For more information contact:
Donald Sipe
dsipe@preti.com

Donald J. Sipe is first person from Maine to hold chairman’s position

December 9, 2003 – PORTLAND, ME – In 1997 Donald J. Sipe was working as a staff attorney for the Maine Public Utilities Commission. With deregulation coming to Maine, Don saw what he calls “the writing on the wall:” the future of electricity regulation was in the private sector. That same year Don joined Preti Flaherty’s Energy and Telecommunications Group. Six years later his foresightedness has paid off. In December 2003, Don was appointed Chair of the New England Power Pool. He is the first NEPOOL chair from Maine and the first ever consumer representative to serve as chair of one of the nation’s seven power pools.
Before Don joined Preti Flaherty the majority of NEPOOL’s power rested with the utilities.  Back in what Don calls “the bad old days—but good old days if you’re a utility operator,” Northeast Utilities, New England’s largest energy company, controlled 50% of the vote in NEPOOL meetings and rulemaking sessions. As the region moved toward deregulation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decided to allow more members into NEPOOL, distributing power. FERC had independent generators in mind. Don had more inclusive ideas.
Don and Preti Flaherty’s Energy team pushed for consumers of electricity, as well as producers and transmitters, to be allowed representation in NEPOOL. Until then End Users had, in theory, been represented in the energy market by government bodies like FERC and MPUC. But as Don points out, wending one’s way through FERC regulations and filing for change with the commission is “not something the average businessman does.” It is something Don and NEPOOL do on a regular basis.

It was specifically on behalf of Preti Flaherty’s consortium client Industrial Energy Consumers Group that Don lobbied for consumers to be given a voice in NEPOOL. In 1998 the IECG became the first End Use member of NEPOOL. Today Don estimates that there are about 25 NEPOOL members from the End Use sector. He himself has been the End User vice-chair since 1998.  “Don’s election is testament to the respect he has earned among utilities, marketers, generators, regulators and consumers in the time he has been with our firm,” says Harold Pachios, managing partner of Preti Flaherty. It is also testament to the voice he has given consumers in New England’s primary electricity regulatory body. “The merits are usually on our side and NEPOOL is set up so the merits usually prevail,” Don says of his consumer clients’ place in NEPOOL. “Consumers usually bring to the table an enlightened self-interest which does very well in a public arena.”

NEPOOL is the rule setting body for the electricity market and grid throughout New England. It manages 25,000 megawatts of power each day. “We make the rules, FERC approves them, ISO enforces them.”  ISO New England is the independent system operator that NEPOOL has contracted to oversee the day-to-day operation of the area’s power generation and transmission.
Don’s new duties as NEPOOL chair will consist largely of running meetings in a non-discriminatory fashion and “putting a face” on NEPOOL. Don was quick to embrace his new role, traveling to Washington DC just days after his appointment to meet with a new FERC commissioner.
Don also hopes to make clear to the public and energy consumers at large how important NEPOOL is, even if it does not make headlines on a daily basis. “The level of understanding of the importance of these issues is still stuck in the idea that PUC will take care of us and they can’t anymore,” Don says. “At most they can be an assistant to us down at FERC.” In reality, it is NEPOOL that has become a tool consumers and generators of electricity alike can use to stay involved with the energy market. One of Don’s priorities is “to get people to think about the fact that a huge part of their electric prices result from the rules made by NEPOOL. Our PUC no longer has control of our rates.”  In this newly deregulated market, Don sees one of NEPOOL’s main strengths as its ability to operate on the increasingly important Federal and Regional levels, “where the money is, where the rubber meets the road.” NEPOOL’s increased importance in this role is something Don proudly points out was instituted before necessity demanded it. “We started that shift way ahead of the curve.”

Given that the members of Preti Flaherty’s client IECG are all businesses which require large amounts of energy, the question arises whether or not the average consumer needs to pay attention to NEPOOL. Don is quick to point out that, “The power situation in the Northeast is pretty much a life or death situation for a lot of businesses. The question is, how do you organize people to make sure they are best represented?” Finding the answer will be a constant part of Don’s job at NEPOOL and Preti Flaherty.

After graduating from Central Washington State University Don moved back to Maine, where he had attended high school, and in 1989 graduated from the University of Maine School of Law, fifth in a class of fifty-three. Don lives with his wife and three sons in Auburn, Maine. Of his time spent with Preti Flaherty Don says, “I’m an energy lawyer, that’s what I do.”  And, as he sees it, there is plenty of work yet to be done. Don points out that, at least in terms of electricity prices, the Northeast is far behind the rest of the nation. “It is a great place to do business—but not because of the electric markets. We can do better.”