Stone & Baxter has represented members of the Georgia natural gas industry since deregulation of the natural gas industry in Georgia occurred in 1996.

The attorneys at Stone & Baxter has extensive experience advocating on behalf of natural gas industry members in regulatory proceedings before the Georgia Public Service Commission. These proceedings range from the complex to the routine, including applications for marketer certificates, requests for approval of customer terms and conditions, triannual capacity supply plan proceedings, and proceeding to reconcile pipeline flow variances. These proceedings regularly require a petition or an application or intervene, drafting or reviewing discovery responses, aiding clients in preparing pre-filed testimony, negotiating with other parties to the docket in attempts to reach a stipulation, and representing our clients at hearings in front of the PSC.

Our work on behalf of our natural gas clients also involves defending or prosecuting appeals from the Public Service Commission. Consequently, we have litigated and won regulatory appeals on behalf of our natural gas clients in front of the Superior Court of Fulton County, the Georgia Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. Stone & Baxter’s extensive experience with natural gas regulatory law allows us to effectively explain complex regulatory issues and argue the client’s position before the judiciary.

The firm also has extensive experience representing natural gas industry members before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and advising our clients on the effects of FERC’s regulatory decisions.

The firm’s representation of natural gas utilities and marketers has included lobbying efforts in the Georgia General Assembly.

Beyond litigation, Stone & Baxter assists its natural gas clients in their business and transaction work. Our clients often choose us to do their transactional work because we are intimately familiar with the regulatory restrictions and opportunities. Thus, we can provide advice which blends both business and regulatory knowledge. For a more detailed description of the firm’s transactional practice, click here.

Representative Experience

• Represented a Georgia natural gas marketer in each of the previous five capacity supply plans filed by the electing distribution company, Atlanta Gas Light Company. In the latest plan proceeding (2016-2019), the PSC adopted our client’s position on allocation of certain costs before the issue was ultimately settled prior to a motion for rehearing.

• Intervened on behalf of a Georgia natural gas marketer in Southern Company and Atlanta Gas Light Company’s application for PSC approval of a $8 billion merger between the two companies. Application was ultimately approved with our client’s consent in exchange for numerous protective concessions agreed to by Southern Company and Atlanta Gas Light.