Patrick has more than twenty years of legal experience related to public utility matters in Texas, including working for, and representing clients before, various Texas regulatory agencies dealing with electric, telecommunications and water/wastewater utility issues. He also assists clients in maintaining compliance with state and federal regulatory requirements. He was actively involved in the development of the regulatory changes that were necessary to implement competition in both the telecommunications and electric energy markets in Texas. He has been certified in Administrative Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1989. Patrick was recognized by Chambers USA 2011 as one of the leading practitioners in the United States for Energy.
Patrick's experience includes representation of clients in:
- Proceedings concerning wholesale and retail electric and telecommunications utility rate change requests submitted to the Public Utility Commission of Texas;
- Proceedings to implement competition in the electric and telecommunications industries in response to changes in state and federal law;
- Proceedings concerning both wholesale and retail water and wastewater utility rate changes submitted to the Texas Water Commission (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality);
- Proceedings concerning licenses or certificates to provide utility services, including applications for water rights appropriations and wastewater disposal;
- Enforcement and administrative penalty proceedings concerning compliance with regulatory requirements;
- Rulemaking proceedings concerning both substantive and procedural requirements for agency action, including major rules concerning oversight of electric market participants and enforcement of prohibitions against market manipulation;
- Proceedings at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to establish or amend Protocol requirements for ERCOT governance and the operation of ERCOT markets;
- Review of proposed transactions and operations, including marketing plans, to assure compliance with regulatory requirements.
Selected Representative Experience
Bosque Power Company, LLC
Representation of Prepetition Agent and Working Group of Lenders in the 2010 Chapter 11 of Bosque Power Co LLC and its affiliates. The Texas-based electricity generation company borrowed approximately $410 million in January 2008 in part to fund a conversion of two of its combustion turbines. The Prepetition Agent and the Working Group of Lenders terminated the exclusivity period and confirmed a plan of reorganization in the fall of 2010.