The energy industry is being impacted by rapid and disruptive changes faced in today’s environment. We are witnessing a wholesale shift away from fossil fuel generation to renewables, very low natural gas prices, changing environmental regulations, the growth of microgrids and distributed generation, and heightened interest in regional transmission and reliability. Combined, these changes are influencing state and federal energy policy and prompting regulatory action. This activity can create opportunities for entities that proactively plan.
At Calfee, we provide our clients with strategic support based on decades of experience, a track record of success at the state and federal levels, public policy advocacy, and deep transactional experience. Our utilities and energy lawyers include a former utility regulator and general counsel, a former Director of the Ohio EPA, and several other attorneys with decades of experience – both in-house and as outside counsel – handling the full range of issues confronting energy companies, utilities, and large consumers of energy.
Our clients have included a broad range of investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, regional transmission organizations, telecommunications entities, pipeline companies, coal companies, investors, lenders, renewable resource developers, and utility customers.
State Regulatory Matters. Our attorneys have successfully represented clients before state utility commissions throughout the Midwest, including the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, the Illinois Commerce Commission, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission, the Missouri Public Service Commission, and the Iowa Utilities Board. Our clients benefit from our experience counseling clients through complex regulatory issues, including rate cases, certifications for public convenience and necessity, rulemakings, and M&A and utility asset transfers.
Federal Regulatory Matters. Our attorneys have extensive experience representing clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in rulemaking, tariff and rate schedule filings, complaint proceedings, and enforcement actions. Our attorneys regularly assist clients in the development and implementation of strategies around wholesale electricity market design, new market entry, large-scale integrations, and complex, multi-jurisdictional matters involving both federal and state regulation. This experience also includes representation of clients in appeals of agency actions before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Renewables and Energy Transactions. We enable our business partners to capitalize on a variety of energy industry opportunities, including power purchase agreements, brokerage agreements, the creation of microgrids, electric power, and natural gas supply purchases, interconnection agreements, asset transfers, market entrance and integration analysis, and environmental permitting. These efforts have included the negotiation of contracts for the installation of onsite solar power production, including related lease agreements, power purchase agreements for the off-take of the power produced by onsite solar systems, as well as onsite microgrid projects.
In addition, we advise our clients on the implementation of on-bill and off-bill customer-facing service and product offerings. We also assist with navigating permitting, insurance, and other compliance considerations, and negotiating financing and underwriting arrangements, supplier agreements, and software and licensing contracts—all while helping clients control and mitigate their risk while diversifying offerings to ratepayers and customers.
Energy and Environment. Calfee provides energy clients with a full range of environmental counseling from the initial permitting stage through operational issues. Clients have included underground coal production, pipeline permitting and construction, natural gas and coal-fired electric generating units, and alternative fuel providers. These services include Clean Water Act NPDES and Section 401 and 404 permitting, Clean Air Act permitting, Power Siting Board permitting, compliance counseling, and defense of enforcement actions against these providers once the infrastructure has been completed.
Public Utility, Energy, and Telecommunications Litigation. Because of Calfee’s extensive knowledge of the utility business, our litigators bring a unique problem-solving perspective to litigation involving utilities and energy companies. We routinely represent our clients in litigated matters before state and federal regulatory agencies. Moreover, our lawyers are experienced state and federal trial and appellate litigators, handling a wide range of disputes that include personal injury and other tort claims, tax, real estate, environmental and securities claims related to the energy industry. We routinely represent entities seeking to challenge or support rules or orders issued by agencies, including state utility commissions, FERC, EPA, and others.
Calfee has been recognized by Chambers USA as a Leading Law Firm in Energy & Natural Resources in Band 1 in both Indiana and Ohio (2023-2024).
Clients interviewed by Chambers USA researchers stated, "Calfee always has someone available to provide solutions for complex and nuanced regulatory cases. Calfee has a good grasp of the industry and emergent issues."
The following Energy and Utilities attorneys are ranked by Chambers USA 2024:
Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2025 "Best Law Firms" rankings in Energy Law (National Tier 3, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 2 Columbus, Regional Tier 2 Indianapolis) and Energy Regulatory Law (Regional Tier 1 Cleveland).
Calfee provides a broad range of legal services to the energy industry that includes regulatory, government relations, construction, transactional, environmental, intellectual property, real estate finance, and litigation counseling and representation.
Calfee represents public utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, and other interested parties before regulatory agencies and in state and federal courts. We have represented electric utilities, municipal utilities, natural gas distribution companies, intrastate natural gas pipelines, local telephone and cellular telecommunications carriers, brokers, and industrial customers.
Calfee has experience with all aspects of the environmental compliance requirements associated with the energy industry. From the permitting requirements associated with obtaining the raw materials for energy production to the compliance requirements associated with distribution, Calfee can provide a full range of environmental compliance counseling for the energy industry.
Calfee’s Corporate and Finance attorneys have a broad spectrum of transactional experience with energy companies, including electric power, oil and gas producers, coal companies (both surface mining and deep hole), and ash reclamation. Members of the group have assisted energy industry clients with legal matters that include acquisitions, financings, leases, purchase agreements, tax planning, due diligence, and compliance.
Calfee’s Government Relations and Legislation practice group provides a unique perspective into the highly regulated energy arena. Whether our clients require legislative lobbying, regulatory and technical experience, or execution of administrative matters, our experienced attorneys offer years of experience and knowledge-based relationships in the energy industry developed from years of legal representation and lobbying on energy issues.
Calfee clients benefit from our strengths when analyzing governmental issues, developing and executing successful strategies, and adding unique insight ranging from the General Assembly to the PUCO. We work together to resolve our clients’ issues involving the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as commissions, authorities, and other special-purpose entities.
Calfee has successfully represented energy industry clients in a myriad of litigation matters involving complex contract and commercial disputes, government investigations, employment, and labor matters, real estate and environmental disputes, class action litigation, and ERISA claims. Calfee also has extensive experience representing energy industry clients in tort, accident, and product liability claims including asbestos and toxic tort defense. Calfee works closely with clients to aggressively prevent, resolve and defend litigation matters at all phases of a dispute to reach the best business resolution for our clients.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will, on petition, accord "special" status to all patent applications for inventions that materially contribute to:
Calfee’s patent attorneys are skilled in the preparation and prosecution of patent applications for energy and energy-related inventions. The Group includes patent attorneys with degrees in physics, electrical engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering, and mechanical engineering. In addition to their technical education backgrounds, many of our patent attorneys have spent time working in their technical fields as engineers and scientists prior to becoming patent attorneys.
Calfee’s real estate attorneys represent developers, investors and syndicators, institutional lenders, individuals, and corporate clients in connection with matters related to the acquisition, disposition, construction, development, leasing, and financing of property assets, including the acquisition of mineral interests by fee or lease.
In addition to conventional transactions, our practice encompasses the formation of investment syndications, joint ventures, and tax-advantaged investment arrangements, the structuring of synthetic leases and tax-deferred exchanges, and the representation of clients in complex multisite and multistate transactions.
Calfee takes a multidisciplinary approach to energy construction projects tailoring its advice to the specific needs of the client. Calfee has been involved with advising and drafting contract documents, assisting in contract administration, and representing clients in contract disputes in all phases of energy-related construction.
Calfee has assisted clients with new construction, scheduled outages, transmission issues, alternate energy projects, including wind and gasification, and power generation systems and storage. Calfee attorneys are sensitive to assessing risk in all phases of a project and are additionally sensitive to cost issues. This broad range of experience on varied types of energy projects informs our decisions and protects our clients’ interests throughout the life of a project.
"Calfee, Halter & Griswold is my go-to law firm, in an emergency as well as for longer-term strategic planning. Their team always gets the job done quickly and efficiently and helps develop creative and effective strategies."
Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News - Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” report
