Navigating a Turbulent Energy Transition What Lawyers Need to Know
The symposium focuses on emerging regional and national law and policy issues affecting the clean energy transition.
This year’s event includes panels on increasing the efficiency of our electric transmission grid, assessing FERC’s changes to how it approves natural gas infrastructure projects, and implementing Local Law 97 in New York City. The keynote will focus on the challenges of meeting New York State’s climate goals.
Hosted by the Vermont Law and Graduate School Institute for Energy and the Environment, with support from the Committee on Continuing Legal Education and the Environmental and Energy Law Section
- September 24, 2026
- 1:00 PM
- 6:00 PM
- 3.5
- 3.5
- New York City
- Virtual Participation
- Bracewell LLP
31 W 52nd St, Suite 1900
New York, NY 10019
New York State Bar Association
Vermont Law and Graduate School Institute for Energy and the Environment
Environmental and Energy Law Section
Committee on Continuing Legal Education
Navigating a Turbulent Energy Transition What Lawyers Need to Know
September 24, 2026
1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Bracewell LLP 31 W 52nd St Ste 1900, New York, NY 10019
3.5 MCLE Credits
3.5 Credits in Areas of Professional Practice
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys including those newly admitted.
Agenda
1:00 p.m. – 1:10 p.m. Welcome and Introduction
Mark James
Director, Institute for Energy and the Environment
1:10 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. Optimizing the Electric Transmission Grid – FERC Order 1920 and Beyond
Electric grid operators are grappling with rising demand and growing concerns about energy affordability. How the system is planned, paid for, and constructed will determine its ability to meet cost effectively meet demand. In 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Order 1920, which is the most significant revision to transmission planning and cost allocation practices since 2011’s Order 1000. Panelists will discuss the implementation of Order 1920 and how it is changing transmission planning, and other legal and regulatory tools for improving our transmission grid.
Speakers:
Hayley Carlock, Esq.
Special Counsel
New York Power Authority
White Plains, NY
Alex Lawton
Director
Advanced Energy United
New York, NY
Erin McClelland, Esq.
Associate
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
Washington, DC
Kelt Wilska
Senior Manager of State Policy for Advanced Transmission Technologies
Grid Strategies, LLC
Washington, DC
2:20 p.m. – 2:35 p.m. Networking Break
2:35 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. FERC’s Changing Policies and Practices for Approving Natural Gas Infrastructure
How the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission evaluates and approves applications to build and modify natural gas pipelines and liquified natural facilities has changed significantly in the last two years. Those changes will determine what the gas system will look like in the coming decades. The panel will discuss how recent Supreme Court decisions reshaping environmental law combined with the FERC’s overhaul of major parts of its Natural Gas Act pipeline certification process are altering how pipelines are evaluated and how they are opposed.
The panel will be comprised of public interest litigators with extensive experience working on natural gas infrastructure proposals.
Speakers:
Clara Derby (moderator)
Associate Attorney
Southern Environmental Law Center
Asheville, NC
Jennifer Danis
Federal Energy Policy Director
Institute for Policy Integrity
New York, NY
Gillian Giannetti, Esq.
Director & Senior Attorney, Fossil Strategy, Climate & Energy
Natural Resources Defense Council
Washington, DC
Nick Krakoff
Director of Clean Grid
Conservation Law Foundation
Concord, NH
3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Networking Break
4:00 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. Decarbonizing New York City’s Buildings – Strategies and Challenges in Implementing Local Law 97
Local Law 97 set greenhouse gas emissions caps for large buildings in New York City and is one of the core pieces of the city’s decarbonization efforts. The law primarily applies to properties over 25,000 square feet including New York City’s public housing with compliance deadlines starting in 2024, with escalating emissions reductions required by 2030 with net zero emissions achieved in 2050. The panel will investigate the unique challenges of reducing emissions in New York City’s public housing, supporting the deployment of emissions reductions technologies, managing emissions reductions and the needs of residents, and what is needed to meet the 2030 and 2050 targets.
Speakers:
Mark James
Director, Institute for Energy and the Environment
Veronique Bugnion
CEO, Clearly Energy
Sonal Jessel
Senior Program Director,
Building Power Resource Center
New York, NY
Amanda Clevinger
Policy and Programs Director
Bright Energy
New York, NY
5:10 p.m. – 5:55 p.m. KEYNOTE – The Struggles of Achieving New York State's Climate Ambitions
Bethany Davis
Executive Director
Multi-State Assistance for Public Service Leadership and Excellence (MAPLE) Initiative, Vermont Law and Graduate School
South Royalton, VT
Keynote Speaker
Noah C. Shaw, Esq
Partner
Foley Hoag, Former General Counsel, NYSERDA
Albany, New York
3.5 Credits in Areas of Professional Practice
- Hybrid
- 0RC24
