Professional Experience
Mr. Fagan practices in the area of natural gas and electric infrastructure project development, and counsels clients on the many regulatory, enforcement and commercial issues involved with such projects. He advises natural gas companies and public utilities on regulatory, litigation and legislative matters, and on project development, market enforcement, rate-making, corporate compliance, asset acquisitions and other industry-specific issues. Mr. Fagan also counsels clients on FERC compliance program design and implementation, and provides on-site regulatory training.
Mr. Fagan's clients have included natural gas storage companies, local distribution companies, liquefied natural gas project developers, interstate pipelines, marketers and producers. He has also represented electric utilities, renewable power developers and qualifying facilities, and has counseled clients on the commercialization of emerging energy technologies, including those involving demand response and smart grid applications.
Mr. Fagan has represented clients affected by the regulation, deregulation and restructuring of the natural gas and electric power industries for almost two decades. He has represented clients in federal, appellate and district court litigation, and before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in a broad range of matters including rate, certificate, enforcement, complaint and rulemaking proceedings. Mr. Fagan was a clerk in the FERC's Solicitor's Office during law school. He frequently speaks and writes about pertinent industry issues.
Representative Matters
· Lead outside counsel to several FERC-regulated natural gas companies on certificate, audit, enforcement, rate and tariff matters.
· Lead outside counsel to interstate natural gas pipeline in establishing procedures for compliance with FERC Standards of Conduct.
· Lead outside counsel to local distribution company in establishing FERC natural gas compliance program.
· Co-counsel in FERC enforcement proceeding (and related D.C. Circuit appeal) targeting an individual trader for alleged violations of market behavior rules.
· Represented LNG company in conjunction with the regulatory and commercial issues associated with the commissioning and placing into service of an LNG import terminal and its associated interstate natural gas pipeline.
· Lead outside counsel for natural gas storage company seeking to develop FERC-jurisdictional 30 Bcf natural gas storage facility in Liberty County, Texas.
· Lead outside FERC counsel on numerous acquisitions and financings of natural gas assets.
· Lead outside counsel on behalf of shippers in numerous FERC rate and tariff proceedings.
· Represented the Chief Executive Officer of a hedge fund in natural gas enforcement proceedings at FERC.
· Lead outside FERC counsel for natural gas marketing company in the acquisition of 145 million cubic feet per day of interstate pipeline transportation capacity on the Alliance Pipeline System from a shipper that was permanently divesting its capacity holdings.
· Lead outside counsel in successful effort to obtain transmission rate incentives for the $6 billion Energy Gateway Transmission Project on behalf of one of the nation's largest electric utilities.
· Represented merchant generation developers on regulatory matters in conjunction with asset acquisitions and divestitures.
· Represented one of the nation's largest electric utilities in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in defending a suit brought by the Klamath Indian tribe seeking over $1 billion in compensatory and punitive damages for alleged interference with fishing rights caused by the construction and operation of government-authorized dams on the Klamath River.
· Represented one of the nation's largest electric utilities at FERC in litigation involving the distribution of refunds and the development of remedies related to problems in the California wholesale electric markets in 2000/2001.
· Represented one of the nation's largest electric utilities at FERC and in the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals in various matters involving the failure of the California wholesale electric markets.
News, Publications & Presentations
· Speaker, "FERC Natural Gas 101," EUCI, March 5, 2012
· Featured, "Day Pitney Snags Energy Law Specialist From Pillsbury," Law360, January 5, 2012
· Speaker, Oil & Gas Investment Symposium, Independent Petroleum Association of America, New York, NY, April 2011
· Speaker, "The Future of Natural Gas," Argyle Executive Forum's 2010 Leadership in Oil & Gas, Houston, Texas, May 2010
· Speaker, "Transmission and Integration Issue for Wind Power Plants," WINDPOWER 2009, Chicago, Illinois, May 2009
· Presenter, "Hurdles and Risks Associated with Storage Development," Gas Storage Project Development Tutorial, Houston, Texas, April 2009
· Presenter, "Legal Issues with Transmission," AWEA Wind & Transmission Workshop, Overland Park, Kansas, March 2009
· Speaker, "Electric Infrastructure Development - Challenges and Opportunities," Energy Bar Association Western Chapter Meeting, February 2009
· Presenter, "Examples of Gas Storage Development," Gas Storage Project Development Tutorial, Houston, Texas, May 2008
· Speaker, "Regulatory Perspectives: What's Ahead for IGCC," Gasification: The Path Forward Conference, Denver, Colorado, March 2008
· Speaker, "Regulators' Perspectives on Encouraging Energy Efficiency and Demand Management," Energy Efficiency Summit 2008, San Francisco, California, February 2008
· Speaker, "Issues in Natural Gas Storage Development," Energy Bar Association Mid-Year Meeting, Washington DC, November 2006
· Speaker, "Cleantech Venturing: The Impact of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 on Cleantech Investors," Cleantech Venture Forum VIII, Washington DC, October 2005
· Speaker, "Judicial Review of Agency Decision Making," Energy Bar Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC, May 2003
· "Natural Gas Pipelines and the Bush Energy Plan: New Ideas or Just Politics?" NR & E, April 1, 2002
· "From Regulation to Deregulation: The Diminishing Role of the Small Consumer in the Natural Gas Industry," 29 Tulsa Law Journal 707, Spring & Summer 1994
Professional Affiliations
· Energy Bar Association, Natural Gas Regulation and Compliance and Enforcement committees
· American Bar Association, Section on Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law
Awards and Achievements
· Chosen for inclusion in the Chambers USA Legal Directory as a leading energy lawyer, 2010-2011
· Program Committee Co-Chair, 2007-2008, Energy Bar Association