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Catherine J. Webking
Partner
Overview
Catherine Webking provides clients with detailed and thorough advocacy on utility-related regulatory matters involving electricity, telecommunications, water, and natural gas services. She thoroughly understands her clients’ businesses to help them navigate the regulatory landscape to maximize success. Catherine enjoys and excels at providing her clients with exceptional representation and advocacy at the Texas Legislature, agencies like Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Railroad Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and at the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M in Chemical Engineering is a pivotal asset for advocacy in the often-times complex utility markets.
With a deep understanding of utility regulatory environments, Catherine understands the challenges related to the migration to competitive services in the relevant markets. She regularly advises utility market participants on regulations and compliance, rulemaking proceedings, contract negotiations, contested cases, rate cases, enforcement actions, complaints, litigation, and appeals. Her clients include competitive retail electric providers (REPs), renewable and fossil-fueled generators, storage, commercial and industrial customers, transmission and distribution providers, cooperatives, water utilities, competitive telecommunications providers, real estate developers, and property owners.
Catherine combines technical and business approaches to recognize and resolve regulatory impediments and realize opportunities for those clients. Chambers USA recently described her work as, “much admired by her peers for her expertise in electricity and gas matters such as transmission and rate-setting work. One impressed client praised her ability to ‘see how issues taken in one proceeding might affect future efforts on another front.’”
Credentials
Education
- The University of Texas School of Law, 1991 (J.D.), with honors
- Texas A&M University, 1985 (B.S.)
- Represented a trade association of competitive retail electric providers in extensive rulemakings and contested proceedings at the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
- Provided regulatory advice and strategy regarding utility industry business structures and power purchase agreements.
- Advised daily for individual market participants on regulatory compliance and reporting before various state agencies.
- Served as a technical resource and legislative advocacy for clients related to statutory changes affecting businesses in the utility industries.
- Navigated multiple companies through obtaining certificates to operate in utility markets.
- Represented a special utility district in appeal of water rate-setting brought by customer group. The opposing side ultimately withdrew the appeal.
- Represented a group of competitive telecommunications providers in obtaining legislative relief related to existing funding mechanism.
- Texas Energy Reliability Council
- Chambers USA, Energy: State Regulatory & Litigation (Electricity), 2020-2023
- Best Lawyers in America, Energy Law, 2016-2024
- Order of the Coif
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- State Bar of Texas, Administrative Law Section
- Travis County Bar Association, Public Utility Law Section
- Gulf Coast Power Association