Randall S. Rich
Partner
F 888.847.9228
Randall Rich is the partner-in-charge of the Washington, DC office. Throughout his over 40 years of experience, beginning in the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and continuing for more than 23 years at the DC office of a large Texas law firm, Randy always strives to form close personal bonds with clients as well as trusting relationships with both regulators and his colleagues in the energy bar. He gains an intimate understanding of the business and legal needs of clients by working for extended periods in their offices, hand-in-hand with in-house counsel. Randy guides clients through the rapidly changing regulation of the natural gas and oil industry at the federal and state level, providing sophisticated counseling and representation in contested proceedings, multiparty settlements, applications, rulemakings, and enforcement investigations.
Randy represents all segments of the energy and utility industries before the FERC, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and state public utility commissions. He provides comprehensive legal counsel on natural gas regulation and policy, pipeline and utility ratemaking, tariffs, certificates and abandonment; natural gas transportation, gathering, marketing and trading; Natural Gas Act exemptions for Hinshaw pipelines, production and gathering, and plant lines; enforcement of and compliance with the Natural Gas Act (NGA), Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA), and FERC regulations including compliance counseling and training; natural gas business transactions and contracting, including NAESB agreements; Presidential Permits for cross-border facilities; DOE energy grants, loans, and loan guarantees; renewable natural gas transactions; pipeline interconnections; and oil pipeline regulation and waivers under the Interstate Commerce Act (ICA). Randy was at the forefront of the development of an Asset Management Arrangement (AMAs) exception to FERC's natural gas capacity release rules and has negotiated AMAs and successfully obtained numerous waivers of those regulations for a variety of both the releasing and replacement shippers.
Since joining Pierce Atwood in 2009 as a partner in the Energy Practice Group, Randy continues to work with the firm's natural gas, oil, and petroleum products clients before FERC and in related matters, including marketer/trader, producer and end-user clients and New England-based gas pipelines, LDCs and end users with a significant and growing interest in natural gas, renewable natural gas project developers, and crude oil and products producers, shippers and pipeline owners. He also has worked with consultants to foreign governments to draft new natural gas laws. His long-time representation of the Gas and Oil Association of WV (formerly Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia) and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association gives Randy keen insight into the development, production, and marketing of Marcellus and Utica shale natural gas, a game-changing supply of clean, strategically located domestic fuel that will power the eastern United States for the next century.
Honors & Distinctions
- Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® for Energy Law, Energy Regulatory Law, and Oil and Gas Law (2020-present)
- The Best Lawyers in America® “Lawyer of the Year” in Washington, D.C. for Energy Regulatory Law (2022)
- Recognized by Chambers USA since 2009 as a leading lawyer in Nationwide Energy: Oil & Gas (Regulatory and Litigation), and since 2017 in the Chambers Global Guide in the same category
- Rated AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 by Martindale-Hubbell
- Recognized as a Washington DC Super Lawyer in the area of Energy and Natural Resources (2014-2020)
Professional Activities
- Energy Bar Association (1986-present)
- Masters Council (2020-present) (Co-chair 2022-23)
- Board of Directors (2004-2007)
- Natural Gas Regulation Committee (Natural Gas, Oil & Liquids Steering Committee) (2014-present)
- FERC Practice Committee (2015-2019)
- Organizing Committee for Enforcers and Defenders Forum (2016-2020)
- American Bar Association (1986-2020)
- Gas and Oil Association of WV (formerly Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc.) (1986-present)
Publications
- Author, "Producer Issues at FERC: 2022 Year in Review," GO-WV News, Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia
- Speech to Gas & Oil Association of West Virginia, Producer Issues Committee Meeting, Winter Meeting (January 2023)
- Contributor to Pierce Atwood’s Energy Infrastructure blog
- Panel moderator, Maine Natural Gas Conference (October 2017-2019)
- Speech to Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc. Winter Meeting (January 2020)
- Speech to Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc., FERC Gas Transportation 101 (April 2017)
- Panel moderator, Energy Bar Association Enforcers and Defenders Forum (April 2017)
- Speech to Maine Natural Gas Conference (October 2016)
- Spoke on natural gas supply.
- Speech to Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc. Summer Meeting (August 2016)
- Spoke on recent developments at the FERC of interest to IOGA's Appalachian natural gas producer and marketer members. Randy serves as FERC and Washington, DC counsel to IOGA.
- Speech to Maine Natural Gas Conference (October 2015)
- Spoke on gas service to industrial end users.
- Speech to University of Texas School of Law 14th Annual Gas and Power Institute (September 2015)
- Spoke of key FERC orders in the past year.
- Speech to Energy Bar Association Annual Meeting (June 2015)
- Spoke on "The FERC Way" and participated on a panel discussing steps practitioners should take to preserve arguments and appellate rights in FERC proceedings.
- Principal author, Energy Law & Transactions, Natural Gas Gathering Systems Chapter (LexisNexis 2022) and Regulation of the Natural Gas Industry, Natural Gas Gathering Systems (LexisNexis 2023)
Civic Activities
- Pierce Atwood Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee (2022- present)
- Pierce Atwood Pro Bono Committee (2014-present)
- GeoPlunge "Coach," Patterson Elementary (DC), Anne Beers Elementary (DC) (2013-present)
- Anne Beers Spelling Bee Pronouncer (2017, 2019, 2023)
- Member, 40th Reunion Committee, Brandeis University Class of 1977, after-dinner speaker (2017)
- Ladue (MO) Education Foundation - Participated in a mock debate at event honoring former Horton Watkins (Ladue) High School Debate Coach and English Teacher, Wild Bill Heyde (2015)
Practice Areas
Representative Experience
- Represented major Canadian oil producer in Enbridge (Lakehead) oil pipeline rate cases. (2021-22)
- Represented informal coalitions of producers, associations, and marketers in settling several FERC natural gas pipeline rate cases. (2021-22)
- Advised a large natural gas marketer on FERC capacity release rules and policies, including buy/sell restrictions. (2022)
- Represented regional natural gas retail marketer in Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities Natural Gas Collaborative. (2022)
- Advised oil producer/gatherers on waivers of FERC regulation under Interstate Commerce Act. (2021-22)
- Advised natural gas pipeline operator and end user on FERC's "plant line" exemption to regulation under the Natural Gas Act. (2021-22)
- Successfully obtained a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for the New England Clean Energy Connect electric transmission project. (2017-21)
- Represented Northern Utilities, Inc. d/b/a Unitil and Bangor Natural Gas Company in FERC proceeding regarding Atlantic Bridge natural gas pipeline project and continued operation of the Weymouth Compressor Station. (2021)
- Represented producer associations in FERC abandonment proceeding seeking to physically abandon pipeline facilities used by producers to deliver natural gas to markets. (2020-21)
- Represented producer associations in FERC rate case affecting rates and pipeline facilities used by producers to deliver natural gas to markets. (2020-21)
- Successfully obtained waivers of FERC’s natural gas transportation rules and policies to facilitate the sale of an interstate natural gas pipeline and associated producing properties and transportation capacity. (2021)
- Represented developer of renewable natural gas project in interconnection and downstream transportation issues. (2021)
- Represented Gas and Oil Association of WV in judicial review of Mountain Valley Pipeline’s FERC certificates in US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit. (2021)
- Represented oil producers in open seasons for new crude oil pipeline facilities. (2021)
- Advised oil producer regarding appeal of Dakota Access Pipeline permitting. (2020-21)
- Represented Northern Utilities, Inc. d/b/a Unitil and Bangor Natural Gas Company in settlement of Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline FERC rate case. (2020-21)
- Advised shippers and other parties on natural gas pipeline interconnection agreements. (2020-21)
- Successfully structured and obtained abandonment by sale from Greylock Pipeline to Greylock Shawville Pipeline to place interstate natural gas pipeline assets into a stand-alone special-purpose entity. (2020)
- Represented Granite State Gas Transmission in a successful prefiling settlement of FERC transportation rates and future capital cost recovery. (2020)
- Structured, prepared, and obtained waiver of FERC capacity release and transportation rules to permit transfer of capacity between affiliated gas producers Aethon United BR LP and Aethon III HV LLC without competitive bidding. (2020)
- FERC Natural Gas Transportation Compliance Training for natural gas marketers. (2020)
- Represented numerous shippers in reviewing and evaluating FERC Form 501-G filings by interstate natural gas pipelines regarding the impact of the change in federal corporate income tax under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on pipeline rates. (2018-19)
- Represented Greylock Pipeline in an uncontested settlement to revise its rates to reflect the change in federal corporate income tax under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and the acquisition of a three-mile lateral pipeline. (2018-19)
- Represented several shippers in rate cases filed at FERC by Texas Eastern Transmission and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line. (2018-19)
- Represented Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association in successful settlement of Empire Pipeline and National Fuel Gas Supply pipeline rate cases at FERC. (2018-20)
- Represented EDF Trading in appeals of FERC's El Paso Natural Gas Company rate case orders in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (2018-19)
- Represented Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia in appeals of FERC's orders granting a certificate of public convenience and necessity to Atlantic Coast Pipeline to construct a new natural gas pipeline in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (2018-19)
- Represented Granite State Gas Transmission in successful uncontested settlement to revise its rates to reflect the change in federal corporate income tax under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. (2018)
- Represented large crude oil producer in obtaining a waiver from FERC to facilitate the release of capacity required by a corporate restructuring, in which three affiliates – formed when our client acquired another independent Permian Basin oil and gas producer – were rolled into our client. (2018-19)
- Represented Delaware City Refining Company (PBF Energy) in the successful settlement of Eastern Shore Natural Gas Company’s FERC rate case. (2017)
- FERC Natural Gas Transportation Compliance Training for natural gas producers and marketers. (2017)
- Represented Central Maine Power in obtaining a Presidential Permit for the US-Canada border crossing of the New England Clean Energy Connect transmission project. (2017-2019)
- Represented Energy Corporation of America and First ECA Midstream in obtaining a waiver from FERC to permit the orderly transfer of firm transportation agreements related to the sale of ECA’s business to Greylock Energy. (2017)
- FERC Enforcement Staff elected to take no action on a self-report regarding a crude oil pipeline owner’s operation without a waiver of the Interstate Commerce Act or a FERC Tariff. (2017)
- Represented anchor shippers on two new natural gas pipeline projects on credit and payment disputes with pipeline. (2016-2017)
- Represented Canadian shipper/end user on US pipelines in obtaining natural gas export authorization from the US Department of Energy. (2016-2017)
- Represented North Dakota crude oil pipeline owner in tariff and Interstate Commerce Act regulatory matters and joint tariff with another pipeline to move crude to Dakota Access Pipeline in lieu of rail transportation. (2016)
- Represented Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc. and Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association in negotiating a settlement establishing a reasonable natural gas retainage rate (for lost and unaccounted-for gas) on Columbia Gas Transmission’s low pressure transmission and gathering system. (2013-2016)
- Represented Independent Oil & Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc. and Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association in negotiating a revised gas quality settlement with Texas Eastern Transmission. (2016)
Latest Updates in Energy
Representative Experience
- Successfully obtained a Presidential Permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for the New England Clean Energy Connect electric transmission project. (2017-21)
- Advised natural gas pipeline operator and end user on FERC's "plant line" exemption to regulation under the Natural Gas Act. (2021-22)
- Represented Northern Utilities, Inc. d/b/a Unitil and Bangor Natural Gas Company in FERC proceeding regarding Atlantic Bridge natural gas pipeline project and continued operation of the Weymouth Compressor Station. (2021-22)
- Represented producer associations in FERC abandonment proceeding seeking to physically abandon pipeline facilities used by producers to deliver natural gas to markets. (2020-22)
- Advised potential LNG customer on contracts for new LNG facility. (2020-21)
- Represented developer of renewable natural gas project in interconnection and downstream transportation issues. (2021)
- Represented oil producers in open seasons for new crude oil pipeline facilities. (2021)
- Advised oil and gas producer on jurisdiction of facilities to gather natural gas and to deliver gas to a sand plant by non-jurisdictional plant line. (2020)
- Successfully structured and obtained abandonment by sale from Greylock Pipeline to Greylock Shawville Pipeline to place interstate natural gas pipeline assets into a stand-alone special-purpose entity. (2020)
- Represented Greylock Pipeline in obtaining certificate authorization under Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act from FERC to permit the transfer of Greylock Pipeline's interstate pipeline assets to a new entity, Greylock Shawville Pipeline. (2018-19)
- Represented Greylock Pipeline in prior notice filing under its FERC blanket certificate to authorize the acquisition of a 3-mile lateral connected to the pipeline. (2018-19)
- Represented a Maine-based pulp and paper mill in negotiating agreements to be a firm shipper on a new natural gas pipeline project. (2018-19).
- Represented large crude oil producer in obtaining a waiver from FERC for a release of capacity on an interstate pipeline from a natural gas gatherer/processor to move our client’s gas from the processing plant tailgate to an intrastate pipeline and in natural; gas transportation contracts and arrangements with the interstate pipeline and a downstream intrastate pipeline. (2018-19)
- Represented large crude oil producer in negotiations to become an anchor shipper on new crude oil pipeline projects, including FERC regulation, Interstate Commerce Act, rate and tariff advice, transportation service agreement, and open season process. (2016-2018)
- Represented NTE Energy in natural gas supply and contracting matters, including negotiation of NAESB agreements, ISDA Gas Annexes, Energy and Fuel Management agreements, and pipeline interconnection agreements for the development of new gas-fired power plants. (2014-2018)
- Represented First ECA Midstream, LLC in obtaining a certificate of public convenience and necessity from FERC for a natural gas pipeline. (2015-2016)
- Represented owner of crude oil pipeline system in FERC and Interstate Commerce Act regulatory issues affecting the sale of the pipeline. (2016)