Energy/AI Nexus

The rapid growth of AI infrastructure is creating a collision between energy policy, permitting, and technology investment that most Washington shops are not equipped to navigate. We track this intersection closely, publish on it regularly, and advise utilities, technology companies, and investors on the policy and regulatory implications of hyperscale load growth, capacity constraints, and the federal decisions that will shape how this plays out.

See elizabethkwhitney.substack.com for our thought leadership on this subject

Hydropower

Hydropower is the original renewable — clean, reliable, and increasingly contested as federal relicensing, water rights, and environmental requirements collide with the demands of a changing grid. For public power utilities, it's not just a resource; it's often the foundation of their rate structure and their identity. That relationship gives us a perspective on federal hydropower policy — Power Marketing Administration proceedings, preference power entitlements, relicensing, and the legislative debates that determine how this resource gets allocated and priced — that goes deeper than most.

Transmission

Getting power from where it's generated to where it's needed is one of the defining infrastructure challenges of the energy transition. We have been involved in transmission policy debates for decades — from cost allocation and siting to federal eminent domain and interconnection reform — and we understand how transmission decisions affect those who depend on the grid.

Clean Energy

Decarbonization of the energy sector is a political consideration in every aspect of federal energy policy, from tax incentives to grid interconnection to permitting. We help clients navigate the policy environment surrounding renewable development, resource choices, and the regulatory frameworks that govern how clean energy gets built, connected, and paid for.

Permitting

Permitting has become a political process, and reforming the outdated policies that slow down economic growth is a top priority. Both permitting decisions and policy changes have significant implications for transmission, generation, and infrastructure development. We follow congressional and agency activity on permitting reform closely and help clients engage with agencies, understand how proposed changes will affect their projects, and shape the debate underway.

Tax and Finance

Access to capital is existential for the organizations we represent. We work across a wide range of financing tools — municipal bonds, Rural Utility Service funds, federal loan programs, grants, and congressionally directed spending — and we have deep expertise in the energy tax credit landscape, including IRA implementation, elective pay, and nuclear tax credits.

Organized Markets

Few issues in federal energy policy are more technically complex or more consequential for consumers than RTO market design. We understand capacity markets, energy market structure, cost allocation, and the tension between federal market rules and state policy — and we represent the consumer-first perspective where that voice is often outnumbered.

Nuclear

Nuclear is a through-line in a world of frequently changing political priorities — and it deserves to be. We believe nuclear is essential to the grid of the future and that conviction shapes who we work with and how we engage. We have been deeply active in this space for years, including direct representation of clients at the forefront of advanced nuclear development and public power nuclear operations.