Michael Drew Wooldridge

As shifting regulatory landscapes shape his clients’ challenges at both the federal and state levels, Michael (Drew) Wooldridge responds with effective action. Public utilities consult Drew for his experience successfully advocating for the industry on a wide spectrum of issues.

Drew represents public utilities with respect to all manner of legislative and regulatory issues, including administrative litigation, regulation compliance and governmental affairs before the Georgia General Assembly.

He also advises public utilities on a wide range of federal and state regulatory issues, including administrative actions, regulatory and statutory compliance, supply-side recourse construction monitoring, privacy, open records law requests, and customer service issues.

Drew has more than 15 years of experience representing utilities in various matters, including resource planning; rate design; cost-of-service issues in rate cases; supply-side resource certification; and demand-side management program design, implementation and certification.

Drew has extensive experience in government ethics compliance and election law, providing guidance to companies, trade associations and political action committees (PACs) on federal and state laws relating to lobbyist registration and reporting, gifts for public officials, and political campaign contributions and expenditures.

He also assists clients in the formation and administration of corporate-sponsored and independent PACs on the federal, state and local levels. Drew has particular experience counseling public utilities, corporations and U.S. subsidiaries of international companies on the specific federal and state laws and rules that apply to those entities.

Adept at navigating public policy issues, Drew has represented clients before the Georgia Public Service Commission and has successfully lobbied to amend state statutes that affect them.

Beyond Georgia, Drew has counseled electric utilities concerning regulatory issues in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Mexico, Mississippi, Tennessee, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia.

Drew also has significant experience in connection with state regulatory treatment of wholesale sales, the Georgia Open Records Act, the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, trade secret filings and the Georgia deregulated natural gas market.

Representative Matters :

• Drafted and successfully lobbied for enactment or amendment of Georgia statutes affecting utility regulation, integrated resource planning, environmental protection, transportation, state revenue code, banking, insurance, employment and appropriations.
• Served as counsel to Georgia Power Co. in its 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 retail rate proceedings before the Georgia Public Service Commission, focusing on decommissioning, depreciation, rate design, environmental cost recovery, utility mergers and cost-of-service issues.
• Advised Georgia Power in the creation of its Green Power Program and Simple Solar Program and in the procurement of green energy resources.
• Represented Georgia Power Co. in its certification and amended certificates of eight residential and commercial demand-side resource programs.
• Served as counsel to Southern Co. before several state regulatory commissions in its merger with AGL Resources.
• Advised Georgia Power Co. and Savannah Electric and Power Co. in their acquisition of McIntosh units 10 and 11 from Southern Power Co.
• Advised Georgia Power Co. with respect to several customer service matters, including privacy issues, Fair Credit Reporting Act issues, disconnections and user fee issues.

Professional and Community Involvement :

• Energy Bar Association
• State Bar of Georgia

EDUCATION :

• University of North Carolina School of Law, J.D., 2002
• Duke University, B.A., 1999, Public Policy Studies

BAR ADMISSIONS : Georgia