Laura Szabo

Laura Szabo is a counsel with Crowell & Moring's Energy Group. Laura's practice focuses on transactions and energy regulatory matters involving companies in the electric energy industry. She represents electric generators, marketers, utilities, customers, lenders, owners, investors, trade organizations, and governmental entities in transactions and regulatory proceedings involving the acquisition, sale, development, financing, and operation of energy companies and energy assets.

Laura served as law clerk to the Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, District of Columbia Superior Court (1990-1991). She also is a member of the Federal Energy Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Representative Matters

Transactional Matters

Laura advises clients on a wide range of commercial and corporate energy contracts in transactions involving the development and operation of energy projects or the acquisition or disposition of ownership interests in domestic and international energy assets or energy companies. Such contracts include asset purchase agreements, power purchase agreements, management and operation service contracts, fuel supply and transportation contracts, interconnection contracts, transmission contracts, lease agreements, cotenant contracts, company governance documents, and finance and equity documents. She has counseled clients and drafted agreements related to the development or acquisition of energy projects in the United States, Colombia, Bolivia, Panama, Peru, El Salvador, and Northern Ireland.

Regulatory Counseling

In addition, Laura advises project developers and owners, marketers, banks, hedge funds, utilities, and other investors on how to structure their ownership or investments in electric assets to comply with, mitigate, or avoid, federal and state utility regulation. She advises and assists companies with the preparation of regulatory filings related to the acquisition or disposition of energy assets, market-based rates, shared interconnection facilities, open access transmission tariffs, transmission access for wholesale and retail power sales, exempt wholesale generation status under the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), qualifying facility status under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act, exemptions from and compliance with regulation under the Federal Power Act (FPA) and PUHCA, and acquisitions of energy assets and securities under FPA. She also advises clients with respect to ongoing regulatory compliance.