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ENERGY REGULATION

Moss & Barnett’s Energy Regulation group consists of four attorneys and one paralegal. Members of Moss & Barnett’s Energy Regulation Group have the following relevant experience:

Mike Bradley – selected by Best Lawyers as one of the top lawyers in Energy/Public Utility Law, has worked full-time in utility and telephone regulation since 1983. Mike was the Manager of the Minnesota Office of Attorney General – Residential Utilities Division ("OAG") for nearly six years. During that period, he individually or jointly represented the OAG in a wide variety of matters, including fourteen rate cases (four electric, five natural gas and five telephone). Subsequent to joining Moss & Barnett, Mike has participated in a number of major regulatory proceedings, including:

Eleven rate cases (seven natural gas, three electric and one telephone)
Representation of the natural gas industry in a Minnesota right-of-way rulemaking
A proceeding to monetize externalities
A Kansas ad valorem tax refund proceeding
The proceeding that developed the Minnesota conservation improvement plan financial incentives

Other major regulatory proceedings have included:

Northern States Power’s successful request for a Certificate of Need for Prairie Island dry cask storage (which involved approximately five weeks of hearings)
Certificate of Need proceedings for three peaking plants and several transmission route permit proceedings
Several major telecommunications proceedings related to access charges

Mike has also successfully represented utility clients in at least nine appellate court proceedings (e.g., Minnegasco and Interstate Power and Light ) deciding, respectively, that goodwill belongs to the shareholders, and that manufactured gas plant remediation costs are recoverable utility expenses.

Rick Johnson – selected by Best Lawyers as one of the top lawyers in Energy/Public Utility Law, has concentrated on representing regulated entities regulation since 1976. Rick has individually or jointly represented private utility and telephone companies in seventeen rate cases (two electric, five gas and ten telephone). Rick has also been involved in a number of complex telephone hearings involving rate and cost determinations, each lasting from four to six weeks, as well as numerous transactions, including mergers, sales, acquisitions and joint ventures.

Dan Lipschultz – one of only two Minnesota regulatory attorneys listed in Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, has worked full-time in utility and telecommunications regulation since 1990. Dan spent six years as an attorney for the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and four years as an Assistant Attorney General with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. Dan subsequently served as Associate General Counsel with McLeodUSA for two years before joining Moss & Barnett in September 2002.

Some of the major energy matters Dan has worked on include:

Xcel Energy’s most recent electric rate case
The Xcel Energy merger proceeding
A recent appeal challenging an energy company’s permit from the Environmental Quality Board to construct a high voltage transmission line
A transmission line routing proceeding
Various other proceedings involving the monetization of environmental externalities
Resource planning, stray voltage and other matters

Cecilia Ray – has worked full-time on regulatory and business issues for Moss & Barnett’s regulatory clients since 1991. Cecilia has participated in several regulatory proceedings before the Minnesota Commission and provides additional capacity, should it be needed.

Jean Hunsinger – has worked as a paralegal and legal assistant in the regulatory area since 1991. Jean assists with research, marshalling of resources and facts, case management and supervising complex filings.

Attorneys in this Area

Michael J. Bradley (Chair)

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Case Summaries

Public Utilities

[03/10] Milwaukee Metro. Sewerage Dist. v. American Int'l Specilaty Lines Ins. Co.
In a sewerage district's suit for damages against an environmental liability insurer for denying coverage for costs incurred by the district in removing significant pollution on land it recently purchased, district court's judgment is reversed and remanded as the district court's finding that there was clear and convincing proof that a prior agreement existed between the insurance company and the sewerage district that the parcel would be covered property was clearly erroneous. Therefore, defendant is entitled to judgment on the sewerage district's reformation claim and, as a consequence, judgment in favor of defendant on its indemnity claim is vacated.

[03/04] Pac. Bell Tel. Co. v. Cal. Pub. Utils. Comm.
In a telecommunications company's appeal from (1) the district court's confirmation of an arbitral order affirming the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) requirement that plaintiff lease entrance facilities to competitor local exchange carriers (LECs) at Total Element Long Run Incremental Cost (TELRIC) rates for the purpose of interconnection; and (2) the district court's order vacating the arbitrator's affirmance of CPUC's conclusion that 47 C.F.R. section 51.319(e)(2)(ii)(B) applied only on routes where competitive LECs were not "impaired" as to DS3 transport circuits, the orders are affirmed where: 1) FCC regulations authorized state public utilities commissions to order incumbent LECs to lease entrance facilities to competitive LECs at regulated rates for the purpose of interconnection; and 2) the plain language of the governing regulation, 47 C.F.R. section 51.319(e (2)(ii)(B), limited a competitive LEC to a maximum of ten DS1 circuits along any route regardless of whether the competitive LEC was impaired as to DS3 lines.