Minnesota State Bar Association

MSBA Public Utilities Law Section

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MSBA PUBLIC UTILITIES LAW SECTION
2009-10 Annual Report
Submitted by James P. Johnson, Chair of the MSBA Section on Public Utilities Law.

Membership: The Section had 120 members this year. In addition, the section invites law students to attend the section meetings (at no charge), and law students attended several of the section CLEs.

Continuing Legal Education: The Section hosted or co-sponsored a CLE in each month from September to May. (The section usually does not sponsor programs from June to August). The Section offered the following CLEs:

The September 2009 meeting was attended by more than 50 persons, the largest Section meeting attendance in memory. My thanks to the Program Subcommittee for their efforts to pull together

Pro Bono/Volunteer Service Activities: The section did not sponsor any specific pro bono or volunteer activities. However, the section voted to contribute $1000 to the Beck Scholars clerkship program at the Volunteer Lawyers Network (sponsored by the Administrative Law Section), and contributed $1000 to the MSBA Haitian relief initiative.

Website and practicelaw.org: The Section updated the Energy and Telecommunications Law Practice Related Links on the section website. Thanks to Section member Ingrid Bjorklund for her efforts on that project!

Section Newsletter/Publication: Not applicable.

Council Meetings: The Section Council met seven times over the course of the year: July, September and October 2009; and January, February, March and April 2010. Thanks to the Council members for their dedicated service.

Annual Meeting: The Section annual meeting was held on May 26, 2010. The members of the Section elected four members to the Section Council for 2010-11, approved the Council officers for the 2010-11 term, and approved a resolution extending the terms of Council members Linda Jensen and Bruce Gerhardson from June 2011 to June 2012 to balance the Council terms expiring in any year, consistent with the Section bylaws.

Election Results: The Section members attending the annual meeting elected the following Council members and Officers to serve terms as follows:

Council members (2010-12):
Ingrid Bjorklund
Lisa Crum*
Jim Johnson*
Joan Peterson Lussenhop*
*on 2009-10 council; re-elected for another two year term.

Council Officers for 2010-11
Lisa Crum, Chair
Linda Jensen, Vice-Chair
Bruce Gerhardson, Secretary-Treasurer

In addition, Jim Johnson will serve as Immediate Past Chair consistent with the Section bylaws.

The Section's MSBA Assembly representative for 2010-11 will be Lisa Crum, Section Chair.

Fiscal Status: The Section began 2009-10 with a positive account balance of $13,705.29. The section account balance as of April 30, 2010 (most recent data available) was $15,301.25.

The Section Council expresses its appreciation for the work of Tom Bailey during his terms on the Council. Tom has served in a number of capacities, was Section Chair during 2008-09 and Immediate Past Chair this year, and actively worked on both the Program Subcommittee and Nominating Committee during 2009-10. Thanks Tom!

Also, thanks to Donna Stephenson for her service on the Council. Donna's term expires June 30, 2010, and she chose not run for re-election.

Finally, the Section Council and I sincerely appreciate all the support provided by Kim Basting, our MSBA liaison, to the Section over the 2009-10 year.

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Educational and Informational Programs: The Public Utilities Section was very active this year, offering its members the following ten educational and informational programs:

As can be seen, the programs covered a wide variety of subjects of interest to section members. We also focused on our obligation as a section to help members satisfy their obligation to provide services to the public. In particular, two of the programs specifically addressed how attorneys could provide pro bono services.

Legislative and Rulemaking: The section sponsored two pieces of legislation this year. The legislation sought improvements in the procedures used to address ex parte communications with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, and proposed a public selection process for selecting future public utility commissioners. While neither piece of legislation was enacted this year, we believe that this work has provided the foundation for future legislation on these topics.

Officers: The section has elected the following persons to serve as its officers in the coming year:

Chair	Michael Bradley
Vice Chair	Michael Krikava
Secretary/Treasurer	Brenda Bjorklund
Statutes and Rules Subcommittee	Neil Hamilton
Speakers and Topics Subcommittee	Ad Hoc Subcommittee of the Council

The following persons serve on the section's Council: James Bertrand, Carol Casebolt, Allan Klein, Jim Johnson, Richard Luis, Jeff Oxley, Kevin Saville, David Seykora, and Scott Wilensky.

Educational Programs: The Public Utilities Section was very active this year, offering its members the following ten programs:

July 1997	Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Operational Review Process
September 1997	Public Utility Commissions and Government Intervenors
October 1997	Is There Life After the Practice of Utility Law?
November 1997	Doing Business in Foreign Countries and Energy Transactions
December 1997	1998 Preview: Right of Way Rules, Electric Restructuring, Gas Unbundling
February 1998	Tips on Contested Case Hearings
March 1998	Open Meeting Law/Ex Parte Communications
April 1998	Dispute Resolution
May 1998	Forum with Attorney General Candidates
June 1998	Pro bono Opportunities

As can be seen, the programs covered a wide variety of subjects of interest to section members. We also focused on our obligation as a section to help members satisfy their obligation to provide services to the public. In particular, the June program specifically addressed how attorneys could provide pro bono services.

Legislative and Rulemaking: The section did not sponsor legislation this year. However, it worked with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to address a concern brought to the section by the MPUC. Specifically, the MPUC asked the section to evaluate possible changes to its current ex parte communications rules. The MPUC wished to provide full due process while simultaneously giving its commissioners access to information that would otherwise be unavailable because of the restrictive nature of the current rules.

The section also assisted the MPUC in an extensive survey and comment process through which the MPUC sought information concerning its strengths and weaknesses and ways to improve its operations.

Officers: The section has elected the following persons to serve as its officers in the coming year:

June 1998	Pro Bono Opportunities
September 1998	Pro Bono Opportunities and Delphi Update
October 1998	Legislative Changes Regarding Ex Parte Complaint Proceedings and the Commissioner Selection Process
November 1998	Ex Parte Communications and Commissioner Selection at the MPUC
February 1999	What's Happening at the Legislature?
March 1999	Perspectives on Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions Involving Telecommunications Issues
April 1999	Right-of-Way Rulemaking Process and Perspective
May 1999	Are Secrets Safe!? Current Data Practice Issues for the Commission and Practitioners