Emily Beard

Emily focuses her practice on energy regulatory matters before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Drawing on years of experience inside FERC’s Office of General Counsel and as legal advisor to two commissioners, Emily offers clients a deep understanding of how complex policy, technical, and legal issues are evaluated and decided within the Commission.

Emily’s practice spans the full spectrum of electric market regulation, including transmission planning and cost allocation, market design, interconnection, compliance, and enforcement. She has extensive experience managing filings under Federal Power Act (FPA) Sections 205 and 206, advising on RTO and ISO market rule changes, and navigating Order Nos. 1920, 2023, and related compliance matters. Emily’s insider perspective enables her to help anticipate regulatory developments at FERC and craft strategies that align with client goals in an evolving regulatory environment.

Before joining the firm, Emily most recently served as a managing attorney in FERC’s Office of General Counsel, Energy Markets, where she supervised a team of attorneys managing filings from the Southwest Power Pool and FPA West regions. She also served as a legal advisor to Commissioner Allison Clements and Commissioner Judy Chang. As an advisor to Commissioner Clements, she guided major market and policy issues and coordinated agencywide initiatives. In addition, Emily acted as Commissioner Clements’ liaison for Congressional and public affairs and assisted in preparations for Commissioner Chang’s appearance before the House Oversight Committee. She also served as a staff attorney in FERC’s Office of General Counsel, Energy Markets where she advised on applications for waiver of tariff provisions as well as FPA Sections 205 and 206 filings from the New York Independent System Operator and Southeast regions.

Earlier in her career, Emily practiced at a Southeastern-based law firm, where she represented utilities and developers before the South Carolina and North Carolina utility commissions and practiced as Enforcement Counsel at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), where she supported compliance and enforcement matters under the NERC Reliability Standards.

Emily is admitted only in South Carolina. Practice supervised by D.C. Bar members pursuant to Rule 49(c)(8).

• Advised FERC Commissioners on market design, cost allocation, interconnection, and enforcement policy.
• Managed and reviewed filings under FPA sections 205 and 206 involving SPP markets+, order no. 2023 compliance, and RTO west.
• Represented clients before the SCPSC and NCUC on distributed generation, energy efficiency, and net metering proposals.
• Supported enforcement and compliance functions under NERC’s compliance monitoring and enforcement program.