Michelle focuses her practice on energy and environmental law, with a particular emphasis on renewable generation and emerging technologies. She represents renewable developers in all aspects of project development and siting, including navigating the regulatory process under Article 10 of the New York Public Service Law and the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Michelle also counsels clients through the interconnection process with local distribution utilities and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO).
In the environmental arena, Michelle represents corporate and individual clients on a wide range of matters involving permitting, regulatory compliance, civil and administrative enforcement, and dispute resolution. Her environmental permitting and regulatory compliance experience spans issues involving air emissions, wastewater and stormwater discharges, wetlands, zoning and land use matters, and the Mined Land Reclamation Law.
New York is becoming increasingly attractive for both onshore and offshore investment in solar, wind, green hydrogen and energy storage. A multi-gigawatt onshore renewables tender is on the cards for New York State with the announcement last week that NYSERDA is planning a minimum of 2GW of large-scale energy storage, solar and wind. Eligible projects will see 20-year subsidy contracts from the state. This pushes the state closer to its goal of 70% of power from carbon-free sources by 2030 and will see almost $3bn in fresh investment.
