January 31st, 2013

Energy Technology and Governance Program

             

February 25th, 2013

On February 25, 2013, delegates from the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) member utilities will present an overview of the energy sectors in their respective countries, with a focus on the development of regional energy markets.  The delegation includes senior SAPP staff and senior managers from the electric utilities of the following countries:

January 24th, 2013

Energy Technology and Governance Program

             

January 30th, 2013

American Law and Jurisprudence on Fracing, a paper written by Haynes and Boone, LLP, discusses legal and regulatory issues that have arisen from questions surrounding hydraulic fracturing.

Job Title: 
Senior Energy Advisor
Organization: 
Haynes and Boone, LLP

Andrew Weissman is a Senior Energy Advisor at Haynes and Boone. During the course of his more than 30-year career, Andy has helped to transform energy and environmental policy at the state and federal level and to develop innovative new structures for major energy transactions. He works with clients to solve complex business, legal and regulatory problems by successfully devising unique "out of the box" solutions.

As an attorney and energy market analyst, Andy has provided strategic advice and counseling to more than fifty major power producers, financial players, major electric and gas utilities, independent oil and gas producers, coal producers, energy traders, hedge funds, retail and wholesale energy marketers, equipment vendors and large energy users, typically at the CEO level, advising these clients on many of the highest stakes issues affecting the energy industry.

Andy continually focuses on identifying major developing trends in the natural gas, oil, electricity and coal markets. During the period immediately after enactment of Title IV of the Clean Air Act, he also pioneered the use of emissions trading in the United States, structuring many of the initial transactions, including the first publicly announced transaction. More recently, he played a key role in path-breaking efforts to substitute use of natural gasfired generation for more than 1,000 MW of coal in Denver, Colorado.

During his career, Andy has worked to craft major state and federal energy regulatory programs, develop high profile federal and state energy and environmental legislation, help to create new financing mechanisms for large energy projects, expand access to the transmission grid, increase competition in wholesale and retail electricity markets and ensure rate recovery for major capital expenditures for environmental compliance.

In addition, Andy has been lead attorney in major multi-year litigation efforts involving hundreds of millions of dollars in claims, briefed major cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals, directed two of the most intensive investigations ever undertaken regarding management practices at nuclear plants (involving the Seabrook Nuclear Plant in New Hampshire and the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant in Massachusetts) and been the lead attorney in numerous high profile regulatory proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state public utility commissions. He also has appeared as an expert witness in regulatory commission proceedings and high stakes commercial litigation.

Andy is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Energy Business Watch, a market advisory service that provides in-depth, cutting-edge analyzes of the U.S. and global oil and natural gas markets.

Publications

  • Second Trial Court Upholds Local Zoning Authority Over the Development of the Marcellus Shale in New York, Client Advisory, March 5, 2012.
  • Court Fires First Shot in Local Authority Battle Over the Development of the Marcellus Shale in New York, Client Advisory, February 24, 2012.
  • CSAPR Is Stayed – What Are The Real World Ramifications?, Client Advisory, February 3, 2012.


Presentations and Speeches

Andy lectures frequently on energy industry topics and has written a series of path-breaking articles on the emerging U.S. and global energy crisis that have received widespread attention within the energy industry.

Industry Groups

  • American Law Institute - American Bar Association Joint Program on Climate Change and the Law
  • ALI-ABA 42nd Annual Advanced Course of Study on Environmental Law - Environmental Regulation of Energy
  • Environmental Law Institute - From Coal to Gas - Whether,When, How
  • Corporate Environmental, Health and Safety Roundtable
  • American Chemistry Society
  • 6th Annual Northern Ohio Energy Management Conference
  • Utility Workers Union of American
  • Atlantic Council
  • California League of Food Processors
  • Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association
  • National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) (on multiple occasions)
  • NARUC-DOE National Electricity Delivery Forum
  • Joint Meeting of the CEOs and Boards of Directors of the North American Grid Operators
  • National Rural Electric Co-Operative Association (NRECA) (on multiple occasions)
  • Harvard Electricity Program
  • Citibank Annual Forum for CFOs
  • American Bankers Association Summer Meeting
  • National Regulatory Conference
  • Edison Electric Institute's Legal Affairs Committee
  • EEI's National Accounts Program
  • Western Governors' Association
  • National Mining Association
  • National Coal Transportation Association
  • American Coal Council
  • National Western Mining Conference
  • Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States
  • New Mexico Oil & Gas Association
  • Ohio Oil & Gas Association
  • American Public Gas Supply Association
  • Florida Gas Supply Association
  • Eastern Law & Minerals Institute
  • Coal Outlook's Annual Conferences
  • Deloitte Touché Annual Energy Conference
  • Calyon Energy Conference
  • Annual Meeting of the Electric Consumers of America (ELCON)
  • Industrial Energy Consumers of America
  • Silicon Valley Leadership Group


Government Agencies

  • U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA)
  • Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
  • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Market Oversight & Investigation (OMOI)
  • U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
  • A joint workshop on LNG sponsored by the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) and the California Resources Authority (CRA), (asked to appear as an expert witness by the Staff of the CEC)


Universities

  • Joint Energy Symposium held by Duke University and the University of North Carolina held at Duke University
  • Special programs at Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of New Mexico Law School and the University of Toledo Law School
  • Faculty for the Institute of Public Utilities Annual Regulatory Studies Program at Michigan State University ("Camp NARUC")
  • Guest lecturer at the University of California's Boalt Law School in Berkeley, California and the Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vermont
Profile Type: 
Speaker
Job Title: 
Partner
Organization: 
Haynes and Boone, LLP

Michael J. Mazzone is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and has tried numerous jury and nonjury cases in both state and federal court.  

He is licensed to practice in Texas, Massachusetts and North Dakota, as well as in all of the federal courts in Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court, and he has tried cases in Louisiana and New Mexico in addition to Texas.  

Michael frequently represents energy companies in environmental contamination, indemnity, and toxic tort cases. He also represents parties in construction litigation and arbitration as well as real estate development disputes.

Michael has also handled appeals in a number of reported cases including a takings case that reached the United States Supreme Court.

Michael is also an arbitrator and an advocate in arbitration matters. He has presided over numerous arbitration matters and, as a member of the American Arbitration Association's National Panel of Arbitrators, is regularly called on to preside over arbitrations.

Michael has given speeches and presented papers on trial advocacy, arbitration, and litigation at oil and gas industry conferences, bar association seminars, the Texas Environmental Superconference, and the University of Texas Law School. Michael has also been a speaker at the AAA's National and Regional Panel Retreats, seminars providing training to AAA arbitrators.

For five years, Michael taught in the trial advocacy program at the University of Houston Law School as an adjunct professor of law, and he has served on the Editorial Board of the Houston Lawyer magazine, a publication of the Houston Bar Association.

Michael was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration in 1977 from the University of South Carolina, and he attended graduate school at the University of Michigan. He obtained his law degree in 1983 from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, finishing in the top 10 percent of his class.

Recent Trials/Arbitrations

  • Hazel Savoie, 38th Judicial District Court, Cameron Parish, Louisiana: Represented at trial a major energy company in "legacy" lawsuit brought by a landowner claiming property damages from an oil field pit. Posttrial proceedings are pending.
  • Jesco Operating, LP, 165th Judicial District Court, Harris County, Texas: Represented at trial energy company and pipeline owner in lawsuit by pipeline contractor claiming its business was destroyed by nonpayment of invoices. At trial, plaintiff sought to recover the value of its business and other damages. The jury returned a verdict for the defense.
  • Gordon Westergren, 269th Judicial District Court, Harris County, Texas: Represented at trial the developer of the Port Crossing railserved industrial park in a lawsuit by a plaintiff who claimed an ownership interest in the project. After trial, the court entered a judgment for the developer on all of plaintiff's claims. The court also entered a judgment for the developer against the plaintiff's partnership for all of the developer's attorneys' fees and other costs of defense.
  • Concepcion Acosta, 5th Judicial District, Lea County, New Mexico: Represented at trial a major energy company in lawsuit by approximately 200 plaintiffs who claimed that a tank battery/oil storage facility in their neighborhood caused personal injuries and property damages. At trial, plaintiffs sought over $54 million dollars for nine "trial plaintiffs." The jury returned a defense verdict on all issues.
  • Conroe Express Concrete, 410th Judicial District Court, Montgomery County, Texas: Represented at trial a national homebuilder in a breach of contract and warranty lawsuit against concrete supplier. Foundations of a number of homes built with the supplied concrete failed. The jury returned a verdict for the builder against the concrete supplier and the court entered a judgment on the verdict.
  • EDI Architecture, Inc., International Arbitration Association: Represented architectural firm in dispute with contractor over project in Luanda, Angola. Resolved by settlement prior to final hearing.
  • Darr Angell, U. S. District Court for the District of New Mexico: Represented at trial a major energy company in lawsuit by a landowner for environmental damages and injunctive relief. Claims against the company were dismissed (with prejudice) after crossexamination of Plaintiff’s witnesses. No money was paid.
  • Jeanie R. Carter, 214th Judicial District Court, Nueces County, Texas: Represented at trial a major energy company in lawsuit brought by approximately 40 families who claimed that a refinery waste disposal pit in their neighborhood caused personal injuries and property damages. Before trial, plaintiffs dropped their personal injury claims. At trial, plaintiffs sought in excess of $170 million dollars for six "trial plaintiff" families. The jury returned a verdict for the company, and the untried claims of the remaining plaintiff families were settled for a token sum.


Recent Publications/Presentations

  • "In-House from the Inside," conference cochair, Corporate Counsel Institute, Suffolk University Law School, Boston, Massachusetts, September 14, 2012.
  • "Too Much at Stake to Shut Down Fracing," Oil & Gas Financial Journal, August 10, 2012.
  • "Hydraulic Fracturing Litigation," 58th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, July 1921, 2012, Newport Beach, California.
  • "Non-Technical Risks in Projects and Other Developments," program developer and moderator, The General Counsel Forum, Houston Chapter 3rd Quarterly Event, June 20, 2012, Houston, Texas.
  • "An Analysis of Fracking Developments," panelist, Haynes and Boone Webinar, March 8, 2012.
  • "Changing Times Bring Conflict With Surface Owners," The American Oil and Gas Reporter, December 6, 2011.
  • "Recent Litigation Related to Oil and Gas Drilling," Better Than Barnett: New Developments in the Legal and Regulatory Issues in the Eagle Ford Shale, October 18, 2011, Houston, Texas.
  • "Oilfield Litigation: 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'" 23rd Annual Texas Environmental Superconference, August 4-5, 2011, Austin, Texas.
  • "American Law and Jurisprudence on Fracing," with Thomas Kurth, Mary Mendoza, and Christopher Kulander, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Journal, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2010.
  • "Hydraulic Fracturing – The Legal Issues," Texas Environmental Law Journal’s First Annual Symposium: The Legal and Environmental Impacts of Extracting Gas from Shale, October 29, 2010, Austin, Texas.
  • "Hydraulic Fracturing – The Legal Issues," 3rd Annual Unconventional Gas International Conference, October 57, 2010, Fort Worth, Texas.
  • "Current Operating Regulations and Future Trends," ALM’s 9th Annual Gas Shales Summit, June 23, 2010, Houston, Texas.
  • "Assessing the Claims Asserted in the Global Warming Debate," presented to the Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church, January 10, 2010.
  • "Asserting Contrary Policy Arguments in 'Public Policy' Litigation," coauthor, Trials and Tribulations, newsletter of DRI Trial Tactics Committee, Spring 2009.
  • "Climate Change Risk," 80th Annual Meeting, New Mexico Oil & Gas Association, Santa Fe, NM, October 2008.
  • "Actions Reduce Climate Change Risks," The American Oil & Gas Reporter, September 2008.
  • "Climate Change," SPE-Hobbs Section and SPE-Environmental Study Group of Midland, Hobbs, NM, April 2008.
  • "Practical Issues in Commercial Arbitration Agreements," Fort Bend County Bar Association, October 2007 and Houston Bar Association, January 2007.
  • "Climate Change and the Law," 79th Annual Meeting, New Mexico Oil & Gas Association, Santa Fe, NM, October 2007.
  • "Standing in Environmental Property Damage Cases," coauthor, Ethical Principles for Corporate Counsel, Houston, January 2006
  • Ch. 28 (Torts) of Vol. 46 (Environmental Law) of Texas Practice Series, West, 2005.
  • "Prosecute, Never Defend – How to Aggressively Handle Your Company's Matters," ACCA Houston Chapter Summer Leadership Speaker Series, Houston, June 2003.


Professional Recognition

  • Recognized as a Super Lawyer Civil - Litigation Defense (20092012)
  • Martindale Hubbell® Law Directory with a Peer Review Rating of AV® Preeminent™


Memberships

  • American Arbitration Association
  • Defense Research Institute (DRI)
  • Houston Bar Association
  • New Mexico Oil & Gas Association
  • State Bar of Texas
  • Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association
  • Texas Oil & Gas Association
Profile Type: 
Speaker
January 18th, 2013

Energy Technology and Governance Program

             

January 18th, 2013

Energy Technology and Governance Program

             

January 11th, 2013

Energy Technology and Governance Program

             

January 22nd, 2013

Exporting the American Renaissance: Global Impacts of LNG Exports from the United States describes an objective, economic-based analysis of the potential impact of LNG exports from the United States on domestic and global markets. While much attention has focused on the impact of U.S. LNG exports on the U.S.

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