Holland & Hart LLP

Holland & Hart continues to build on our strong reputation as a preeminent energy, telecommunications, and utilities firm. Our attorneys deliver targeted and practical advice on virtually all aspects of public utility regulation to clients based in or with interests in the western United States.

Holland & Hart's experience includes electric, natural gas, and telecommunications regulatory law. We regularly represent our clients in the panoply of commission-related proceedings, such as adjudicatory, rulemaking, show cause or complaint proceedings, as well as in arbitrations, negotiations, and other settings. We have also assisted our clients in appeals and other court proceedings and in developing strategies involving legislative activities and local government franchises, elections, and negotiations.

Holland & Hart attorneys can take a client contemplating an electric generation or transmission project from feasibility, planning, financing, and construction through licensing, operation, maintenance, and transfer of ownership. Our combined capabilities optimize advice to clients on aspects of electric generation and electric transmission including:

• Contracts
• Finance
• Taxation and Valuation
• Regulatory
• Land Acquisition and Eminent Domain
• Legislation

Electric Generation
As governments and companies strive to meet growing demand for electricity, integrated and seamless legal support is critical. The private sector's increased involvement in facilities development and ownership, coupled with the public sector's continuing need for those facilities, necessitates cost-effective, creative, and timely advice in all phases of electric generation projects.

Our attorneys have represented clients in developing, financing and licensing gas-fired, coal-fired, waste-to-energy, hydropower, geothermal, and wind power projects. Our capabilities also include the expansion of existing facilities and systems and the due diligence, documentation, and negotiation of project finance, development, permitting, acquisition, and divestiture.

International Reach
We have represented electric generation developers and projects throughout the United States and in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Columbia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand and Venezuela.

Electric Transmission
Few projects compare in scope, complexity, and challenge to the construction of a major electric transmission facility. Holland & Hart has been a leader in electric transmission issues for years. Our lawyers are participating in region-wide transmission initiatives such as the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, the Trans-West Express study, the Frontier Line project, and associated regulatory proceedings.

We have experience handling the public aspects of a project, including government relations and regulatory compliance. Further, we also have a leading group of public lands and environmental lawyers with particular expertise in siting of linear facilities; environmental compliance; NEPA and related environmental reviews; endangered species issues; and rights-of-way across private, federal, state, and tribal lands.

Electric Regulatory
Regional interconnectivity, rapidly changing market conditions, local public policy issues, and environmental pressures often make it difficult to navigate between traditional regulatory systems and modern electric markets. In this unpredictable environment, having an effective advocate in your corner is key. Holland & Hart attorneys represent large industrial electric consumers, metropolitan school districts, large universities, nationally recognized consumer organizations, transmission line developers, and some of the world's largest independent power producers. They serve as directors and provide legal assistance to low-income energy assistance groups. Building alliances and coalitions among varied interest groups has enabled Holland & Hart to continue its outstanding track record before public utility commissions and legislative bodies with respect to:

• Rate cases and tariffs
• Resource planning and transmission
• Qualifying facilities
• Utility mergers and acquisitions
• Line extensions
• Legislation
• Restructuring and changing markets

Natural Gas Regulatory
Holland & Hart is actively engaged throughout the western United States in virtually all issues affecting the natural gas industry. We play a leading role in the administrative, legislative, and regulatory proceedings that are reshaping the industry:

• Rate cases and tariffs
• Certification and franchises
• Resource planning
• Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures
• Pipes (gathering, pipelines, processing, storage)
• Legislation

Telecommunications Regulatory
The telecommunications industry helps drive the fast pace of technological innovation in the United States. But innovation often collides with regulatory structures and competitive markets. These dynamic forces make it essential that your company has experienced, energetic, and accomplished attorneys ensuring your business goals are met.

Holland & Hart attorneys represent a wide variety of telecommunications clients including competitive local exchange carriers, long-distance providers, cable companies, Internet service providers, rural local exchange carriers, and wireless companies:

• Competitive entry and maintenance
• Interconnection agreements
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Regulatory intervention
• Intercarrier compensation
• Rate cases and tariffs
• Emerging competition
• Regulatory compliance

Holland & Hart's Statement of Commitment to Diversity
We are proud of our tradition of fostering and maintaining a work environment in which the diversity of each individual is valued and celebrated. We believe that the contributions of each individual are essential to our continued growth and to our ultimate goal of providing excellent quality legal services to our clients, with greater creativity and innovation. We are committed to taking full advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of our people and to promoting a greater diversity whenever and wherever possible.

Diversity Pledge
Holland & Hart is committed to promoting diversity by:

• Making every possible effort to recruit, hire, retain, and promote diverse persons at all levels of employment.
• Promoting greater sensitivity to the value of racial, ethnic and other forms of diversity, through diversity and sensitivity coaching or training for law firm members.
• Inviting to partnership diverse attorneys who meet the requisite criteria.

Diversity Initiatives
The following are additional examples of our commitment and efforts toward supporting and achieving diversity:

• We make a conscious effort to ensure that women and diverse attorneys are included as voting members of our committees of importance within the firm.
• We work closely with law school deans and placement directors in an effort to identify women and diverse law students who are interested in working at Holland & Hart.
• Holland & Hart offers medical and other benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees on the same terms as it does to spouses of employees.
• We created an Indian Law Practice Group and actively recruited Native American law students and lateral hires.
• Each year we contribute to such scholarship funds as the Colorado Native American Indian Scholarship Fund, the Sam Cary Scholarship Endowment Fund, the Colorado Asian American Bar Scholarship Fund, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Scholarship Fund, and the Colorado Women's Bar Association Scholarship Fund.
• In partnership with the University of Idaho School of Law, we sponsor a "Law by Day, Jazz by Night" each year for undergraduate minority students who have an interest in law.
• We took a leadership role in organizing and supporting the Colorado Pledge Group's Minority First Year Law Student Summer Clerk Program. Through this program, law firms agreed to add at least one diverse first year law student to their summer clerk program.
• We were involved in the creation of the Cross-Professional Business Networking Group, where diverse attorneys in our community can meet and network with non-attorney professionals of color. We view this as a way to help diverse attorneys increase their business development possibilities.

For more information regarding Holland & Hart's commitment to diversity, please contact Peter Houtsma at (303) 295-8259.