Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Barry Smitherman is principle of BARRY SMITHERMAN, P.C. and a former partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP. He served on the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 through 2014, and was Chairman of the Commission from March 2012 through August 2014. Prior to joining the TX RRC, Barry was Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, a position he held from November 2007 through July 2011. His service as a PUCT Commissioner began in April 2004. Over this time period, Barry served two terms on the U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee, on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), Chairman of the NARUC Gas Committee, on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Board of Directors, and on the Regional State Committee of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).
Barry presently serves on the Board of Directors of Centerpoint Energy, and of Centric Infrastructure Group. He previously served on the Board of NRG Energy, Inc. Barry is also the Chairman of BIG (Brookwood in Georgetown), a non profit which provides work, artistic, and housing opportunities for special needs adults.
Prior to beginning public service, Barry spent 16 years as a public finance investment banker with several prominent 'Wall Street' firms, including J.P. Morgan Securities, The First Boston Corporation (now part of Credit Suisse), Lazard, and Banc One Capital Markets (now part of JP MorganChase). At Banc One, he was a Managing Director and National Head of the Tax-Exempt Origination Group.
Barry received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law, his M.P.A. from Harvard University, and his B.B.A. summa cum laude from Texas A&M University.
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Barry Smitherman is principle of BARRY SMITHERMAN, P.C. and a former partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP. He served on the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 through 2014, and was Chairman of the Commission from March 2012 through August 2014. Prior to joining the TX RRC, Barry was Chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, a position he held from November 2007 through July 2011. His service as a PUCT Commissioner began in April 2004. Over this time period, Barry served two terms on the U.S. Department of Energy Electricity Advisory Committee, on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), Chairman of the NARUC Gas Committee, on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Board of Directors, and on the Regional State Committee of the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).
Barry presently serves on the Board of Directors of Centerpoint Energy, and of Centric Infrastructure Group. He previously served on the Board of NRG Energy, Inc. Barry is also the Chairman of BIG (Brookwood in Georgetown), a non profit which provides work, artistic, and housing opportunities for special needs adults.
Prior to beginning public service, Barry spent 16 years as a public finance investment banker with several prominent 'Wall Street' firms, including J.P. Morgan Securities, The First Boston Corporation (now part of Credit Suisse), Lazard, and Banc One Capital Markets (now part of JP MorganChase). At Banc One, he was a Managing Director and National Head of the Tax-Exempt Origination Group.
Barry received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law, his M.P.A. from Harvard University, and his B.B.A. summa cum laude from Texas A&M University.
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Under Secretary of Energy, United States Department of Energy
The Honorable Mark Wesley Menezes, Under Secretary of Energy serves as the Department’s principal advisor on energy policy and on a wide array of existing and emerging energy technologies. The Under Secretary is responsible for driving transformative energy policy, and technology solutions through coordinated planning, management and performance of the Department’s energy programs.
Prior to being confirmed as Under Secretary of Energy, Mr. Menezes was an executive with Berkshire Hathaway Energy in its Washington, D.C. office. Before joining BHE, Mr. Menezes was a partner at Hunton & Williams LLP, where he headed the Regulated Markets and Energy Infrastructure practice group. Prior to Hunton, he served as Chief Counsel, Energy and Environment, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, serving as chief negotiator for the House Majority in the enactment of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Before his service with House Energy & Commerce, he was Vice President with Central and South West, and upon its merger with American Electric Power, served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel for federal and state legislative and regulatory affairs.
Mr. Menezes has been named in National Journal’s “Hill 100”—top Congressional staff for his work on both energy and environmental matters. He has been frequent guest speaker and lecturer before numerous associations and civic groups, including legal education seminars where he has been called on to address the nation’s energy and environmental policies, utility restructuring, telecommunications, ethics, merger and acquisition practices, and regulatory and legislative processes. He has co-authored numerous articles, a practice manual, and been quoted in the New York Times, Law360, Oil and Gas Journal, Politico as well as interviewed by E&ETV. He’s been listed Best Lawyers in America 2013–2016, Corporate Counsel’s Top Lawyers 2006–2011, Washington Post’s Top Lawyers 2008–2016, and DC Super Lawyers 2012–2016.
Mr. Menezes is a graduate of Louisiana State University receiving both his undergraduate and juris doctor degree. Until joining the government he was a charter member of the Advisory Council, Louisiana State University Law John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, and served on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Chorus & American Youth Chorus.
Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Project for Economic Growth, Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity
Stephen Moore, who formerly wrote on the economy and public policy for The Wall Street Journal, is the Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Project for Economic Growth, at The Heritage Foundation. Mr. Moore, who also was a member of The Journal’s editorial board, returned to Heritage in January 2014 -- about 25 years after his tenure as the leading conservative think tank’s Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Budgetary Affairs from 1984 to 1987.
As Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Heritage, Mr. Moore focuses on advancing public policies that increase the rate of economic growth to help the United States retain its position as the global economic superpower. He also works on budget, fiscal and monetary policy and showcases states that get fiscal houses in order.
"One of the projects I’m going to be working on is how President Obama has discredited liberal ideas more than anyone,” Mr. Moore said in an interview with The Foundry upon his return to Heritage. “Everything he’s done has been such a massive failure — from the [economic] stimulus to health-care reform to bailouts to green energy.
Mr. Moore’s early career was shaped by three people who had a profound influence on him: Julian Simon, the late Cato Institute scholar; Edwin J. Feulner, a co-founder of Heritage; and Art Laffer, the economist best known for the Laffer curve.
“What makes them so great is they were willing to take on the conventional wisdom. They were subject to a lot of criticism for doing that,” Mr. Moore told The Foundry. “Those are the real change-makers.”
Mr. Moore calls his creation of the Club for Growth the defining moment of his career. The organization, which he left in 2004, helps elect conservative members of Congress (including Heritage President Jim DeMint when he first ran for Senate).
Mr. Moore next founded the Free Enterprise Fund before joining The Wall Street Journal. As senior economics writer for the newspaper’s editorial board, he covered Washington policy debates and state issues.
“Because I’ve been a consumer of think tank material and policy research, I think I have a pretty good sense of what reporters want and how to get it to them in the way they want it,” Mr. Moore said. “Being timely — and not just offering opinion but giving them the facts and data is really critical.”
Mr. Moore, who grew up in New Trier Township, Ill., received a bachelor of arts degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds a master’s of arts in economics from George Mason University.
Senior Advisor, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Mr. Clark is a Senior Advisor at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP. He has extensive experience in energy and utility policy at the federal and state level. He provides clients with analysis and strategic advice on a variety regulatory and public policy matters affecting their businesses. He specializes in working with clients in the energy and telecommunications industries and at the nexus of state and federal jurisdictional issues.
Having been appointed by President Obama, and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mr. Clark served from 2012 to 2016 as a Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While at the FERC, Mr. Clark worked on matters that are at the forefront of energy policy, such as: electricity reliability, electricity-natural gas industry coordination, oversight of the nation’s Regional Transmission Organizations, electricity grid cyber and physical security regulations, major enforcement actions, energy infrastructure permitting, the integration of renewables and energy storage, FERC Order 1000 implementation, and wholesale electricity market reforms. From 2001 to 2012 he was a Commissioner of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, including over 5 years as its Chairman. During his tenure at the North Dakota Commission, Mr. Clark oversaw numerous proceedings related to the state’s historic emergence as a leader in American energy production. In 2010, he was selected by his regulatory peers across the nation to serve a term as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He also served a three-year term as Chairman of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee. Through his various regulatory positions, he has testified multiple times before Committees of both the US House and US Senate on matters related to energy and telecommunications.
From 1999 to 2000, Mr. Clark was Labor Commissioner of the State of North Dakota and a member of the Cabinet of Gov. Ed Schafer. In 1994 he was one of the youngest people ever elected to the North Dakota legislature, representing a portion of the City of Fargo for two terms in the State House of Representatives. He is a graduate, with honor, from North Dakota State University and holds a master’s degree from the University of North Dakota. In addition to his work at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, Mr. Clark serves as a non-employee independent director on the Board of Directors of NorthWestern Energy Corporation. Having attained the rank of Eagle Scout in his youth, Mr. Clark has been a long-time volunteer with and supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.
Chief, Federal Regulatory Policy for PSEG
Larry Gasteiger was named chief, federal regulatory policy, Public Service Enterperise Group Incorpoated (PSEG) in October 2016.
Mr. Gasteiger served as Chief of Staff at FERC culminating a noteworthy 19-year tenure at FERC in which he held a variety of leadership roles. He previously served as the Acting Director of the Office of Enforcement from August 2014 to April 2015 after having served as the Deputy Director from 2009 to 2014. Before he joined the Office of Enforcement, Mr. Gasteiger was the Director of the Division of Tariffs and Market Development - East in the Office of Energy Market Regulation. Prior to that, he held several other positions at the Commission, including Deputy Associate General Counsel, Legal Advisor to Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher, and attorney in the FERC’s Solicitor's Office.
Before joining FERC in 1997, Mr. Gasteiger was an attorney in the General Counsel's Office at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and from 1989 to 1991 he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Edwin M. Kosik in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Gasteiger is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Dickinson School of Law. He is a former Board Member of the Northeast Chapter of the Energy Bar Association and former Board Member and Secretary of the Saint Ambrose School.
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Research Director, Harvard Electricity Policy Group, Raymond Pla, Harvard University
William W. Hogan, Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy, is research director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group (HEPG), which is examining alternative strategies for a more competitive electricity market, and a member of the Appointments Committee. Prof. Hogan has been a member of the faculty of Stanford University where he founded the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF), and he is a past president of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE). Current research focuses on major energy industry restructuring, network pricing and access issues, market design, and energy policy in nations worldwide. Prof. Hogan received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and his PhD from UCLA. Selected papers are available on his Web site, www.whogan.com.
Acting FERC Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Acting Chairman Cheryl A. LaFleur was first nominated by President Barack Obama to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2010 and was confirmed for a second term by the Senate in 2014. On January 23, 2017 she was appointed Acting Chairman by President Donald Trump. She was previously appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Acting Chairman of the Commission from November 2013 to July 2014 and as Chairman from July 2014 until April 2015.
Acting Chairman LaFleur is honored to be a member of the Commission at a time when the nation is making substantial changes in its energy supply and infrastructure to meet environmental challenges and improve reliability and security. Since she joined the Commission, her priorities have included reliability and grid security, promoting regional transmission planning, and supporting a clean and diverse power supply. She is a member of the NARUC Committees on Electricity and Critical Infrastructure and was co-chair of the FERC/NARUC Forum on Reliability and the Environment. She is a frequent speaker on energy issues.
Prior to joining the Commission in 2010, Acting Chairman LaFleur had more than 20 years’ experience as a leader in the electric and natural gas industry. She served as executive vice president and acting CEO of National Grid USA, responsible for the delivery of electricity to 3.4 million customers in the Northeast. Her previous positions at National Grid USA and its predecessor New England Electric System included chief operating officer, president of the New England distribution companies and general counsel. She led major efforts to improve reliability and employee safety. Earlier in her career, she was responsible for leading award-winning conservation and demand response programs for customers.
Acting Chairman LaFleur has been a nonprofit board member and leader, including as a trustee of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, United Way of Central Massachusetts, and several other organizations. She is also active in a number of women’s energy organizations.
Acting Chairman LaFleur was named Woman of the Year by the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment in 2015. In 2014, the Northeast Energy and Commerce Association presented her with its Vanguard Award for her long-time leadership in the development of competitive power markets. She received a Bipartisan Congressional Award in 2013 for her work on grid reliability. She has also been honored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the YWCA of Central Massachusetts, among others.
Acting Chairman LaFleur began her career as an attorney at Ropes and Gray in Boston. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and an A.B. from Princeton University. A native of Massachusetts, she is married to William Kuncik, a retired attorney, and they are the parents of two grown children.
Senior Vice President for Government and Regulatory Affairs, Calpine Corp.
Mr. Steven Schleimer has been Senior Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Calpine Corp. since January 1, 2014. Mr. Schleimer served as a Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Calpine’s North Region since 2010. From 2006 to 2010, Mr. Schleimer served as Vice President at Barclays Capital in New York and was responsible for market design and regulatory issues. Prior to that, he had served as Calpine’s Vice President of Market and Regulatory Affairs in the West Region from 2000 to 2006. Mr. Schleimer spent the first 12 years of his career at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He earned a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree, with highest honors, in Economics from the University of California at Santa.
Senior Advisor, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Mr. Clark is a Senior Advisor at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP. He has extensive experience in energy and utility policy at the federal and state level. He provides clients with analysis and strategic advice on a variety regulatory and public policy matters affecting their businesses. He specializes in working with clients in the energy and telecommunications industries and at the nexus of state and federal jurisdictional issues.
Having been appointed by President Obama, and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mr. Clark served from 2012 to 2016 as a Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While at the FERC, Mr. Clark worked on matters that are at the forefront of energy policy, such as: electricity reliability, electricity-natural gas industry coordination, oversight of the nation’s Regional Transmission Organizations, electricity grid cyber and physical security regulations, major enforcement actions, energy infrastructure permitting, the integration of renewables and energy storage, FERC Order 1000 implementation, and wholesale electricity market reforms. From 2001 to 2012 he was a Commissioner of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, including over 5 years as its Chairman. During his tenure at the North Dakota Commission, Mr. Clark oversaw numerous proceedings related to the state’s historic emergence as a leader in American energy production. In 2010, he was selected by his regulatory peers across the nation to serve a term as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He also served a three-year term as Chairman of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee. Through his various regulatory positions, he has testified multiple times before Committees of both the US House and US Senate on matters related to energy and telecommunications.
From 1999 to 2000, Mr. Clark was Labor Commissioner of the State of North Dakota and a member of the Cabinet of Gov. Ed Schafer. In 1994 he was one of the youngest people ever elected to the North Dakota legislature, representing a portion of the City of Fargo for two terms in the State House of Representatives. He is a graduate, with honor, from North Dakota State University and holds a master’s degree from the University of North Dakota. In addition to his work at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, Mr. Clark serves as a non-employee independent director on the Board of Directors of NorthWestern Energy Corporation. Having attained the rank of Eagle Scout in his youth, Mr. Clark has been a long-time volunteer with and supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.
Chief, Federal Regulatory Policy for PSEG
Larry Gasteiger was named chief, federal regulatory policy, Public Service Enterperise Group Incorpoated (PSEG) in October 2016.
Mr. Gasteiger served as Chief of Staff at FERC culminating a noteworthy 19-year tenure at FERC in which he held a variety of leadership roles. He previously served as the Acting Director of the Office of Enforcement from August 2014 to April 2015 after having served as the Deputy Director from 2009 to 2014. Before he joined the Office of Enforcement, Mr. Gasteiger was the Director of the Division of Tariffs and Market Development - East in the Office of Energy Market Regulation. Prior to that, he held several other positions at the Commission, including Deputy Associate General Counsel, Legal Advisor to Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher, and attorney in the FERC’s Solicitor's Office.
Before joining FERC in 1997, Mr. Gasteiger was an attorney in the General Counsel's Office at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and from 1989 to 1991 he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Edwin M. Kosik in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Gasteiger is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Dickinson School of Law. He is a former Board Member of the Northeast Chapter of the Energy Bar Association and former Board Member and Secretary of the Saint Ambrose School.
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Research Director, Harvard Electricity Policy Group, Raymond Pla, Harvard University
William W. Hogan, Raymond Plank Professor of Global Energy Policy, is research director of the Harvard Electricity Policy Group (HEPG), which is examining alternative strategies for a more competitive electricity market, and a member of the Appointments Committee. Prof. Hogan has been a member of the faculty of Stanford University where he founded the Energy Modeling Forum (EMF), and he is a past president of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE). Current research focuses on major energy industry restructuring, network pricing and access issues, market design, and energy policy in nations worldwide. Prof. Hogan received his undergraduate degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy and his PhD from UCLA. Selected papers are available on his Web site, www.whogan.com.
Acting FERC Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Acting Chairman Cheryl A. LaFleur was first nominated by President Barack Obama to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2010 and was confirmed for a second term by the Senate in 2014. On January 23, 2017 she was appointed Acting Chairman by President Donald Trump. She was previously appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as Acting Chairman of the Commission from November 2013 to July 2014 and as Chairman from July 2014 until April 2015.
Acting Chairman LaFleur is honored to be a member of the Commission at a time when the nation is making substantial changes in its energy supply and infrastructure to meet environmental challenges and improve reliability and security. Since she joined the Commission, her priorities have included reliability and grid security, promoting regional transmission planning, and supporting a clean and diverse power supply. She is a member of the NARUC Committees on Electricity and Critical Infrastructure and was co-chair of the FERC/NARUC Forum on Reliability and the Environment. She is a frequent speaker on energy issues.
Prior to joining the Commission in 2010, Acting Chairman LaFleur had more than 20 years’ experience as a leader in the electric and natural gas industry. She served as executive vice president and acting CEO of National Grid USA, responsible for the delivery of electricity to 3.4 million customers in the Northeast. Her previous positions at National Grid USA and its predecessor New England Electric System included chief operating officer, president of the New England distribution companies and general counsel. She led major efforts to improve reliability and employee safety. Earlier in her career, she was responsible for leading award-winning conservation and demand response programs for customers.
Acting Chairman LaFleur has been a nonprofit board member and leader, including as a trustee of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, United Way of Central Massachusetts, and several other organizations. She is also active in a number of women’s energy organizations.
Acting Chairman LaFleur was named Woman of the Year by the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment in 2015. In 2014, the Northeast Energy and Commerce Association presented her with its Vanguard Award for her long-time leadership in the development of competitive power markets. She received a Bipartisan Congressional Award in 2013 for her work on grid reliability. She has also been honored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the YWCA of Central Massachusetts, among others.
Acting Chairman LaFleur began her career as an attorney at Ropes and Gray in Boston. She has a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and an A.B. from Princeton University. A native of Massachusetts, she is married to William Kuncik, a retired attorney, and they are the parents of two grown children.
Senior Vice President for Government and Regulatory Affairs, Calpine Corp.
Mr. Steven Schleimer has been Senior Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Calpine Corp. since January 1, 2014. Mr. Schleimer served as a Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Calpine’s North Region since 2010. From 2006 to 2010, Mr. Schleimer served as Vice President at Barclays Capital in New York and was responsible for market design and regulatory issues. Prior to that, he had served as Calpine’s Vice President of Market and Regulatory Affairs in the West Region from 2000 to 2006. Mr. Schleimer spent the first 12 years of his career at Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He earned a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree, with highest honors, in Economics from the University of California at Santa.
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
Denver Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute
What Happened with the Texas Energy Grid
Raymond L. Gifford, Barry T. Smitherman
Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group Teleforum
When the Texas electric grid failed over Valentine’s Day weekend in February 2021, the recriminations...
What Happened with the Texas Energy Grid
Raymond L. Gifford, Barry T. Smitherman
Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group Teleforum
When the Texas electric grid failed over Valentine’s Day weekend in February 2021, the recriminations...
The Department of Energy’s Actions to Save Nuclear and Coal
Raymond L. Gifford, Mark W. Menezes, Stephen Moore
Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group Teleforum
Last month, Bloomberg News revealed a leaked memorandum from the Department of Energy purporting to...
Topics
Federalism and Broadband: A National Question
As Federalists of good standing, it may seem odd that we would argue against “states...
State ‘Around Market’ Action and FERC: The End of Competitive Wholesale Electric Markets?
Anthony T. Clark, Larry Gasteiger, Raymond L. Gifford, William W. Hogan, Cheryl A. LaFleur, Steven Schleimer
Telecommunications & Electronic Media and Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Groups
For the past two decades, the U.S. has experimented with “market”-based competitive wholesale electric markets. ...
State ‘Around Market’ Action and FERC: The End of Competitive Wholesale Electric Markets?
Anthony T. Clark, Larry Gasteiger, Raymond L. Gifford, William W. Hogan, Cheryl A. LaFleur, Steven Schleimer
Telecommunications & Electronic Media and Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Groups
For the past two decades, the U.S. has experimented with “market”-based competitive wholesale electric markets. ...
Federalism and Municipal Broadband - Podcast
Raymond L. Gifford
Telecommunications & Electronic Media Practice Group Podcast
On March 17th the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit heard oral...
The Opportunity and Peril of Smart Grid
Eric Gunning, Raymond L. Gifford
Last year witnessed “the smart grid” going from an arcane concept about updating the electric...
Government-Run Broadband: Will it Work this Time?
Raymond L. Gifford, Mark Walker
In “Th e Music Man,” Professor Harold Hill convinced the people of River City, Iowa...
Introducing Julius Genachowski, Nominee for FCC Chairman
Raymond L. Gifford
New Federal Initiatives Project
Brought to you by the Telecommunications & Electronic Media Practice Group On March 3, 2009, President Obama formally announced...