Richard A. Heinemann has spent nearly his entire twenty-plus year career in the energy industry, primarily representing municipal electric utilities and joint action agencies. He currently serves as outside general counsel for four such agencies: Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (CMMPA), Great Lakes Utilities (GLU), Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency (NIMPA), and the Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group (UMMEG). The municipal electric utility members of these agencies are located in states throughout the Upper Midwest, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.

Richard has advised clients on a wide range of matters, including power supply contracts; generation project development; agency governance and formation issues; strategic planning; asset transfers; construction agreements, intergovernmental agreements, territorial disputes; sustainability (“green”) practices, brownfield redevelopment; regulatory compliance and transmission matters in both the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and PJM Interconnection (PJM).

Mr. Heinemann has a wide-range of experience in state and federal regulatory matters, including environmental and transmission-related issues, and has represented joint action agency clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as well as state municipal utilities and regulatory agencies in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota.

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Admitted to Practice

  • Wisconsin
  • Illinois
  • Minnesota

Representative Work

  • Assisted City of Rochelle to obtain federal regulatory approval to become a transmission owner in a regional transmission organization
  • Negotiated wind and solar power purchase agreements on behalf of Great Lakes Utilities, the Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group, and Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency
  • Assisted EnergySolutions obtain state regulatory approval to acquire ownership of the Kewaunee Power Station in order to perform nuclear decommissioning licensing activities
  • Advised Electric and Water Plant Board of City of Frankfort, Kentucky on agency governance matters
  • Advised Northern Municipal Power Agency on wholesale power supply matters
  • Advised Oconto Electric Cooperative on wholesale power supply matters
  • Represents Winnebago County Solid Waste Management Board on wholesale
    renewable energy transactions
  • Represented City of Marshfield in obtaining state regulatory approval to construct a 55 MW combustion turbine
  • Assisted a group of 13 municipal utilities transfer transmission assets to the American Transmission Company in exchange for ownership interests
  • Negotiated a multi-million dollar environmental liability transfer agreement on behalf of Kaukauna Utilities

Representative Clients

  • Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin
  • Great Lakes Utilities
  • Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency
  • Upper Midwest Municipal Energy Group
  • Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency
  • Northern Minnesota Power Agency
  • Western Wisconsin Biosolids Facility Commission
  • Winnebago County Landfill Gas Facility
  • City of Marshfield, Wisconsin
  • City of Geneva, Illinois
  • City of St. Charles, Minnesota

Honors & Recognition

  • Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®
    • Real Estate Law, 2013-Present
    • Energy Law, 2021-Present

See our disclaimer regarding third-party awards.

Presentations, Publications, & Contributions

  • Co-author, “Municipal Utility Governance: Options and Responsibilities,” Municipality March 2020
  • Presenter, Municipal Law Update, Public Utilities Institute March 2020
  • Presenter, Aligning Market Outcomes with State Policy Goals and Consumer Preferences”, Renewable Energy in the Midwest Conference, 2018
  • Presenter, “Bringing Solar to Your Community: Recent Success Stories and What Local Governments Can Do,” Wisconsin League of Municipalities Attorneys Institute, 2017
  • Author, “Sun Cities: How Wisconsin Communities Can Invest in the New Solar Economy,” Municipality, 2016
  • Frequent presenter and contributor to Midwest Energy Bar Association, Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Bankers Association and other organizations on regulatory matters, utility collection and bankruptcy issues, municipal finance and renewable energy development

Community Involvement & Board Memberships

  • Midwest Energy Bar Association, Board Member
  • Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, Secretary, Executive Committee and Board Member
  • Sustain Dane, Board Member
  • Wisconsin Environmental Initiative, Chair of Board of Directors

Professional Memberships

  • The American Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Wisconsin Bar Association
    • Energy and Telecommunications Section
    • Environmental Law Section
  • Energy Bar, Member, Renewable Energy and Climate Change Committee
  • Dane County Bar Association
  • Illinois Bar Association
  • Minnesota Bar Association

Education

  • J.D., cum laude, University of Wisconsin Law School
    • Order of the Coif
    • Editor in Chief, Wisconsin Law Review
  • Ph.D., German and Social Thought, University of Chicago
    • Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Federal Chancellor Scholar
    • Mellon Fellow in the Humanities
  • A.B., magna cum laude, Brown University

Richard’s Latest Writing & Presentations