Overview
John represents energy suppliers, utilities, and other electric power and natural gas market participants in complex regulatory and litigation matters. With more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry, John represents public utility energy suppliers and transmission owners, regional transmission organizations, large industrial concerns, and other electric power and natural gas market participants in a wide variety of regulatory litigation, certification, and enforcement matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and federal courts. Prior to joining Hunton Andrews Kurth, John served as Director of Legal Policy at FERC, where he was responsible for advising three Chairmen and several Commissioners on the implementation of energy policy through adjudication, rulemaking, and judicial review. His responsibilities included drafting orders and facilitating negotiations among commissioners, managing external litigation and coordinating positions with other federal agencies, and drafting briefs and arguing cases in matters before the Supreme Court, appellate courts, district courts and bankruptcy courts. Following his return to private practice, John’s work continues to emphasize energy and capacity market design, transmission incentives and cost allocation, pipeline certification and abandonment, hydroelectric licensing, Mobile-Sierra issues, waivers, civil enforcement matters before FERC and reviewing courts. In addition to his work at the firm, John is an Adjunct Professor of Energy Law and Appellate Advocacy at The George Washington University Law School.
Prior to joining FERC, John served in private practice focusing on energy litigation, following his clerkship with D.C. Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph.
Between college and law school, John served as a legislative aide in the Alaska state senate while teaching at the University of Alaska and training for the U.S. Army. Over the course of his 20-year career as an Infantry and Special Forces Officer in the Army, John achieved the rank of Major and was deployed four times, including during Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Experience
- Represents clients in a wide variety of regulatory matters, including litigation and rulemaking proceedings before FERC, with an emphasis on appellate litigation in the federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court. See, e.g., FERC v. Elec. Power Supply Ass’n, 136 S.Ct. 760 (2016) (Demand Response); NRG Power Mktg., LLC v. Me. Pub. Utils. Comm’n, 558 U.S. 165 (2010) (Mobile-Sierra protection for settlements); In re FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., 945 F.3d 431 (6th Cir. 2019) (bankruptcy jurisdiction); Pac. Gas & Elec. Co. v. FERC, 829 Fed. Appx. 751 (9th Cir. 2020) (bankruptcy jurisdiction); NextEra Energy Res., LLC v. FERC, 898 F.3d 14 (D.C. Cir. 2018) (renewable resource exemptions); Northwestern Corp. v. FERC, 884 F.3d 1176 (D.C. Cir. 2018) (generator cost recovery); PJM Power Providers Group v. FERC, 880 F.3d 559 (D.C. Cir. 2018) (cost of new entry); NRG Power Mktg., LLC v. FERC, 862 F.3d 108 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (FERC jurisdiction to modify rates or settlements); Seminole Elec. Coop., Inc. v. FERC, 861 F.3d 230 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (energy imbalance charges); MISO Transmission Owners v. FERC, 860 F.3d 837 (6th Cir. 2017) (cost allocation for utilities exiting an RTO); NextEra Desert Center Blythe, LLC v. FERC, 852 F.3d 1118 (D.C. Cir. 2017) (congestion cost credits); N.J. Bd. of Pub. Util. Control v. FERC, 744 F.3d 74 (3d Cir. 2014) (capacity market rules and state mandates); New England Power Generators Ass'n, Inc. v. FERC, 757 F.3d 283 (D.C. Cir. 2014) (capacity market rules and state mandates); Metropolitan Edison Co. v. Pa. Pub. Util. Comm’n, 767 F.3d 335 (3d Cir. 2014) (issue preclusion and preemption of transmission line loss costs); S.C. Pub. Serv. Auth. v. FERC, 762 F.3d 41 (D.C. Cir. 2014) (transmission planning and rights of first refusal under FERC Order No. 1000); Ill. Commerce Comm’n v. FERC, 721 F.3d 764 (7th Cir. 2013) (allocation of transmission costs among RTO members).
- Areas of special emphasis in private practice and while serving at FERC include the following:
- Energy and Capacity Market Design, including representation of vertically integrated and independent power generation companies in administrative and appellate litigation concerning buyer-side mitigation and minimum offer price rules, state subsidies for preferred generation and related preemption claims, demand response and distributed energy resources, and cost of new entry (CONE).
- Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation, including representation of electric utilities in matters regarding rights of first refusal to construct facilities, cost allocation disputes between traditional cost-based transmitting utilities or merchant transmission companies, cost allocations associated with initial integration or transfer of membership between Regional Transmission Organizations, and cost recovery for cancelled projects.
- FERC Enforcement, including representation of natural gas pipelines and electric utilities investigated for alleged market manipulation during market crisis events, financial traders alleged to have violated market rules, power generators alleged to have engaged in physical or financial withholding, and natural gas companies alleged to have committed “flipping” violations.
- Preemption and related jurisdictional disputes with states regarding natural pipeline certification subsidization, waiver of untimely state certification proceedings, and disallowance of wholesale costs in retail rates.
- Bankruptcy disputes in Texas, California, Ohio, Delaware and Michigan involving the rejection of FERC-jurisdictional power contracts, gas contracts, or hydroelectric licenses.
Accolades
Honors & Recognitions
- Recognized as a Best Lawyer for Energy Regulatory Law, The Best Lawyers in America, 2024
- Recommended for Energy Regulation: Electric Power (2022-2023), Energy Litigation: Oil and Gas (2023), Energy Regulation: Oil and Gas (2023), Energy Transactions: Electric Power and Project Finance (2022), Legal 500 United States
- Chairman’s Medal, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- Legal Champion, National Law Journal and Legal Times award for exceptional pro bono service
Affiliations
Professional
- Member, Energy Bar Association
- Member, Federalist Society
- Member, John Carroll Society
Insights
Legal Updates
Events & Speaking Engagements
Publications
News
Education
JD and LLM, International Trade and Comparative Law, Duke University School of Law, summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, 1999
MA and BA, Soviet and East European Studies, Yale University, summa cum laude, 1991
Admissions
District of Columbia
Courts
Supreme Court of the United States
US Court of Appeals, First Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Government Services
Director of Legal Policy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, April 1, 2018–January 2021
Clerkships
- US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit