrative Law Judge
- Judge Sarah Harpring, ACC Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge
- Judge Michael Howard, Washington UTC Director and Administrative Law Judge
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Wildfire Preparedness for Utilities
The tragic wildfires that devastated historic portions of Maui last year have sparked continued conversations about utility wildfire preparedness and liability. This panel will discuss best practices a utility can take in mitigating the risk that electrical infrastructure poses to wildfires, regulatory expectations regarding the same, and the extent to which utilities should be liable for the damage.
The panel includes:
- Moderated by: Justin Wynne, Braun Blaising & Wynne
- Laura Fulton, Senior Legal Counsel, Wildfire Mitigation and Litigation, San Diego Gas & Electric
- Melissa Semcer, Principal Consultant & Owner, Climate, Wildfire and Energy Strategies, Former Deputy Director, California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Corporate Energy Procurement Amidst a Changing Energy Landscape
In recent years, we’ve seen a significant uptick in the volume of renewable energy investments by large corporate energy buyers, independent of regulatory mandates. This panel will discuss how and why corporate buyers have been making such investments, and what challenges and opportunities remain as they seek to support acceleration of the energy transition in a manner that prioritizes accountability and supports grid reliability and resiliency.
This panel includes:
- Moderated by: Helen Calverley, Senior Manager & Principal Counsel – Energy, Apple Inc.
- Erin Craig, CSO, Customer Solutions and Innovation Lead and Board Member, 3Degrees Inc.
- Alexia dePottere-Smith, General Counsel, Center for Resource Solutions
- Marcia Hook, Partner, Clifford Chance
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Offshore Wind
Join us as we talk about how best to “blow away” the complexities of bringing offshore wind on the West Coast – legal and otherwise. This panel will include lessons learned from the “gusty” past on the East Coast, and talk specifically about some of the challenges and opportunities unique to the West Coast.
The panel includes:
- Moderated by: Vidhya Prabhakaran, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
- Judy Chang, Managing Principal, Analysis Group, Former Massachusetts Undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions
- Adam Stern, Executive Director, Offshore Wind California
- Jason Busch, Executive Director, Pacific Ocean Energy Trust
- Rick Umoff, Director – Government Affairs for West Coast, Vineyard Offshore
| Registration Rates | Early ends Feb 22 (Members) | Regular (Members) | Nonmember |
| Attorney/Energy Professional | $465 | $495 | $695 |
| Gov’t/Academic Rate | $200 | $225 | $250 |
| In House Counsel/Solo or small firm attorney | $365 | $395 | $695 |
| Student | $50 | $50 | $100 |