Energy Regulatory

Commodities & Trading

Our team has deep knowledge of the rules governing commodity regulation and trading based on their diverse backgrounds. Team members include lawyers who have held in-house positions at banks and trading companies, as well as lawyers with over 25 years of senior-level experience at US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Our intimate understanding of the ins and outs of regulatory regimes — as well as our longstanding relationships with regulators — enables us to provide practical advice that helps energy companies anticipate and resolve regulatory issues.

We advise on regulatory and legislative matters pertaining to commodities, derivative markets, market infrastructure, major industrials, oil and gas producers, and utilities. We have broad experience across the full range of commodity regulations, which we bring to bear in helping our clients navigate the regulatory issues related to their trading strategies and objectives.

Compliance and Enforcement

We have achieved outstanding results for our energy clients, helping them with compliance and enforcement actions before state and federal energy regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement. We also represent clients in inquiries and investigations by self-regulatory organizations, such as CME Group and ICE Futures.

We advise energy companies on diverse compliance and enforcement matters, including:

• non-bona fide prearranged trades
• allegations of wash and fictitious trades
• position limit violations
• market manipulation, including responding to data requests
• CFTC Wells notices
• FERC preliminary conclusions and settlement negotiations

Electric Power

We have decades of experience representing clients in all aspects of power generation and transmission regulation, licensing and ratemaking. Clients choose us because we are an industry leader with a proven track record of success in nearly every type of law that affects energy regulation, including corporate, tax, environmental and litigation.

Our lawyers represent electric transmission and distribution utilities, independent power producers, power marketers and investors in energy companies before various regulatory agencies. We have served as regulatory counsel on some of the largest transactions in the power sector. For example, we acted as lead FERC counsel to Great Plains in its $15 billion merger with Westar, as well as Rockland Capital in the acquisition of six generating facilities in Ohio and Indiana from AES.

We are one of the few firms with the experience necessary to address the continuing need for major capital expenditures by the US electric industry to support investment in transmissions and renewables. This work includes responding to state requests for proposals; litigation and regulatory approvals for new and existing infrastructure owners to receive adequate compensation to develop, produce and delivery renewable energy to load centers; and transaction-related regulatory approval for renewable energy mergers and acquisition. Our experience includes advising on multi-million dollar projects, such as Equinor’s offshore transmission project in New York and the $950 million New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project, which interconnects renewable resources in remote areas to the electric transmission grid.

Oil & Gas Transactions

When oil and gas pipeline developers encounter complex regulatory issues and controversies, they turn to Bracewell. We are a preeminent pipeline development firm, with deep regulatory experience that is buttressed by top-flight environmental, transactional, financing and litigation practices.

“Bracewell attorneys are experts in pipeline regulatory matters and have experience of experience working within the industry,” notes Chambers USA (2021).

We have helped clients in regulatory approval for multibillion oil and gas projects and transactions. For example, we represented Phillips 66 in the regulatory process of commencing service on the Gray Oak pipeline project, including a new storage service that was added in response to market conditions resulting in part from the COVID-19 pandemic. We also provided regulatory advice in the development of the $2 billion cross-border natural gas pipeline system by Nexus Gas Transmission and the $2 billion Permian Highway Pipeline Project by Kinder Morgan.