Case Studies

• Neutral, involving a 50 year Power Purchase Agreement, 12 agencies who comprise a Power Agency located in the MISO footprint, long term bonding arrangements, analysis of other supply alternatives and portfolios, and the projected cost of energy as rationale for restructuring the member operating agreements.

• Neutral, involving a dispute between a municipality, an Investor Owned Utility and Reliability Council with issues concerning permitting of a major Transmission Project and the alleged violations of the Reliability Council’s procedural reviews regarding neighboring impacts and alleged violations of grandfathered agreements.

• Neutral, involving a dispute between two energy (capacity) marketers over prices and scheduling in a Regional Transmission Organization’s Capacity Market.

• Neutral, involving an Independent System Operator and two Independent Power Producers concerns with nameplate certification over a new 550 MW facility; and its actual capacity day one of operation.

• Neutral, involving a Municipal Power Agency and a member Utility mediation involving a restructuring of the Agency’s standard confidentiality procedures and agreement as applied to individual members and operational data.

• Arbitrator – Farm Insurance Dispute concerning $1M + in purported crop damages and losses in West Texas.

• Arbitrator – Construction Dispute concerning a $1M+ commercial property, stop work orders, differing site conditions, excusable delays, and multiple change orders.

• In addition to serving as an arbitrator Mr. Shapiro has provided representation to Abengoa Solar in support of its Solana and Mojave Projects. Mr. Shapiro was active with Abengoa before the FERC and other agencies as Order 1000 was in its initial implementation/compliance stages.

• Mr. Shapiro provides counsel to Energy Dynamics, an energy efficiency start up company that provides electric services to commercial customers in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia.

• Mr. Shapiro also serves as a Special Master in the September 11 Victim Compensation Trust fund managing and distributing $3B in compensatory damages.

Other Representative Cases

• New York Independent System Operator and Strategic Energy. A bi-lateral Netting dispute concerning a market trading company’s ability to place trades without having to post collateral on both ends of the transaction.

• Minnesota Municipal Power Agency and Rochester Public Utility. Case involved a dispute over long term coal supply and transportation contracts, price hedging, and the operating agreement between the two municipalities.

• Northern States Power, Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, Rochester Public Utility, and Dairyland Power Cooperative. Case involved re-allocation of losses attributed to the Silver Lake facility by structuring alternative dispatch and routing, thus eliminating a significant share of the losses.

• City of Sioux Falls – Xcel Energy, Inc., and Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator. This matter involved grandfathered agreements that granted special treatment under MISO Tariff and Business Rules, but not necessarily for new service. Worked out a restructured and modified Interconnection Agreement between City of Sioux Falls and Xcel in conjunction with rest of market issues.

• Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator and Michigan Public Power Administration. Worked out resettlement balancing charges based on time of dispatch.

• Wisconsin Public Service – Xcel Energy, Inc., and Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator. Dispute involved working out FTR allocations caused by partial path transmission service congestion between WPS and Xcel.

• PJM Reliability Pricing Model. Co-mediated with the Deputy Chief Judge 65 plus parties to establish a new capacity market for the PJM Region. This entailed a five month intensive process working with Generators and Large Investor Owned Utilities on one side and with State Governments, Cooperatives, Municipalities, and Industrials on the other. Partial settlement was reached establishing a capacity market, auction mechanism, and fixed resource requirements.

• Large Generator Interconnection Agreement. Facilitated industry-wide Negotiated Rulemaking establishing the basic template for the Agreement and Procedures. This was an intensive six-month program involving over a hundred parties, State Commissions and Commission staff. The result was a pro forma agreement (Order 2003A) that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission now uses for all interconnections nationwide and was the basis for the IA’s for Wind and Small Generators.

• New York Independent System Operator, KeySpan – Ravenswood, LLC and Consolidated Edison Corp. Multiparty mediation that resolved a remand matter concerning the summer 2002 New York City capacity market which resulted from a misinterpretation of the ICAP capacity tariff formula. This case also involved 12 other electric utilities providing distribution services in the New York City area.

• New England Independent System Operator and Massachusetts Wholesale Electric Corporation. Multi-party matter that resolved complaint alleging market manipulation during the August 2006 heat wave in New England. Secondary issue was also resolved which permitted the question of a proposed balancing formula to be vetted through the NEPOOL Stakeholder process.

• Long Island Power Authority and Cross Sound Cable. Settled substantial delay claims tied to State of Connecticut environmental issues and Department of Energy Declared National Emergency Orders in New York State.

• California Independent System Operator and California Department of Water Resources. Case involved emergency scheduling of California Hydro projects in support of emergency grid operations. Ninth Circuit Case remanded to FERC. Workout balanced curtailment needs of major hydro-operations and grid reliability requirements.

• Longview Power and Allegheny Power. Case involved a generator interconnection dispute alleged obstruction by the Transmission Provider to make accommodations under their OATT. The workout involved permitting the generator to interconnect through an alternative route with PJM participation in the final agreement.

• CPV Power, Tenaska and Dominion Power. Generator Interconnection dispute concerning the generator/supplier falling behind in its milestone/construction schedule. Competitor in the queue pushed the Transmission Provider to cancel the IA because of alleged defaults. Revised Interconnection Agreement was negotiated with revised built in milestones.

• Augusta Canal. Multiparty contested licensing matter between industrials, resource agencies and the City of Augusta, the Licensee, over water rights issues. Mitigation alternatives were worked out between the Licensee and the Agencies.

• Grand River Dam Authority. Mediated a multiparty compliance matter and re-licensing of two projects in northeastern Oklahoma (Pensacola and Markham Ferry). Workout included a substantial mitigation package provided by the Authority.

• Southern California Edison. Mediated a multiparty water rights issue involving three hydro projects in southern California (Santa Ana, Mill Creek and Lytle). One hundred year contracts were in question granting water rights to the Water Districts, which had competing interests with the Agency under the National Environmental Policy Act. Two of the three projects settled contained substantial mitigation packages; the third project was awarded its license based on the recommended term of settlement – after protest.

• Toledo Bend. Multiparty matter involving flood control issues following significant property losses and deaths due to a major flood event. Negotiated interim protocols for communication and a process to implement emergency preparedness measures.

• Arbitrator concerning a dispute surrounding the appraisal – asset valuation and a right of first refusal by a Municipal Utility off-taker and an Independent Power Producer. All market conditions surrounding the cost of energy and capacity were at issue. This case required a careful analysis of the ISO and how it develops it market rates, Renewable Energy Credit Markets and its distinctions on a state by state basis, gas pricing from Henry Hub as a proxy for future rates, new pipeline development, renewable energy development and new Renewable Energy Credit rates, and climate issues.

• AAA Arbitrator–dispute involving an ISO/RTO and an Independent Power Producer over scheduling issues and damages in the Day Ahead Market.

• AAA Arbitrator–involving a Fortune 100 wind developer and an Investor Owned Utility over curtailments stemming from emergency orders from the Regional Reliability Council and misunderstandings entering into the Network Agreement. The RTO and Reliability Council’s Rules weighed heavily in the arbitral award.

• Arbitration panelist– concerning the settlement and distribution of fixed and variable rates based on a 30 year Power Purchase Agreement (Part 2 of an ongoing Arbitration) factoring Handy Whitman and Incremental Cost of Capital throughout the time – period.

• AAA Arbitrator– involving an Independent Power Producer and an Investor Owned Utility in dispute over a 30 year power purchase agreement negotiated under PURPA. The arbitral award decided the appropriate cost and operational methodology to shift from a level rate structure to a variable rate structure.
  
  
• Neutral, involving an ISO, its Board of Directors, Officers and 100+ stakeholders in re-structuring and developing a transition from a monthly to a weekly payment structure between the transmission providers and the independent power producers.
  
  
  
• AAA Arbitrator– concerning a Hydro Power tax abatement matter requiring a careful review of operating costs, appraisals, future market conditions, RTO pricing models, and other conditions to resolve the parties Power Purchase Agreement and mitigate a tax abatement issue.
  
  
• Facilitated training and education classes for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Office of Enforcement as a response to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 05) granting penalty authority to FERC for up to $1M per occurrence. This effort involved close coordination with the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance.

• Coached FERC’s Regional Reliability Councils and Organizations in the design and implementation of how industry can challenge penalties and fines through various negotiated systems and dispute resolution processes involving industry who have been fined or penalized for non compliance with the Electric Industry’s Reliability Standards.

• Facilitated an organizational change program for the new office of Energy Compliance established as a result of EPACT 05. This work area focused on reporting and chain of command structures for a new Office Director, having the newly formed organization mobilize around a new set of strategic goals, and identify how it will interface with other stakeholders.

• FERC Hydro-electric Alternative Licensing Facilitator provided on call services in high stakes cases involving: * Texas project with a series of flooding episodes, deaths, and multiple state governments, * Southern California project with significant water rights issues at stake with 100 year old contracts for water rights vested in the municipal water companies, Department of Agriculture, State and Federal Fish and Wildlife, Utility/Industry, and NGO’s; and settled a California state-wide water dispute that pitted hydroelectric dams against other needs for water across the state.

• Representative to Abengoa Solar, Inc., and the Solar Energy Industry Association involving the White House Joint Agency Task Force on expediting permitting and licensing of high voltage transmission lines across federal lands; and provided industry comment to the Department of Interior regarding leasing of federal lands for utility scale solar development and the necessary rights of way for transmission interconnections and substations.
  
  
  
• EPA Facilitator under its ADR Contract to design and implement a community-wide visioning and stakeholder involvement program as part of hundred million dollar plus Superfund Clean Up site in Western Massachusetts. This project included a comprehensive assessment, education component involving EPA and Industry scientists, and community visioning and design sessions.

• Working as the lead facilitator for the State of Maryland Shapiro coordinated 20+ health care organizations in West Baltimore to form a primary care umbrella organization to better serve the disenfranchised and under-insured populations in West Baltimore under the Affordable Care Act. In this effort the West Baltimore Health Collaborative obtained a $5M grant from the state to kick-off its efforts.

• Principal in Canadian based ADR oil and gas dispute resolution company whose mission was to provide consultation to energy developers around community involvement concerns. A unique business model that involved repeated and thoughtful public and stakeholder involvement was institutionalized in the western Canadian territories and was then implemented in the US Shale Gas markets.

• Principal in a US Nuclear Waste ADR non-profit organization whose focus is to provide communication and public dialogue forums to the industry, associations and state/local authorities involved in finding alternatives to Yucca Mountain.

• Mediated a multiparty settlement between industry suppliers, municipal and state government off-takers, transmission owners, and FERC. This effort established the PJM (Mid-Atlantic Regional Transmission Organization and Independent System Operator) Capacity Auction Market that requires every entity involved in grid reliability to have access capacity on its system.

• Facilitated a multiparty settlement program for the New York Independent System Operator that shifted the financial settlements on sales of electricity from monthly to bi-weekly based on the 2008 credit swap market crash and the failing of Lehman Brothers who held a significant amount of utility assets.

• Provided training to hundreds of federal and industry employees on the benefits of collaborative decision-making, interest based negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution systems.

• Served as co-chair of an American Bar Association Task Force focused on confidentiality in federal dispute resolution with particular attention given to the role and relationship with agency inspector generals.

• Co-chair of agency wide task force that caused top twenty-four federal agencies in signing a pledge committing to finding alternative dispute resolution processes involving agency contract disputes – ultimately leading to an amendment to the Contract Disputes Act and the Federal Acquisition Regulations.