Kristina Kern Wheeler

Prior to joining the firm, Kristina served as vice president and staff counsel for Indiana Municipal Power Agency, a nonprofit public power agency that serves 60 municipalities with significant generation, transmission and distribution assets across the Midwest. Her experience also includes eight years as general counsel for the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC), leading the legal department for the state utility regulatory agency. At the IURC, she focused on public utilities, municipal and administrative laws, including Utility Regulatory Commission jurisdiction and procedures. Kristina also drafted numerous state laws (Indiana Code Title 8) and promulgated administrative rules (170 IAC) that remain in effect. She has experience helping determine women-owned and minority-owned business goals for state and local governments, as well as reviewing women-owned or minority-owned businesses certification applications for compliance.

Kristina’s other career highlights include:

•Prevailing in a proceeding that approved a new rate structure for large industrial customers, allowing access to the wholesale market for power, which identified up to 60 million per year in savings for large industrial customers.
•Intervening in a regulatory proceeding that would have shifted 45 million in costs to retail customers related to their wholesale power operations. The shift in cost was eliminated, which reduced the power cost to retail customers.
•Negotiating a 4 billion turn-key power plant construction contract for the Prairie State Energy Campus in Illinois developed by Peabody Coal and owned by municipal power associations in seven states.
•Providing bond opinions for eight series of bond issuances totaling 981 million.
•Crafting numerous multi-million dollar ISDA Master Agreements for the global swaps and derivatives market, which significantly reduced client’s credit and legal risk.
•Extensive experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Served as vice chair of the regulatory committee that implemented inaugural statewide energy efficiency programs for Indiana homes, businesses and schools.

Kristina has practiced before state and federal courts and numerous regulatory bodies, including the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission. She is licensed to practice in the state of Indiana, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Appearances / Publications

Speaker/Presenter:

•Telecom Division Update (Indiana State Bar Association Fall Utility Law Conference, 2020)
•Energy Law In Indiana Update (ICLEF CLE, 2018)
•Strategies for Financing Energy Efficiency in Commercial Real Estate (Indiana Housing & Community Economic Development Statewide Conference, 2013)
•Business and Economic Development Opportunities to Reduce Energy Costs & Green Your Building (Indiana Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers Seminar, 2013)
•Wind Energy - An Indiana Utility’s Perspective (ICLEF CLE, “The Winds of Change: Wind Leases in Indiana,” 2010)
•IURC Legal Update (Indiana State Bar Association Utility Law Section Seminar, 2006)
•Consumer Affairs Division Chair Report (Indiana State Bar Association Utility Law Section Seminar, 2006)
•New Laws Applicable to Regional Sewer Districts (Indiana Association of Regional Sewer Districts, Annual Meeting, 2005)
•Sewer and Water Utility Panel (Indiana State Bar Association Utility Law Section Seminar, 2005)
•New IURC Telecom Service Quality and Customer Rights Rules (Indiana State Bar Association Utility Law Section Seminar, 2003)
•IURC Ex Parte Rules (Indiana State Bar Association Utility Law Section Seminar, 2002)
•New IURC Practice and Procedure Rules (Indiana State Bar Association Utility Law Section Seminar, 2000)

Author:
Joyce M. Martin and Kristina E. Kern, “The Seesaw of Environmental Power from EPA to the States: National Environmental Performance Partnerships.” Villanova Environmental Law Journal, Vol. IX, Issue 1 (1998).