John E Rooney

Career

Public utilities constantly interact with state and federal regulators. John Rooney helps public utilities develop strategies to obtain regulatory approvals and leads litigation before regulatory commissions. He assists utilities with legislative proposals that may impact operations or the regulatory structures that govern them. John counsels on innovative alternative regulation proposals, competitive marketplace disputes, rate increase requests and rate design, acquisitions and merger approvals, service standards, and regulatory rules.

John began his career as a regulator, first as an Administrative Law Judge and later as Chief Administrative Law Judge. He now counsels natural gas, electric, and water and sewer utilities, as well as large suppliers of electricity, gas, and petroleum. John helps clients avoid regulatory pitfalls before they occur, developing successful solutions when problems do arise and providing support as industries and the regulatory environment in which they operate evolve.

Recently, John helped obtain regulatory approval for a pilot program that incentivizes renewable natural gas production facilities to locate within Nicor Gas Company’s service territory and provide this environmentally friendly fuel source to customers. His team developed a strategy to present the idea as an alternative regulation plan and developed the evidentiary presentation to support the proposal, the first of its kind in Illinois.