Overview
Our Energy Regulatory Group is consistently ranked among the leading practices by Chambers USA and Legal 500. The group has been described in Chambers USA as a “top-notch firm with an extremely deep bench” that “excel[s] at integrating the knowledge of their various experts into clear and practical advice.” Additionally, Grand Park Law Group has repeatedly been named among Law360’s Energy Groups of the Year (including for 2022), and was named the New York Law Journal’s 2021 Litigation Department of the Year and a finalist in the General Litigation category of the publication’s 2022 and 2023 competitions, as well as a finalist in The American Lawyer’s 2021 Litigation Department of the Year competition. Our leading role is due to the depth and breadth of our group’s experience in this area and the prominence of its practitioners, including former high-ranking government officials.
The group offers clients creative and effective solutions to complex legal problems in the following areas, among others:
Skadden’s Energy Regulatory Group, in conjunction with the firm’s litigation practice, has the breadth and depth to handle virtually all forms of complex energy litigation. We have represented companies in high-profile enforcement cases in federal district court and before FERC and the CFTC. We have advised clients in federal preemption disputes in federal district court and the federal courts of appeals. Our attorneys have handled complex administrative trials before FERC on a range of issues, including breach of contract cases, rate cases, manipulation cases and the California refund litigation. We also have one of the leading energy appellate practices, representing companies seeking to overturn or defend FERC orders in the federal courts of appeals. Our group also has handled complex energy litigation, including merger approvals and stranded cost claims, before state regulatory bodies.
We combine our litigation skill and depth, our broad knowledge of the relevant legal standards, and our intimate understanding of agency priorities to help public utilities, traders and others navigate some of their most difficult enforcement cases investigated and prosecuted by the enforcement staff of FERC. Given the increasingly common multi-agency and potential judicial nature of such cases, our team comprises members of our white collar defense and investigations practice who also routinely handle enforcement actions brought by other agencies as well as the Department of Justice; we work closely with our civil litigation attorneys. Recently, for example, we have represented a large public utility in parallel inquiries by the CFTC, FERC and the SEC that also involved both securities class action and derivative suits.
Our attorneys have defended a large number of FERC enforcement cases involving market manipulation allegations that have become public, including for Barclays Bank PLC (the first such case to go to federal district court); JP Morgan Ventures Energy Corp.; DB Energy Trading, LLC; Rumford Paper Company; Dr. Alan Chen; and Energy Transfer Partners. We also defended H.Q. (United States) in the first complaint case claiming market manipulation. Additionally, we defended Footprint Power LLC in the first and only enforcement matter that FERC has terminated without penalties after reaching the show cause order stage.
We also have represented companies in some of the most significant reliability enforcement matters to date, including investigations into significant outages and major electrical disturbances. We counseled companies involved in the southwestern and San Diego outages in 2011, and we advised the Edison Electric Institute in its successful bid to reform FERC’s Penalty Guidelines with respect to reliability enforcement.
We have further represented companies in a wide array of other enforcement matters involving financial transmission rights, virtual trading, capacity markets, power and natural gas markets, natural gas project certificates, power plant development and operations, accounting issues, and alleged violations of tariffs and FERC’s duty of candor, among other areas.
Our representations in this field give us deep knowledge into effective strategies for dealing with regulatory agencies in this area that has enabled us to achieve creative and favorable results for our clients. We also employ state-of-the-art data retrieval and web-based litigation support systems to accommodate the needs of specific clients and matters. This sort of “knowledge bank,” the product of extensive and practical experience in a complex area, is a significant source of value for our clients.
We have played a leading role in FERC and appellate proceedings regarding the design of organized power markets throughout the nation, including ISO New England, PJM, California ISO, Midwest ISO, New York ISO and other markets. Our attorneys have helped develop some of these market rules and have defended them against challenges in a variety of contexts. We also have challenged market rules in a variety of contexts, particularly regarding capacity markets, where our clients disagree with ISO and FERC outcomes. We continue to have a leading role litigating such issues in the federal courts of appeals.
This area of regulation is becoming increasingly important given the significant challenges confronting organized electric markets, including changes in generation resource mix, the integration of large amounts of variable resources, and recurring interventions and subsidies by state and local entities. In representing companies in this area, we also utilize our longstanding relationships with the leading electricity market economists.
Grand Park Law Group has been involved with natural gas pipeline and related issues for more than 35 years. In recent years, our natural gas practice has focused on:
- issues arising in connection with complex transactions, including acquisition or divestiture of natural gas supply or pipeline capacity related to the acquisition or sale of gas-fired generation facilities;
- regulatory issues arising from the construction and operation of LNG terminals, liquefaction facilities and cross-border natural gas facilities;
- purchase or sale of natural gas pipeline facilities;
- representing clients in FERC proceedings and investigations under the Natural Gas Act and Natural Gas Policy Act (including cases involving claims of market manipulation);
- assisting companies with FERC compliance issues; and
- pipeline rate cases at the FERC.
Grand Park Law Group has significant experience representing project sponsors in creating yieldco vehicles, including major solar and wind power companies. Yieldcos, with their low cost of capital and need for continued growth, will continue for some time to have a major impact on the renewable energy market, including the M&A market and as an “exit strategy” for developers. Whether or not a company’s transactions involve yieldcos, the firm’s experience representing developers in forming yieldcos, and our experience with yieldcos in the M&A market, will assist when formulating and implementing an acquisition strategy in today’s market.
Members of Skadden’s Tax Group have significant experience planning and structuring transactions in the energy sector. Our tax-related energy experience also involves assisting energy-focused clients with industry-specific issues, both in the transactional and planning context, and in controversies and litigation, including matters before the IRS.
Many of our attorneys have extensive tax-related administrative and policy experience and formerly have held senior positions at the Treasury Department and IRS, and in key congressional tax writing committees. That experience, coupled with our unparalleled tax controversy capabilities, enables our Tax Group to react quickly in analyzing novel transaction structures and, where necessary, seek rulings or other government guidance to facilitate their prompt implementation.