The Conference of California Public Utility Counsel

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Brian Cragg is a Partner in the San Francisco law firm of Goodin,MacBride, Squeri, Day & Lamprey.  He practices before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and other state and federal regulatory agencies and courts, with a special emphasis on energy matters.  His clients include a trade association of independent energy producers; solar, wind, geothermal, landfill gas, and other renewable energy producers; owners and operators of conventional electric power plants; publicly owned electric utilities; cities and other governmental entities; demand response providers; investment funds; water utilities; electric transmission line developers; and a union representing utility employees.

Mr. Cragg's recent activities include persuading the CPUC to adopt rules that facilitate fair competition between independent generators and electric utilities; negotiating a multiparty agreement to provide high-voltage electric service to a major metal recycling facility; advising Fortune 500 companies on energy purchasing strategies and compliance with greenhouse gas reduction regulations; counseling renewable energy producers on how to tap new markets for their products; negotiating a settlement of a dispute about the terms of an interconnection agreement; and advising clients on the risks and opportunities presented by tradable renewable energy credits (RECs), the cap-and-trade approach to reducing greenhouse gas emission, Resource Adequacy capacity, emerging carbon markets, and the Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (MRTU) of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO).

Before joining Goodin MacBride, Mr. Cragg was an Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge at the CPUC, where he supervised a group of administrative law judges who handled energy-related cases.  During his 18 years at the CPUC, he was involved in many of CPUC's major cases, on topics ranging from rate cases and mergers to cost reviews of nuclear power plants and the introduction of competition into the electric utility and telecommunications industries.

He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall).  He was awarded a Research and Teaching Fellow in energy law and policy at the Natural Resources Law Institute, Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.