Renewable and Traditional Energy
Day Carter & Murphy LLP represents clients before the California Public Utilities Commission on legal matters including rates for utility services, natural gas storage and delivery, distributed energy resources, renewable resources, biogas, access limitations, publicly owned utilities, electric sales, service territories, tariffs and market access, utility procurement, cost recovery and non-bypassable charges, rulemaking proceedings, utility asset sales, utility financing, and water utility concerns. We also negotiate with the investor-owned utilities regarding interconnection issues and tariff implementation.
Attorneys in our Renewable & Traditional Energy practice group help clients strategically navigate energy projects through all types of legal issues and at every stage of the process, from development to interconnection and transmission matters. We have unparalleled experience in maneuvering through complex regulatory laws and working with the agencies that enforce them. Attorneys at DCM have played instrumental roles in many cutting-edge and complex transactions, and are highly regarded in the field of energy law. DCM is relied upon by private and public entities across a broad range of energy industry sectors, both for the strength of our practice as well as the comprehensive nature of our services.
Public Power
DCM represents a number of municipal utilities in contracting with retail customers, rate setting, negotiating and drafting of power sales agreements, renewable procurement, interconnection and transmission agreements, formation and boundary change matters, and right-of-way acquisition for transmission and distribution lines through negotiation or condemnation. Additionally, we represent municipal utility clients in various proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission.
Solar
Attorneys in the Renewable & Traditional Energy practice group counsel solar energy producers and developers with due diligence and in the negotiation and drafting of solar land leases, power purchase agreements, and right-of-way acquisitions. DCM attorneys also assist clients with the acquisition of severed mineral rights, the surrender of surface access by mineral rights owners, and surface use accommodation agreements with severed mineral rights owners and oil and gas lessees so as to permit surface use for solar development.
Wind Energy
DCM’s wind energy practice focuses on due diligence, the negotiation and drafting of wind farm easements or leases and in the negotiation of power purchase agreements with in- and out-of-state wind projects.
Biomass
Attorneys at DCM have represented purchasers in power purchase agreements with biomass projects and have worked on biomass project permitting.
Biogas
DCM represents agricultural interests before the California Public Utilities Commission in connection with various biogas procurement and incentive matters.
Independent Gas Storage
DCM represents independent storage providers before the California Public Utilities Commission and the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. Our energy attorneys assist in obtaining certificates of public convenience and necessity, including California Environmental Quality Act compliance, preparing tariffs for storage services, acquiring property rights through negotiation or condemnation, and ongoing compliance matters. Our attorneys were actively involved in the development of new regulations for wells at storage facilities and continue to provide advice regarding ongoing compliance matters. DCM has represented the developers of four of the last five independent gas storage projects completed, or under construction, in California, as well as others currently in development.
Geothermal
DCM represents geothermal energy producers in the negotiation and drafting of geothermal leases (state, federal, and private), power purchase agreements, and the purchase and sale of geothermal energy plants and producing properties.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
Represented a large industrial customer group in all aspects of ratemaking before the California Public Utilities Commission.
Represented developer of rice straw-to-ethanol plant before the California Energy Commission during the siting, permitting, and related environmental review process.
Assisted in drafting variance request from the California Air Resources Board’s diesel fuel specification requirements.
Represent a variety of competitive service provider interests in California Public Utilities Commission ratemaking and regulatory proceedings, including matters relating to utility procurement, RPS compliance, and service areas.
Represent a coalition of participants in the distributed generation/distributed energy resources industry in regulatory proceedings before the California Public Utilities Commission relating to rates, interconnection procedures, and CHP policy.
Represent a coalition of agricultural energy consumers before the California Public Utilities Commission regarding agricultural rate and interconnection issues.