James McNally | Energy Attorney | Balch & Bingham LLP

Education

Bar Admissions

What type of clients do you represent?

I have represented investor-owned electric utilities in a wide variety of contested case proceedings before state regulatory agencies in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
What previous experiences, prior to your work at Balch, influence your practice?

Before becoming an attorney, I worked as a certified public accountant in the Houston office of a large national accounting firm. This experience helped me with many of the issues at stake in the contested cases I’ve been involved in over the years.
How are you involved in your community?

I am a long-time rock climber and public lands advocate. In addition to doing trail work in designated wilderness areas in the central cascades, I served on the board, and was president, of the Access Fund, a national climbing advocacy organization. I have also served on the boards of a variety of local arts and conservation organizations, including Texans for State Parks.

Select Matters

Lead outside counsel representing electric utilities in rate cases and generation plant certification cases.
Lead outside counsel in obtaining regulatory approval from the Public Utility Commission of Texas for electric utility holding company’s sale of retail electric providers in Texas.
Represented Texas electric utilities in various contested rate and merger proceedings before the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Handled federal income tax issues, including normalization issues and questions regarding the treatment of accumulated deferred federal income taxes, in a number of contested proceedings, including rate, transition to competition, and stranded cost proceedings.
Represented Texas electric utilities in obtaining various certificates of convenience and necessity from the Public Utility Commission of Texas for transmission line facilities.
Represented numerous applicants in contested case proceedings for greyhound and horse racetrack licenses issued by the Texas Racing Commission.
Represented the industry’s largest manufacturer of electronic bingo equipment before the Texas Lottery Commission on a variety of legal issues, including contested case proceedings, compliance questions, and licensing matters.
Represented the industry’s largest licensed charitable bingo commercial lessor before the Texas Lottery Commission on a variety of licensing, rulemaking and compliance issues.

Education

Bar Admissions

Professional Affiliations

ABA Section of Public Utility, Communications & Transportation Law
American Bar Association, Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Section
State Bar of Texas
Public Utility Section
Administrative and Public Law Section