Chair’s Column

This is my final column as Chair of the Infrastructure and Regulated Industries Section. At the Annual Meeting in August, I will turn over the reins of the Section to Chair-Elect Chris Binnig. Having worked closely with Chris for the past year and knowing the strong, strategic focus that he has, rest assured that the Section will be in good hands.

This has been a challenging year for the Section and the ABA as a whole. As you undoubtedly know, both the ABA and the Section have experienced significant declines in membership and revenue over the past several years. In order to address these declines, the ABA created a task group that studied the issues over several years and, as a result, developed a new membership model that was rolled out this year. The dues invoice that you recently received for the 2019–2020 membership year reflects new, more simplified billing categories recommended by the task group. In addition, the new membership model provides for access to an increased CLE Member Library, as well as other valuable content.

Our Section leadership is committed to ensuring that rich and valuable content is provided to our members. This Infrastructure newsletter that you are now reading, under the editorial guidance of Bill Drexel, provides industry practitioners the opportunity to express their views on recent legal questions involving infrastructure industries. In recent years, the Section has become heavily involved in the development of webinars. Under the leadership of Cathy McCarthy and Andy Emerson, the Section has hosted three webinars during my tenure as chair:

• Electric Transmission FERC Ratemaking: Formula Rates, Protocols, Return on Equity and Incentives (December 7, 2018);
• Electric Vehicles and Utilities: Recent Regulatory Developments and Utility Engagement (February 13, 2019); and
• Environment and Natural Resource Laws Applicable to Infrastructure Projects: Changes Affecting Project Planning and Execution (July 24, 2019).

The Section also has posted three webinars from prior years that are now accessible to Section members for free:

• Lessons Learned and Recent Developments in Integrating Electric Storage into Power Systems;
• Regulated Industry M&A Transactions: Special Considerations and Recent Developments; and
• Current Developments in Grid Reliability.

As part of the ABA’s new membership model, the Section has committed to expanding both the amount and variety of new content for its members. We have looked at developing ways to communicate information to the Section’s members in a timely fashion so that members can look to the Section as a source of current information about their practice areas. We have decided preliminarily to record portions of our Spring and Fall Section Council meetings and make them available to members by podcast. We also intend to create a presence on social media. These initiatives will be implemented starting in the Fall under Chris Binnig’s leadership.

Now would be a great time to become more engaged in the Section. Register and participate in webinars if the subject matter interests you. If you are interested in writing an article for Infrastructure, participating as a speaker in a webinar, or developing a podcast, please let Bill, Cathy, or Andy know, and they can help facilitate your participation. As Section leadership, it is our goal to make sure that the Section contributes to your practice in a way that you feel is both valuable and rewarding.

Finally, I would like to thank Bill Drexel, the editor of Infrastructure, for the kind words in his column about me. It truly has been an honor and privilege to serve as Chair of this Section. As Chris Binnig takes over as Chair, I look forward to supporting Chris and continuing to participate in this Section’s future ­activities.