With heavy regulation of the public utilities industry, including electric, gas, water, sewer, telecommunications, transportation, and pipeline companies--and including competitive participants in those industries where competition is permitted by law—it is important for clients to be represented by attorneys with extensive knowledge and experience in this specialized area of law. Butler Snow’s Public Utilities group strategizes and counsels on emerging issues, is conversant in developments in public utilities and competitive energy markets laws, and works collaboratively with environmental, municipal, business law, antitrust and tax attorneys, providing our clients with a comprehensive approach to handling a variety of issues.
A substantial public utilities practice predates the firm’s formation in 1954; and today, the practice encompasses nearly all phases of the various regulated industries. Our attorneys have extensive experience in this practice area, including submitting filings, appearing before state and federal regulatory agencies, providing compliance counseling, advising on regulatory matters affecting deals, and handling contested cases, appeals, bidding and procurement processes, compliance issues, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and contract negotiation and drafting.
The firm has handled substantial cases involving issues between or concerning various providers, quality of service matters, contract claims, antitrust cases, acquisition matters, rate cases, and a variety of tax matters peculiar to these industries.
Butler Snow lawyers have long-practiced before many regulatory agencies and public service commissions in the Southeast and Southwest, including the Mississippi Public Service Commission, the Tennessee Public Utility Commission and its predecessors, the Arkansas Public Service Commission, the Georgia Public Service Commission, the Kentucky Public Utilities Commission, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Clients of the firm include several large interstate and intrastate wire line carriers, cellular carriers, a number of non-regulated entities that own regulated carriers, some of the country’s largest competitive electric generating companies, large competitive retail electricity providers, water and sewer companies and industrial users of electric and gas services. The firm served as Special Counsel to the Mississippi Commission in litigated matters before the United States Supreme Court.
