Mark focuses his practice on the regulation of energy companies and public utilities by state and federal regulatory agencies and unregulated energy industry transactions, with a special focus on renewable energy purchase agreements.
Mark has advised a wide range of clients in the electric, natural gas, water, and wastewater sectors, including companies engaged in the generation, sale, purchase, distribution, and transmission of energy or other utility services. Mark has represented a diverse range of clients, including investor-owned public utilities, municipalities, electric cooperatives, private property owners, retail gas and electric suppliers, and publicly and privately held companies.
His recent work includes representing electric and natural gas utilities in contested electric security plan and distribution rate case proceedings, as well as major complaint cases, regulatory investigations, utility service abandonment cases, tariff/rider approval proceedings, competitive retail energy supplier certification approvals, renewable energy resource certifications, and utility merger proceedings. In addition, on behalf of both buyers/off-takers and sellers/developers, Mark has successfully negotiated agreements involving the purchase and sale of renewable energy and associated environmental attributes (e.g., renewable energy certificates, emissions free energy certificates, emissions reduction tonnes, carbon credits/offsets, etc.) generated in connection with renewable or carbon-free energy projects developed across the United States, including one of the largest city-established solar array projects in the United States.
Further, Mark has helped competitive energy suppliers develop new carbon-free or emissions-free energy products to retail energy customers in various jurisdictions across the United States, and regularly advises buyers and sellers in the voluntary and compliance renewable energy markets.
*Matter completed prior to joining Benesch.
Representative Experience
- Represented publicly and privately held companies and other offtakers in the drafting and negotiation of renewable power purchase agreements and net metering arrangements.*
- Defended municipal utilities in court actions seeking to limit constitutional authority of municipal utilities over rates and use of funds.*
- Represented a municipality in connection with one of the largest municipal solar energy projects developed in the United States, which was uniquely structured to supply the electric load of municipal utility systems and to meet the energy needs of hundreds of thousands of residents participating in the municipality’s governmental aggregation program.*
- Represented a debtor in addressing energy-related issues in bankruptcy and restructuring transactions.*
- Represented municipalities, energy suppliers, and publicly and privately held companies in contested multi-million-dollar rate case and electric security plan proceedings.*
- Represented an electric distribution utility in a contested multi-billion-dollar electric security plan proceeding.*
- Defended a claim on an $86 million letter of credit in a contested contractual dispute between a competitive retail electric service provider and a governmental aggregator.*
