Catherine McCarthy has represented asset owners, developers and investors with energy regulation and policy matters for more than two decades. She chairs Bracewell’s power & renewables regulatory department and is a past Chair of the American Bar Association’s Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section and current Chair of the Section’s Renewable Energy Committee. Her experience includes obtaining Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state authorizations for major projects and transactions; FERC compliance and enforcement matters; FERC transmission and centralized markets issues; and rate, tariff and refund matters. Most recently, much of her practice has focused on energy transition issues, supporting generation and transmission infrastructure developers and supporting transactions involving renewable energy companies and assets. She also represents energy clients before the Department of Energy, the Federal Communications Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cathy provides regulatory advice for commercial transactions, including asset sales, mergers and acquisitions. She also advises clients on generation and transmission development, such as providing advice on various ownership and rate structures available to transmission developers/owners and advice on generator interconnections. In addition, she has represented transmission owners in fully litigated FERC rate cases and in related appeals to the federal appellate courts. Cathy also advises on emerging legal issues presented by energy storage.
Cathy is consistently recognized as a top energy lawyer by leading industry publications. She is highly ranked by Chambers Global and Chambers USA as Band 1 in Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation) and by The Legal 500 United States as Hall of Fame in Energy: Regulation. According to sources, Cathy has “vast experience” (Chambers USA, 2024), “is an excellent lawyer” (Chambers USA, 2023) and “understands her clients’ risk profile and proactively helps manage and mitigate that risk.” (Chambers USA, 2023).
