As published in the NY Business Law Journal:
WINTER 2014 NY BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL
PUBLIC UTILITY LAW COMMITTEE
On
October 17, 2014, the Public Utility Law Committee of the New York State Bar
Association Business Law Section hosted the Public Utility Law Institute, an
all-day continuing legal education program dedicated exclusively to current
issues affecting public utility law. The program, which was well attended, included
several panels covering a wide range of topics, including:
- A discussion of the legal issues affecting
the New York State Public Service Commission’s Reforming the Energy Vision proceeding
in which the Commission is considering a substantial transformation of electric
utility practices to improve system efficiency, empower customer choice, and
encourage greater penetration of clean generation and efficiency technologies;
- Legal considerations associated with the
increasing reliance on natural gas by electric generating facilities;
- Recent developments in the
telecommunications industry; and
- The jurisdictional line between federal
and state utility regulation.
Each
panel included top practitioners in the energy field from both the public and
private sectors who were able to provide varying perspectives on each topic.
The program’s keynote speaker was New York State Public Service Commissioner Gregg
Sayre, who spoke about net neutrality.
-- Bruce Miller, Chair
WINTER 2013 NY BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL
PUBLIC UTILITY LAW COMMITTEE
Thanks to
the efforts of Kevin Lang of Couch White and Mary Krayeske of Consolidated
Edison Company, along with committee members Grace Kurdian and Elise Hiller, on
November 15, 2013, at this writing the NYSBA Public Utility Law Committee held
a full day CLE conference at the Bar Association Center in Albany. The Program covered
the following topics:
- Cyber Security, with a panel comprised of
Carl Patka—NYISO; Will Pegrin, President and CEO — Center for Internet
Security; and Robert Mayer, Vice President of Industry and State Affairs—United
States Telecom Association
- Utility/Business Ethics, with a panel
including Kate Burgess, Secretary—New York State Public Service Commission, and
Kimberly Strong, Vice President, Business Ethics—Consolidated Edison
- Luncheon speaker, Audrey Zibelman, Public
Service Commission Chair
- Energy Effi ciency, with a panel
including Franz Litz—Pace University, Janet Audunson—National Grid, and Peter
Keane — NYSERDA
- Ethics, featuring Bob Freeman—Executive Director, Committee
on Open Government
At this
time we are also exploring whether it would be feasible to have a dinner for
Committee members during the Winter Meeting. Public Service Commissioner Gregg
Sayre has agreed to speak, but we are concerned that hotel space might be a
problem for out-of-town members due to the Super Bowl being held that weekend.
We are
also working on revitalizing the Committee and expanding and updating the
Committee member list.
-- Bruce V. Miller, Chair
Winter 2012 NY Business Law Journal
Public Utility Law
Committee
With the publication of Gregg Sayre’s January 2012 report (see Committee
Reports www.nysba.org/BLSPublicUtilityReports), an
era has come to an end. Gregg, who had undertaken the heroic task of assembling
and presenting a comprehensive report on cases affecting the utility industry in
New York for as long as anyone can remember, has moved on to become a
commissioner of the Public Service Commission. Although we will miss Gregg and
his work for the Committee very much, we look forward to inviting him to address
the Committee as Commissioner Sayre in the near future.
The public Uitlity Committee is in the process of transitioning to a new
Board and exploring topics of interest for a 14th Annual Institute on
Public Utility Law likely to take place in May 2013. We anticipate that it will
include a full-day continuing legal education course, with faculty from in-house
corporate counsel, government agencies and leading law fi rms. Curricula being
explored involve the latest developments in the areas of energy and
telecommunication regulation and practice, perhaps with an emphasis on ethical
standards expected of practitioners before the Commission.
- Bruce V. Miller, Chair
Summer 2012 NY Business Law Journal
Public Utility Law
Committee
The Public Utility Law Committee is in the process of transitioning to a new
Board and exploring topics of interest for a 13th Annual Institute on Public
Utility Law likely to take place later this year. It is likely to include a
full-day continuing legal education course, with faculty from in-house corporate
counsel, government agencies and leading law firms. Curricula being explored
involve the latest developments in the areas of energy and telecommunication
regulation and practice.
-- Deborah M. Franco, Chair
Winter 2011 NY Business Law Journal
Public Utility Law
Committee
On May 17, 2011, the Public Utility Law Committee co-sponsored the 12th
Annual Institute on Public Utility Law at the New York State Bar Association in
Albany, NY. The committee co-sponsored this full-day continuing legal education
course with the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Continuing Legal
Education and the New York Chapter of the Federal Communications Bar
Association. The Institute’s faculty included in-house corporate counsel,
government agencies and leading law firms. The curriculum included the latest
developments in the areas of energy and telecommunication regulation and
practice. It is the committee’s goal to continue to monitor emerging trends in
energy and telecommunication regulatory affairs, utility ratemaking and related
areas and to encourage its members to present on these topics as developments
occur.
---Deborah M. Franco, Chair