Catherine L. Chapman

Associate

804.313.9571

More ways to contact Catherine L. Chapman

Additional Languages: French

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Overview
Representative Matters
Awards

Catherine is an energy litigation associate whose practice centers on representing utilities and other businesses in state and federal regulatory matters. She brings experience across a range of complex energy proceedings before the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), including base rate cases, integrated resource planning, demand-side management, net energy metering, renewable portfolio standard compliance, rulemaking and investigatory proceedings, interconnection matters, transmission line proceedings, certificates of public convenience and necessity, contract review, and related appellate proceedings before the Supreme Court of Virginia.

  • Represented clients in biennial base rate cases before the Virginia SCC, addressing cost of service, revenue requirements, and rate design.
  • Prepared certificates of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) applications for electric and gas generating facilities.
  • Represented clients in integrated resource plan (IRP) proceedings before the Virginia SCC.
  • Advised clients on renewable portfolio standard (RPS) compliance matters, including renewable energy certificate (REC) eligibility and biomass facility qualification.
  • Represented clients in demand-side management (DSM) and net energy metering (NEM) proceedings before the Virginia SCC.
  • Counseled clients on large load interconnection and distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection proceedings, including solar interconnection requirements.
  • Represented clients in rulemaking, investigatory, and administrative proceedings before the Virginia SCC.
  • Represented clients in aggregation petitions before the Virginia SCC.
  • Handled appeals of Virginia SCC decisions to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
  • Advised clients on rate exposure, cost allocation, self-generation options, and regulatory risk arising from Virginia energy statutes and regulations.
  • Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch: Appellate Practice (2025-2026)
  • Super Lawyers®: Rising Star, Civil Litigation (2026)
  • Virginia Business Magazine: “Legal Elite” Young Lawyer (Under 40) category (2025)
Overview

Catherine is an energy litigation associate whose practice centers on representing utilities and other businesses in state and federal regulatory matters. She brings experience across a range of complex energy proceedings before the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), including base rate cases, integrated resource planning, demand-side management, net energy metering, renewable portfolio standard compliance, rulemaking and investigatory proceedings, interconnection matters, transmission line proceedings, certificates of public convenience and necessity, contract review, and related appellate proceedings before the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Representative Matters
  • Represented clients in biennial base rate cases before the Virginia SCC, addressing cost of service, revenue requirements, and rate design.
  • Prepared certificates of public convenience and necessity (CPCN) applications for electric and gas generating facilities.
  • Represented clients in integrated resource plan (IRP) proceedings before the Virginia SCC.
  • Advised clients on renewable portfolio standard (RPS) compliance matters, including renewable energy certificate (REC) eligibility and biomass facility qualification.
  • Represented clients in demand-side management (DSM) and net energy metering (NEM) proceedings before the Virginia SCC.
  • Counseled clients on large load interconnection and distributed energy resource (DER) interconnection proceedings, including solar interconnection requirements.
  • Represented clients in rulemaking, investigatory, and administrative proceedings before the Virginia SCC.
  • Represented clients in aggregation petitions before the Virginia SCC.
  • Handled appeals of Virginia SCC decisions to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
  • Advised clients on rate exposure, cost allocation, self-generation options, and regulatory risk arising from Virginia energy statutes and regulations.
Awards
  • Best Lawyers in America®: Ones to Watch: Appellate Practice (2025-2026)
  • Super Lawyers®: Rising Star, Civil Litigation (2026)
  • Virginia Business Magazine: “Legal Elite” Young Lawyer (Under 40) category (2025)

Top areas of focus

  • Council member, Virginia Bar Association’s Administrative Law Section Council (2024-present)
  • Governance Board & Executive Committee member, Visual Arts Center of Richmond (2024-present)
  • Judicial intern, Hon. Arenda Wright Allen, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 2023
  • Judicial intern, Hon. Justice Cleo E. Powell, Supreme Court of Virginia, 2022

Education

  • William & Mary Law School, J.D., 2023, articles editor, William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
  • University College Cork, M.A., 2021, sociology
  • Waterford Institute of Technology, B.A., with honors, 2019, sociology

Bar Admissions

  • Virginia

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of West Virginia

Languages

  • French
  • Co-presenter, “Statutory Construction: Overview of the Rules,” Virginia Local Government Attorneys of Virginia Spring Conference, 2022.
  • Presenter, “Energy Legislation Update: Outcomes and discussions around energy legislation from the 2026 General Assembly,” Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association 2026 Annual Meeting, April 2026.
  • Kelly, C., Historicizing the Christchurch Shooting, International Political Anthropology Journal, 13(1), 49-63 (2020).