Wednesday, June 26, Noon CST
1 hour MCLE Credit

Please join us for a webinar lunch and learn as panelists Ruben Arredondo and David Munoz Andrade present Growing Energy Trends: USA and Mexico. This session will offer 1 hour MCLE credit.

Course Description: Ruben Arredondo and David Munoz Andrade will discuss growing energy dependency between the USA and Mexico, with particular focus on the southwest border of the US and between Texas and Mexico. They will highlight the growing trend of Mexican entities looking to sell energy into US markets, the increasing need for energy in areas from Louisiana, through Texas, and to California. They will discuss how this impacts ERCOT and neighboring states. The discussion will include an overview of the general landscape of energy scale development in Mexico, presidential permits, and interconnection in Texas. They will conclude their presentation by encouraging and addressing questions raised by audience members.

Panelists: Ruben Arredondo, Regime Energy Partners

Ruben is an electrical energy lawyer and project developer. He has extensive experience working for and advising state commissions across the US, Mexico and Europe on varied electrical and renewable energy issues. He worked for the federal government as an enforcement and energy infrastructure lawyer for multiple years, before forming Regime and co-founding developer Kanaloa Energy. He also advises EnergyTech and ClimateTech companies in developing software solutions. His vast experience dealing with the technical and regulatory aspects of electrical energy development across multiple regions help him serve his clients as they develop complex, capital intensive and high yield, generation and transmission assets.

David Munoz Andrade, Diurna

David is an energy professional and project developer with deep experience developing distribution and utility scale generation on both the Texas and Mexican side of the border. He has served as director for Mexican energy regulators, as well as executive for US companies developing energy solutions from California to Texas and in between. His experience also has led him to develop the non-profit KidWind, which helps teachers and students creatively explore the science, technology and implications of a world powered by renewable energy.

Join Us for the 2024 Public Utility Law Spring Lunch & Learn CLE

Friday, May 17, 2024
Texas Law Center, 1414 Colorado St, Austin
2 hours MCLE / 1 hour Ethics
General Admission: $25

View Brochure

Scroll below to view the presentation materials.

Dear Section Members:

Please join us for an in-person lunch and learn event at the Texas Law Center of the State Bar of Texas, with a presentation on the new 15th Court of Appeals and Business Court and an ethics presentation on changing jobs. Please RSVP using the registration link above. Registration costs $25, which includes lunch and attendance at the presentations. The deadline to register is Wednesday, May 15. You can also add this event to your calendar to be reminded of the registration deadline.

Please visit our website for more information about the Public Utility Law Section’s other upcoming events.

Courses:

The New Legal Landscape: The Business Court and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals

Click here to view the PowerPoint

Amy Prueger and Sarah Churchin will discuss creation of the new Texas Business Court and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, with covered topics including the scope of their respective jurisdictions, the timeline of their development and implementation, and their impact on public utilities. They will conclude their presentation by encouraging and addressing questions raised by audience members.

Amy Prueger, Enoch Kever PLLC, focuses on appellate, commercial, and regulatory litigation. Having clerked for the Texas Supreme Court and worked in large specialty-practice law firms, she has vast experience representing clients in business disputes and protecting them in the event of appeal. She is also experienced in arguing cases in state and federal courts of appeals, as well as the Texas Supreme Court, and has handled complex arbitrations from the initial filing of the complaint through post-hearing matters.

Sara Churchin, Enoch Kever PLLC, focuses her practice on civil litigation and appellate law. Her experience includes managing a caseload in the civil appellate division of a large national law firm in a variety of practice areas, including civil defense, products liability and professional liability. Prior to entering private practice, Sara was a briefing attorney for Justice Phil Johnson of the Texas Supreme Court. She was named a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2018-2021, a Best Lawyers Ones to Watch in 2021-present, and a 2023 Texas Super Lawyer in Appellate Law.

Ethical Considerations When Starting New Chapters

Click here to view the PowerPoint
Ikena Okoro will discuss the ethical duties and conflicts attorneys must be aware of when changing jobs. This presentation will cover lateral moves between firms and also transitions to and from government positions or other non-firm roles.

Ikenna Okoro, Balch & Bingham PLLC, is an attorney and public policy and government relations professional with a regulatory practice focusing on electricity and natural gas issues and a lobby practice representing corporate, non-profit and trade association clients. He joined Balch after serving as Assistant Parliamentarian for the Texas House of Representatives for over three years.

Friday, March 1, Noon CST
1 hour MCLE Credit

Click here to view the recording

Join us for a webinar as panelists Kristina Rollins, Katherine Gross, and John Padalino present Legal, including Regulatory, Considerations for Virtual Power Plants and Other Aggregations of Demand Response or Distributed Energy Resources. This session will offer 1 hour MCLE credit. Click the link above to view the recording and obtain MCLE credit until 2/28/2025. The password is “member.puls”.

Course Description: Electric customers’ interest in demand response or Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), like residential solar panels, has substantially increased in recent years. The electric industry is investigating how to more beneficially deploy such customer participation. Panelists will discuss current programs that are in place or being developed that aggregate DERs or customer demand response in Texas and what regulations or other Texas laws currently apply to such programs.

Three different paradigms will be addressed – competitive offerings by a Retail Electric Provider, programs of an electric cooperative, and the ERCOT Aggregated DER pilot overseen by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Panelists will share what they’ve learned in developing these programs and whether they believe additional policies or regulations might be warranted.

Panelists: Kristina Rollins, NRG Energy, Inc.

Kristina is the Assistant General Counsel, Regulatory Affairs for NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG). She advises the NRG family of retail electric providers (REPs) in Texas regarding legal and regulatory compliance and actively engages in advocacy on their behalf. Over the course of her career, Kristina has represented REPs, power generation companies, transmission and distribution utilities, vertically integrated utilities, and served as the team lead of the Commission Advising & Docket Management Division of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. This depth and breadth of experience has enabled her to work collaboratively with external stakeholder groups and regulatory bodies in law, rule, and policy development.

Kristina holds a B.A. in History and Government from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. She is board certified in Administrative Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and served as the Chair of the Public Utility Law Section of the State Bar of Texas from 2015-2016.

Katherine Gross, Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Inc.

Katherine, Senior Corporate Counsel, ERCOT, has been with ERCOT for approximately two years, having previously served for about three years as the Enforcement Manager at the Texas RE. Prior to TRE, Katherine served in several attorney roles at the PUCT for over 10 years after earning her juris doctorate from Ohio State University.

John Padalino, Bandera Electric Cooperative

John is a public policy and utilities expert. John joined Bandera Electric Cooperative in 2019 as General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer. In his role, John represents the cooperative in all legal, legislative, and regulatory matters, including overseeing the corporate services division. He has significant experience in developing and managing renewable energy, distributed energy, energy efficiency, and energy analytics projects. In 2022, Mr. Padalino was appointed to the Aggregated Distributed Energy Resources ERCOT Pilot Project Task Force by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

John spent over six years working for the United States Department of Agriculture and served as the Administrator of USDA’s Rural Utilities Service from 2012 to 2014. Mr. Padalino earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Rutgers School of Law.

2023 Public Utility Law Section Annual Conference

Friday, September 22

AT&T Conference Center, Austin

6.75 hours MCLE / 1 hour Ethics

Register | View Brochure

Register online to attend in-person or live-stream digitally, all for the same great price! Make plans to attend this full day program, including breakfast and lunch. Either in-person or digitally live-streamed, you will receive 6.75 hours of MCLE credit, including 1 hour of ethics credit, for only $190 for section members.

Top notch CLE in the heart of Austin! Join us at the AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus to hear from seasoned practitioners and experts as they address the hot topics and updates in public utility law. These are just a few of the presentations you won’t want to miss – check out the course brochure for the full agenda:

• Case law update
• Legislative update
• Electric utility resiliency
• Water law update
• Telecommunications update
• Recent Texas Railroad Commission activities
• One hour of ethics, including social media and AI

2021 PULS Annual Conference
Wednesday, November 10
8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. CDT
AT&T Executive Conference Center, Austin

Live and via Webcast

6.5 hours of MCLE credit, including 1 hour ethics

Register

Program Brochure

The Section’s Council is pleased to announce program details and registration information for its 2021 Public Utility Law Conference, which is scheduled for Wednesday, November 10 at the AT&T Executive Conference Center in Austin.

Live and virtual options are available, and the conference has been approved for 6.5 hours of MCLE credit, including one hour of ethics credit.

Live Session Registration

PULS member: $150
Non-section member: $175
Government attorneys: $100

Virtual Session Registration

PULS member: $125
Non-section member: $150
Government attorneys: $100

Public Utility Law Section
Annual Meeting and CLE

Friday, August 10
MCLE Accreditation Pending

AT&T Conference Center
1900 University Avenue
Austin, Texas
View Agenda
Register Online

We are pleased to announce that the Public Utility Law Section’s Annual Conference will be held on Friday, August 10 at the AT&T Conference Center in Austin.

This year’s annual conference will include a variety of keynote speakers and discussion topics, including:

• PUCT Chairman DeAnn T. Walker; PUCT Commissioner Arthur D’ Andrea; Chief Clerk & Deputy Land Commissioner Mark Havens; ERCOT General Counsel Chad V. Seely
• A Case Law Update on Recent Court Decisions Impacting the Utility Industry
• Latest Hot Topics at the Texas Railroad Commission
• Alternative Technologies in the Electric Utility Industry
• Latest Hot Topics in the Water Utility Industry
• Competitive Transmission Development in Non-ERCOT areas in Texas
• Latest Developments in Telecommunications and Cable
• An Ethics Presentation regarding Complying with Ethics Laws at the Texas Legislature and Executive Branch

John Paul Urban and Wei Wang 

June 6
5:30 p.m.
El Mercado
1702 Lavaca Street, Austin, Texas 78701
**Cash bar and food

PULS is hosting a mixer for the new Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) Executive Directors, JP Urban and Wei Wang. The mixer will be a great opportunity for our section members to meet and learn more about the Executive Directors’ backgrounds and thoughts about the future of the PUCT and RRC. Attendance is for section members only. Space is limited so please RSVP here by May 24.