William R. Hollaway is a partner in the Energy Infrastructure practice in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office.  Dr. Hollaway has extensive experience representing clients on a broad range of issues in the energy regulatory and energy transactional fields, including numerous proceedings and matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  His clients include independent power producers and transmission companies, as well as traditional regulated generation and transmission utilities.  Dr. Hollaway’s deep understanding of power generation and transmission technology has enabled him to work seamlessly with clients on virtually every type of power generating facility and transmission project.  He has represented clients on numerous wind and solar renewable power projects as well as numerous traditional power projects including natural gas, hydro, nuclear and coal projects.  Dr. Hollaway also represents clients on numerous electric power transmission projects, including both traditional Alternating Current (AC) projects and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission projects, including subsea cables.  He represents clients on project development, mergers and acquisitions, and obtaining approvals to enable transactions.  He has in-depth knowledge of project development and interconnection agreements, including his ground-breaking work on the Neptune Regional Transmission System.  Dr. Hollaway has been at the forefront of competitive transmission development and the development of regulatory processes to enable and implement competitive transmission.

Dr. Hollaway has litigated hearings before the FERC and has successfully negotiated beneficial settlements for clients in both informal and formal dispute resolution proceedings.  He has negotiated and drafted a variety of agreements and contracts to enable the development, construction, and operation of new generating facilities and transmission projects.  Dr. Hollaway advises clients on energy mergers and acquisitions, including the structuring of transactions to address regulatory requirements, reviewing assets, performing due diligence, drafting transaction documents, and obtaining regulatory approvals required to close transactions.  He has successfully prosecuted numerous applications before FERC for authorization to transfer electric facilities, sell both wholesale power and transmission, and obtain regulatory treatment for exempt wholesale generators, foreign utility companies, and qualifying facilities under the Federal Power Act and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act.  Dr. Hollaway has extensive experience working directly with the nation’s Independent System Operators (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO) including PJM, NYISO, ISO-NE, MISO, SPP, ERCOT and CAISO, and he as a detailed and thorough understanding of their open access transmission and market tariffs and operating agreements.

In addition to his work before the FERC, Dr. Hollaway also advises clients on state energy regulatory matters regarding state statutes and regulations.  He advises clients on state energy regulatory requirements and state approval processes for mergers and acquisitions.  Dr. Hollaway regularly represents clients on matters involving the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Dr. Hollaway also advises clients regarding the application of, and compliance with, the regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Atomic Energy Act.  He has represented nuclear power clients in filings and hearings before the NRC with regard to license applications for generating facilities and spent fuel storage facilities.  Dr. Hollaway also advises clients on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and requirements relating to the development and construction of wind generation facilities.

Education and Honors

Dr. Hollaway received his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University.  In addition to his law degree, Dr. Hollaway also has three degrees in nuclear engineering.  He earned both his Ph.D. and Master degrees in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he held a U.S. Department of Energy fellowship.  Dr. Hollaway also earned a Bachelor of Nuclear Engineering degree, with highest honors, from Georgia Tech.  Dr. Hollaway is a member of the Sigma Xi scientific research honor society, Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, Phi Kappa Phi multi-disciplinary honor society, Alpha Nu Sigma nuclear engineering honor society, and Order of the Coif legal honor society.