The firm’s Energy group rose to pre-eminence during regulation’s heyday. Today, amidst increasing deregulation and the growth of new technologies, Preti Flaherty remains a leader in the rapidly evolving energy marketplace, counseling industrial consumers, energy project developers, energy service companies, Maine’s Industrial Energy Consumer Group and most of the state’s independent telephone and cable television companies.

Our attorneys possess encyclopedic knowledge of the regulated world coupled with a rare understanding of competitive markets. We help business find advantage in the shift from regulation to competition as we provide expert counsel on legal concerns affecting revenues, cost of service, rate structures, customer relations and competitive relationships. We also assist in the structuring of entities to finance, build, license and operate a wide variety of energy facilities.

With its understanding of business, technology and the changing marketplace, Preti Flaherty is uniquely equipped to assist you in protecting your interests while making the most of an increasingly deregulated world.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

Taking The Shock Out Of Electricity Prices

When California electricity prices skyrocketed in the spring of 2001, we worked with several large California manufacturers to mitigate risk and ensure access to reasonably priced energy. In one case, we helped our client protect existing contract relationships, attend to regulatory matters and arrange for the delivery of six megawatts of energy generation from Texas to California.

State Coalition Empowers Energy Consumers

When Maine’s electric utilities sold their powerplants, the state of Maine had to decide whether consumers would profit from the sale. On behalf of a coalition of large Maine energy consumers, we filed suit and initiated legislation at the Public Utilities Commission to apportion money from the sale to stabilize customers’ electric rates. Energy costs stayed lower, manufacturers remained in business and, as a result, many jobs were sustained in Maine.

Defeating A Duplicate Energy Charge

We fought New England electric generators to a standstill over their effort to impose the economic equivalent of a tax on electricity through the “Installed Capacity Charge,” a loophole allowing the generators to charge twice for part of their product. We assembled a broad coalition to assist consumers, and helped lead the litigation—at both the state and federal levels—to defeat this effort and preserve lower energy prices throughout New England.