Energy Law
Briggs and Morgan provides full-service representation to a broad range of energy providers, public utilities and other energy-sector participants. We work closely with clients in the purchase and sale of bulk power supplies, power marketing, infrastructure development and financing, siting and routing, environmental compliance, industry restructuring, and regulatory affairs. Diverse litigation services, from commercial and contract disputes to casualty and regulatory matters, are also prominent among the matters handled on behalf of our clients in Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico.
Briggs has extensive experience with multi-Party, complex energy projects in the range of matters relating to energy infrastructure development, such as power plants and high voltage transmission, throughout the region. Briggs has worked successfully on many multi-party projects involving diverse and disparate interests, including with the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), regional reliability organizations, investor-owned utilities, cooperative corporations, municipal utilities, and other industry stakeholders.
Briggs attorneys regularly handle matters before state and federal regulatory authorities such as the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Regulatory credibility is always critically important in energy matters and Briggs has an extremely strong reputation with this regulatory community. We have worked extensively with MISO and FERC on numerous transmission interconnection issues, had a role in specialized provisions in MISO's pro forma tariff and have participated in over 30 interconnection agreements. Our transmission permitting and contracting work has provided extensive knowledge and understanding of the relevant statutes and rules, including numerous projects involving FERC Orders 2003/2006 (generator interconnection), 2004 (standards of conduct), and wind-energy rulemakings involving complex transmission issues.
Complementing our transmission business experience, Briggs provides sophisticated counsel in a wide variety of complex commercial transactions, with an emphasis on transactional strategy and structure, cooperative transactions among disparate constituents, negotiation and resolution of disputes among joint venture and other contracting parties, purchase and sale of public and private entities and divisions (including stock and asset acquisitions and divestitures), and restructuring and reorganization.
Our transactional lawyers have depth in several interdisciplinary areas of related law, including finance, securities, taxation, labor and employment relations, commercial dispute resolution analysis and litigation and corporate governance. We have a nationally-renowned public finance department that regularly engages in bond financings for infrastructure projects. This depth provides our clients timely, dependable and effective counsel in negotiations. Our transactional experience in the energy industry is extensive in all facets of the services described above.
We help clients obtain necessary authorizations to construct power plants and high-voltage electric transmission lines and have provided advice on a variety of related regulatory topics. We have had first-hand experience assisting clients to interpret and implement a variety of statutory mandates and other programs within the energy sector. For example, Briggs has worked extensively on wind, biomass, and other renewable energy projects along with the statutory and regulatory compliance issues that arise with those projects. Briggs has spent considerable effort on other regulatory initiatives including the retrofit of coal-fired power plants and other initiatives designed to comply with emissions reductions programs.
Briggs advises public utilities on both short- and long-term power purchases, power plant acquisitions and financing, transmission system development, supplier and customer bankruptcy, and strategic positioning for potential industry restructuring throughout the state. We have represented both buyers and sellers of electricity in numerous transactions involving over 4000 megawatts. Minnesota law cites significant requirements for the generation and purchase of renewable energy resources, where we have negotiated contracts involving various relevant resources. We have recently negotiated a full array of contracts covering the engineering, procurement and construction of major power plant facilities and have assisted clients in the acquisition of turbines, boilers, and other major equipment.