Norman C. Bay is a partner in the Corporate and Financial Services Department, Chair of the Energy Regulatory & Enforcement Practice Group, and Co-Chair of the Energy & Commodities Practice Group. Norman advises clients on a range of energy market issues, including enforcement and compliance, policy and ratemaking, mergers and acquisitions, and infrastructure development.
Norman was Director of the Office of Enforcement at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from 2009 to 2014, before becoming a Commissioner and Chairman of the Commission. He has extensive litigation experience, as earlier in his career he spent more than a decade at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and then the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico.
Norman is recognized as a thought leader on the energy transition and on electricity and natural gas markets. Chambers USA (2023) ranks him among the leading practitioners nationwide in the area of Energy: Electricity (Regulatory & Litigation). According to Chambers, clients describe Norman as “a tremendously impressive lawyer” with “an academic, in-depth knowledge of the law” and “extremely good judgement,” and highlight that he “knows how FERC thinks about issues.” Norman is also recognized in Best Lawyers for Energy Law, and a leading trade publication previously named him as one of the ten most influential people in energy (“leaders with can-do attitudes”).
In 2021, Norman was appointed to serve as a member of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, which provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of the DOE on energy policies and research and development activities.
Experience
Prior to joining Willkie in 2017, Norman served as Chairman, Commissioner and Director of the Office of Enforcement of FERC, during the most active period in the history of the independent federal agency’s enforcement program. He was integral in shaping FERC’s policy and conducting stakeholder outreach on a wide variety of issues relating to the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets. Norman previously served as the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, where he was responsible for overseeing federal criminal prosecutions and civil litigation involving the United States, and developing and implementing enforcement policy, priorities and practices. His background is unique in combining a deep knowledge of energy markets, regulation, and policy with extensive litigation experience as a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Attorney.
Norman was a tenured Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law. He also previously served as attorney-advisor for the U.S. Department of State, Office of Legal Adviser (International Claims and Investment Disputes) and was a law clerk to the Honorable Otto. R. Skopil, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In 2013, a leading trade publication named Norman one of the ten most influential people in energy (“leaders with can-do attitudes”).
Norman is a non-resident Senior Fellow with Duke University and a member of the NYU Institute for Policy Integrity Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth College.
Speaking Engagements
- Energy Trading Compliance Roundtable, Speaker on FERC Update (June 23, 2021).
- World Bank, Keynote Speaker on The Role of Markets in the Energy Transition (May 25, 2021).
- Energy Bar Association Annual Meeting & Conference, Panelist on Former FERC Commissioners’ Perspective on President Biden’s FERC (May 12, 2021).
- Dartmouth Energy Forum: Investing in Our Energy Futures, Moderator on Driving Progress on Energy and Climate Policy (May 5, 2021).
- FERC Technical Conference on Electrification and the Grid of the Future, Panelist on Local, State, and Federal Coordination (April 29, 2021).
- ACORE Policy Forum, Panelist on Fireside Chat: Regulatory Action to Tackle the Climate Crisis (March 10, 2021).
- WIRES Webinar, Speaker on Electrification and the Grid (Dec. 10, 2020).
- Microgrid 2020 Global Conference, Panelist on The Future of Microgrid Markets (Nov. 18, 2020).
- AWEA, REAL Houston, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher Webinar, Moderator on Hydrogen Primer (Oct. 29, 2020).
- Colorado Energy & Water Institute Conference, Panelist on Keynote Panel: Evolving Energy Markets in the West, Steamboat Springs, CO (Jan. 24, 2020)
- Keynote Speaker, “Trends in Electric Power Transmission Systems,” Transformación Eléctrica Desafíos y Experiencias 2019, Bogotá, Colombia (Nov. 19, 2019).
- Keynote Speaker, International Summit on Future Electricity Markets, Sydney, Australia (Nov. 18, 2019)
- Featured Speaker, “Perspectives on Crisis Management,” National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Austin, Texas (Nov. 7, 2019).
- Keynote Speaker, Singapore Energy Summit, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore (Oct. 29, 2019).
- Panelist, “FERC Enforcement Update,” Edison Electronic Institute 2019 Fall Legal Conference, Philadelphia, PA (Oct. 23, 2019).
- Featured Speaker, “U.S. Energy Policy and Regulatory Landscape,” Japan Electric Power Information Center (JEPIC) Seminar on US Power Markets, Tokyo, Japan (Feb. 27, 2018).
- Willkie Roundtable on Self-Reporting and Cooperation Credit, NY, New York (March 6, 2018).
- Keynote Speaker, “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Independent Power Producers Society of Alberta Annual Conference, Alberta, Canada (March 19, 2018).
- Discussant, POWER Conference, Haas School of Business, Berkeley, CA (March 23, 2018).
- Lecturer, EDGE Seminar at Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC (April 4, 2018).
- Featured Speaker, Energy Storage Association Annual Conference, Boston, MA (April 19, 2018).
- Panelist, “Closing General Session: FERC Former Chairs Panel,” Energy Bar Association Annual Meeting and Conference, Washington, DC (May 8, 2018).
- Speaker, “Efforts to Harmonize State Policy with Wholesale Markets: Capacity Market Changes in ISO-NE and PJM,” AWEA Windpower 2018 (May 9, 2018).
- “Fireside Chat with Former FERC Chairman,” Greentech Media U.S. Power & Renewables Summit 2017. Austin, TX (Nov. 7, 2017).
- Co-Keynote Speaker, Bits & Watts Annual Conference, Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University. Palo Alto, CA (Nov. 6, 2017).
- Co-Keynote Speaker, Fall Western Systems Power Pool Operating Committee Meeting. San Diego, CA (Oct. 20, 2017).
- Keynote Speaker, Vermont Law School Energy Symposium. Washington, DC (Oct. 18, 2017).
- Keynote Speaker, European Union’s Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, Sixth Annual Conference. Brdo, Slovenia (June 29, 2017).
- “Energy Policy and Regulatory Landscape,” Stanford University. Palo Alto, CA (June 8, 2017).
- “FERC Webinar,” Advanced Energy Economy. Washington, DC (May 3, 2017).
- “Policy and Regulatory Landscape: 10 Things to Consider,” Clean Energy Roundtable. Chicago, IL (April 11, 2017).
- Keynote Speaker, Third Annual Energy Storage Policy Forum. Washington, DC (Feb. 15, 2017).
- Signing Ceremony for Agreement between the United States and Mexico on Electric Reliability, with Department of Energy Secretary Ernie Moniz, FERC, and Mexican Energy Regulators (SENER, CRE, and CENACE). Mexico City, Mexico (Jan. 7, 2017).
- “Guest Speaker – FERC Chairman, Norman Bay,” a conversation with OMS President Sally Talberg, Organization of MISO States 2016 Annual Meeting. Lexington, KY (Oct. 13, 2016).
- “Energy Overview,” panel on “Environment, Energy and Resources: What the Next President Needs to Know,” with Gov. John Hickenlooper, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources 24th Annual Fall Conference. Denver, CO (Oct. 6, 2016).
- “Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Overview,” Asian Pacific Energy Regulators Forum. Seoul, Korea (Sept. 28, 2016).
- “Keynote Conversation,” with California Public Utilities Commission President Michael Picker and CAISO President and CEO Steve Berberich. CAISO Stakeholder Symposium Agenda. Sacramento, CA (Sept. 8, 2016).
- “New England Energy Markets,” 40th Annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (private briefing for Governors and Premiers). Boston, MA (Aug. 29, 2016).
- “U.S. Perspective,” panel on “Ageing Low-Carbon Capacity: Regulatory and Market Challenges,” International Energy Agency, Electricity Security Advisory Panel, Third High-Level Plenary Meeting. Paris, France (June 23, 2016).
- “The U.S. Experience: Market Oversight and Enforcement,” International Association for Energy Economics, 2016 Bergen, Norway International Conference. Bergen, Norway (June 22, 2016).
Publications
- Co-author, “Renewable Energy Country Comparative Guide,” The Legal 500 (June 9, 2023)
- “FERC to Traders: 'Those Who Do Not Learn From History Are Doomed to Repeat It',” Energy Law Report, November 2021.
- Norman C. Bay, Setting an Agenda: The Next Decade for FERC, EBA BRIEF 1 (Fall 2020).
- “Five Things to Know About Justice Kavanaugh and FERC,” Corporate Counsel, Apr. 1, 2019.
- “How the Power Industry and Environmentalists Can Find Common (Green) Ground,” Utility Dive, Feb. 20, 2018.
- Represented a wide range of subjects of FERC enforcement investigations, including, among others, a utility, energy marketer, asset manager, and demand response provider, for alleged violations of tariffs, regulations, or FERC’s anti-manipulation authority.
- Performed regulatory due diligence in connection with acquisitions by clients of a variety of energy assets, including a renewables developer, a retail electricity provider with market-based rate authority, an energy trading firm, modular distributed hydrogen production technology, and midstream natural gas assets.
- Advised renewables developers on transmission, interconnection, and ratemaking issues in connection with wind and solar projects in both Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and non-RTO markets.
- Co-wrote amicus brief in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on behalf of eight former FERC Commissioners arguing that the Federal Power Act did not preclude the EPA from regulating carbon emissions in the Clean Power Plan. The court agreed. See American Lung Ass’n v. EPA, 985 F.3d 914, 969 n.12 (D.C. Cir. 2021) (“The effects of environmental regulations on the power grid do not amount to power regulation statutorily reserved to FERC.”).
- Filed comments on behalf of the Coalition for Community Solar Access that opposed a petition for declaratory order to overturn net metering laws across the United States. FERC denied the petition in New England Ratepayers Ass’n, 172 FERC ¶ 61,042 (2020).
- Filed comments on behalf of WIRES, a national trade association for transmission providers and developers, that opposed a FERC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to eliminate the 50-basis-point incentive for transmitting utilities that belong to a Regional Transmission Organization.
Credentials
Education
Harvard Law School, J.D., 1986 Dartmouth College, A.B., 1982