Areas of Practice
Proceedings Before Energy and Utility Regulatory Agencies
Rooney Rippie & Ratnaswamy LLP attorneys have more than 70 years of experience in legal matters involving the electricity, natural gas, and water / sewer industries. That includes over 60 years of serving as counsel plus one of our attorneys serving almost a decade as an administrative law judge for the Illinois Commerce Commission. We have counseled and represented utilities in each of those industries in the planning, preparation, and litigation of numerous general rate proceedings as well as defending and pursuing appeals arising from those cases. R3 attorneys also have counseled and represented utilities in workshops and other stakeholder processes as well as proceedings to establish or investigate new tariff riders, new rate structures and designs, and experimental rates both within general rate cases and in separate proceedings. We also have extensive experience counseling and representing clients in stakeholder processes and proceedings involving terms and conditions of service and business practices. R3 attorneys have been recognized as leading energy lawyers in Illinois in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for many years, including all four partners in Chambers USA 2010 edition.Transmission Facilities
R3 attorneys have been involved for more than 20 years in virtually every aspect of the planning, design, siting, permitting, and construction of new transmission facilities. We have worked in close concert with planners and engineers to identify and mitigate legal obstacles at the same time as they identify and mitigate physical obstacles. We have worked with clients to plan for and execute a variety of public forums, collaborative processes, and stakeholder input sessions. We have sought and obtained permits from federal and state regulatory and environmental agencies. Projects we have worked on range from overhead bulk power lines in predominantly rural areas to overhead and underground lines and related substations in a major city center. We have addressed and overcome objections based on a full range of environmental, land use, aesthetic, public health, and cost grounds as well as a variety of typical and exotic legal challenges. We are as comfortable working with clients’ planners, designers, and environmental consultants as we are with regulators and with inside and local counsel. Throughout, we stay focused on getting the project built on time and within operating and budget constraints. In toto, our lawyers have worked on more than 25 transmission siting and permitting projects. Of those where our work is complete, all but one is now either under construction or in operation.Download: Siting Experience
Smart Grid
Deploying Smart Grid technologies are a national legislative priority and have captured the attention of many regulators. If implemented well, they can reduce costs, improve customer service, improve reliability, benefit the environment, and empower customers to take greater control over their energy use. Many electric utilities have recognized these benefits and are either moving forward with Smart Grid pilots or deployments, or planning best how to. Gas, water, and small municipal utilities and coops also face a choice: remain passive until smart applications for their industries are more developed, or become active and attempt to shape the regulatory process. Regardless of the industry, however, the issues surrounding Smart Grid deployment are complex and technical. They range from network security and equipment interoperability to the design of real time pricing rates and efficiency programs. R3 attorneys have been involved with virtually aspect of this process. We have advised and represented clients about the full range of legal and regulatory issues and have acted as counsel in rate design, rate approval, and litigated and collaborative Smart Gird proceedings.Pipeline Safety and Underground Facilities Damage Prevention
Gas pipelines, gas distributions systems and hazardous liquid pipelines are subject to minimum pipeline safety standards adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). These rules address the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and inspection of pipeline facilities. State regulatory agencies like the Illinois Commerce Commission’s Natural Gas Pipeline Safety section enforce these requirements on intrastate pipelines, and may impose even stricter standards under state law. R3 lawyers have counseled clients on compliance with federal and state requirements, and represented our clients in disputes before utility regulatory commissions.
The Illinois Underground Utility Facilities Damage Prevention Act (UUFDPA) imposes notification, location (marking), and excavation (process/procedure) requirements on excavators and underground utility facility owners that are intended to implement the UUFDPA’s goal of preventing damage to underground utility facilities. The Joint Utility Locating Information for Excavators (JULIE, Inc.), also known as the “Illinois One-Call System” or “JULIE,” is a not-for-profit organization that provides professional and non-professional (i.e. homeowners) excavators with a free service to contact one number for the locating and marking of underground utility facilities (by the owners and operators of those facilities). R3 lawyers have counseled clients on compliance with UUFDPA requirements, and represented our clients in informal and formal proceedings to assess penalties for alleged non-compliance.
Business Litigation and Appeals
R3 attorneys have extensive experience counseling and representing clients in business litigation and appeals, including state and federal trial and appellate courts in Illinois and other states. These matters have involved, among subject areas, claims for breach of contract, eminent domain issues, claims for breach of fiduciary duty, claims of legal malpractice, escrow issues, business practices issues, banking law issues, and various pro bono matters.Procurement
Electric and gas utilities are frequently required to procure supply for their customers in whole or part through market purchases. The issues surrounding these purchases can be varied and have serious financial implications for the utility. R3 attorneys have counseled clients regarding: least-cost and integrated resource planning, the design and implementation of RPF and auction procurement processes and regulatory review and approval of their results, and after-the-fact regulatory review of purchases in the context of Purchased Gas Adjustment and fuel clauses. We have also given advice and litigated proceedings involving the design and implementation of utility-specific and statewide electric procurement procedures.Investigations and Audits
R3 attorneys have extensive experience counseling and representing clients in regulatory investigations and audits. These matters have included, for example, investigations and audits of the prudence and reasonableness of capital project costs, operations and maintenance expenses, and natural gas, coal, and electricity procurement costs; and the reconciliation of the charges and credits and the accounting for costs and revenues incurred under tariffs and tariff riders.Environmental Counseling, Disputes and Transactions
R3 attorneys have a multi-disciplinary environmental practice spanning regulatory compliance, enforcement defense, disputes, litigation, and corporate and real estate transactions. We represent clients in such high-stakes matters as citizen suits involving the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and transactions of energy related assets that involve complex permitting and regulatory requirements. We work with environmental consultants, review and analyze Phase I and Phase II reports, and assist in evaluating risks and options presented by existing and potential contamination.
* The Illinois Supreme Court does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law and no award or recognition is a requirement to practice law in Illinois.