Kimberly Frank

Practice Areas

Kimberly Frank co-leads the firm’s global Power practice group and focuses her electric regulatory practice on representing clients in matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and state utility commissions, as well as transactions in the US market.

Kimberly’s clients include investor-owned electric utilities and electric cooperatives, large consumers, and government agencies. She represents clients before FERC in contested proceedings, administrative hearings and settlements, rulemakings, technical conferences, and investigations. She advises clients in developing strategies for litigation and prepares complaints, protests, comments and other pleadings filed with the agency. She works regularly with economists, engineers, accountants, financial analysts, and other electric utility industry experts.

Kimberly helps clients navigate the complex rules of the FERC-regulated regional wholesale markets, assisting to evaluate and advocate for rule changes in the energy, capacity, and ancillary services markets. She has represented clients in numerous proceedings before FERC, including capacity and energy market rules in the regional markets, transmission and generation rate cases, formula rate design, transmission planning, and cost allocation.

Kimberly counsels clients developing renewable energy facilities, regulated by FERC on Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), and Federal Power Act (FPA) compliance. She assists clients with interconnections to distribution and transmission systems and with regulatory compliance matters related to federal- and state-regulated electric power transactions.

Before her legal career, Kimberly was research faculty with a law and economics think tank in the Department of Economics, University of Maryland College Park.

Professional Memberships

Solar United Neighbors-Chair, Board of Directors (2022–current)

Charitable Foundation of the Energy Bar Association - Member, Board of Directors (2019-2022)

Energy Bar Association - Member, Board of Directors (May 2016 - 2019)

Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment

Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia

Maryland State Bar Association, Section on Environment & Energy Law

District of Columbia Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy and Natural Resources

Publications

“Order No. 2023: Interconnection Reform Is Finally Here,” The Journal of Federal Agency Action, January–February 2024

“The Curious Case of the 1,200 MW Transmission Size ‘Limit’ in New England,” Marine Technology Reporter, November/December 2023

“Offshore Wind Auction Results Portend Difficulties In Gulf,” Law360, 12 September 2023

“Reactive Power Compensation for Renewable Energy Facilities: Opportunity Amidst Change,” Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section Report, January 2023

“Lessons From FERC New England Capacity Market Settlement,” Law360, 29 July 2022

“Key Provisions of FERC’s 2021 Enforcement Report,” Pratt’s Energy Law Report, February 2022

FERC Enforcement In 2021: A Year Of Change, Law360, 3 January 2022

Series and survey, Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, “Manufacturers Show Interest in, But Lack Awareness of, Energy Demand Response Programs,” Jan/Feb. 2014, and “Demand Response Programs Lower Electricity Costs, But Also Pose Risks,” Nov. 2013.

“Federal Courts Thwart State Efforts to Develop New Generation for Reliability,” New England Consumer Liaison Group, Nov. 2013.

“Ominous News for State Energy Commissions,” Law360 Expert Analysis, Oct. 2013.

“Rethinking Capacity Markets: A Pragmatic New Approach to Assuring Reliability,” Public Utilities Fortnightly, May 2013.

Education