Ninth Circuit Sides with FERC and Consumers, Rejects Unwarranted Utility Incentive Costing Ratepayers Millions
Spiegel & McDiarmid attorneys won a major victory for California ratepayers in a July 11, 2025, Ninth Circuit decision affirming FERC’s denial of an unneeded and costly transmission rate incentive “adder” sought by Pacific Gas & Electric Company. The court found that FERC correctly denied PG&E’s request to include an incentive adder in its transmission rates because PG&E needs...Chambers and Super Lawyers Again Recognize Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP
Bayne, Bogorad, Drennen, Pomper, Schwarz, Strauss Highlighted
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP thanks our clients for their continued support and confidence as reflected in the recognition the firm has recently received from Chambers USA. For the twelfth consecutive year, Chambers & Partners has recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP as one of the nation’s leading law firms in the area of “Energy: Electricity...D.C. Circuit Sides with New York Consumers, Rejects Transmission Owner Funding Bid
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP attorneys achieved a significant victory for New York consumers in a May 27, 2025, decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court reviewed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) rejection of a request by New York transmission owners for approval of a tariff change that would afford them the option to finance the...Kentucky Municipals Defend FERC Orders Rejecting Rate Re-Pancaking
On January 21, 2025, firm partner Jeff Bayne, on behalf of the Kentucky Municipal Energy Agency and other transmission-dependent municipal utilities (collectively, Kentucky Municipals), argued in the D.C. Circuit (recording) against the re-pancaking of Kentucky Municipals’ transmission rates across the seam between the transmission grids of Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Louisville Gas and Electric Company and...Bayne, Springett Speak at Kentucky League of Cities Meeting
Spiegel partner Jeff Bayne and associate Lauren Springett spoke to the Kentucky League of Cities (“KLC”) at KLC’s utilities-focused January 2025 meeting. Their presentation, “What to Expect in Washington with the New Administration,” focused on anticipated changes in energy and broadband/telecom policy under the Trump Administration.Sixth Circuit Sides with Consumers, TDUs in Denial of Adder to Ohio Utilities
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP attorneys achieved a significant victory for consumers and transmission-dependent utilities in a recent decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision found four Ohio transmission owners ineligible to include a 50-basis point increase or “Adder” to the return on equity component of their transmission rates because of their participation in a regional transmission...Chambers and Super Lawyers Again Recognize Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP
Bayne, Bogorad, Pomper, Schwarz, Strauss Highlighted
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP thanks our clients for their continued support and confidence as reflected in the recognition the firm has recently received from Chambers USA. For the eleventh consecutive year, Chambers & Partners has recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP as one of the nation’s leading law firms in the area of “Energy: Electricity (Regulatory...Ratepayer Advocates Ask FERC to Modernize its Regulation of Utility Investments
On Tuesday, March 26, the District of Columbia Office of the People’s Counsel, Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, and New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel filed joint comments responding to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Notice of Inquiry on the agency’s policies and practices concerning...FERC Updates Policy for Recovering Construction Labor Wages in Utility Rates
At its March Open Meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously voted to issue its Policy Statement titled Project-Area Wage Standards in the Labor Cost Component of Cost-of-Service Rates (89 Fed. Reg. 21,503 (published Mar. 28, 2024)), which received broad support from commenters. This Policy Statement clarifies the evidence necessary for jurisdictional entities to include wages...The City of Orangeburg, S.C. Begins Historic Power Purchase Agreement with Duke Energy Carolinas
The City of Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities (DPU), one of the largest municipal utilities in South Carolina, recently announced, as posted by the American Public Power Association, that as of January 1, 2024, it began purchasing power from a new provider, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC. Since its founding in 1927, Orangeburg DPU has had essentially...Jeff Bayne and Amber Martin Stone Become Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP Partners
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP is pleased to announce that Jeffrey M. Bayne and Amber L. Martin Stone have become Partners in the firm. Jeff has been with Spiegel & McDiarmid since 2015. Amber first joined the firm the same year. |
Jeff Bayne’s practice focuses on addressing changes in...
D.C. Office of People’s Counsel Wins Remand in Pepco Rate CaseOn November 10, 2022, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals — the District’s highest court — granted in full the petition for review filed by the D.C. Office of People’s Counsel (“OPC”), reversing and remanding D.C. Public Service Commission (“PSC”) rulings with respect to two aspects of its approval of Potomac Electric Power Company’s (“Pepco”) proposed multi-year rate...D.C. Circuit Sides with State Petitioners Challenging Reliability-Must-Run Agreement Rates for Mystic Units 8 & 9 and Everett LNG TerminalSpiegel & McDiarmid LLP attorneys achieved a significant victory that should reduce the bills paid by New England wholesale electric ratepayers to retain two gas-fired generators and their affiliated fuel supplier. In 2018, the owner of Mystic Units 8 & 9 moved to retire the generators, but the system operator, ISO New England (“ISO-NE”) found that the units were...U.S. Court of Federal Claims Rules for Northern California Power Agency and California CitiesSpiegel & McDiarmid LLP attorneys achieved another milestone in a lawsuit brought by the Northern California Power Agency (“NCPA”) and the cities of Redding, Roseville and Santa Clara, California, to recover overcharges imposed on them by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (“CVPIA”). NCPA and the cities buy hydroelectric power generated by the Bureau’s...D.C. Circuit Vacates FERC’s Methodology for Calculating Returns on EquityThe D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) Opinions No. 569 and 569-A, which had established a new way to set the allowed profit (return on equity, or “ROE”) for electric transmission investment in the extensive Midcontinent Independent System Operator (“MISO”) area. Spiegel partner David Pomper argued the ROE methodology issues on behalf of our clients (Mississippi...D.C. Circuit Vacates FERC’s Orders that had Increased Transmission Costs to Kentucky MunicipalsOn August 5, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders “re-pancaking” electric transmission rates across the seam between the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) transmission grid and that of Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company (together, LG&E/KU). Ky. Mun. Energy Agency v. FERC, Nos. 19-1236 et...Chambers and Super Lawyers Again Recognize Spiegel & McDiarmid LLPBayne, Bogorad, Nurani, Pomper, Schwarz, Strauss HighlightedSpiegel & McDiarmid LLP thanks our clients for their continued support and confidence as reflected in the recognition the firm has recently received from Chambers USA. For the ninth consecutive year, Chambers & Partners has recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP as one of the nation’s leading law firms in the area of “Energy: Electricity...Appeals Court Rules in Cases on Distribution System Access and Fairness of ServiceOn January 25, 2022, finding that FERC’s decisions “present a troubling pattern of inattentiveness to potential anti-competitive effects of PG&E’s administration of its open-access Tariff,” the D.C. Circuit issued a combined opinion granting San Francisco’s petitions for review of two separate Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) orders. The two cases involved longstanding disputes with Pacific Gas and Electric Company...Cindy Bogorad to Speak on Joint OwnershipOn January 27, Cindy Bogorad will join a panel discussion hosted by R Street on "Leveling the Transmission Playing Field." Topics will include, in addition to inclusive joint transmission ownership, "independent transmission planning and oversight, equal rate treatment between suppliers and proper implementation of competitive processes under FERC’s Order 1000." More information and a free registration link are available at https://www.rstreet.org/event/leveling-the-transmission-playing-field/.Cindy Bogorad to Speak at Grid Enhancing Technologies ConferenceSpiegel partner Cindy Bogorad will speak on a panel at the "Grid Enhancing Technologies: Potential, Solutions and Challenges" virtual conference. Cindy's panel will address policy and regulatory measures to encourage the wider adoption of grid-enhancing technologies. The conference, sponsored by Global Transmission Report, will be held on December 1 and 2, 2021. More information about the conference is
2025 Chambers & Partners USA and Global recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP as a leading law firm in the area of “Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation).”
2025 Super Lawyers
and Rising Stars recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP attorneys.
2023 Top Ranked
Law Firms by Martindale-Hubbell®.
American Bar Association
names Spiegel as among
2015 Top 10 Regional Law
Firms in Energy, Environmental
and Resources Law.
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