FERC issued an order on October 30 rejecting ISO New England’s proposed suite of “Energy Security Improvements” or “ESI.” Approval of ESI would have imposed enormous charges on New England consumers in return for dubious — if any — regional reliability/fuel security benefits. ISO New England filed the proposal in response to a FERC directive to adopt a...
Presidential candidate Biden and Congress are focused on solutions to the climate crisis. Billions of dollars in new investment will be needed. But money will not be enough. In our op-ed, “FERC's Capacity Markets Limit Clean Energy and Cost Billions; It’s Time for Congress to Act,” published August 27, 2020, in Utility Dive, we argue that...
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 seventh 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 & Litigation)...
Spiegel partner David Pomper’s article, “How FERC’s Peers Estimate Equity Costs: A Deep Dive,” appears in the December 2019 issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly. It went to press before FERC issued its Opinion No. 569, which accords with the article’s observation that earnings/book ratios do not represent the capital attraction cost of equity and should not be used to...
Tim Lay spoke on panels at the annual conferences of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) in Tampa, and the Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (TATOA) in Corpus Christi.
The topic of the NATOA conference panel was “Franchise Fees and ROW Management: What’s Left After the FCC’s New Rules?” The topic of the
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP is proud to announce that Cindy Bogorad, David Pomper, Jeff Schwarz and Scott Strauss have been selected as 2020 Washington DC “Super Lawyers” in the practice area of Energy & Natural Resources, and Jeff Bayne and Latif Nurani have been newly selected as “Rising Stars.”
Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of...
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our former partner, Daniel Davidson, who spent forty-five years of his legal career with Spiegel & McDiarmid. We remember Dan as an invaluable colleague and wonderful friend, who had a unique gift for crafting the right legal argument, locating the most apt case, and recommending...
David Pomper responded to a recent article in the Public Utilities Fortnightly which faulted “successive customer complaints against the same ROE.”* In his letter to the editor in Fortnightly’s June issue, David provides some background on the 1988 Regulatory Fairness Act and its application of symmetry between utility rate increase filings under Federal Power Act section 205 and complaints...
On May 16, 2019, FERC granted a Florida Municipal Power Agency (FMPA) complaint against Duke Energy Florida (DEF), reinstating FMPA’s previously submitted requests for transmission service to supply its members with power generated from the Poinsett Solar Facility, a NextEra 75 MW solar installation that is part of the largest solar project in Florida.
FMPA requested transmission service from DEF...
On May 1, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the President’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by members of Congress alleging that the President has violated the Foreign Emolument Clause of the Constitution. Spiegel attorneys Katharine Mapes and Jeffrey Bayne represented amici curiae Separation of Powers Scholars. The amici brief, which can...
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP writes to thank our clients for their continued support and confidence as reflected in the recognition the firm has recently received from Chambers USA and Super Lawyers.
For the sixth consecutive year, Chambers & Partners has recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP as one of the nation’s leading law firms in the...
On April 23, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit affirmed the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision denying an administrative complaint brought by the Air Transport Association of America d/b/a Airlines for America (A4A) against the Port of Portland. At issue was whether the Port, which owns and operates the Portland International Airport, is violating federal...
On April 15, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari, thereby ending a constitutional challenge brought by a group of fossil‑fueled generators against New York State’s zero-emissions credits (ZECs) program. The ZEC program provides production‑based subsidies to certain financially challenged nuclear plants, to keep those plants operating until new renewable electricity supplies can meet a...
In Owensboro Municipal Utilities v. Louisville Gas & Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co., 166 FERC ¶ 61,131 (Feb. 21, 2019), Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP successfully enforced an obligation worth about half a million dollars each month to its client, Owensboro Municipal Utilities (“Owensboro”).
In 2006, Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities (“LG&E/KU”) were allowed to leave what...
Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP is pleased to announce that Latif M. Nurani has become a Partner in the firm. Latif has been with Spiegel & McDiarmid since 2011.
Latif’s practice focuses on regulatory and policy issues related to electric reliability, market design and transmission rates.
He represents municipal utilities, joint action agencies, and state agencies before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission...
On September 27, 2018, in Coalition for Competitive Electricity et al. v. Zibelman et al.,* the Second Circuit upheld New York’s zero-emissions credits (ZECs) program, a component of its Clean Energy Standard and larger energy reform plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030. New York’s ZEC program aims to preserve the continued operation of nuclear generators, which do...
In the attached opinion issued June 1, 2018, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Judge Sentelle affirms FERC’s decision to require Entergy Arkansas to continue sharing with its Mississippi and Louisiana affiliates, notwithstanding its withdrawal from the Entergy System Agreement, the benefits of a settlement agreement with the Union Pacific railroad. The settlement arose from...
Cindy Bogorad participated in a panel discussion at the Energy Bar Association’s 2018 Annual Meeting and Conference, Monday, May 7. The panelists explored the recent impacts of mergers and acquisitions on energy markets and the energy industry as a whole. Special attention was paid to FERC’s 2016 Notice of Inquiry on assessing (among other things) market power in transactions under...
We are pleased to announce that in its 2018 rankings Chambers & Partners has once again recognized Spiegel & McDiarmid LLP as one of the nation’s leading law firms. In writing about the firm, Chambers quotes respondents as categorizing our lawyers as “an excellent team who work very well together; they are proactive, excellent...
2022 Chambers & Partners USA and 2023 Chambers Global recognize Spiegel & McDiarmid as a leading law firm in the area of “Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation).”
2022 Super Lawyers
and Rising Stars recognizes
Spiegel & McDiarmid attorneys.