Ranked in 1 Practice Areas
1

Band 1

Energy & Natural Resources

Florida

2 Years Ranked

About

Provided by Floyd R Self

USA

Practice Areas

Floyd R. Self is Board Certified by The Florida Bar as an expert in State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice. His energy, telecommunications, water, and land use practice includes representation of regulated utilities, associations, users, and technology companies. He provides regulatory representation, financing and acquisition due diligence, oversight and compliance, Attorney General investigation defense, procurement and purchasing disputes, rulemaking, anti-trust and anti-competitive conduct, show cause, performance measures and standards, and lobbying services.

Floyd is the only Board Certified attorney who regularly practices before the Florida Public Service Commission. In addition to the PSC, he regularly appears before Florida state and federal courts, the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings, and various state and local government agencies.

His public utility regulatory work includes appearances before the Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, and Arkansas state Public Utility Commissions on issues ranging from rate setting, certification of need or public convenience, interconnection negotiation and disputes, tariffs and special contracts, natural gas pipelines, solar power siting, CNG and LNG facilities, and pole attachments. He is the Secretary of the Energy Bar Association (EBA) and past President of the EBA Southern Chapter, and he provides leadership on a variety of energy and public utility law issues.

Professional Memberships

- Energy Bar Association

- Vice President 2023

- Southern Chapter of the Energy Bar Association,

- Board Member

- Member, Law360 Telecommunications Editorial Advisory Board

- Board Certified State and Federal Government and Administrative Practice Lawyer

- Federal Communications Bar Association

- The Florida Bar (Public Utilities Law Committee; Administrative Law Section; Government Lawyer Section; Environmental & Land Use Law Section)

- Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee Board of Directors, Past Chair

- Leadership Tallahassee Class 20 graduate

- Boy Scouts of America Southern Region Training Staff Leader

- Community Catalyst with the Knight Creative Communities Institute

- Youth Leadership Tallahassee Class 2 Curriculum Chair

- Leadership Tallahassee Class 24 Curriculum Chair

- Suwannee River Area Council Silver Beaver award for outstanding service to youth

- Leadership Tallahassee Board of Governors, Past Chair

- Greater Tallahassee Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

- Boy Scout Scoutmaster, National Jamboree Scoutmaster, and Philmont Crew Advisor

Publications

- Self, F. R. (2019). (rep.). Report of the State Commission Practice Committee (pp. 5–10). Tallahassee, FL: Energy Bar Association.

- Self, F. R. (2022, May 2). Electric Utilities Have Critical Role in Broadband Infrastructure Deployment. POWER Magazine. https://www.powermag.com/electric-utilities-have-critical-role-in-broadband-infrastructure-deployment/

Work Highlights

- Provided legal analysis and an operational and regulatory process outline for a developer client for how to create a regulated Florida Public Service Commission natural gas utility.

- Developed a legal and operational strategy for a Florida county government in its ongoing disputes with a municipal electric utility on rates and services issues, and litigated those issues before the Florida Public Service Commission and the Florida Supreme Court.

- Negotiated electric utility territorial agreements and represented electric utility in obtaining Florida Public Service Commission approvals.

- Served as a Florida counsel for a diligence review for the acquisition of a Florida triple play telecom company, handling Florida Public Service Commission regulatory requirements and review of Florida real estate holdings, customer and vendor contracts, and pole attachment and collocation agreements.

- Represented a wireless carrier before multiple municipalities, counties, and the Florida Department of Transportation that was seeking to place small cell wireless monopoles in the public rights of way pursuant to federal and state law, including advocacy before the Florida League of Cities and the Florida County Attorneys’ Association.

- Successfully represented natural gas local distribution company in a fully litigated rate base/rate of return rate case before the Tennessee Public Utilities Commission, the first litigated rate case to ever be heard under the current part-time Commissioner statute.

- Represented interstate pipeline company in defeating first ever litigated intrastate pipeline certification petition under Florida law.

- Filed petition for an annual rate review under the Tennessee alternative regulatory methods statute, and successfully negotiated a settlement of the case approved by the Tennessee Public Utilities Commission.

- Ultimately settled, after extensively litigating jurisdictional and regulatory issues, a natural gas transportation agreement on behalf of a local natural gas distribution company with its largest customer.

- Defended a telecommunications company over multiple years and ultimately implemented a comprehensive settlement involving proceedings involving the Florida Public Service Commission, the Public Counsel, the Attorney General, a class action case, and Securities and Exchange Commission investigation with no findings of guilt or liability other than customer refunds.

- Litigated before and obtained authorization from the Georgia Public Service Commission for a wireless carrier seeking authority as an eligible telecommunications carrier (“ETC”) and authority for high-cost support.

- Prosecuted and ultimately settled an anti-trust case against a local exchange carrier on behalf of a broadband company on multiple counts of breach of interconnection agreement, fraud, and anticompetitive conduct.

- Represented local developer in creative resolution of complex easement and development dispute with adjoining property owners.

- Represented wireless carrier before Florida Public Service Commission in the first mobile interconnection case, resulting in substantially reduced rates and improved terms and conditions for wireless carriers interconnecting with local exchange companies.

- Served as the telephone industry spokesperson and coordinator for negotiating area code relief and number pooling implementation plans that successfully resolved telephone number exhaustion problems facing Florida consumers and telephone companies.

- Obtained declaratory statement for county government finding that local telephone company tariff did not prevent removal of telecommunications structure on county’s airport property or require reimbursement by the county for the cost of moving the structure.

- Represented Broward County (the airport) in a matter before the Florida Public Service Commission regarding a dispute over the relocation of BellSouth communications facilities due to runway expansion. Won the case for the County.

- Represented Volusia County in its implementation of jurisdiction over water and wastewater utilities operating within the county.

- Represented the City of Coral Gables before the Florida Supreme Court on the solar energy amendment.

Expert in these Jurisdictions

- Florida

- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida

Languages Spoken

- English

Education

Florida State University College of Law

J.D.

University of Virginia

Graduate School Program in Legal Studies

Florida State University

B.S.

Awards

The Best Lawyers in America

Best Lawyers

2023

America's Leading Business Lawyers

Chambers & Partners USA

2022

Legal Elite

Florida Trend

Best Lawyer

850 Magazine

AV® Preeminent™

Martindale-Hubbell

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Key Sectors

Provided by Berger Singerman

Energy and Utilities

Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT)

Government and Public Sector

Environmental and Waste