Regulation of today's dynamic natural gas industry bears little resemblance to the bureaucratic regimes of a few decades ago. Gone are wellhead price controls and pipelines with limited services at cost-based rates available only to local distribution companies. Both natural gas and pipeline capacity are now commodities bought and sold in competitive national and regional markets; and pipelines offer a diverse menu of transportation services, often at negotiated rates, to an array of market participants. Recently, natural gas regulation has begun to mimic the commodities and securities industries, relying on compliance with an assortment of information disclosure obligations, backed by vigorous oversight and enforcement actions aimed at ensuring market “transparency” and preventing market manipulation.
For over thirty years, Sutherland’s gas regulatory practice has championed greater reliance on competitive market forces into the natural gas industry, combined with appropriate regulatory oversight to protect consumers and markets from the distorting influence of market power. From the open access transportation policies of Order No. 436, to the service comparability requirements of Order No. 636, through the policy refinements of Order No. 637, our attorneys have helped shape the natural gas industry’s prevailing regulatory framework of “unbundled” sales and transportation services. At the state level, our lawyers have been instrumental in restructuring retail markets and formulating energy policies from California to Georgia to New Jersey. Sutherland attorneys frequently have been called on to litigate gas utility rate cases before state commissions, and consistently have sought to reduce or eliminate rate subsidies and other anti-competitive features of utility rates and services. It is this commitment to pro-competitive federal and state regulatory policies that has been, and remains, the hallmark of Sutherland’s natural gas regulatory practice.
Our clients span the industry -- from end users to consumer groups to gas marketers to producers to natural gas pipelines -- and we provide a full range of services in the traditional regulatory arena, including: administrative litigation involving rates, terms and conditions for regulated services; advice concerning the construction, transfer or sale of regulated natural gas assets; interpretation and compliance with federal and state regulatory schemes; and preparation, implementation and interpretation of regulated tariffs.
Our tradition of excellence in serving these regulatory needs is matched by the commercial expertise our lawyers bring to bear on increasingly complex natural gas transactions. Sutherland lawyers routinely assist clients on a wide assortment of natural gas deals, and often must address the interplay between commercial negotiations and regulatory obligations. Our keen grasp of competitive markets for natural gas and pipeline capacity, and the regulatory policies that affect them, leaves us uniquely qualified to reconcile the commercial and regulatory aspects of transactions involving the purchase, sale and transportation of natural gas across the country or around the world, as well as the compliance and enforcement issues such transactions might present. Similarly, as asset management agreements have become increasingly prevalent in the energy industry, Sutherland lawyers have worked to help clients understand the commercial and regulatory pros and cons of such relationships.
The unsurpassed depth and breadth of our natural gas practice also leaves us well positioned to identify and address emerging regulatory trends. For example, federal energy regulators increasingly rely on information disclosure and enforcement actions to police energy markets. In response, our natural gas practice has moved aggressively to advise clients regarding the implications of these regulatory methods, and to develop appropriate compliance programs and employee training practices.
As we have in the past, Sutherland’s natural gas regulatory practice continues to offer clients the expertise needed to shape policy through either legislative action or administrative rulemakings. Our lawyers have strong ties at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) and the Department of Energy, as well as significant experience lobbying Congress and the executive branch on energy matters. These capabilities, together with our extensive industry background, leave us well-suited to devise and implement strategy on proposed legislation or contemplated regulations potentially affecting the natural gas industry.
Beyond the unparalleled scope of our natural gas regulatory expertise, we also pride ourselves on establishing cooperative working relationships with our clients. Where appropriate, we initiate client-focused teams that immerse our lawyers not only in a particular legal or regulatory challenge, but in the day-to-day fabric of a company’s business. That depth of understanding gained by going this extra mile permits us to translate current regulations and emerging regulatory trends into efficient, effective strategies that best protect and serve our clients’ short and long-term business interests.
© 2008 Sutherland