Justin Ooms

Justin Ooms is a Counsel in the firm’s Energy and Environmental group. His practice focuses on energy law, where he specializes in representing clients before the Michigan Public Service Commission, including the leading trade associations representing small- and utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage developers, electric vehicle charging business interests, competitive power supply energy suppliers and marketers, independent power producers, manufacturers, agricultural processors, and public entities and institutions. He has also represented renewable energy developers and lenders as Michigan counsel on the development and financing of energy generation projects in Michigan, specializing in permitting and other regulatory matters.

Mr. Ooms also regularly counsels clients regarding Michigan energy policy and regulatory developments at the Michigan Public Service Commission, including with respect to the ongoing implementation of Michigan’s 2023 energy legislation, which introduced ambitious new renewable energy and clean energy portfolio standard requirements and empowered the Michigan Public Service Commission to take jurisdiction over the siting of large utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage projects.

Representative Experience

• Negotiated and drafted terms of settlement agreements in Integrated Resource Plan cases filed by Michigan utilities giving independent power producers a defined share of new renewable generation and battery storage capacity planned to be acquired by the utilities in the coming years.
• Successfully defeated major Michigan utility’s proposal to purchase existing natural gas generation units to replace retiring coal units and negotiated to obtain opportunities for renewable energy and energy storage developers to compete to fulfill the resulting capacity needs, which has resulted in the selection of at least two third-party energy storage projects, totaling upwards of 300 MW of energy storage capacity.
• Negotiated and drafted terms of settlement agreement in Voluntary Green Pricing case filed by major Michigan utility expanding development and offtake opportunities for independent power producers to support utility programs.
• Successfully defeated multiple proposals made by major Michigan utilities to implement utility-owned residential behind-the-meter storage pilot programs which would unfairly compete with third-party storage providers.
• Successfully advocated for and maintained outflow credit rate for rooftop solar “distributed generation” program customers at retail power supply rate, inclusive of transmission costs, against multiple utility proposals to reduce the outflow rate to average locational marginal pricing.
• Performed due diligence for acquisition and financing of utility-scale solar and wind projects on behalf of developers or financing parties.