Brian T. Cragg

Clients turn to Brian Cragg when they need advice on energy regulatory and transactional matters, including meeting regulatory requirements for the development or purchase of generation, energy storage, and transmission projects, evaluating the risk of energy-related investments, and navigating the interconnection and new resource processes of the California Independent System Operator.

Brian also represents clients before the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and other state and federal regulatory agencies. He performs risk analyses for the development, purchase, or financing of solar energy and energy storage facilities; he helps seek CPUC approval for the construction of large transmission facilities; he analyzes potential microgrid installation and biotech development at manufacturing complexes, and he has provided regulatory guidance for an energy company that progressed from start-up to Series C in financing.

In addition to these services, he advises clients on the risks and opportunities presented by emerging energy storage technologies, regulatory responses to the challenges presented by climate change, including the cap-and-trade approach to greenhouse gas emissions, and the requirements for selling Renewables Portfolio Standard energy and Resource Adequacy capacity.

Before entering private practice, Brian was an Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge at the CPUC where he supervised a group of administrative law judges handling energy-related cases. During his 18 years at the CPUC, he was involved in many of the Commission’s major cases, on topics ranging from rate cases and mergers to cost reviews of nuclear power plants and the introduction of competition into the electric utility and telecommunications industries.

Prior to joining Downey Brand, Brian was a partner at San Francisco-based Goodin, Macbride, Squeri & Day from 1988 until 2021.