Kean Miller represents some of Louisiana’s most prominent telecommunications, water, waste water and transportation utilities in proceedings before the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other state and federal agencies and courts. Our clients include large commercial and industrial users of energy, non-utility power producers and marketers, intrastate and interstate pipelines, and local and long distance telecommunications providers. We provide advice to clients on the restructuring of the electric and telecommunications markets, the development of electric power projects and related contractual negotiations, the negotiation of electric service agreements, state and federal regulatory compliance, obtaining of operating certificates and approvals of acquisitions and mergers.

We have represented the Louisiana Energy Users Group ("LEUG"), an unincorporated association of manufacturing, refining, and/or related business operations located in Louisiana since its organization, over 15 years ago. Besides representation of LEUG in major energy dockets before the Louisiana Public Service Commission ("LPSC") and in dockets before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”), we have provided extensive representation and advice to industrial and generation developers on retail issues, as well as state and federal electric power issues impacting proposed power projects.

We also represent telecommunications companies, common carriers, and pipeline companies in regulatory matters before the LPSC. Kean Miller has represented the Competitive Carriers of the South, an association of competitive telecommunications carriers, and global telecommunications providers, in major dockets relating to the deregulation of the telecommunications market before the LPSC.

Kean Miller also has provided advice and obtained LPSC orders, including:

• Louisiana energy regulatory counsel for a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) regasification receiving terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The facility will process 2.6 billion cubic feet per day.
  
  
• Occidental Chemical Company (Order No. U-24192 and Order No. U-24192-A)
  
  
• Texaco Power and Gasification Global, Inc. and Teco Power Services Corporation (Order No. U-25457)
  
  
• Energy America LLC of Michigan and Orion Refining Corporation (Order No. U-26054)
  
  
• Energy America (Order No. U-26139)
  
  
• Triad Nitrogen, L.L.C. (Order No. U-26140) relating to the construction of cogeneration facilities in Louisiana.

Further, we advise and participate in the negotiation of power service agreements, lease agreements, and operating and maintenance agreements, for electric power projects. In recent years, as more industrials have located cogeneration facilities in Louisiana and have begun selling excess power in the wholesale market, we have represented clients in the negotiation of interconnection agreements with the incumbent electric service provider. Kean Miller also files applications with the FERC to obtain Qualifying Facility Status for cogenerators.

Kean Miller is recognized for its ability to handle the myriad of issues facing telecommunications providers in Louisiana including certification, tariff filings, reporting and regulatory compliance, informal and formal complaint proceedings, negotiation and arbitration of interconnection agreements, merger approvals, rulemaking and ratemaking proceedings, and class action litigation defense.

The energy, telecommunications and utilities attorneys work closely with the firm’s business, environmental and tax lawyers to provide comprehensive representation for our clients. The attorneys keep abreast of rapid developments in public utility law, enabling them to serve the diverse legal needs of clients in these rapidly changing industries.