Michael Postar

Experience

Mr. Postar joined the Firm in 1992.  He serves clients both in litigation and consultation capacities in the areas of public utility and energy law. He represents states, municipalities, cooperatively-owned rural electric utilities, joint powers agencies, and community power (choice) aggregators. His public utility practice focuses on representing clients in electric and hydroelectric matters. His electric practice includes the representation of a large group of California municipal utilities in litigation respecting the use, operation and charges for new transmission facilities. He also advises electric clients on wholesale power and transmission issues, including rates, terms and conditions of service and the requirements of state and federal regulations, laws and precedents, including the Federal Power Act, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, and the Energy Policy Acts of 1992 and 2005. Mr. Postar also has experience with, and has analyzed, demand-side management programs and integrated resource planning processes. He advises clients on Reliability Standards, FERC enforcement proceedings, and regulatory compliance programs. Mr. Postar's hydroelectric practice includes advising a state in the implementation of its hydroelectric licensing program and the development of applications for federal preliminary permits, licenses and transfers. His public utility practice involves representation before the FERC, state regulatory authorities, industry transmission and reliability entities, and state and federal courts. 

He has represented clients on a wide range of Independent System Operator initiatives and rate setting proceedings ranging from market structure and operation to transmission and power supply development and pricing.  That representation has included complex litigation, negotiation, and federal appeals. 

Mr. Postar held numerous positions at FERC from 1981-1992, including Assistant to the Chair, supervisory attorney, and litigation attorney.  He advised FERC on a wide variety of policy initiatives and teamed with subject matter experts to develop and implement market alternatives that have supported a more robust industry.  Since leaving FERC, Mr. Postar has focused primarily on representation before that agency involving policy development and litigation of rates, terms, and conditions of transmission and power supply, including through Independent System Operators.

Areas of Focus

Presentations & Publications

Presentations

• American Public Power Association, Industry Spotlight Series, National Conference June 2019, “Are Renewables Ruining the Organized Markets” (with Thomas Rudebusch, Jeff Genzer, Sean Neal)
• American Public Power Association, Industry Spotlight Series, National Conference 2018, “What Federal/State Jurisdictional Issues Mean for your System” (with Jeff Genzer, Thomas Rudebusch, Lisa Gast, Sean Neal)
• FERC Update, 2015 Annual Conference of the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities, July 2015
• FERC Order No. 1000: Regional Transmission Planning Impact, American Public Power Association, Legal Seminar, October 2014
• Recent Activities at FERC and What it Means for Public Power in Colorado, 2013 Annual Conference of the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities, July 2013
• FERC Electric Utility Formula Rates - A Practitioner’s Guide, American Public Power Association, Legal Seminar: Practice & Policy, October 2012, (with Joshua E. Adrian)
• Energy Imbalance Markets: Should Public Power be Concerned, 2012 Annual Conference of the Colorado Association of Municipal Utilities, July 2012, (Moderator)
• FERC Jurisdiction Over Municipal Utilities, Section 211(a) and Reciprocity - A Case of Mission Creep?, American Public Power Association, Legal Seminar, October 2007

Publications

• Warren's Cable Regulation Manual
• Michael Postar and Theodore J. Glick, Nuclear power plant decommissioning: The bottom line, Nuclear News, Vol. 32, No. 14, p. 42 (November 1989)
• Michael Postar and Theodore J. Glick, Debating Decommissioning Costs: Response, Nuclear News, Vol. 33, No. 3, p. 22 (March 1990)