Case Studies
Duane Morris Legal Work Helps Power Nation's Capital
Emergency petition by leading energy attorney Sheila Slocum Hollis prevents electricity crisis in Washington, D.C.
During the heat and humidity of a late Washington, D.C. summer in 2005, Mirant Corporation announced it would shut down a major electricity provider for the nation's capital, the Potomac River Generating Station. This decision was made public shortly after the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's ("VDEQ") study found that Mirant was not in compliance with air quality standards. Immediately after the study's release, Mirant unexpectedly reduced the plant's electricity output to its minimum level and declared the plant would be shut down at the stroke of midnight on August 24, 2005.
The shutdown threatened to create an energy reliability crisis for Washington, D.C. and the federal government, including the White House, Departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security, the FBI and other major departments and agencies as well as D.C. residents and businesses which all depend on the Potomac River plant for their electricity.
Our client, the D.C. Public Service Commission ("DCPSC"), is responsible for the regulation of service to all retail electric system consumers within the District of Columbia. Facing this looming electricity shutdown, the DCPSC turned to Duane Morris partner and prominent energy lawyer Sheila Slocum Hollis for a last-minute legal intervention seeking rapid and unprecedented relief.
Working through the night of the shutdown deadline, Hollis, along with energy partner Ilia Levitine and the energy attorneys of the Duane Morris Washington, D.C. office, drafted and filed an emergency petition with the Department of Energy ("DOE") and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"). Our petition argued that the shutdown of the Potomac River plant would endanger the reliability of the capital's energy grid as well as pose threats to national security. The DCPSC requested that the DOE and FERC, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security, use their authority under the Federal Power Act to deem that an emergency existed and to prevent the plant's permanent closure.
In an unprecedented action in response to our filing on behalf of DCPSC, the DOE ordered the plant to be reactivated. FERC agreed to hear the petition and stay the shutdown until the matter could be investigated further. Over the next several months, Duane Morris handled the complex series of filings and negotiations involving our client, FERC, the DOE, Mirant, VDEQ, energy provider PEPCO, regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection LLC and others.
On December 20, 2005, Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman issued an order stating that the situation was deemed an emergency and required Mirant to immediately resume limited operation of the plant, as requested in the Duane Morris petition. In a release following the decision, the Secretary stated, "This order will provide the level of electricity reliability necessary to keep Washingtonians safe and our national government running, while minimizing any environmental impact from the power station." And on January 9, 2006, for the first time in its 86-year history, FERC used Section 207 of the Federal Power Act to order PEPCO and PJM to address transmission issues for the District of Columbia. Both Mirant and PEPCO and PJM and the DCPSC are working now to respond to the mandates of federal energy policymakers and regulators.
With Sheila Slocum Hollis, Ilia Levitine and the Duane Morris energy team's innovative legal strategy and unwavering focus on serving our client's needs, the DCPSC was able to remain true to its mission and protect Washington, D.C. from energy blackouts, and the federal government from major disruption.
